LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

GIFT  OF 

MRS.   MARY  WOLFSOHN 

IN    MEMORY  OF 

HENRY  WOLFSOHN 


•I 


HI  S  T  O  E Y 


OF 


THE      WOELD 


FROM  THE 


EARLIEST  PERIOD  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME, 


COLLECTED  AND  ARRANGED  FROM  THE  BE3T  AUTHORITIES. 


EVERT  A.   DTJTOKINCK, 

AUTHOR  OF  "NATIONAL  PORTRAIT  GALLERY  OP  EMINENT  AMERICANS,"  "CYCLOPEDIA  OF  AMERICAS 

LITERATURE,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


Illustratcb  foitlj  JprcjIjIiT  Jfimsljrir 

OF 

HISTORICAL  EVENTS  AND  PORTRAITS  OF  EMINENT  MEN 

FROM  ORIGINAL  PAINTINGS  BY  ALONZO  CKAPPEL,  PAUL  DE  LA  ROCHE,  OEROM^E,  COPLEY   WEIR 
POWELL,  AND  OTHER  EMINENT  ARTISTS. 


VOLUME  I 


NEW   YORK: 
JOHNSON,    WILSON   AND    COMPANY, 

27   BEEKMAN   STREET. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1873,  by 

JOHNSON,  WILSON  AND  COMPANY, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


PREFACE 


THE  plan  of  the  following  "work  is  very  simple.  It  is  to  present  in  a  condensed  form, 
yet  sufficiently  copious  for  the  general  reader,  a  History  of  all  the  principal  Nations 
of  the  world,  from  the  pens  of  eminent  scholars  of  the  present  day.  Beginning  with  what 
is  relatively  termed  the  East,  the  scene  of  the  earliest  traditions  of  the  history  of  the  human 
race,  it  follows  the  geographical  outline  through  the  great  continental  divisions  of  the  world, 
thus  describing  the  circle  of  human  action  in  a  course  generally  parallel  with  the  progress 
of  civilization. 

Westward  the  course  of  Empire  takes  its  way  ; 

The  first  four  acts  already  past, 
The  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day  ; 

Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last. 

Without  appropriating  exclusively  for  America  this  prophecy  of  Bishop  Berkeley,  or 
arrogating  to  ourselves  a  supremacy  of  intellect  and  virtue  which  may  yet  receive  other  and 
far  more  extended  developments  in  the  future  of  the  ancient  nations,  in  new  circuits  of  the 
world,  we  may  recognize  a  general  truth  and  a  convenient  deduction  of  the  grand  historic 
epo2hs. 

Commencing  with  the  extreme  verge  of  Asia,  with  the  Empire  of  China  and  kindred 
Japan,  the  narrative  successively  takes  up  Central  India  and  Babylon  ;  the  great  nations  of 
the  ancient  world— Persians,  Medes,  Babylonians  and  Assyrians ;  Arabia,  and  its 
M  jharnmedan  conquests ;  the  political  history  of  Palestine  and  the  States  of  Asia  Minor,  at 
once  the  connecting  link  of  Greek  civilization  of  the  East  and  the  more  permanent  Jewish 
influence  with  the  West. 

The  history  of  these  nations  is  continued  through  modern  times  to  the  records  of  our 
own  day,  an  arrangement  which  is,  upon  the  whole,  for  the  purposes  of  convenient  reference 
and  uniform  treatment,  preferable  to  a  synchronous  exhibition  of  events  continually  inter 
rupted  in  passing  from  country  to  country. 

Africa  follows  next  in  the  order  of  the  great  divisions,  the  narrative  starting  with  Egypt, 
to  which  considerable  space  is  given,  commensurate  with  its  importance  in  its  influence 
upon  early  civilization.  The  temporary  Empire  of  Carthage  follows  in  order,  with  the 
northern  provinces  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean,  the  limited  records  of  Nubia  and 
Abyssinia,  with  the  modern  discoveries  and  settlements  developed  by  commercial  progress 
along  the  vast  Atlantic  border  of  the  Continent. 

The  chronicle  of  Europe  begins  with  the  master  civilization  of  Greece,  succeeded  by 


IV 


PREFACE. 


the  great  inheritor  of  its  achievements,  the  far  extended  military  Empire  of  Eome,  con 
tinued  tliroufh  its  Eastern  sovereignty  to  its  great  conquerors  in  the  Ottoman  rule  in 
Turkey ;  its  home  successors  in  the  government  of  Italy,  the  Papal  States,  Naples,  Venice, 
Florence,  Lombardy,  and  the  rest,  with  the  outlying,  and  frequently  controlling  vast  Ger 
man  Empire  beyond,  with  the  great  development  of  the  Protestant  Reformation.  After  a 
survey  of  Spain,  Portugal,  Russia,  Holland,  Denmark,  and  the  other  northern  nations, 
France  is  assigned  a  large  space  in  the  record,  proportionate  with  its  great  part  in  mediaeval 
and  modern  development,  followed  in  a  natural  association  in  their  early  history  by 
England,  the  story  of  whose  wide  sovereignty  closes  the  European  division. 

To  the  early  discovery  and  conquest  and  colonial  progress  of  America,  succeeds  its 
great  political  divisions  from  the  northern  to  the  southern  extremity  of  the  continent. 
Ample  space  is  given  to  the  United  States,  corresponding  to  the  home  interest  in  the 
subject  in  a  work  adapted  to  popular  circulation  in  the  country.  Mexico,  Central  America, 
the  "West  Indies  lead  to  South  America  with  its  vast  territorial  divisions.  The  Island 
systems  of  the  Pacific  and  the  new  empires  of  English  settlement  in  Australasia,  complete 
the  grand  geographical  course  of  the  work. 

In  the  general  descriptions  which  precede  each  of  the  great  divisions,  will  be  found 
an  account  of  the  geographical  and  physical  conditions  which  have  determined  much  of  their 
historical  position.  Tin's  basis  of  science,  in  the  consideration  of  climate,  geology,  the 
influence  of  mountains  and  rivers,  involving  capacities  of  production,  and  the  means  oi 
supporting  the  popula^on  by  agriculture  and  commerce,  jimst  at  the  present  day  be 
regarded  as  the  necessary  preliminary  in  all  true  historical  exposition.  Studies  of  this 
kind  are  in  fact  the  keys  of  history. 

With  the  exception  of  the  portion  relating  to  America,  this  work  is  largely  indebted 
to  the  Ejicydopc&dia  Brltannica.  The  last  edition  of  this  work  presents  the  result* 
of  nearly  a  century  of  study  and  research,  by  some  of  the  most  accomplished  scholars 
of  Great  Britain  during  that  period.  The  most  important  portions  of  the  historical 
articles  of  that  work  are  here  brought  together  in  one  comprehensive  view,  occasion 
ally  recnforced  by  contributions  from  other  sources,  and  the  narrative  of  additional 
events  continued  to  the  present  year.  The  history  of  the  United  States,  embracing  a  large 
part  of  the  concluding  volume,  is  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Spencer,  D.D.,  who 
has  edited  the  entire  portion  of  the  work  relating  to  America.  The  arrangement  of  the 
whole  is  under  the  direction  of  Evert  A.  Duyckinck,  author  of  the  "  National  Portrait 
Gallery  of  Eminent  Americans,"  the  "  Cyclopedia  of  American  Literature,"  and  other  works. 

A  large  outlay  has  been  incurred  by  the  publishers  in  the  Illustrations  accompanying 
this  work.  To  those  derived  from  such  sources  as  the  historical  paintings  of  Copley,  Dela- 
roche,  Gerome,  and  other  eminent  foreign  artists,  a  series  has  been  added  of  new  designs 
from  the  pencil  of  Mr.  Alonzo  Chappel,  with  others  by  "Wier  and  Powell ;  together  with 
an  extended  series  of  Portraits  drawn  from  the  best  authorities  expressly  for  this  work. 


CONTENTS 


VOLUME  FIRST. 


PACK 

PREFACE,                                          2 

INTRODUCTION,                                                -                       ...                       .           -  6 

ASIA— GENERAL  VIEW,                           -                       ...                       .  13 

CHINA,     -                                                                                    41 

JAPAN,                                                                                                    -  68 

THE  ORIENTAL  ARCHIPELAGO,  75 

BURMAII  AND  SIAM.  -          79 

INDIA,      -                                                                                      -  83 

ASSYRIA,  MEDIA,  AND  BABYLONIA,  .        107 

PARTHIA,                                    -                                                             -  11:3 

PERSIA,           ....  119 

ARABIA,                                                                                                     -  14.3 

.SYRIA,                        -                       -150 

THE  JEWS,        -                                                          -  ico 

ASIA  MINOR,                                                -                                                                                  -  193 

AFRICA-GENERAL  VIEW,                         glo 

EGYPT,  - 243 

CARTHAGE,        - -  815 

BARBARY   STATES,  .... 

ooo 

CAPE  OF  GOOD   HOPE, 

V-H 

EUROPE-GENERAL   VIEW,  -  -  -  .  .  .  •    •-'•.        SGi    ' 

GREECE, „,. 

MACEDONIA,         : 

ROME,      --;.-.  .  .  ,., 

4/b 

THE   EMPIRE   OF  THE   EAST, j  580 

TURKEY,  .  ....     j  618 

IONIAN   ISLES,    W. 

•  •  OJo 


LIST     OF     ENGRAVINGS. 


VOLUME  FIRST. 


CONVERSION  OF  EMPEROR  COXSTANTIXE, 

OFFERING  OF  PSAMMETICUS,  - 

CHINESE  EMBASSY  TO  FOREIGN  POWERS,     - 

RELIEF  OF  LUCKXOW  BY  HAVELOCK, 

MAHOMED  EXPOUXDIXG  HIS  CREED,    - 

JEWS  BEFORE  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA, 

CLEOPATRA  BEFORE  JULIUS  CJESAR. 

MASSACRE  OF  THE  MEMLOOKS, 

ATHENS    FROM  THE  ILYSUS, 

DEATH  OF  PERICLES, 

PORUS  BEFORE  ALEXANDER, 

HANNIBAL  CROSSING   THE  ALPS       - 

DEATH  OF   JULIUS  C^SAR, 

KUIKS  OF  ROME 


Frontispiece 
Vignctic  Tit.lt 

•      PACK    Co 

ica 

116 
190 
207 
307 
?.SO 
413 
401 
503 


f 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


TT1  HE  first  and  most  difficult  problem  of 
I  universal  history  is  to  fix  the  point  of 
its  beginning — the  time  of  the  first  appear 
ance  and  activity  of  man  on  this  planet.  The 
unaided  condition  of  the  human  race,  now,  as 
regards  this  problem,  is  analogous  to  that  of 
a  man  trying  to  fix  the  date  of  his  birth  by 
his  own  recollection.  He  cannot  do  so.  He 
may  work  his  memory  back  to  within  a  few 
years  of  his  birth ;  but  the  date  of  his  birth 
and  the  circumstances  of  his  infant  years  he 
can  know  only  from  external  information. 
It  is  very  much  so  with  the  race  as  a  whole. 
Re^ardinff  the  commencement  of  the  exist- 

O  O 

ence  of  humanity  on  the  earth,  and  the  sub 
sequent  period  of  what  may  be  called  its 
infancy,  the  mere  memory  of  humanity  is 
necessarily  at  fault.  Two  kinds  of  external 
information  are  depended  on  for  filling  up  the 
blank — the  information  contained  in  the  Bib 
lical  records  of  the  creation  and  beginning  of 
the  race ;  and  any  collateral  information  to  be 
derived  from  geological  researches.  In  short, 
liistory,  at  this  its  first  stage  is  merged  in 
theology  and  geology ;  and  the  historian  must 
have  his  conclusions  given  to  him  from  be 
yond  the  field  of  his  own  science.  Even  so 
supplied,  the  conclusions  are  not  numerous. 
Hitherto  scientific  geology  has  not  even  pro 
fessed  to  be  able  to  determine  anything  pre 
cise  respecting  the  epoch  at  which  the  earth 
was  first  inhabited  by  man,  or  respecting  the 
conditions  of  its  first  human  inhabitants. 
And  though  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  narrate 
the  story  of  the  creation  of  mankind,  and  of 


the  fortunes  of  its  first  generations,  with  an 
exactness  not  offered  by  any  other  record- 
telling  of  the  creation  of  an  original  pair  on 
one  part  of  the  earth's  surface,  tracing  the 
descent  of  successive  generations  from  that 
pair,  and  describing  a  great  catastrophe  or 
deluge  which  destroyed  all  these  generations, 
with  the  exception  of  a  single  family,  who 
were  left  to  repeople  the  world — commenta 
tors  have  found  the  utmost  difficulty  in  set 
tling  the  dates  of  these  events,  and  in  casting 
the  whole  narration  into  a  chronological  form. 
No  fewer  than  two  or  three  hundred  differ 
ent  chronological  schemes  have  been  proposed, 
all  based  on  calculations  from  the  durations 
of  the  lives  of  the  patriarchs,  and  other  nu 
merical  data  furnished  by  the  Biblical  text. 
The  shortest  of  these  fixes  the  date  of  the 
creation  of  man  at  the  year  B.C.  3483 ;  the 
longest  at  the  year  B.C.  6984 — a  discrepancy 
of  more  than  3,000  years.  The  cause  of  these 
differences  is  the  difference  existing  in  the 
passages  supplying  the  data,  between  the  He 
brew  text  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
Samaritan  text  and  the  Septuagint  version. 
The  chronological  scheme  commonly  adopted 
in  British  tables  of  history,  during  the  last 
two  centuries,  is  that  of  Archbishop  Usher, 
which  fixes  the  epoch  of  the  creation  at  B.C 
4004,  and  that  of  the  deluge  at  B.C.  2348. 

Even  after  passing  beyond  this  first  stage 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  assuming 
whatever  date  for  the  deluge  he  considers 
most  probable,  the  historian  still  encounters 
a  large  tract  of  time,  respecting  which,  iinless 

(5) 


6 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


he  proceeds  implicitly  on  the  information 
given  in  the  Scriptures,  he  must  remain 
totally  silent.  Availing  himself,  however,  of 
those  parts  of  the  Mosaic  record  which  relate 
to  the  repeopling  of  the  world  after  the  deluge, 
he  is  able  to  impart  a  specific  character  to 
this  portion  of  universal  history  which  would 
otherwise  be  wanting.  He  can  conceive  it  as 
the  period  of  the  dispersion  of  mankind  over 
the  earth,  and  of  their  division  into  nations, 
tongues  and  peoples.  And  here,  whatever 
collateral  light  elucidating  the  Mosaic  account 
lie  can  bring  to  his  assistance  so  as  to  vivify 
his  idea  of  human  activity  during  this  tract 
of  time,  must  be  derived,  not  as  before  from 
the  science  of  geology,  but  from  the  so-called 
science  of  ethnology.  /  The  object  of  this 
science  is  to  trace  the  affinity  of  existing  na 
tions  and  tribes  on  the  earth,  by  the  study  of 
their  physiognomical  and  physiological  differ 
ences  and  analogies,  the  differences  and  anal 
ogies  of  their  mental  characteristics,  and  the 
analogies  and  differences  of  their  languages-^- 
BO  as  to  exhibit  their  genealogical  descent, 
and,  if  possible,  refer  them  back  to  several 
original  stocks,  springing  from  one  root.  So 
far  as  this  science  has  yet  gone,  its  great  doc 
trine  is  that,  whatever  independent  reasons 
there  are  for  believing  in  the  original  unity  of 
the  race,  yet,  for  historical  purposes,  we  must 
conceive  to  ourselves  humanity  at  the  dawrn  of 
the  remotest  age  to  which  its  own  unaided 
memory  can  penetrate,  as  consisting,  not  of 
one  perfectly  homogeneous  mass  aggregated  on 
one  spot,  but  of  several  distinct  masses  already 
distributed  more  or  less  densely  over  the  va 
rious  quarters  of  the  earth,  and  each  broken 
into  minor  subdivisions.  In  accordance  with 
this  general  doctrine  of  ethnology,  various 
schemes  have  been  proposed.  One  of  the 
most  distinct  and  convenient  is  that  which 
avers  that,  as  far  back  as  ordinary  records 
carry  us,  we  find  the  earth,  as  now,  divided 
out  among  three  great  stocks  or  varieties  ot 
mankind, — the  Negro  variety  having  the  Af 
rican  continent,  or  the  greater  part  of  it,  for 
their  home ;  the  Mongolian  variety  spread 
over  Northern,  Central,  and  Eastern  Asia. 


and  possibly  also  expatiating  in  America; 
and  the  Caucasian  variety,  possessing  AYe.st 
ern  Asia,  Europe,  and  the  Mediterranean 
margin  of  Africa,  and  subdivided  conspicu 
ously  into — (1.)  the  Semitic  or  Syro-Arabian 
family,  clustered  together  in  the  Western  re 
gion  of  Asia,  between  the  Tigris  and  the 
Mediterranean,  and  in  the  adjacent  parts  of 
Africa;  and  (2.)  the  Japetic  or  Indo-Eu 
ropean  family,  more  widely  distributed  in  the 
remaining  Caucasian  parts  of  Asia  and  Af 
rica,  and  over  all  Europe.  According,  then, 
to  ethnology,  the  business  of  the  historian 
proper  commences  at  that  point  of  time  at 
which,  so  far  as  we  have  information,  the 
whole  or  the  greater  part  of  the  earth's  sur 
face  can  be  conceived  as  overspread  by  human 
inhabitants  of  one  or  other  of  the  three  main 
types  still  existing — Negroes,  Mongolians,  or 
Caucasians ; — these  human  inhabitants  thinly 
dispersed  perhaps  in  some  parts  as  mere  loose 
and  roaming  tribes,  but  in  others  showing  a 
tendency  to  aggregate  themselves  into  those 
larger  consolidations  which  we  call  nations. 
Accepting  the  common  chronology,  he  may 
fix  this  point,  if  he  pleases,  at  about  B.C. 
2000.  At  that  far  distant  period  it  does  ap 
pear  as  if  the  earth  had  been  tolerably  well 
overspread  by  human  beings  arranged  very 
much  as  they  nowr  are — Negroes  in  Africa, 
south  of  Mount  Atlas ;  Mongolians  in  Cen 
tral,  Northern,  and  Eastern  Asia ;  and  Can-, 
casians  in  "Western  Asia,  Northern  Africa, 
and  Europe  ;  and  as  if  already  at  these  points 
these  human  beings  had  begun  to  form  them 
selves  into  compact  national  masses. 

It  is  now  with  communities  and  nations 
that  the  historian  has  to  deal ;  and  not  till 
the  earth  furnishes  him  with,  at  least,  one 
such  community  or  nation  on  which  he  can 
fasten  his  attention,  does  his  work  properly 
commence. 

Now,  here  aga:n,  there  are  differences 
among  historians.  Some  believe  that,  by 
means  of  records  and  monuments,  we  can 
carry  back  the  histories  of  certain  ancient 
nations  as  far  as  B.C.  2000,  if  not  farther; 
others,  more  sceptical,  doubt  if  we  can  go  as 


INTRODUCTORY. 


far  back  as  B.C.  1000,  or  even  B.C.  800,  and 
regard  the  traditions  of  events  and  the  lists 
of  kings,  etc.,  by  means  of  which  certain  of 
the  ancient  nations  pushed  the  retrospect  of 
their  own  respective  histories  beyond  that 
point,  as  nothing  more  than  mythology  and 
legend.  Of  late  this  historical  scepticism 
has  certainly  been  exaggerated ;  and  the  re 
searches  of  archaeologists  seem  gradually  to 
be  verifying  the  belief  that,  though  on  the 
whole  the  period  between  B.C.  2000  and 
B.C.  800  is  the  domain  of  mythology,  yet 
even  in  that  period  we  can  lay  down,  as  it 
were,  a  causeway  of  solid  fact  respecting  cer 
tain  individual  nations. 

"Without  entering  on  the  controversy,  let 
us  enumerate  those  nations  which,  by  general 
consent  hitherto,  have  been  reckoned  as  the 
most  ancient  in  the  world,  and,  as  such,  the 
objects  of  the  historian's  solicitude :  1.  In 
the  great  expanse  of  negro  humanity,  con 
ceived  as  possessing  Southern  and  Central 
Africa  from  time  immemorial,  the  only  na 
tive  consolidation  that  presents  itself  in  early 
times  with  even  a  possible  claim  on  the  sepa 
rate  attention  of  the  historian  is  that  of  the 
Bo-called  Ethiopians,  of  whom  we  hear  as  a 
very  ancient  nation  lying  far  inland  beyond 
Upper  Egypt.  2.  Glancing  over  the  vast 
Mongolian  tracts  of  Asia  and  America,  the 
historian  encounters  glimpses  here  and  there 
at  an  early  period  of  nations  or  aggregates 
of  tribes  under  the  vague  names  of  Scyth 
ians  and  the  like ;  but  the  only  permanent 
and  important  consolidation,  whose  antiquity, 
as  maintained  by  itself,  he  feels  bound  to 
investigate,  is  the  Chinese.  The  Mexicans 
and  Peruvians  of  America  do  not  come  into 
view  till  comparatively  modern  times ;  so 
that,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  America  is 
excluded  from  ancient  history.  3.  Passing 
to  the  Caucasian  regions  of  Western  and 
Southern  Asia,  Northern  Africa  and  Europe, 
the  historian  is  struck  by  the  difference  which 
these  regions  present.  Here,  instead  of  one 
nation  looming  into  view,  he  finds  a  number 
of  distinct  nations  contemporaneously  or  in 
swift  succession  competing  for  his  notice. 


First,  far  to  the  east,  and  to  a  great  extent 
isolated  from  the  rest,  are  the  Indians,  a 
primeval  mass  of  the  Japetic  or  Indo-Euro 
pean  race,  at  least  claiming  a  high  antiquity, 
which,  like  that  of  the  Chinese,  requires  to 
be  investigated.  Next,  clustered  together  in 
what  we  have  defined  as  the  Semitic  or 
Syro-Arabian  portion  of  the  general  Cau 
casian  area — i.e.,  in  Western  Asia,  between 
the  Mediterranean  and  the  Tigris,  and  in  the 
adjacent  parts  of  Africa — are  a  group  of 
Semitic  nations,  among  which  the  most  con 
spicuous  are  the  Egyptians,  the  Hebrews,  the 
Phoanicians,  and  the  Assyrians  and  Babyl 
onians.  Lastly,  in  the  remaining  Indo-Euro 
pean  portions  of  Asia,  a  little  later  in  point 
of  time,  Japetic  nations,  such  as  the  Medes 
and  Persians  of  the  Iranian  table-land,  and 
the  Lydians  of  Asia  Minor,  are  discerned 
rising  into  importance ;  while,  if  the  atten 
tion  is  extended  into  Europe,  the  beginnings 
of  such  nations  as  the  Greeks,  the  Etruscans, 
etc.,  are  at  the  same  time  visible. 

The  first  portion  or  division  of  universal 
history,  therefore,  is  that  which  collects  and 
narrates  all  that  can  be  ascertained  respecting 
the  origin  and  early  transactions  of  these 
primeval  consolidations  of  mankind  on  the 
earth's  surface,  up  to  that  point  at  which 
their  histories  cease  to  be  separate,  and  ap 
pear  to  become  involved,  to  some  extent,  at 
least,  in  one  general  movement,  the  tracing 
of  which  may  more  properly  be  made  the 
business  of  the  remaining  parts  of  history. 
Now  there  can  be  no  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  the  geographical  region  in  which  tliia 
general  movement  presented  itself — the  first 
heavings,  as  it  were,  of  humanity  in  its  efforts 
to  assume  that  common  course  which  it  was 
to  maintain  throughout  all  time.  It  was  not 
in  Negro  Africa,  it  was  not  in  Mongolian 
Asia,  it  was  not  Japetic  Europe ;  it  was,  be 
yond  all  question,  in  that  portion  of  Western 
Asia,  adjacent  Africa  included,  which  we 
still  think  of  most  when  we  speak  of  the 
"  Oriental  nations,"  and  in  which,  as  we  have 
just  stated,  a  cluster  of  distinguished  Semitic 
nations  was  in  contact  with  one  or  two  Jap 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


ctic  ones,  or  rather  with  the  elements  of  such. 
Every  schoolboy  knows  that  the  Indians  and 
the  Chinese,  whatever  their  antiquity  and 
importance,  stand  apart  and  isolated,  to  a 
great  extent,  from  the  regular  course  of 
ancient  history,  sc  far  as  we  can  trace  it; 
and  that  the  true  beginnings  of  "  world-his 
tory,'"  as  such,  are  to  be  sought  for  among 
the  mutual  conflicts  of  these  famous  nations 
clustered  together  in  smaller  masses  in  that 
portion  of  the  East  beyond  or  near  the  Le 
vant,  where,  as  Napoleon  alleged,  the  human 
soul  had  ever  throbbed  most  powerfully — the 
Egyptians,  the  Hebrews,  the  Phoenicians,  the 
Assyrians  and  Babylonians,  the  Medes  and 
Persians.  When  we  attempt  to  fix,  however, 
Jie  date  or  epoch  at  which  we  are  to  account 
.he  mere  separate  histories  of  these  nations 
1,0  have  ended,  and  the  general  movement  to 
have  begun,  there  is  greater  room  for  differ 
ence.  From  the  earliest  times  of  which  we 
have  any  glimpse,  these  nations,  or  at  least 
the  Semitic  ones,  were  warring  with  each 
other  and  making  conquests.  We  hear  of 
early  Egyptian  conquests,  of  early  Assyrian 
conquests,  and  even  of  early  Ethiopian  con 
quests.  The  Assyrians,  in  particular,  stand 
forth  in  our  schemes  of  universal  history  as 
the  first  people  who  pursued  a  regular  and 
known  career,  aiming  at  the  subjugation  and 
political  combination  of  the  elements  that 
lay  around  them.  In  our  traditional  schemes 
of  universal  history  we  have  presented  to  us 
three  successive  Assyrian  monarchies — the 
first  beginning  shortly  after  the  period  as 
signed  to  the  Deluge,  and  ending  somewhere 
about  B.C.  2000,  when  a  conqueror,  Ninus, 
extended  it  immensely  so  as  to  form  a  great 
empire  with  Nineveh  for  its  capital;  the 
second,  beginning  at  the  date  of  this  Ninus, 
and  lasting  till  the  death  of  a  luxurious  mon 
arch  called  Sardanapalus,  B.C.  876,  when 
the  empire  Yras  dismembered  ;  and  the  third, 
a  monarchy  of  lesser  dimensions,  founded 
amid  the  ruins  of  the  second,  and  lasting  till 
the  destruction  of  Nineveh,  B.C.  606,  by  its 
subjects  the  Medes  and  Babylonians,  under 
he  Babylonian  viceroy  Nabopolassar.  After 


this  event,  according  to  the  same  schemes  of 
history,  the  unity  of  historic  interest  is  cen 
tered  in  the  so-called  Babylonian  Monarchy, 
founded  by  Nabopolassar,  and  maintained 
and  extended  by  his  son  Nebuchadnezzar  and 
other  successors,  till  the  year  B.C.  538,  when 
the  Medes  and  Persians,  who  had  in  the 
meantime  risen  to  a  position  of  some  im 
portance,  captured  Babylon,  and  began  a 
new  Oriental  rule.  Now  the  historian,  after 
due  investigation,  may,  if  he  chooses,  date 
the  commencement  of  world-history  as  ruch, 
either  from  the  last  Assyrian  Monarchy,  or 
from  the  Babylonian  Monarchy  which  suc 
ceeded  it.  For  many  reasons,  however,  in 
the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  it  seems 
to  us  that  it  would  be  better  to  regard  the 
general  political  movement  of  the  human 
race  as  beginning  rather  at  the  point  where 
for  the  first  time  the  mastery  is  seen  trans 
ferred  to  a  nation  of  the  Japetic  or  Indo- 
European  race — i.  <?.,  at  the  overthrow  of  the 
Babylonian  empire  by  the  Medes  and  Per 
sians,  B.C.  538 — and  the  establishment  of 
that  Medo-Persian  empire,  which,  in  the 
hands  of  Cyrus  the  Great  (died  B.C.  529) 
and  his  successors  Cambyses  (B.C.  529-521) 
and  Darius  (B.C.  521-485),  became  organ 
ized  by  farther  conquests,  in  which  the 
Lydians  were  included,  into  the  vast  combi 
nation  known  as  the  Persian  Empire.  Ac 
cording  to  this  view,  Cyrus  is  the  first  hero 
of  universal  history  as  such ;  and  the  Per 
sians  are  the  first  to  lead  the  march  of  the 
general  historic  evolution.  The  best  arrange 
ment,  then,  for  the  purposes  of  universal 
history,  is  to  constitute,  in  the  first  place,  a 
great  division  by  itself,  under  the  name  of 
Primeval  Ancient  History ;  assigning  to  this 
division  the  dutv  of  stating  what  can  be  a»- 

*/  o 

certained  respecting  the  beginnings  of  those 
early  consolidations  of  the  race  which  we 
have  enumerated,  and  of  narrating  their 
several  histories,  either  in  parallel  lines  where 
they  keep  separate,  or  otherwise  where  they 
commingle,  on  to  that  point  (say  the  reign  of 
Darius)  where  they  merge  in  the  authentic 
unity  of  the  Persian  empire. 


INTBODUCTORY. 


Beyond  this,  the  historian's  course  is  so 
clear  that  it  may  be  indicated  briefly.  The 
Persian  monarchy,  including  all  Asia  from 
the  Indus  to  the  ^Egean,  precipitated  itself 
upon  Europe,  thus  determining  that  the 
world's  pedigree  should  be  continued  through 
the  Japetic  nations  of  thb  West.  When 
Darius  (B.C.  490)  attempted  to  conquer  the 
Greeks,  the  earth  changed  its  historic  centre. 
The  Greek  and  Hellenic  race,  already  so 
nobly  prepared  for  its  honorable  office,  was 
inaugurated  into  that  office  at  the  battle  of 
Marathon ;  and  for  a  considerable  period  on 
ward  the  main  thread  of  universal  history  has 
to  be  traced  in  the  history  of  Greece.  This 
history,  of  which  the  Graeco-Macedonian  do 
minion  of  Alexander  the  Great  and  his  suc 
cessors  may  be  viewed  as  a  prolongation  un 
der  different  conditions  from  those  which 
existed  while  the  Athenians,  the  Lacedaemo 
nians,  the  Thebans,  etc.,  acted  as  separate  or 
as  confederate  states,  closes  with  the  appear 
ance  of  the  Romans  as  a  conquering  people 
out  of  Italy.  Transferring  its  regards  to  this 
imperial  people,  the  universal  historian  has  a 
clear  path  in  Roman  History,  as  far  as  the 
fourth  or  fifth  century  of  our  era ;  at  which 
point,  by  general  consent,  Ancient  History 
closes,  in  the  disintegration  of  the  Roman 
empire  by  the  Northern  races,  and  the  com 
mencement  of  a  new  order  of  things. 

Onward  from  this  point  there  is  no  theo 
retical  difficulty,  though  the  complexity  of 
the  movement,  arising  from  the  multitude  of 
the  nations  taking  part  in  it,  may  occasion  a 
practical  one  to  the  historian.  Modern  His 
tory,  commencing  say  at  the  year  395  of  the 
Christian  era,  when  the  Roman  empire,  on 
the  death  of  Theodosius,  was  permanently 
divided  into  the  two  empires  of  the  East  and 
the  West,  consists  as  we  all  know  of  two 
parts, — Medieval  History,  which  carries  on 
the  general  movement  from  A.  D.  395,  at 
which  time  the  empire  of  the  West  was  already 
tottering  before  the  attacks  of  the  Goths  and 
other  Germanic  peoples,  to  A.D.  1453,  when 
the  taking  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks 
put  an  end  to  the  long-surviving  empire  of 


the  East ;  and  Recent  Modern  History,  carry 
ing  on  the  movement  from  A.D.  1453  to  the 
present  time.  Under  both  these  heads,  by 
keeping  up  with  due  skill  the  distinction  be 
tween  the  History  of  the  West  and  the  History 
of  the  East,  the  historian  is  able  to  include 
everything  in  its  proper  place.  Thus,  under 
Medieval  History,  the  "  History  of  the  West," 
commencing  with  a  survey  of  the  Roman 
empire  of  the  West  at  the  period  of  its  decay, 
then  passes  on  to  an  account  of  the  Germanic 
peoples  who  were  to  be  its  destroyers,  details 
the  actions  of  these  peoples  in  disrupting  the 
empire,  and  forming  the  new  societies  of 
France,  Italy,  Spain,  Britain,  Germany,  etc., 
and  conducts  the  conjoint  story  of  these  socie 
ties  through  the  eras  of  Charlemagne,  Ililde- 
brand,  etc.,  to  the  era  of  the  Reformation ; 
while  the  History  of  the  East  includes  the  his 
tory  during  the  same  period  of  the  Byzantine 
empire,  the  related  histories  of  the  Arabs,  Tar 
tars,  and  Turks,  and  to  some  extent  that  of 
the  Slavonian  Nations.  So,  under  Recent 
Modern  History,  there  may  be  assigned  to 
the  department  of  the  West  all  the  transac 
tions,  national  and  international,  of  the  occi 
dental  nations  of  Europe  since  1453,  includ 
ing,  as  an  important  part  of  the  story,  an 
account  of  their  colonizing  energies  as  exhib 
ited  in  Africa,  Asia,  and  above  all  in  Amer 
ica — now  for  the  first  time  added  to  the  the 
atre  of  history ;  while  to  the  department  of 
the  East  may  be  assigned  the  narration  of 
Turkish  domination,  and  of  interrupting  Per 
sian  conquests,  together  with  the  necessary 
survey  up  to  the  present  hour  of  the  rest  of 
native  Asia. 

The  main  sources  of  history  may  be  ar 
ranged,  in  the  order  of  their  importance,  as 
follows  : — 1.  Written  or  otherwise  registered 
laws  and  treaties ;  in  which  are  embodied  in 
their  order,  the  deliberate  determinations  of 
nations  with  respect  to  the  successive  exigen 
cies,  internal  and  external,  through  which 
they  passed.  This  source  is  available  chiefly 
for  the  history  of  modern  nations ;  only  scraps 
of  the  laws  and  treaties  of  the  ancient  nation? 
remaining  to  us  in  their  original  form.  2 


10 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Public  contemporary  registers  of  notable  oc 
currences.  These,  in  the  express  documen 
tary  form,  are  also  most  numerous  for  modern 
nations ;  but,  for  ancient  times,  facts  may  be 
often  ascertained,  and  dates  may  be  fixed, 
from  monumental  inscriptions,  coins,  medals, 
etc.  3.  More  general  accounts  of  national 
transactions,  given  by  those  who  have  recorded 
them,  and  especially  by  contemporaries  and 
eye-witnesses.  A  large  proportion  of  what 
are  called  the  "  original  materials  "  of  all  his 
tories  consists  of  such  accounts,  which  are  to 
be  examined  and  checked  by  each  other.  4. 
Authentic  accounts  of  the  physiognomies, 
lives,  and  characters  of  eminent  men,  and  es 
pecially  of  eminent  public  men,  visibly  con 
nected  with  national  transactions.  5.  Re 
maining  works  of  art,  and  the  whole  surviving 
literature  of  a  nation,  for  the  period  con 
cerned,  both  as  exhibiting  the  national  ten 
dencies  and  modes  of  thinking,  and  also  as 
embodying  incidentally  particles  of  historical 
fact.  G.  All  miscellaneous  sources  of  informa 
tion  respecting  customs,  costumes,  food,  furni 
ture,  occupations,  etc.,  etc. ;  under  which  head, 
if  not  under  some  of  the  preceding,  might  be 
included  busts,  portraits,  topographical  views, 
engravings,  and  the  like.  One  may  also  note 
here  the  occasional  possibility  that  there  is  of 
rendering  a  narrative  of  past  actions  more 
vivid  by  actually  visiting  remarkable  locali 
ties,  buildings,  etc.,  or  museums  of  antiqui 
ties.  Here  the  historian  can  communicate 
through  his  senses  with  actual  remnants  of 
the  past.  A  battle-field  is  a  portion  of  the 
earth's  surface,  retaining,  as  it  were,  the  scar 
of  the  action  which  passed  over  it ;  an  old 
castle  or  street  is,  as  it  were,  the  shell  once 
filled  with  an  old  form  of  life ;  a  suit  of  ar 
mor  with  a  bullet-hole  in  it  suggests  more 
accurately  the  warrior  who  moved  and  fought 
within  it.  The  most  extensive  use  of  this 
help  to  history  is  in  travelling  over  countries 
which  were  the  scenes  of  great  events,  so  as 
to  realize  the  permanent  features  of  their 
scenery,  whether  geological,  botanical,  or  ar 
tificial. 
Passing  our  eye  along  the  course  of  uni 


versal  literature,  we  may  enumerate  those 
who,  according  to  the  general  judgment  of 
their  own  and  of  other  nations,  have  dis 
tinguished  themselves  most  in  the  depart 
ment  of  history,  and  may  therefore  take 
their  places  in  the  list  of  the  chief  historians 
of  the  world : 

I.  PRIMEVAL  HISTORIANS. —  Here   the  sa 
cred  historians  of  the  Old  Testament  stand 
alone  ;  and  it  is  from  them,  in  conjunction 
with  the  retrospective  narratives  of  some  of 
the  Greek  historians,  especially  Herodotus, 
and  in  conjunction  also  with  archaeological 
research,  as  in  the  investigation  of  the  monu 
ments  of  Egypt,  and  of  those  recently  disin 
terred  at  Nineveh  (and  probably  the  same 
process  may  be  yet  applied  to  many  others 
of  the  famous  sites  of  ancient  Oriental  civili 
zation),  that  all  our  historical  knowledge  of 
primeval  times  is  to  be  derived. 

II.  CLASSICAL    HISTORIANS. —  (1.)    Greek 
Historical  Writers. — This  list  is  headed  by 
Herodotus,  the  "  Father  of  History,"  and  a 
man  whose  name  the  whole  human  race  is 
bound  to  hold  in  reverence,  as  that  of  one  of 
the  truest  men  of  genius  that  e^er   lived 
Then  come,  in  order,  Thucydides,  Xenophon, 
Polybius,  Dionysius  of  Ilalicarnassus,  Dio- 
dorus  Siculus,  Arrian,  and  Plutarch ;  to  whom 
may  be  added  the  Jewish  historian  Joseplms, 
and    the    ecclesiastical    historian    Eusebius. 
(2.)  Latin  Historical    Writers. —  The   most 
illustrious  names  in  this  list  are  those  of  Sal- 
lust,  Julius  Caesar,  Livy,  Suetonius,  and  Tac 
itus  ;  but  other  minor  names  might  be  added. 
Livy  and  Tacitus  are  pre-eminently  the  Ro 
man  historians. 

III.  MEDIEVAL   HISTORIANS.  —  (1.)  Latin 
Historians  of  tJie  Western  Nations. — A  vast 
proportion  of  the  medieval   history  of   the 
western  nations  is  buried  in  the  legends  or 
lives  of  the  saints  ;  but  each  nation  had  its 
independent  chroniclers  of  political  and  eccle 
siastical  events,  some  of  whom  rose  to  the 
dignity  of  historians.    Among  these  Gregory 
of  Tours,  who  lived  in  the  Merovingian  times 
of  the  Prankish   monarchy,  and  wrote  an 
Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  Franks,   de- 


INTRODUCTOEY. 


11 


serves  mention.  There  were  also  some  not 
able  chroniclers  and  biographical  writers  in 
the  age  of  Charlemagne ;  and  France  pro 
duced  some  good  contemporary  historians  of 
the  Crusades.  ]S"o  country,  however,  was 
richer  in  historical  writers  during  the  middle 
ages  than  England.  The  venerable  Bede,  in 
the  eighth  century,  was  a  man  of  true  his 
torical  genius ;  and  to  the  twelfth,  thirteenth, 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  belonged 
a  series  of  able  Latin  chroniclers,  of  whom 
the  most  distinguished  are  Geoffrey  of  Mon- 
mouth,  "William  of  Malmesbury,  Matthew 
Paris,  Iligden,  Knighton,  and  "Walsingham. 
The  Scottish  historian  Fordun  belongs  to  the 
fifteenth  century.  (2.)  Byzantine  Histori- 
o/)i$. — Under  this  name  is  included  a  consi 
derable  series  of  rather  petty  writers,  natives 
of  the  Greek  or  Eastern  Empire,  from  its 
separation  from  the  "West  to  its  final  destruc 
tion  by  the  Turks.  Among  these  were  Pro- 
copius,  Agathius,  Menander,  John  of  Ephi- 
phania,  Theophylactus,  Simocatta,  and  the 
well-known  Anna  Comnena,  daughter  of  the 
Emperor  Alexius  Comnenus.  (3.)  Oriental 
Historians. — In  the  remarkable  development 
of  the  literary  genius  of  the  Arabs,  conse 
quent  upon  the  impulse  given  to  the  race  by 
Mohammed,  history  was  not  neglected.  The 
Spanish  Arabs  had  their  special  historians ; 
and  Turkish  and  Persian  historians  of  the 
middle  ages  are  also  mentioned.  Of  Indian 
and  Chinese  historians  we  can  say  nothing, 
though  these  were  not  wanting. 

IY.  MODERN  HISTORIANS. — Since  the  rise 
of  the  vernacular  literatures  of  the  various 
modern  nations  of  Europe,  we  are  able  to 
count  a  number  of  distinguished  men  in 
each,  who  have  devoted  themselves,  some 
exclusively,  others  in  part,  to  historical  writ 
ing,  and  have  there  won  their  literary  laurels. 
(1.)  English  Historical  Writers.  —  Among 
these,  passing  over  such  valuable  early  chron 
iclers  as  Holingshed  and  Stow,  and  such  met 
rical  historians  as  Barbour  and  Wyntoun,  may 
be  mentioned — Knollys ;  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
in  virtue  of  liis  History  of  the  World /  Ba 
con,  in  virtue  of  his  History  of  the  Reign  of 


Henry  VII. ;  and  Shakspeare  himself,  in 
virtue  of  his  historical  plays,  called,  by 
himself  and  his  contemporaries,  Histories. 
Next  (passing  over  minor  names)  may  be 
mentioned  the  party-historians  Clarendon  and 
Burnet ;  succeeded  by  the  splendid  series  of 
British  historical  writers  of  the  eighteenth 

O 

century  —  Swift,  Defoe,  Hume,  Smollett, 
"Warton,  Lord  Lyttelton,  Lord  Hailes,  Dr 
Henry,  Dr,  Robertson,  and  Edward  Gibbon. 
All  in  all,  Gibbon,  in  virtue  both  of  the  im 
mensity  of  his  task,  and  of  the  admirable 
industry  and  art  with  which  it  was  executed, 
has  the  highest  place  assigned  to  him  among 
British  writers  of  history ;  and  he  is  in  many 
respects,  though  not  in  all,  the  type  of  a  great 
historian.  After  the  time  of  Gibbon  no  man 
had  a  more  powerful  influence  on  the  histor 
ical  literature,  not  of  Britain  alone  but  of  all 
Europe,  than  Sir  "Walter  Scott ;  all  the  efforts 
of  whose  genius  were,  in  a  sense,  historical, 
and  some  of  whose  works,  though  not  his 
best,  were  expressly  histories.  Historical 
writers  contemporary  with  Scott,  and  each 
having  characteristic  excellences,  were  James 
Mill  and  Mackintosh ;  and  coming  down  tc 
our  own  generation,  what  a  constellation  in 
our  historical  literature  (we  shall  not  attempt 
to  classify  the  stars  according  to  their  magni 
tudes)  is  represented  by  the  names  of  Tytler, 
and  Arnold,  and  Alison,  and  Napier,  and  Ma- 
caulay,  and  Carlyle,  and  Thirlwall,  and  Grote 
and  Milman,  and  Hallam,  and  Merivale,  and 
Froude.  Belonging  to  the  same  constella 
tion,  in  virtue  of  the  language  in  which  they 
write,  are  the  American  historians,  Washing 
ton  Irving,  Bancroft,  Prescott,  and  Motley. 
(2.)  French  Historical  Writers. — In  this  list, 
which  may  be  considered  to  begin  with  De 
Yille  Hardouin  and  De  Joinville  in  the  thir 
teenth  century,  the  greatest  names  in  times 
anterior  to  the  Revolution,  are  those  of  the 
vivid  and  picturesque  Froissart,  Philip  De 
Comines,  Thuanus  (who,  however,  wrote  in 
Latin),  D'Aubigne,  Brantome,  Peiefixe,  Sully, 
the  Jesuit  Daniel,  Yertot,  Rollin,  the  illus 
trious  Bossuet,  Basnage,  Fleury,  Rapin,  St. 
Simon,  Du  Cange,  Yoltaire,  Montesquieu, 


12 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Raynal,  and  Rulhieres ;  to  whom,  since  the 
Revolution,  have  been  added,  besides  many 
of  inferior  note,  such  men  as  Sismondi,  Bar 
ante,  Guizot,  Capefigue,  the  two  Thierrys, 
Mignet,  Michaud,  Thiers,  Michelet,  Merimee, 
Lamartine,  and  Louis  Blanc.  In  no  depart 
ment  of  literature  has  France  recently  been 
BO  prolific  as  in  history ;  and  perhaps,  on  the 
whole,  no  other  country  has  such  a  cluster  of 
eminent  living  historians.  At  the  head  of 
what  is  perhaps  the  most  characteristic  school 
of  French  historians — i.e.,  those  who  are 
distinguished  by  their  passion  for  liistorical 
generalization,  as  well  as  their  mere  powers 
of  narration — stands  M.  Guizot.  (3.)  Italian 
Historical  Writers. — Of  these  the  chief  are, 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  Macchiavelli  and 
Guicciardini,  with  some  lesser  men,  siich  as 
Varchi,  Bembo,  Sarpi,  and  Davanzati ;  and 
in  more  recent  times,  Davila,  Maffei,  Mura- 
tori,  Tiraboschi,  Botta,  Micali,  Bossi,  Col- 
letta,  and  Pignotti.  (4.)  German  Historical 
Writers. — Passing  the  Magdeburg  centuri- 
ators  and  other  ecclesiastical  historians  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  who  wrote  in  Latin,  we 
have  to  come  down  to  the  eighteenth  cen 
tury  for  any  German  historical  writers  of  im 
portance.  To  that  century  belong  Heyne, 
Schwekh,  and  other  contributors  to  a  Uni 


versal  History  then  published ;  to  whom  have 
succeeded  such  men  as  Eiclihorn,  Miiller,  the 
great  Niebuhr,  Ileeren,  Schlosser,  Rotteck, 
Menzel,  Lappenburg,  Yon  Hammer,  Raumer, 
Neander,  Ranke,  Bunsen,  Curtius,  and 
Mommsen.  In  "  learned  "  history,  and  in  pa 
tient  research,  the  Germans  are  unparalleled. 
(5.)  Spanish  Historical  Writers. —  Among 
their  chief  historians  the  Spaniards  reckon 
Palencia,  Bernal  Diaz,  Pedro  Martyr,  and 
Yalera,  in  the  sixteenth  century ;  Morales, 
Mendosa,  Mariana,  Ilerrera,  La  Puente,  and 
De  Solis,  in  the  seventeenth ;  since  which 
time  Spain  has  produced  as  little  in  history 
as  in  other  kinds  of  literature.  (6.)  Histor 
ical  Writers  of  the  Scandinavian  Countries 
—The  Danes  count  among  their  eminent  his 
torians  Gram,  Holberg,  Mailing,  Moller,  and 
Grundtvig ;  the  Swedes  count  among  theirs 
Tegel,  Dalin,  Botin,  and  Silferstolpe.  (7.) 
Slavonian  Historical  Writers. — Among  the 
most  celebrated  Russian  historians,  after 
Nestor,  a  monk  of  the  twelfth  century,  are 
Tatischeff  and  Karamsin.  The  Poles  have 
had  not  a  few  eminent  historians ;  and  Pal- 
acky  is  the  greatest  historian  of  the  Bohe 
mians.  (8.)  Greek  Historical  Writers. — 
Of  modern  Greek  liistorical  writers  the  most 
distinguished  is  Tricoupi. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD, 


13 


ASIA 


A    GENEKAL    VIEW. 


n  HIS  division  of  the  globe  is  distinguished 
JL  by  its  vast  extent ;  by  the  striking  char 
acter  of  its  interior  geography ;  above  all  by  the 
stupendous  revolutions  of  which  it  has  been 
the  scene  ;  and,  lastly,  by  the  high  antiquity 
of  its  civilization,  of  which  we  can  still 
faintly  trace  the  precious  remains.  Stretch 
ing  from  the  southern  hemisphere  into  the 
northern  regions  of  perpetual  winter,  it 
comprises  within  its  bounds  the  opposite  ex 
tremes  of  heat  and  cold ;  an  immense  variety 
consequently  of  the  animal  and  vegetable 
tribes ;  and  that  still  more  interesting  variety 
which  the  irresistible  law  of  climate  im 
presses  on  the  human  species.  The  surface 
of  Asia,  towering  to  its  height  far  above  the 
regions  of  perpetual  snow,  presents,  when 
superficially  examined,  a  confused  mass  of 
lofty  mountains,  diverging  into  an  endless 
variety  of  inferior  ridges,  apparently  without 
plan  or  system.  But  a  more  attentive  sur 
vey  discloses,  amid  the  bold  irregularities  of 
nature,  the  same  order  and  unity  of  design 
in  the  structure  of  this  great  continent,  as  in 
all  the  other  works  of  creation. 

Asia  was  the  earliest  abode  of  the  human 
race  ;  and,  wher  all  the  other  parts  of  the 
world  wrere  either  uninhabited  or  sunk  in 
barbarism,  it  was  the  seat  of  great  empires 
and  of  flourishing  and  splendid  cities,  of 
commerce,  of  literature,  and  of  ah1  the  arts 
of  civilized  life.  But  its  early  prosperity 
was  blighted  by  the  ruthless  devastations 
of  war ;  its  populous  cities  were  utterly 
destroyed,  so  that  the  spot  on  which  many  of 


them  stood  is  now  only  marked  by  masses  oi 
ruins ;  their  arts  and  literature  have  perished ; 
and  in  such  fragments  of  their  writing  as  still 
survive,  the  meaning  is  buried  under  the 
almost  impenetrable  veil  of  an  ancient  and 
unknown  character. 

The  name  of  Asia  was  at  first  applied  by 
Homer  and  others  of  the  ancient  poets  and 
historians  to  a  small  district  of  Lydia,  occu 
pied  by  a  tribe  called  Asiones,  who  inhabited 
a  city  of  the  name  of  Asia.  The  Greeks, 
gradually  enlarging  their  discoveries  in  those 
eastern  countries,  still  retained  the  original 
name,  until  it  embraced  the  whole  of  Asia 
Minor  and  the  countries  to  the  east ,  and  it 
was  at  last  applied  to  all  the  vast  regions 
which  subsequent  discoveries  have  brought 
to  light. 

The  limits  of  Asia  are  in  some  cases 
marked  out  by  nature,  and  admit  of  no  dis 
pute  ;  in  other  parts  they  are  not  very  clearly 
defined,  and  have  been  differently  settled  by 
geographers,  according  to  their  own  notions 
of  propriety  or  distinctness. 

The  continent  of  Asia  extends  over  77 
degrees  of  latitude,  or  one-fifth  of  the  periph 
ery  of  the  globe,  and  in  the  latitude  of  the 
Dardanelles,  over  128  degrees  of  longitude, 
or  very  nearly  one-third  of  the  circumference 
of  the  globe  under  that  circle.  Asia  is 
bounded  in  the  north  by  the  Arctic  Ocean,  in 
the  east  by  Behring's  Strait,  which  separates 
it  from  America,  and  by  the  Sea  of  Kani- 
tschatka,  the  Sea  of  Okhotsk,  the  Sea  of 
Japan,  the  Yellow  Sea,  and  lastly,  the  Tong 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


Ilai,  or  East  Sea.  But  the  Japanese  and 
several  other  groups  of  smaller  islands,  being 
appurtenances  of  the  continent,  it  is  evident 
that  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  is  the  real 
eastern  boundary  of  Asia.  The  southern 
limits  are  the  Chinese  Sea,  the  Strait  of 
Malacca,  the  Gulf  of  Bengal,  the  Arabic  Sea, 
the  Gulf  of  Oman,  and  the  Gulf  of  Aden ; 
the  latter  four  being  limbs  of  the  Indian 
Ocean.  The  great  Indian  islands,  the  Phil 
ippines,  Borneo,  Sumatra,  Java,  Celebes,  the 
Spice  and  Sunda  islands,  and  all  those  smaller 
ones  which,  dotting  the  Sea  of  Banda,  ex 
tend  as  far  as  the  shores  of  New  Guinea,  are 
now  generally  reckoned  to  Asia,  with  which, 
indeed,  they  are  so  intimately  connected  by 
ethnological,  religious,  commercial,  and  polit 
ical  ties,  that  we  are  bound  to  consider  them 
as  appurtenances  of  that  great  continent.  Asia 
consequently  extends  in  the  south-east  to  the 
very  threshold  of  Australia,  or  Oceanica,  but 
there  are  no  natural  limits  separating  them 
into  two  distinct  portions  of  the  globe.  In 
physical  geography,  all  or  most  of  those  islands 
form  one  vast  volcanic  group  with  the  other 
islands  along  the  east  coast  of  Asia,  the  pen 
insula  of  Kamtschatka  included.  The  limits 
of  Asia  in  the  "W.  are,  the  Red  Sea,  which 
separates  it  from  Africa,  the  Mediterranean, 
the  Dardanelles,  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  the 
Bosphorus,  and  the  Black  Sea,  on  the  side  of 
Southern  Europe  ;  and  the  Ural  and  the 
Caucasus,  on  the  side  of  Eastern  Europe. 

Asia  contains  a  larger  area  than  any  of  the 
Other  divisions  of  the  globe,  viz.,  including 
its  islands,  17,000,000  square  geographical 
miles ;  the  area  of  America  being  15,000,000, 
that  of  Africa  about  14,000,000,  and  that  of 
Europe  3,775,429. 

The  surface  of  this  vast  continent  is  ex 
ceedingly  varied.  In  some  places  it  towers 
in  stupendous  mountains,  forming  four  great 
chains,  with  subordinate  branches,  of  differ 
ent  names.  It  often  exhibits  vast  plateaux 
or  elevated  table-lands,  of  prodigious  extent ; 
in  other  points  it  stretches  in  plains  little 
elevated  above  the  level  of  the  ocean  ;  while 
in  certain  points  it  presents  enormous  hollows 


or  depressions  that  are  lower  than  the  surface 
of  the  Black  Sea.  Ilumboldt  computes  tho 
superficies  of  all  Asia  at  1,34G,000  geograph 
ical  square  leagues.  Of  this  a  large  pro 
portion  is  mountainous,  or  raised  in  elevated 
plains. 

The  northern  portion  of  Asia  consists  of  a 
series  of  plains  divided  by  mountains  of 
small  elevation,  forming  the  comparatively 
low  land  of  Siberia,  intersected  by  several 
large  rivers,  and  occupied  often  by  extensive 
swamps.  This  region  is  estimated  at  about 
400,000  square  leagues.  The  central  part  of 
Asia,  still  imperfectly  known  to  Europe,  waa 
till  lately  conceived  to  be  one  vast  table-land, 
of  irregular  form,  buttressed  on  every  side 
by  lofty  mountains  ;  but  it  now  appears,  on 
the  contrary,  to  be  traversed  by  long  moun 
tain  chains. 

Asia  presents  to  the  eye  such  a  compact 
ness  of  conformation,  and  its  outlines  are  at 
the  same  time  so  diversified  by  deep  inden 
tures  of  the  sea,  forming  gulfs  and  peninsulas 
of  every  shape  and  dimension,  that  neither 
Africa  can  be  called  more  compact,  nor  North 
America  more  diversified.  Every  prominent 
feature  of  this  vast  continent  is  on  a  gigantic 
scale  ;  and  the  aggregate  of  its  mountains 
and  rivers,  its  low  plains  and  its  elevated 
plateaux,  surpasses  those  of  the  other  divis 
ions,  not  only  in  magnitude,  but  also  by  its 
contrasting  variety.  Its  mere  steppe  rivers 
approach  the  size  of  the  Don  and  the  Dniepr ; 
and  the  second  of  its  salt  lakes,  the  Aral,  is 
still  larger,  by  6,400  square  geographical 
miles,  than  Lake  Superior,  the  largest  sheet 
of  water  in  America ;  while  the  combined 
superficies  of  all  the  American  lakes  would 
not  suffice  to  cover  the  area  of  the  Caspian. 
Its  Indian  Archipelago  forms  a  world  by 
itself,  with  wliich  the  "West  Indian  Islands 
can  be  compared  neither  for  extent  nor  im 
portance  ;  its  mountains  rise  higher  into  the 
regions  of  eternal  snow  than  the  far-famed 
Chimborazo ;  it  has  its  deserts  of  burning 
sand,  and  of  frozen  swamps,  alike  destructive 
to  the  human  race.  Nowhere  is  there  such 
an  exuberance  of  animal  and  vegetable  life, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


15 


not  only  spread  over  the  whole  continent,  but 
also  displaying  itself  within  the  narrowest 
limits,  as  the  traveller  rapidly  descends  from 
the  crest  of  the  Himalaya  into  the  plain  of 
Bengal.  The  same  variety,  the  same  con 
trasts,  appear  in  its  history.  Asia,  the  cradle 
of  mankind,  the  mother  of  religion,  the  nurse 
of  civilization,  where  arts  and  letters  were 
cultivated  in  the  remotest  times,  contains 
within  her  inaccessible  mountain  forests  nu 
merous  descendants  of  her  primitive  inhabit 
ants,  who  still  continue  that  brutish  life  which 
their  forefathers  led  when  the  first  vine  was 
planted,  the  first  hieroglyphic  character 
carved  in  the  rock. 

Xature  has  divided  Asia  into  six  portions, 
of  which  each  is  so  vast  and  so  distinct  from 
the  other  as  almost  to  present  a  world  by 
itself.  These  are  Central,Western,  Northern, 
Southern,  Eastern,  and  Oceanic  Asia.  We 
place  Central  Asia  at  the  head,  because  it  is 
not  only  the  nucleus  of  the  whole  continent, 
comparable  to  a  huge  citadel  situated  in  the 
centre  of  a  fortress,  of  which  the  other 
divisions  are  the  bastions  and  ramparts,  the 
peninsulas  and  islands  the  outworks ;  but  also 
because  the  nations  by  wliich  it  is  inhabited 
have  exercised,  from  the  remotest  times,  a 
most  powerful  influence  on  those  of  the  other 
divisions,  so  that  most  of  the  great  revolu 
tions  by  which  Asia  has  from  time  to  time 
been  convulsed  since  the  very  dawn  of  his 
tory,  and  which  affected  even  Europe  in  such 
a  decree  as  to  change  the  wrhole  ethno- 

o  o 

graphical  and  political  aspect  of  that  conti 
nent  also,  can  be  traced  back  to  commotions 
amon^  the  forefathers  of  those  barbarous 

o 

tribes  of  shepherds,  who  still  wander  in  the 
cold  and  dreary  steppes  over  wliich  the  Bogdo 
Ula  towers  in  awful,  majestic  solitude. 

Central  Asia,  the  greatest  and  highest 
table-land  on  the  globe,  extends  between  the 
Himalaya  in  the  south  wliich  separates  it 
from  India,  and  the  chain  of  the  Altai'. 

The  four  chains  of  the  Himalaya,  the 
Kuen-lun,  the  Thian-shan,  and  the  Altai',  are, 
in  the  whole,  parallel  to  each  other,  and 
divide  the  table-land  of  Central  Asia  into 


three  plateaux  of  decreasing  elevation  and 
different  dimensions,  namely.  Tibet,  High 
Tartary,  and  Mongolia. 

The  highest  terrace  is  Tibet,  between  the 
Himalaya  and  the  Kuen-lun,  and  the  Bolor 
and  China.  The  level  of  Tibet  is  not  equal, 
its  surface  showing  numerous  and  extensive 
depressions,  with  steppe  rivers  flowing  into 
salt  lakes  without  outlets ;  the  valleys  of  the 
Indus,  the  Dzangbo  and  the  Yang-tse-kiang 
(in  Kliam),  especially  that  of  the  Dzangbo, 
are  also  much  below  the  general  level.  The 
highest  plateaux  are  around  the  culminating 
point  of  the  Himalaya,  the  Hindu  Koh,  the 
Bolor  Dagh,  and  the  Kuen-lun,  on  the  bor 
ders  of  Turkistan  ;  and  Hitter  thinks  that  the 
plateaux  around  Lake  Kuku-nur  are  quite  as 
high.  Their  elevation  is  not  accurately 
known,  but  they  are  both  higher  than  the 
plateaux  stretching  from  the  sources  of  the 
Sutledj  east  towards  the  sacred  mount  Kailasa, 
which  rise  16,800  feet  above  the  sea,  in 
creasing  in  height  further  east.  The  average 
height  of  the  other  Himalaya  plateaux  is 
about  the  same.  Mount  Purkyul  or  Tash- 
gong,  on  which  Lieut.  Gerard  reached,  in 
1818,  an  altitude  of  18,210  feet,  is  21,300 
feet  high ;  but  the  highest  known  peaks 
of  the  Himalaya  do  not  lie  on  Tibetan  terri 
tory.  According  to  all  appearance  the  peaks 
which  rise  above  the  high  table-land  on  the 
borders  of  Turkistan,  and  those  around  Lake 
Kuku-m\r,  probably  equal  in  elevation  the 
highest  peaks  of  the  Himalaya,  in  Kham, 
also,  wliich  is  intersected  by  numerous  val 
leys  encompassed  by  precipitous  Alpine  rocks, 
there  are  mountains  of  stupendous  height, 
and  mountain  passes  lying  18,000  feet  above 
the  sea,  over  which,  however,  the  Chinese 
more  than  once  penetrated  into  Tibet  with 
armies  of  100,000  men.  The  climate  of  Tibet 
is  very  severe,  the  winters  being  almost  insup 
portable,  but  the  summer  season  in  the  lowei 
valley  of  the  Dzangbo  is  genial,  the  country 
producing  grapes,  peaches,  and  other  choice 
fruit,  in  abundance.  Tibet  contains  the 
sources  of  the  Indus,  the  Dzangbo,  the  Yang- 
tse-kiang,  and  the  Hoang-ho,  the  latter  two 


16 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


begin  in  Tangut.  The  largest  lakes,  which 
are  all  surrounded  by  vast  and  excellent  pas 
tures,  are  Kuku-nur  in  Tangut,  and  Tengri- 
nur  in  Tibet  Proper.  Our  scanty  knowledge 
of  Tibet  has  lately  received  a  valuable  addi 
tion  in  the  journal  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Puch,  a 
French  missionary,  who  proceeded  from 
Peking,  through  Mongolia  and  Tangut,  to 
L'Hassa,  the  capital  of  Tibet,  which  he  left 
for  China  by  the  road  through  Kham.  An 
English  translation  of  his  MS.  journal  was 
recently  published  under  the  auspices  of  Lord 
Palmerston. 

The  slope  of  the  second  terrace,  which  com 
prises  Chinese  Turkistan,  the  western  portion 
of  the  desert  Gobi,  and  the  southern  portion 
of  the  Chinese  government  Kan-fu,  is  from 
the  high  plateaux  of  the  Bolor  Dagh,  east 
towards  the  desert  Gobi.  Its  highest  tracts 
lie  in  the  Bolor  Dagh,  the  Thianshan,  espec 
ially  around  the  Bogdo  Ula,  the  Tsung-ling 
and  Kucn-lun,  and  in  the  far  east  in  Kan-fu, 
along  the  snowy  Tangut  range,  the  slope  of 
which  towards  the  Gobi  seems  to  be  very 
rapid.  There  the  province  of  Kan-fu  pene 
trates  edgewise  into  Mongolia,  extending  north 
and  west  towards  the  Altai'  Proper.  The  cen 
tral  and  eastern  portions  of  High  Tartary 
are  occupied  by  the  southern  Gobi,  which 
lies  much  below  the  general  level  of  the  ter 
race.  The  elevation  of  this  terrace  is  con 
siderably  lower  than  that  of  Tibet,  as  appears 
from  the  genial  climate  of  Chinese  Turkistan, 
which  is  said  to  produce  grapes,  pomegranates, 
peaches,  and  other  choice  fruit  of  southern 
climes.  The  river  Ta-rim,  swelled  by  num 
erous  affluents  descending  from  the  Bolor, 
the  Tsung-ling  and  the  Kuen-lun,  traverses 
the  whole  of  Chinese  Turkistan  from  west  to 
east,  and  empties  itself  into  the  steppe  lake 
Lob,  on  the  borders  of  the  Gobi,  after  a  course 
of  about  1,000  geographical  miles.  The  cli 
mate  of  Chinese  Turkistan  is  exceedingly  dry, 
rains  being  rare  phenomena,  whence  all 
cultivated  fields  are  watered  by  artificial 
irrigation.  The  winters  aro  very  severe. 
The  original  inhabitants  of  the  extensive 
tracts  watered  by  the  Ta-rim  were  Tadjiks, 


a  nation  akin  to  the  Persians,  and  who  arc 
also,  but  erroneously,  called  Bokharians,  be 
cause  they  are  very  numerous  in  Bokhara. 
The  Tadjiks  were  conquered  by  the  Turkish 
tribe  of  the  Usbeks,  who  established  several 
small  principalities,  gave  their  name  to  the 
country  (Turkistan),  and  ruled  over  it  till 
they  were  sujugated  by  the  Chinese  in  1757. 
Thence  the  European  name  of  Chinese  Turk 
istan.  The  Chinese  themselves  call  it  Thian- 
shan-nan-lu  (the  province  along  the  southern 
foot  of  the  Celestial  Mountains).  It  is  a  portion 
of  their  "  Si-yu,"  or  "  West  Country."  There 
are  also  many  Mongolish  tribes  in  the  country. 
The  most  elevated  plateaux  of  Mongolia, 
which  are  over-topped  by  some  of  the  loftiest 
peaks  in  Asia,  lie  in  the  south,  in  the  In-shan, 
on  the  borders  of  China,  and  the  Thian-shan, 
on  the  borders  of  Chinese  Turkistan.  They 
slope  gradually  down  towards  the  Altai,  and 
the  desert  of  Gobi,  which  occupies  the  central 
parts  of  Mongolia.  The  level  of  the  terrace, 
consequently,  varies  very  much,  but  measure 
ments  have  only  been  made  in  Songaria, 
along  the  Altai',  and  along  the  great  caravan 
road  which  leads  from  Peking  to  Kiakhta,  on 
the  frontiers  of  Siberia.  On  ascending  the 
plateau  from  Peking,  the  traveller  is  almost 
suddenly  transported  from  a  southern  clime 
to  a  cold,  dreary  table-land,  resembling  Si 
beria  much  more  than  China.  The  point 
where  the  road  crosses  the  great  Chinese  wall 
lies  about  5,100  feet  above  the  sea,  and  marks 
the  beginning  of  the  desert  of  Gobi ;  the 
level  of  Zaghan-bal-ghassu,  further  north, 
is  4,200  feet;  near  Zakil-dakhan  begins  a 
sandy  desert  dotted  with  salt  lakes,  which 
lies  much  below  the  plateaux  to  the  south  and 
north  of  this  tract,  and  seems  to  be  the  dried- 
up  bed  of  an  inland  sea.  It  extends  as  far  as 
Burma,  where  the  soil  changes  from  sand  to 
a  hard  salt  clay,  producing  saline  plants,  and 
strewn  over  with  large  fragments  of  rock, 
mostly  porphyry  and  jasper,  while  in  othei 
places  the  Bteppe  is  literally  covered  with 
chalcedonies  and  agates.  This  tract  is  about 
2,400  feet  above  the  sea,  and  the  dreariest  of 
the  whole  Gobi. 


HISIOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


17 


Gobi  is  a  Mongolian  name  signifying  a 
country  without  trees  and  water,  the  same  as 
the  Chinese  Shamo,  and  no  less  appropriate 
than  the  well-known  terms  Sahara  and  Ah- 
kaf.  It  occupies  the  central  portions  of  both 
the  second  and  third  terrace  of  Central  Asia. 
The  Gobi  is  one  of  the  most  desolate  tracts 
on  the  face  of  the  globe.  The  utter  absence 
of  fresh  water,  the  deceiving  salt  lakes  glitter 
ing  in  the  midst  of  inhospitable  solitudes,  the 
whirling  clouds  of  dust  and  the  myriads  of 
gnats  which  pursue  the  weary  traveller  in  the 
summer,  combined  with  the  intense  cold,  the 
icy  blast  of  hurricanes,  and  the  all-burying 
snow-storms  of  the  winters,  are  phenomena  no 
less  redoubtable  than  all  the  horrors  of  the 
Sahara.  But  the  Gobi  also  has  its  oases  of 
luxuriant  pastures  around  most  of  its  salt 
lakes  and  along  the  steppe  rivers,  where  the 
wandering  Mongols  pitch  their  tents  of  felt, 
and  rear  large  herds  of  cattle,  sheep,  camels, 
and  horses.  The  part  occupied  by  the  Chinese 
province  of  Ivhan-fu  seems  to  be  the  least 
desolate ;  it  is  watered  by  two  considerable 
steppe  rivers,  the  Thola  and  the  Bulon-ghir, 
and  contains  many  settled  inhabitants  as  well 
as  some  towns  of  importance.  Our  scanty 
knowledge  of  southern  Mongolia  has  lately 
received  most  valuable  additions  through  the 
journal  of  Mr.  Puch. 

From  the  Guntui  Mountains,  in  the  terri 
tory  of  the  Khalkhas  Mongols,  the  Khing- 
khan,  a  high  range,  runs  east  towards  Mant- 
churia,  and  another,  under  various  names,  to 
wards  the  Alta'i  in  the  west ;  and  between 
the  two  curves  lies  an  immense  longitud 
inal  tract,  divided  by  northern  branches 
of  the  Guntui  and  Tangnu  into  three  basins. 
In  the  eastern  basin  are  the  head  waters  of 
the  Amur :  in  the  central  one,  those  of  the 
Selenga,  which,  after  having  crossed  lake 
Baikal,  assumes  the  appellations  of  Angara 
and  Upper  Tunguska,  under  which  name  it 
joins  the  Yenissei,  of  which  it  is  the  principal 
affluent ;  the  westernbasin,  finally,  is  watered 
by  the  upper  course  of  the  Yenissei,  which 
rises  here.  The  political  frontiers  of  Russian 
and  Chinese  Asia  have  been  fixed  across  the 
3 


tract  without  any  consideration  of  natural 
boundaries,  so  that  the  northern  portion  be 
longs  to  Siberia,  and  the  southern  to  Mon 
golia.  It  is  inhabited  by  various  Mongolian 
tribes.  This  circumstance,  together  with  the 

'  O 

abundance  of  water,  the  luxuriant  pastures, 
the  wooded  mountains,  and  the  compar 
atively  genial  climate,  have  ijiven  this  tract 

*/       O  7  o 

the  title  of  Mongolia  Felix,  a  name  not  in 
appropriate,  considering  the  contrast  it  offers 
to  the  adjacent  Gobi.  Western  Mongolia, 
also,  which  is  watered  by  the  great  steppe 
river  Djabagan,  which  flows  into  Lake  Ike 
Aral,  is,  comparatively  speaking,  a  good 
country. 

The  westernmost  part  of  Mongolia,  or  the 
plateau  of  Songaria,  lies  between  the  Altai 
and  the  Thian-shan,  along  the  western  slopes 
of  a  high  chain  connecting  those  great  ranges 
in  a  direction  from  north  to  south.  In  its 
highlands  there  are  peaks  covered  with  eter 
nal  snow,  and  in  the  north  lies  the  Bielukha, 
the  highest  peak  of  the  Altai,  to  which  Mr. 
Gebler,  who  visited  the  country  in  1833,  as 
signs  an  elevation  of  11,723  feet.  Songaria 
is  a  thriving  Chinese  province,  with  a  motley 
commercial,  agricultural,  and  nomadic  popu 
lation  of  Mongols,  Turks,  Tadjiks,  and 
Chinese,  most  of  the  latter  being  exiled  or 
transported  criminals. 

Western  Asia  contains  Turan  or  Turkistan 
in  the  north ;  Iran  or  Persia,  Afghanistan, 
and  Beluchistan,  in  the  east  and  south ;  the 
Caucasus,  the  Armenian  table-land,  and  Asia 
Minor,  in  the  west ;  and  Arabia  with  Syria 
in  the  extreme  west  and  south  west. 

Turan  or  Turkistan,  a  vast  tract,  compre 
hends  the  original  seats  of  the  Turkish  race. 
It  is  partly  a  salt  steppe,  partly  a  grass  steppe, 
the  latter  characteristic  prevailing  on  the 
side  of  Siberia,  into  which  it  gradually  merges. 

«/ 

Low  offshoots  of  the  Altai'  fill  its  northern 
parts.  It  contains  a  great  number  of  salt 
lakes  and  steppe  rivers.  The  Khirgises,  a 
Turkish  tribe,  call  themselves  Kazaks  or 
Cossacks,  and  are  divided  into  three  Hordes 
(a  corruption  of  "  ordu,"  tribe) ;  namely,  the 
Great  Horde  in  the  east,  under  the  nominal 


18 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Bupremacy  of  China  and  the  Khain  of 
Khokan,  and  the  Little  and  Middle  Hordes 
over  which  Russia  has  obtained  a  protectorate, 
which  is  more  and  more  assuming  the  charac 
ter  of  sovereignty.  The  fortified  line  of  the 
River  Ural  is  still  the  principal  boundary  of 
the  Russian  empire  towards  the  steppe  of  the 
Khirgises,  but  forts  garrisoned  by  Russian 
Cossacks  have  of  late  been  erected  along 
the  lower  course  of  the  Sihun,  and  the  mate 
rials  of  three  schooners  having  been  convey 
ed  jn  wagons  from  Orenberg  to  Lake  Aral  in 
1847-48,  that  inland  sea  is  now  navigated 
by  Russian  vessels  manned  by  Russian 
sailors. 

The  surface  of  Turkistan  Proper  shows  a 
greater  difference  of  level  than  that  of  any 
other  known  country,  the  highest  peaks  of 
the  Bolor  and  Hindu  Koh,  together  with 
the  table-lands  over  which  they  rise,  vicing 
with  those  of  the  Andes  and  the  Himalaya ; 
while  the  level  of  the  Caspian  lies  below 
that  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  a  large  tract 
around  it  is  also  below  the  level  of  the  ocean. 

The  Aral,  a  large  gulf  called  the  Little 
Aral  included,  contains  many  islands,  but 
only  a  few  good  harbors,  and  receives  no  riv 
ers  besides  the  Sihun  and  the  Djihun ;  the 
supposition  that  the  Djan  Daria  reaches  the 
lake  having  not  yet  been  substantiated.  Its 
water  is  salt,  though  less  so  than  that  of  the 
ocean,  and  near  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  so 
little  brackish  as  to  be  drinkable. 

The  plains  of  Turkistan  rise  very  gently 
towards  the  Bolor  and  Hindu  Koh,  the  whole 
western  slopes  of  which  are  a  high,  AJpine 
country,  well  wooded,  and  abundantly  wa 
tered  by  the  feeders  and  affluents  of  the 
Djihun  and  Sihun.  The  climate  of  Turkis 
tan,  which  lies  between  the  isotherms  of  the 
rainless  regions,  is  exceedingly  dry,  whence 
all  cultivation  ceases  where  there  is  no  run 
ning  water,  or  such  as  is  obtained  from  the 
numerous  canals  of  irrigation.  But  wherever 
fresh  water  is  found,  the  land  is  well  culti 
vated,  and  yields  an  abundance  of  grain  and 
fruit  of  most  excellent  quality :  the  grapes, 
melons,  peaches  oranges,  and  other  exquisite 


fruits  are  renowned  in  Asia.  The  waterless 
districts  are  either  salt  steppes  or  sandy  des 
erts,  especially  near  the  Caspian,  and  between 
the  Aral  and  its  two  tributaries.  A  great 
proportion  of  the  settled  population  of  Turk 
istan  are  Tadjiks. 

The  country  contains  the  independent  Kha- 
nats  of  Khiwa,  Bokhara,  Kunduz,  and  Kho- 
kand ;  the  two  latter  of  which  occupy  nearly 
the  whole  tract  of  the  western  slopes  of  the 
Bolor  Mountains,  the  high  plateaux  of  the 
centre  along  the  whole  of  the  range  being 
inhabited  by  tribes  of  Karakalpaks  and  other 
Khirgises,  who  are  but  little  dependent  on 
the  neighboring  princes. 

A  western  continuation  of  the  Hindu  Koh, 
the  range  of  Khorassan,  and  the  Damani 
Koh,  separates  Iran  from  Turan,  and  de 
creases  in  height  as  it  approaches  the  south 
eastern  corner  of  the  Caspian.  There  the  lofty 
chain  of  the  Albors  or  Elburz  rises  suddenly, 
and  trending  west,  connects  the  system  of  the 
Himalaya  with  the  Caucasus  and  the  Taurus. 
The  northern  part  of  Afghanistan  is  veiy 
mountainous ;  and  the  table-land  of  Kabul  Is 
about  6,000  feet  high.  To  the  west  of  it 
there  is  a  great  salt  desert,  in  the  midst  of 
which  are  the  fertile  oases  of  Herat  and 
Kandahar.  On  the  plateau  of  Afghanistan 
are  the  sources  of  the  steppe  rivers  Murghab, 
which  flows  north  into  the  plain  of  Turkis 
tan  ;  Heri  Rud,  which  waters  Herat  and 
Meshed ;  and  Hilmencl,  the  most  considerable 
of  the  three,  which  empties  itself  into  Lake 
Hamun,  on  the  borders  of  Persia.  Beluehis- 
tan  is  a  plateau  the  interior  cf  which  is  but 
imperfectly  kno\vn.  The  slope  of  the  pla 
teau  of  Afghanistan  towards  the  plain  of  the 
Indus  is  very  abrupt,  the  mountain  chains  hav 
ing  in  many  localities  the  appearance  of  steep 
rock  walls.  Persia  is  a  plateau  from  3,500 
to  4,000  feet  above  the  sea,  and  nearly  on  all 
sides  encompassed  by  lofty  and  rugged  chains, 
through  which  narrow  mountain  passes  lead 
into  the  interior.  But  it  is  open  towards 
Western  Turkistan  and  Central  Afghanistan. 
Between  Abushehr  (Bushire)  on  the  Persian 
Gulf,  and  Shirauz,  there  are  no  less  than 


HISTORY  OF  THE    WOULD. 


19 


seven  terraces.  A  large  portion  of  the  inte 
rior  of  Persia  is  occupied  by  a  great  salt  des 
ert,  diversified  in  some  places  by  highly  fer 
tile  oases.  On  the  whole,  the  interior  of 
PersLi  is  a  miserable  country,  resembling  the 
central  parts  of  Arabia,  and  lying  like  them 
within  the  rainless  region.  But  Mazanderan, 
the  narrow  distiict  between  the  Elburz  and 
Caspian,  has  a  moist  climate,  in  wliich  trees 
and  plants  of  every  description  grow  most 
luxuriantly.  In  the  West,  also,  the  slopes  of 
the  Kurdistan  Alps,  and  the  Pushli  Koh,  to 
wards  the  Tigris,  and  the  extremity  of  the 
Persian  Gulf  in  Khuzistan,  are  well  watered 
and  highly  productive.  The  latter  chain  is 
a  portion  of  Mons  Zagros  of  the  ancients. 
The  peak  of  Rowandiz,  to  the  south  of  Lake 
Urumiyeh  is  of  enormous  height.  But  the 
highest  portion  of  Persia  is  the  province  of 
Azerbijan,  wliich,  however,  belongs  to  the 
plateau  of  Armenia. 

The  Armenian  plateaii  occupies  a  large 
tract  between  the  Anti-Taurus  and  the  Cas 
pian,  and  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia  and  the 
Caucasus.  It  is  of  great  elevation ;  the  plain 
of  Ezrum  being  6,114  feet  above  the  sea, 
which  is  about  the  average  height  of  the 
whole  plateau.  Above  this  basis,  a  great 
number  of  peaks  are  covered  with  eternal 
snow,  among  which  the  Ararat  is  the  high 
est  (17,266  feet).  The  climate  is  very  dry, 
but  much  less  so  than  that  of  Iran  and  Tu- 
ran ;  and  there  being  an  abundance  of  run 
ning  water,  cultivation  is  carried  on  with 
success  on  plains  which  otherwise  would  be 
barren.  Deep  valleys  encompassed  by  steep 
rocks  furrow  the  table-land  in  every  direc 
tion;  there  the  settled  population  accumu 
lates,  the  nomadic  tribes,  chiefly  Kurds,  pre 
ferring  the  uplands.  On  the  Armenian  pla 
teau  are  the  sources  of  the  Tigris  and  Eu 
phrates,  wrhich  flow  into  the  Persian  Gulf 
through  a  common  channel ;  the  Aras  or  Ar- 
axes,  and  the  Kurtwa  tributaries  of  the  Cas 
pian  ;  and  the  Tchoruk  and  the  Kizil  Irmak, 
which  empty  themselves  into  the  Black  Sea. 
Among  the  lakes,  two  belong  to  the  largest 
in  Asia,  namely,  Urumiyeh  or  Azerbijan,  and 


I  Lake  Yan  on  the  Turkish  territory.  Mr. 
Layard  supposes  the  latter  to  be  the  real 
source  of  the  Tigris,  issuing  from  it  through 

CD  J  O  G 

|  a  subterranean  channel. 

The  lofty  chain  of  the  Caucasus,  which 
;  divides  Asia  from  Europe,  extends  600  geo 
graphical  miles,  between  the  Black  Sea  and 
the  Caspian,  in  a  direction  from  north-west 
to  south-east.  The  Caucasus  is  celebrated 
for  the  sublime  wildness  of  its  scenery.  It 
shelters  hardy  tribes  of  u.ountaineers,  who 
have  long  maintained  their  independence. 

Syria  is  a  link  between  Asia  Minor  and 
Arabia,  its  lofty  mountains  being  connected 
in  the  north  with  the  Taurus,  and  in  the  south 
with  Mount  Sinai,  and  the  coast  range  of 
Northern  Hedjaz.  The  principal  southern 
portion  of  the  Syrian  mountains  is  the  Liba- 
non,  wrhich  the  valley  of  the  Orontes,  the 
Co3le-Syria  of  the  ancients,  divides  into  Li 
banus,  and  Anti-Libanus.  The  highest  peak 
is  Djebel  Sheikh,  or  Great  Ilermon,  the  south 
ernmost  buttress  of  the  Anti-Libanus,  which 
rises  abruptly  over  the  plateau  of  Northern 
Palestine.  Its  summit  is  covered  with  eter 
nal  snow. 

Arabia  is  a  table-land,  except  in  the  ex 
treme  north,  where  it  slopes  down  to  a  low 
sandy  desert.  The  whole  north  and  centre 
of  Arabia  are  within  the  rainless  regions,  but 
the  southern  portions  are  refreshed  by  tropi- 
ical  rains ;  the  volume  of  which  is,  however, 
far  from  being  the  same  everywhere,  much 
depending  upon  local  causes. 

Siberia  was  orginally  the  name  of  a  Turko- 
Mongolian  Khanat,  comprehending  a  large 
tract  between  the  Ural  and  the  Ob,  and  ex 
tending  south  over  a  portion  of  the  steppe  of 
the  Khirgises.  It  was  one  of  the  fragments 
of  the  huge  empire  of  Zinghis  Khan,  and  took 
its  name  from  the  capital  Sibir,  of  wliich 
some  remnants  are  still  visible  near  Tobolsk. 
The  Kossack  Yermak  conquered  Sibir  in 
1581,  for  his  master,  Ivan  IY.,  surnamed  the 
Terrible,  Czar  of  Muscovy ;  and  the  Russian 
dominion  having  gradually  extended  itself 
over  the  whole  of  North  Asia,  the  name  of 
Siberia  became  the  general  designation  of 


20 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


that  vast  region,  as  being  the  most  prominent 
among  the  several  territorial  divisions  of  that 
part  of  Asia.  The  south  of  Siberia  is  a 
mountainous  country  occupied  by  the  Altai 
system  except  a  tract  towards  the  steppe  of 
the  Khirgises.  Its  greater  western  portion 
between  the  Altai,  the  Ural,  the  Polar  Sea, 
and  the  River  Lena,  is  an  immense  plain  of 
but  little  eleva+ion  above  the  sea ;  but  East 
ern  Siberia,  between  the  Lena  and  the  seas 
of  Okhotsk  and  Kamtschatka,  is  a  mountain 
ous  country,  except  along  the  shores  of  the 
Polar  Sea.  The  chain  of  Ergik  Targak  runs 
east  toward  the  Baikal,  and  as  far  as  that  lake 
the  system  is  called  Western  Altai.  The 
Baikal  has  salt  or  rather  brackish  water,  and 
is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  spurs  of  the 
Altai'. 

Both  the  western  and  eastern  chains  are 
rich  in  various  metals,  and  the  gold  mines 
yield  precedence  only  to  those  in  California 
and  Australia.  The  great  peninsula  of  Kam- 
techatka  is  a  volcanic  country,  traversed  from 
north  to  south  by  a  lofty  range,  the  southern 
portion  of  which  is  distinguished  by  a  count 
less  number  of  extinct  volcanoes,  situated 
along  its  western  slopes.  The  southern  tracts 
of  Siberia,  those  which  belong  to  Mongolia 
felix,  as  well  as  the  valleys  of  the  Altai',  and 
the  plains  along  its  northern  foot,  are  a  fertile 
country ;  and  although  the  winters  are  very 
severe,  the  summers  are  hot,  and  the  soil 
yields  abundant  crops.  But  the  steppes  in 
the  centre,  and  still  more  those  in  the  north, 
have  a  very  different  character. 

The  Ural  extends  from  the  shores  of  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  to  the  middle  course  of  the 
river  Ural.  The  main  and  central  portion 
consists  of  a  principal  western  chain,  from 
which  many  spurs  branch  off  towards  Eussia ; 
and  two  parallel  chains  on  the  Asiatic  side; 
the  easternmost  and  lowest  of  which  is  the 
Irme1.,  which  rises  abruptly  over  the  steppes 
of  Siberia.  The  Ural  is  rich  in  minerals, 
and  its  gold  and  platinum  mines  are  the  rich 
est  in  the  Old  World. 

Southern  Asia  comprehends  Hindustan, 
Biirmah,  Siam  Laos,  and  Cambodia,  and 


though  not  in  extent  the  largest,  it  is  iu 
many  respects  the  most  important  portion 
of  Asia. 

It  is  not  easy  to  give  the  extent  of  Hin 
dustan  with  precision,  from  the  extension 
given  to  the  appellation  by  geographers ; 
but  if  we  carry  a  straight  line  from  Cape 
Comorin,  its  southern  point,  to  the  northern 
boundary  of  Cashmere,  its  extreme  length 
may  be  stated  at  27°  of  latitude,  or  about 
1,890  English  miles.  The  form  of  Hindustan 
is  an  irregular  triangle.  It  has  an  exceed 
ingly  varied  surface,  and  contains  a  very 
mingled  population.  The  northern  and 
western  portions  are  diversified  by  mountain 
ranges,  often  exceedingly  steep  and  rugged ; 
especially  in  the  northern  provinces,  where 
they  may  be  considered  as  spurs  of  the  vast 
Himalaya  chain  ;  and  also  in  the  less  lofty 
range  which  skirts  the  western  coasts  of  the 
Indian  peninsula,  distinguished  by  the  name 
of  Western  Ghauts,  which  in  some  points 
attain  an  elevation  of  from  4,000  to  5,000 
feet.  The  mountains  of  the  eastern  side  are 
far  less  elevated.  A  great  portion  presents 
extensive  valleys,  or  vast  plains,  watered  by 
noble  rivers ;  but  in  a  few  places  there  are 
wide  deserts,  as  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Indus ;  and  where  water  is  deficient,  as  on 
portions  of  the  eastern  coast,  there  are  sandy 
wastes.  But  in  the  plains  traversed  by  the 
Ganges  and  its  numerous  affluents,  by  the 
Bramahputra,  the  Ganga,  the  Nerbudda,  and 
the  Kristna,  the  soil  is  of  surpassing  fertility, 
and  often  presents  scenes  of  varied  beauty. 
Where  nature  has  denied  the  usual  means  of 
irrigation,  art  has  often  supplied  the  defi 
ciency  by  artificial  canals,  and  an  enormous 
population  finds  the  means  of  subsistence. 
These  riches  are  not  without  alloy.  Wher 
ever  water  stagnates,  especially  in  the  midst 
of  thick  jungle,  that  locality  becomes  the 
chosen  abode  of  malignant  fever  and  of 
spasmodic  cholera ;  scourges  that  annually 
carry  off  multitudes  in  every  part  of  India. 
The  mountain  streams  for  ages  have  afforded 
golden  sands;  eclipsed,  however,  in  latter 
times  by  the  riches  of  the  Ourals,  of  Cali- 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


forma,  and  Australia.  The  central  part  of 
Hindustan  affords  diamonds ;  and  for  ages 
the  only  locality  of  that  gem  was  believed 
to  be  Golconda. 

The  population  of  Hindustan  consists  of 
vaiious  races.  The  original  inhabitants  are 
said  to  be  still  represented  by  some  mountain 
tribes,  that  may  yet  be  distinguished  from 
the  Hindus,  the  Malayans,  and  the  Cingalese ; 
and  the  less  swarthy  Mahometan  population 
are  descendants  of  Arabian,  Persian,  and 
Tartar  immigrations. 

The  country  now  known  under  the  name 
of  Burmah  comprehends  the  kingdoms  of 
Ava  and  Pe«;u.  Its  northern  boundary  is 

O  */ 

the  mountains  of  Assam ;  its  western,  British 
India  and  the  Gulf  of  Bengal ;  the  southern, 
the  Malayan  peninsula ;  and  the  eastern  is 
Siam.  The  northern  portions  are  moun 
tainous,  and  afford  gold,  silver,  sapphires  and 
rubies  ;  but  the  principal  part  is  a  vast  plain, 
watered  by  the  noble  Irawaddy  and  its  afflu 
ents.  The  lower  portions,  about  .Rangoon 
and  Pegu,  are  low  and  swampy.  The  whole 
is  the  seat  of  a  warlike  people  that  have 
twice  braved  the  armies  of  British  India 
with  more  than  Eastern  courage. 

Malaya  or  Malacca  is  a  narrow  peninsula 
extending  into  the  Indian  Ocean,  with  a 
length  of  about  700  English  miles,  and  a 
mean  breadth  of  150  ;  and  it  has  numerous 
fine  harbors.  On  the  coasts  are  some  Euro 
pean  settlements,  one  of  which,  Singapore, 
belong  to  Great  Britain.  The  interior  is  a 

o 

longitudinal  mountain  chain,  from  which  va 
rious  arms  descend  on  either  hand.  The 
interior  is  imperfectly  known  to  Europeans. 
The  native  Malays  are  an  enterprizing,  rest 
less,  vindictive  race,  much  given  to  naviga 
tion  and  to  piracy.  In  former  times,  they 
appear  to  have  spread  themselves  over  a  con 
siderable  portion  of  the  Pacific. 

Eastern  Asia  comprehends  Cochin-China, 
Tunkin,  and  the  Chinese  empire. 

Cochin-China  or  Southern  China  is  a  nar 
row  mountainous  tract.  It  has  many  good 
harbors  along  its  extensive  coasts,  of  which 
Turon  is  the  best  known.  Staunton  repre 


sents  the  country  as  fertile  and  well  culti 
vated,  the  people  as  industrious  and  civilized. 
They,  as  well  as  the  Tunkinese,  are  of  Chi 
nese  descent.  Their  coasts  abound  with  the 
edible  birds'  nests,  formed  by  a  species  of 
swallow. 

The  vast  empire  of  China  presents  an 
area  computed  at  1,297,999  square  miles, 
according  to  Staunton,  and  a  population  of 
333,000,000,  being  the  most  densely  peopled 
region  of  the  earth.  Its  enormous  surface 
is  much  varied,  producing  the  vegetable 
riches  of  every  climate.  Chinese  Tartary 
is  very  mountainous ;  and  chains  of  granite 
mountains  traverse  China  in  various  direc 
tions  ;  but  the  great  chains  generally  run 
from  west  to  east,  and  send  the  principal 
rivers  in  that  direction  through  fertile  plains 
of  enormous  extent.  The  principal  of  these 
rivers  are  the  Amur,  in  the  north ;  the  Ho- 
anglio  and  Kian-ku  in  the  central  districts. 

Oceanic  Asia  embraces  all  the  Asiatic  Isles 
properly  so  called. 

Asia,  extending  from  the  equator  to  the 
Arctic  Sea,  necessarily  possesses  great  variety 
of  climate.  But  though  here,  as  in  every 
other  country,  the  climate  is  regulated  by  the 
distance  from  the  equator,  this  general  law  is 
modified  by  accidental  causes,  which  it  ia 
curious  to  trace.  In  the  wide  extent  of  Asia 
great  peculiarities  of  temperature  occur, 
which  cannot  be  very  clearly  explained.  To 
such,  inquiries  some  uncertainty  will  always 
attach,  and  anomalies  may  appear  of  which 
we  can  offer  no  solution.  Facts  are  our  only 
sure  guides ;  and  to  these,  therefore,  ii.  the 
following  observations,  we  shall  endeavor  to 
adhere. 

The  heiarht  of  the  land  above  the  level  of 

O 

the  sea  is  as  sure  a  cause  of  cold  as  distance 
from  the  equator ;  and  countries  are  not  only 
cold  in  proportion  to  their  height,  but  a  mass 
of  cold  air  is  accumulated  above  them,  which, 
being  dispersed,  is  carried  towards  the  equa 
tor,  and  extends  the  dominion  of  cold  into 
the  regions  of  heat.  Land  and  water,  also, 
are  the  causes  either  of  heat  or  cold,  accord 
ing  to  their  situation.  The  great  mass  of 


22 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  ocean  is  little  affected  by  the  changes  of 
the  seasons ;  and  it  consequently  preserves 
the  medium  temperature  of  the  whole  year. 
Hence  the  vicinity  of  the  ocean  cools  the 
temperature  of  the  equinoctial  regions ;  and 
in  higher  latitudes  it  moderates  the  extremes 
both  of  heat  and  cold,  being  in  winter  of  a 
higher  temperature,  and  in  summer  of  a 
lower  temperature,  than  the  superincumbent 
air.  The  surface  of  the  earth,  again,  im 
bibes  heat  or  cold  much  more  readily  than 
the  ocean ;  and  it  is  only  at  considerable 
depths  that  it  is  found  to  give  the  medium 
temperature  of  the  year.  The  vicinity  of 
land,  therefore,  in  the  polar  countries,  is  the 
cause  of  cold,  while  in  the  southern  regions 
of  the  equator  it  is  an  equally  powerful  cause 
of  heat.  Thus  Africa,  which  extends  so  far 
to  the  south,  and  which  contains  a  greater 
proportion  of  land  within  the  tropics  than 
any  other  division  of  the  globe,  is  a  vast 
store-house  of  heat,  from  which  it  is  dispersed 
far  and  wide,  and  even  reaches  the  shores  of 
Europe  in  hot  and  parching  winds ;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  breadth  and  extent  of 
the  American  continent  towards  the  north 
sufficiently  accounts  for  the  coldness  of  its 
climate — the  northwest  winds  which  sweep 
across  its  frozen  wastes  extending  their  in 
roads  into  the  regions  of  heat  as  far  some 
times  as  Mexico  or  Yera  Cruz.  The  influ 
ence  of  the  ocean  in  moderating  the  severity 
of  the  winter  ie  exemplified  in  the  climate 
of  Great  Britain,  where  no  such  intense  cold 
ever  prevails  as  in  corresponding  latitudes  on 
the  continent  of  Europe,  and  more  especially 
on  that  of  Asia.  The  climate  of  a  country 
is  also  affected  by  the  direction  of  the  winds  ; 
and  hence  the  eastern  shores  of  America, 
owing  to  the  trade-winds,  which  blow  from 
the  east,  and  are  cooled  in  their  passage  a- 
cross  the  Atlantic,  have  not  the  same  sultry 
heats  as  the  opposite  shores  of  Africa,  where 
the  same  winds  are  heated  to  an  intense  de 
gree  in  their  passage  over  the  burning  des 
erts  of  the  interior.  The  northern  frontiers 
of  Asia,  and  its  prodigious  elevation  towards 
the  centre,  necessarily  consign  the  greatest 


portion  of  it  to  the  dominion  of  cold.  Among 
the  central  mountains  perpetual  winter 
reigns ;  and  from  these  snowy  deserts  the 
influence  of  cold  is  widely  extended  over 
the  high  plains  of  the  interior.  In  Tibet, 
which  is  about  the  same  latitude  as  Northern 
Africa  or  Arabia,  there  is  a  continuous  and 
severe  winter  of  three  months,  which  is  of 
such  uniform  severity  that  at  its  commence 
ment  the  inhabitants  kill  their  meat,  and  it 
is  kept  perfectly  fresh  for  three  months. 
To  the  west,  along  the  whole  range  of  ele 
vated  country  that  extends  into  Persia  and 
to  the  Caspian  Sea,  the  climate  is  modified 
by  the  elevation  of  the  ground.  In  the 
countries  of  Balk  and  Bokhara,  which  lie 
on  the  northern  declivity  of  the  great  ridge 
of  the  Hindu  Koli  Mountains,  in  the  same 
latitude  as  the  South  of  Europe,  and  all 
along  the  banks  of  the  Oxus,  the  climate  is 
remarkably  severe.  For  three  months  the 
winter  is  intensely  cold,  the  wind  being  dry 
and  piercing,  and  the  snow  lying  deep  on 
the  ground.  The  rivers  are  all  frozen  over, 
and  the  Oxus  during  all  that  period  is  pass 
able  for  caravans.  The  summer,  again,  is 
equally  hot.  Persia,  in  like  manner,  being 
nearly  in  the  same  latitude  as  Arabia,  the 
hottest  part  of  the  earth,  and  having  an  ex 
cessively  hot  summer,  has  in  the  northern 
and  central  parts  the  severe  winter  of  a 
northern  climate,  with  drifting  snow,  which 
lies  deep  on  the  ground  for  three  months  ; 
and  this  is  owing  entirely  to  its  elevation, 
which  is  estimated  to  be  4,000  feet  above 
the  Caspian  Sea.  The  lower  valleys  and 
exterior  plains  of  Asia,  which  lie  to  the 
south  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  including 
Arabia,  the  southern  and  flat  parts  of  Per 
sia,  Hindustan,  and  India  beyond  the  Gan 
ges,  constitute  the  tropical  and  warm  regions 
of  this  continent,  of  which  the  climate, 
though  it  agrees  in  general  with  their  posi 
tion  on  the  globe,  still  varies  from  local 
causes.  Hindustan,  for  example,  and  India 
beyond  the  Ganges,  though  they  approach 
nearer  to  the  equator,  are  not  nearly  so  hot 
as  Arabia  or  the  adjacent  countries.  The 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WOKLD. 


23 


course  of  the  seasons  is  also  more  constant ; 
and  it  is  here  that  we  meet  with  those  re 
markable  winds,  the  monsoons,  which  blow 
six  months  in  opposite  directions,  from  the 
bouthwest  and  northeast,  with  some  slight 
variations,  and  which  extend  their  influence 
over  all  the  countries  which  lie  between  the 
mouth  of  the  Indus  and  the  Chinese  Sea. 
The  southwest  monsoon  sets  in  about  the  be 
ginning  of  June  in  all  the  islands  of  the 
Indian  Ocean,  and  traverses  the  southern 
plains,  until  it  is  turned  towards  the  west 
by  the  central  mountains,  and  finally  arrested 
in  its  .progress.  It  is  ushered  in  with  the 
most  tremendous  thunder  and  lightning,  with 
tempests  of  wind  and  floods  of  rain.  This 
is  the  commencement  of  the  periodical  rains 
through  all  the  tropical  regions  of  Asia, 
which  are  at  their  height  in  July,  and  grad 
ually  abate  about  the  end  of  September, 
departing  amid  thunders  and  tempests  as 
they  came.  Before  the  setting  in  of  the 
monsoons  there  is  a  clear  sky,  with  a  hot, 
parching  wind,  succeeded  by  sultry  calms, 
ander  which  all  nature  seems  to  droop.  The 
rains  effect  a  sudden  and  total  change  in  the 
aspect  of  the  country :  the  rivers  are  swollen, 
the  air  is  pure  and  refreshing,  the  sky  varied 
with  clouds,  and  the  earth  covered  with  the 
most  luxuriant  verdure.  Such  is  the  climate 
of  Southern  Asia,  from  China  to  the  southern 
coast  of  Africa.  But  the  peninsula  of  Ara 
bia  is  not  subject  to  the  influence  of  the 
monsoons  ;  and  in  place  of  the  tropical  rains, 
it  has  generally,  in  the  mountainous  parts, 
the  winter  and  the  spring  rains.  The  cli 
mate  during  summer  is  hotter  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world,  the  thermometer 
frequently  rismg  to  110°,  and  even,  it  is  said, 
to  120°,  in  the  coolest  and  shadiest  parts,  while 
deaJ  3alms  prevail  often  without  inter 
ruption  for  fifty  or  sixty  days,  and  are 
succeeded,  as  the  temperature  begins  to 
rary  and  the  winds  to  resume  their  activity, 
by  violent  and  hot  blasts  from  the  desert. 
The  vicinity  of  Araoia  to  the  African  con 
tinent,  by  which  it  is  sheltered  from  the  cool 
breezes  of  the  sea,  while  it  receives  the 


sultry  air  from  the  burning  plains,  is  unque£>- 
tionably  the  cause  of  its  extraordinary  heat ; 
and  it  will  be  remarked  that  those  violent 
heats  extend  eastward  from  Arabia  exactly 
in  the  direction  in  which  they  are  received 
into  the  lower  valley  of  the  Euphrates  and 
the  Tigris,  where  at  Baghdad  they  raise  the 
thermometer  to  120°  in  the  shade. 

Western  Asia  has  been  long  celebrated 
for  the  mildness  and  serenity  of  its  climate, 
which  is  hot  and  dry,  though  it  is  tempered 
by  the  cool  breezes  from  the  mountain  tracts 
by  which  it  is  intersected.  In  the  northern 
parts,  along  the  coasts  of  the  Black  Sea,  the 
country  is  liable  to  excessive  rains ;  while 
the  southern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean 
are  exposed  to  the  sultry  simoom  blasts  from 
the  African  or  Arabian  deserts. 

Northern  Asia,  of  which  the  Altai'  chain 
is  the  boundary,  is  the  proper  region  of  cold  ; 
and  the  severity  of  the  climate  is  said  to  be 
aggravated  by  the  vast  expanse  of  the  con 
tinent  in  the  frozen  latitudes  of  the  north. 
In  the  interior  of  Asia  the  milder  element 
of  the  ocean  can  have  no  influence  on  the 
rigor  of  perpetual  winter ;  and  from  the 
Arctic  Ocean  to  the  Altai  Mountains  the 
north  wind  sweeps  without  interruption 
along  the  Siberian  plains,  and  occasions  an 
intensity  of  cold  which  is  not  experienced 
in  the  corresponding  latitudes  of  Europe. 

Asia,  from  its  vast  extent  and  unequal 
surface,  not  only  comprehends  within  its 
bounds  much  of  the  vegetable  produce  of 
the  earth,  from  the  low  creeping  lichen 
which  flourishes  on  the  borders  of  perpetual 
snow,  to  the  splendid  varieties  of  tropical 
vegetation ;  but  it  presents  these  varieties 
within  a  very  short  compass.  It  would  be 
inconsistent  with  the  plan  of  the  present 
article  to  describe  in  detail  the  animal  and 
vegetable  kingdoms  of  Asia,  It  may  be 
therefore  generally  stated,  that  the  great 
staples  of  agriculture,  the'  alimentary  plants 
on  which  man  depends  for  his  subsistence, 
are,  in  the  tropical  countries  of  Asia,  rice,  of 
which  there  are  twenty-seven  varieties ;  maize, 
millet,  and  many  varieties  of  a  coarser  grain 


24 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


called  clourra ;  as  well  as  other  species  of 
legumes  not  known  in  Europe.  The  culti 
vation  of  these  nutritious  grains  is  confined 
to  the  plains  of  Hindustan  and  the  hot 
countries  to  the  east.  Ivice  or  maize  may 
be  sometimes  seen  in  Persia,  or  in  the  hot 
plains  of  Lower  Syria ;  but  agriculture  in 
these  countries  generally  depends  on  the 
grain  of  a  colder  climate.  Persia  is  accord 
ingly  famed  for  the  most  excellent  wheat, 
which  is  the  chief  food,  and  for  barley  and 
millet.  Oats  are  more  rarely  attempted  in 
that  climate.  Throughout  Syria  and  Asia 
Minor,  as  well  as  Arabia,  wheat,  rye,  barley, 
beans,  and  other  grains,  are  chiefly  sown ; 
and  in  Bokhara,  and  generally  in  all  the 
countries  that  lie  between  the  Oxus  and  the 
Caspian  Sea,  these  and  other  grains,  with  a 
variety  of  leguminous  plants,  constitute  the 
chief  aliment  of  the  inhabitants.  Between 
the  50th  and  55th  degrees,  these  grains  may 
with  care  be  raised  all  over  Asia ;  but  be 
yond  this  they  cannot  so  well  resist  the  se 
verity  of  the  climate.  This  is  therefore  the 
proper  region  of  barley  and  oats,  the  culti 
vation  of  which  may  be  extended  to  the 
COth  degree.  Beyond  this  the  powers  of 
vegetation  begin  to  fail ;  and  the  forests  pre 
sent  dwarf  trees  with  lichens,  and  some 
species  of  eatable  wild  berries.  In  ascend 
ing  the  Asiatic  wild  mountains,  the  same 
varieties  of  vegetable  produce  are  observed 
as  in  receding  from  the  equator,  until,  at  the 
line  of  perpetual  congelation,  all  traces  of 
vegetation  disappear.  But  the  decrease  of 
heat  in  proportion  to  the  altitude  varies  in 
different  situations,  according  as  it  is  affected 
by  local  and  accidental  causes. 

Of  the  plants  which  minister  to  the  com 
fort  of  man,  ani  afford  valuable  articles  of 
commerce,  Asia  possesses  great  variety.  The 
tea  plant,  which  is  exported  so  largely  to 
Europe,  is  indigenous  to  China,  to  which  it 
is  a  source  of  prodigious  wealth.  It  has 
more  lately  been  found  also  in  Assam,  where 
it  has  been  successfully  cultivated  by  the 
British.  Arabia  is  the  native  country  of 
coffee,  where  it  still  arrives  at  its  greatest 


perfection.  The  sugar-cane  is  cultivated  in 
Hindustan,  though  not  with  the  same  energy 
and  skill  as  in  the  West  Indies  ;  and  also  in 
some  of  the  hottest  parts  of  Asia  Minor. 
Tobacco  is  very  generally  produced  in  South- 
em  and  Western  Asia  ;  and  opium,  the  great 
intoxicating  drug  of  the  East,  is  an  impor 
tant  article  of  cultivation  in  Hindustan.  The 
vine  grows  to  great  perfection  among  the 
rocky  heights  of  Palestine,  and  in  the  moun 
tains  of  Syria,  where  wine  of  a  good  quality 
is  made,  and  also  in  Arabia  and  Persia. 
Industry  and  skill  are  alone  necessary  to  im 
prove  the  advantages  of  nature,  and  to  ren 
der  this  precious  produce  a  valuable  article 
of  commerce.  The  cotton  shrub,  which 
yields  so  useful  an  article  of  clothing,  has 
from  time  immemorial  been  cultivated  in 
India,  growing  in  Arabia,  Persia,  and 
throughout  Asia  Minor  ;  and  the  mulberry, 
which  by  feeding  the  silkworm,  affords  sc 
splendid  an  article  of  dress,  is  grown  with 
success  in  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  and  Armenia. 
Flax  and  hemp  are  common  throughout  both 
Southern  and  Western  Asia,  and  they  would 
grow  also  in  Northern  Asia  if  the  inhabit 
ants  knew  how  to  profit  by  the  advantages 
of  the  country.  Indigo  is  another  important 
article,  which  is  cultivated  in  India  and  in 
some  parts  of  Syria,  as  well  as  in  Arabia. 
The  Asiatic  islands  have  been  long  celebrated 
for  various  aromatic  plants  ;  and  the  juice 
which  exudes  from  the  trunks  of  the  smaller 
trees  is  of  the  richest  fragrance.  Among  the 
species  of  laurel  which  abound  in  the  south 
ern  parts  of  India  and  Ceylon  we  find  those 
which  produce  mace,  cassia,  and  camphor ; 
and  lastly,  the  cinnamon  tree,  formerly  suj>- 
posed  to  be  a  native  of  Arabia ;  also  the 
clove  and  the  nutmeg  trees.  The  balm  of 
Mecca  is  the  finest  of  all  the  tribe,  and  dif 
fuses  an  exquisite  perfume.  Arabia  has 
been  long  celebrated  for  frankincense  and 
myrrh.  Asia  furnishes  also  many  plants 
used  in  medicine,  as  well  as  in  dyeing,  such 
as  the  castor-oil  plant,  the  senna,  the  aloe. 
and  others,  which  extend  all  over  the  south 
ern  parts  and  through  Asia  Minor. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


In  Southern  Asia  the  forests  abound  with 
the  most  valuable  trees,  with  the  most  dur 
able  woods,  and  with  every  variety  of  orna 
mental  and  dye-woods.  The  teak-tree,  which 
grows  in  the  woods  of  India,  surpasses  all 
others  in  durability.  There  are  many  trees 
\vliich  minister  to  the  wants  and  appetites 
of  man.  The  sago  palm  yields  from  its  stem 
and  roots  the  well-known  farinaceous  sub 
stance  which  bears  its  name.  The  toddy 
palm  yields  a  rich  juice  which,  when  fer 
mented,  becomes  a  strong  spirituous  liquor. 
The  fan  palm,  winch  grows  in  some  parts  of 
India,  is  remarkable  for  the  breadth  of  its 
leaves,  one  of  which  is  sufficient  to  cover  a 
dozen  of  men,  and  two  or  three  to  roof  a 
cottage.  The  bread-fruit  tree,  which  grows 
in  India,  yields  a  farinaceous  fruit  resem 
bling  bread  prepared  from  grain.  All  the 
common  fruit  trees  of  Europe  are  also  found 
in  the  hilly  parts  of  India.  Asia  Minor  and 
the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  abound  in  the 
myrtle,  the  laurel,  the  turpentine,  mastic, 
tamarind,  cypress,  sycamore,  and  other  trees. 
The  oriental  plants  are  numerous  in  Persia  ; 
and  in  the  Syrian  mountains  the  oak  and  the 
cedar,  celebrated  in  ancient  times,  grow  to  a 
great  height.  In  the  northern  countries  of 
Asia  the  trees  most  prevalent  are  the  oak, 
the  ash,  and  the  elm  ;  and  still  farther  north 
there  is  the  dwarf  birch  and  the  mountain 
willow ;  also  the  pines  and  the  firs,  which 
rear  their  tall  heads,  and  spread  over  the 
scenery  their  permanent  hue  of  dark  green. 
The  strong  and  glutinous  liquid  which  exudes 
from  these  northern  trees  is  converted  into 
tar,  pitch,  and  turpentine,  and  becomes  a 
valuable  article  of  commerce,  useful  for 
many  purposes. 

Many  of  the  most  delicious  fruits  are  raised 
in  the  tropical  countries  of  Asia.  Those 
most  celebrated  in  India  are  the  guava,  the 
jambo,  the  mango,  and  the  pine-apple :  many 
others  might  be  raised  if  garden-cultivation 
were  carried  to  the  same  perfection  as  in 
Europe.  Syria,  Palestine,  the  banks  of  the 
Euphrates,  and  Persia,  are  famous  for  the 
variety  of  their  fruits,  and  produce  abund- 

4 


antly  pomegranates,  oranges,  lemons,  al 
monds,  peaches,  figs,  quinces,  olives,  wral- 
nuts,  and  melons  of  all  sorts.  In  the  neiidi- 

'  O 

borhood  of  Damascus  all  the  fruits  of  Europe 
arrive  at  maturity ;  and  near  the  Caspian 
Sea  there  are  whole  forests  of  chestnut  trees. 
The  date  tree,  the  fruit  of  which  is  in  many 
parts  the  chief  subsistence  of  the  inhabitants, 
grows  in  Persia,  Mesopotamia,  Arabia,  Syria, 
and  Palestine.  In  the  higher  parts  of  these 
countries  other  fruits  are  to  be  found,  namely, 
the  apple,  the  pear,  the  cherry.  In  Northern 
Asia,  horticulture  is  little  practised ;  and, 
excepting  wild  berries,  few  other  fruits  are 
to  be  seen  in  its  desert  and  inhospitable 
plains.  Flowers  of  all  sorts,  in  the  most 
splendid  profusion  and  variety,  and  of  the 
richest  fragrance,  adorn  the  country  in  South 
ern  and  Western  Asia,  and  give  it  the  ap 
pearance  of  a  flower-garden.  On  such  a  sul> 
ject,  however,  which  presents  so  wdde  a  field 
of  inquiry,  we  cannot  enter  into  details, 
which  would  hardly  prove  satisfactory  to  the 
general  reader,  and  still  less  to  the  man  of 
science. 

The  desolate  tracts  of  thick  jungle  and 
dense  forest  which  abound  in  Asia  afford 
extensive  cover  for  wild  animals,  which  are 
accordingly  found  in  great  numbers,  and 
comprise  very  many  of  the  known  genera  of 
the  globe.  The  lion  is  found  in  Persia, 
Mesopotamia,  on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates,  and  was  formerly  known  in  Asia 
Minor,  but  has  now  either  entirely  disappear 
ed,  or  is  rarely  seen.  It  was  at  one  time 
supposed  that  this  formidable  animal  did  not 
haunt  the  forests  and  jungles  of  India.  But 
lions  have  been  seen  in  great  numbers  in  the 
north  of  India,  in  Guzerat,  and  in  the  prov 
ince  of  Delhi,  to  the  north  of  that  place.  The 
tiger  is  a  native  of  Asia,  to  which  continent 
he  exclusively  belongs,  having  never  migrat 
ed  into  the  other  regions  of  the  globe.  lie 
is  spread  over  all  parts  of  Southern  Asia, 
from  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  where 
he  exists  in  amazing  power  and  ferocity,  to 
the  great  ridge  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains. 
His  progress  northward  is  checked  by  the  in- 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


creasing  cold ;  yet  is  he  found  in  some  of 
the  higher  regions,  where  ice  is  seen  during 
the  winter.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  he 
is  a  native  of  a  hot  climate ;  and  it  is  pro 
bable,  therefore,  that  when  he  feels  the  ap 
proach  of  winter,  he  retires  from  the  cold  of 
the  high  country  into  the  warmer  and  lower 
valleys  of  the  south.  Tigers  are  seldom  seen 
in  the  countries  westward  of  the  Indus, 
though  they  may  occasionally  stray  from  their 
native  haunts  along  the  west  of  that  river 
into  the  mountain  tracts  of  Beluchistan. 
The  tiger  is  not  found  in  Persia,  Arabia,  or  in 
any  part  of  Africa,  though  it  is  quite  certain 
that  the  country  is  quite  congenial  to  his 
constitution  and  habits,  and  that  if  he  could 
once  reach  it  he  would  quickly  propagate  his 
race  through  its  deep  forests.  Yet  the  lion 
reigns  supreme  in  the  woods  of  Africa, 
while  the  tiger  is  the  lord  of  the  Asiatic 
jungles.  It  would  be  curious,  if  we  had  full 
materials  for  such  a  speculation,  to  trace  the 
distinct  regions  of  the  globe  which  are  occu 
pied  by  the  various  animals  and  vegetable 
tribes.  Pknts,  we  know,  are  transported 
from  the  countries  in  which  they  are  in 
digenous,  and  nourish  in  another  soil  and 
climate  equally  congenial ;  and,  in  like  man 
ner,  the  animals  of  one  country  have  been 
transported  with  equal  success  to  other 
countries,  where  they  have  multiplied.  The 
wild  and  ferocious  animals  it  is  the  object  of 
man  to  destroy  rather  than  to  increase ;  and 
they  would  therefore  receive  no  aid  from  him 
in  their  migrations  from  one  region  to 
another.  Hence  we  find  that  those  countries 
which  are  widely  separated,  and  which  pre 
sent  no  practicable  communication  for  ani 
mals,  have  each  its  own  peculiar  and  distinct 
class.  America  has  an  entirely  different  race 
of  animals  from  Africa  or  Asia ;  while  the 
animals  that  are  found  in  the  islands  or  con 
tinent  of  Australasia  resemble  those  of  no 
other  quarter  of  the  world.  The  zoology  of 
Asia  and  Africa,  from  their  vicinity,  and 
from  the  comparatively  easy  communication 
between  them,  does  not  present  such  diver 
sities  ;  yet  it  is  remarkable,  that  while  the 


lion  is  common  over  all  Africa,  the  tiger  haa 
never  yet  been  seen ;  while  in  Asia  it  ia 
nearly  the  reverse,  the  tiger,  and  not  the  lion, 
being  the  more  common  of  the  two.  There 
can  be  no  reason,  we  should  imagine,  why 
the  tiger  should  be  confined  to  Asia,  while 
there  are  other  countries  equally  suited  to  his 
habits,  except  that,  being  indigenous  in  the 
regions  of  Eastern  Asia,  he  has  never  been 
able  to  cross  the  barrier  of  mountains  and 
deserts  by  which  these  regions  are  separated 
from  Persia  on  the  west,  Beyond  the  west 
ern  banks  of  the  Indus  the  country  is  moun 
tainous  and  impassable,  and  the  climate 
extremely  cold ;  the  ridges  from  the  Hima 
laya  Mountains  extending  southward  nearly 
to  the  sea,  and  the  country  beyond  being 
merely  a  narrow  strip  of  hot  and  sandy  desert. 
Beyond  this,  further  to  the  west,  extensive 
deserts  are  found  destitute  of  water  and  all 
traces  of  vegetation,  which  would  as  effect 
ually  oppose  the  passage  of  wild  beasts  as  tho 
trackless  ocean  which  divides  Africa  and 
America,  and  leaves  to  each  its  own  class  of 
indigenous  animals.  The  other  wild  animals 
of  Southern  Asia  are  leopards,  hyenas, 
jackals,  tiger-cats,  wild  boars,  antelopes,  elks, 
red  and  other  deer,  foxes,  hares,  mangooses, 
ferrets,  porcupines,  etc.  All  these  are  to  be 
found  in  the  southern  plains  of  Asia.  The 
hyenas,  wolves,  jackals,  and  bears,  abound 
in  some  of  the  hilly  tracts,  and  in  the 
mountains  of  Beluchistan  and  the  other 
countries  to  the  west  of  the  Indus.  The  first 
three  make  dreadful  havoc  among  the  flocks. 
The  same  animals  are  found  in  Persia, 
Mesopotamia,  in  Asia  Minor,  and  in  Pales 
tine  :  and  it  is  said  that  the  lion  is  occasion 
ally  seen  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan.  The 
ounce  is  a  formidable  animal  in  these  coun 
tries  and  in  Syria,  and  is  sometimes  mistaken 
for  the  tiger.  The  striped  hyena  is  often  to 
be  met  in  the  Persian  forests.  The  wild  dog 

o 

is  common  in  Northern  India,  in  Beluchistan, 
and  in  ah1  the  mountainous  countries  to  the 
east  of  Persia.  It  is  a  large  and  powerful 
animal,  and  extremely  ferocious.  They  hunt 
in  packs  of  twenty  or  thirty,  and  frequently 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


27 


seize  a  bullock,  which  they  kill  in  a  few 
minutes.  The  bones  and  remains  of  tigers, 
supposed  to  have  been  destroyed  by  the 
combined  attack  of  these  animals,  are  also 
sometimes  found  in  the  woods  of  Northern 
India.  The  wild  ass  is  a  native  of  Persia, 
and  is  remarkably  wild,  and  fleet  in  its 
movements.  It  is  also  common  in  the  north 
ern  mountains  of  India,  and  in  the  coun 
tries  to  the  west  of  the  Indus.  The  hemionus 
or  wild  horse  is  found  about  the  Sea  of  Aral. 
The  wild  sheep  and  the  wild  goat  are  com 
mon  among  the  mountains. 

Of  the  domestic  animals,  the  elephant 
claims  the  pre-eminence,  being  unequalled  by 
any  other  animal  for  the  purposes  of  draught. 
This  animal  is  confined  to  the  southern  coun 
tries  of  India,  where  the  climate  is  hot,  being 
seldom  seen  in  the  mountainous  tracts  to 
wards  the  north.  The  camel  is  used  for 
domestic  purposes  over  a  far  wider  extent  of 
country  than  the  elephant.  This  animal  is 
of  two  species,  the  one  with  two  humps,  and 
the  common  camel  with  only  one  hump.  The 
latter  is  the  camel  of  Arabia,  Syria,  Persia, 
India,  and  Northern  Africa.  A  lighter 
variety  of  this  species  is  the  dromedary, 
used  only  for  riding,  and  differs  from  the 
camel  of  burden  as  the  racer  does  from  the 
draught-horse.  The  two  humped  camel  is 
the  Bactrian  species,  and  is  so  rare,  even  in 
Western  Asia  and  India,  that  Captain  Lynch 
states,  that  in  a  caravan  of  5,000  camels,  there 
were  not  above  eight  or  ten  of  this  Bactrian 
species.  In  Mongolia,  however,  they  are 
very  numerous.  The  dromedary  is  chiefly 
used  for  travelling,  and  its  valuable  quality 
is  swiftness,  by  which,  joined  to  its  capacity 
of  enduring  hardship,  it  is  qualified  to  travel 
at  an  incredible  rate  for  many  successive  days. 
In  all  the  low  countries,  especially  in  the  dry 
and  sandy  tracts,  such  as  Arabia,  Syria,  etc., 
the  common  camel  is  employed.  The  two- 
humped  camel  is  a  native  of  the  high  coun 
tries  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Oxus  and 
the  Jaxartes,  where  it  is  still  chiefly  used. 
So  large  a  portion  of  Asia  is  occupied  by 
vast  plains  and  wastes  of  sand,  that  its  interior 


intercourse  must  be  maintained  by  land 
journeys.  But  without  the  aid  of  the  camel, 
it  would  be  impossible  to  traverse  extensive 
deserts  destitute  both  of  food  and  water ;  and 
in  those  arid  countries  such  an  animal,  which 
has  been  truly  called  the  ship  of  the  desert, 
is  the  most  valuable  gift  which  Providence 
could  bestow. 

The  other  domestic  animals  of  Southern 
and  Western  Asia  are  horses,  mules,  asses, 
buffaloes,  black  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  etc. 
Arabia  may  be  considered  the  native  coun 
try  of  the  horse,  in  which  he  arrives  at  the 
highest  perfection,  and  combines  all  the  most 
estimable  qualities  of  symmetry,  form,  fineness 
of  skin,  fire,  docility  of  temper,  fleetness,  and 
hardiness.  It  is  chiefly  from  the  Arabian 
breed  that  the  horses  in  other  parts  of  the 
world  have  been  improved.  In  Persia  the 
horses  are  neither  so  graceful  nor  so  swift  as 
those  of  Ai  abia,  being  high,  with  long  legs, 
spare  carcases,  and  large  heads ;  but  they  are 
highly  prized  by  the  inhabitants  for  their  ex 
traordinary  capacity  of  enduring  fatigue. 
To  the  east  of  Persia,  at  Herat,  the  breed  of 
horses  is  fine  ;  also  on  the  banks  of  the  Indus 
and  its  tributaries  ;  and  in  the  higher  regions 
of  Balk  and  Bokhara  they  are  excellent  and 
numerous,  and  are  exported  in  great  numbers 
to  Hindustan.  The  mule  and  the  ass,  all 
over  India,  are  miserable  animals.  The  mules 
are  of  better  quality  in  the  Punjaub,  on  the 
upper  course  of  the  Indus,  and  they  improve 
still  more  further  west.  In  the  countries 
west  of  the  Indus,  they  are  superior  to  those 
in  Hindustan,  and  in  Persia  there  is  a  still 
finer  breed.  But  the  mule  of  the  east  is  in 
ferior  to  that  of  Europe.  The  ass  partakes 
of  a  similar  improvement  in  his  progress 
westward,  and  is  a  far  finer  animal  in  West 
ern  Asia  than  in  Europe.  In  Syria,  Palestine, 
and  generally  in  Asia  Minor,  he  is  distin 
guished  by  agility,  fire,  and  patience  of  fatigue, 
and  ranks  in  the  first  class  of  domestic  ani 
mals.  Buffaloes  are  found  in  the  hot  plains 
of  Asia,  as  well  as  in  the  mountainous  tracts ; 
and  the  oxen  which  are  used  in  the  plough 
have  all  a  hump  on  their  backs.  The  wealth 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


of  the  pastoral  tribes,  who  rove  about  in  the 
western  plains  of  Khorassan,  and  in  the  hilly 
tracts  of  Afghanistan,  consists  chiefly  in  sheep, 
which  have  tails  a  foot  broad,  and  composed 
entirely  of  fat,  but  in  other  respects  resemble 
the  English  sheep  being  better  and  hand 
somer  than  those  of  India.  Goats  are  com 
mon  all  over  Asia  especially  in  the  moun 
tains,  where  there  are  some  breeds  with 
curiously-twisted  horns ;  and  they  are  by  no 
means  scarce  in  the  plains. 

In  the  northern  parts  of  Asia,  and  in  the 
high  mountain  tracts,  a  different  class  of 
animals  is  to  be  found.  These  cold  regions 
are  not  distinguished  by  the  same  profusion 
of  animal  life  as  the  tropical  countries.  The 
beasts  of  the  forest  decrease  in  number,  size, 
and  fierceness ;  and  the  wolf,  the  bear,  the 
glutton,  and  the  wild  boar,  are  the  only  fero 
cious  animals  which  thrive  in  these  northern 
climates.  In  advancing  on  the  desolate 

o 

plains  of  Siberia  to  about  the  COth  degree  of 
north  Lat.,  \ve  find  the  cold  still  taking  effect 
on  the  animal  as  on  the  vegetable  creation, 
and  the  living  creatures,  as  well  as  the 
plants  and  trees,  stunted  in  their  full  propor 
tions.  Beyond  this  limit  a  different  order 
of  animals  appears,  protected  against  the 
severity  of  the  climate  by  a  thick  covering 
of  fur,  which  is  sought  after  as  a  rich  article 
of  dress  in  more  opulent  countries.  These 
animals  are  accordingly  hunted  for  their  skins, 
which  constitute  the  great  staple  article  of 
trade  in  northern  Asia.  In  the  Arctic  regions  j 
the  bear  seems  to  form  the  only  exception  to 
the  diminished  grandeur  of  the  animal  crea 
tion.  This  animal,  nourished  in  the  regions 
of  Northern  Asia,  acquires  a  larger  size,  and 
far  greater  power  and  fierceness,  than  in 
southern  climates.  The  domestic  animals  of 
the  northern  and  mountainous  countries  of 
Asia  are  of  a  less  imposing  appearance,  and 
not  nearly  of  the  same  strength  as  those  in 
the  lower  valleys  of  the  south  and  west.  In 
the  high  and  cold  plains  of  Central  Asia  the 
camel  is  no  longer  used  as  a  beast  of  burden, 
fior  in  the  northern  parts  of  the  continent. 
Tibet  and  Central  Asia,  till  beyond  the  Altai' 


Mountains,  are  inhabited  by  Mongolish  and 
Turkish  tribes,  whose  wealth  consists  in  their 
cattle,  which  not  only  furnish  them  with  food, 
clothing,  and  shelter,  but  are  also  used  as 
beasts  of  burden.,  and  in  the  labors  of 
agriculture.  The  yak  of  Tartary,  or  the 
bushy-tailed  bull  of  Tibet,  seems  to  supply 
the  place  of  the  camel  in  these  mountainous 
countries.  This  animal  is  about  the  size  of 
a  small  bull,  of  great  strength,  and  is  reckoned 
a  valuable  property  among  the  itinerant 
hordes  of  Tartars,  to  whom  it  affords  the 
the  means  of  conveyance,  of  clothing,  and 
shelter  for  their  tents,  from  the  prodigious 
quantity  of  long  flowing  glossy  hair  on  its 
tail,  and  finally  of  subsistence  from  its  milk 
and  flesh.  In  those  mountains  is  also  found 
the  musk-deer,  which  delights  in  the  most  in 
tense  cold,  and  of  which  the  musk,  a  secre 
tion  by  the  male,  affords  a  revenue  to  the 
government,  as  well  as  a  valuable  article  of 
trade.  Here,  also,  on  the  highest  mountains, 
amid  ice  and  snow,  is  the  Cashmere  goat, 
the  wool  of  which  affords  the  materials  of 
the  finest  shawls.  Wild  horses  are  seen  in 
the  high  plains  of  Tibet ;  and  the  breed  of 
sheep,  a  peculiar  species  of  which  is  indig 
enous  to  the  climate,  is  of  great  value.  They 

/  o  «/ 

are  nourished  on  the  short  and  dry  herbage 
of  these  exposed  plains,  and  serve  for  subsis 
tence  to  the  inhabitants  as  well  as  for  beasts 
of  burden.  The  wild  and  extensive  plains  of 
Tartary  are  inhabited  by  pastoral  tribes,  who 
depend  in  like  manner  on  their  herds.  On 
the  southern  side  of  the  Altai  Mountains  we 
find  the  same  tribes  of  wanderers,  most  of  them 
the  scattered  remnants  of  the  Tartar  nations 
who  had  formerly  so  deep  a  share  in  the 
great  revolutions  of  Asia.  All  these  tribes 
subsist  chiefly  by  pasturage.  Xear  the  Ural 
Mountains  some  live  chiefly  by  hunting  or 
ensnaring  the  elk  and  other  wild  animals  for 
their  furs.  Among  those  who  are  phepherds 
sheep  and  horned  cattle  are  found  ;  while  the 
hunting  tribes  have  scarcely  any  domestic 
animals.  In  all  these  countries  the  wolf  and 
bear  are  known  to  abound.  In  the  rigorous 
climate,  farther  to  the  north,  where  the  cattle 


HISTORY  OF  THE  "WORLD. 


29 


arc  stunted  in  size,  and  can  scarcely  subsist, 
their  place  is  supplied  by  the  reindeer,  a 
species  peculiar  to  a  rigorous  climate,  and 
most  valuable  for  all  domestic  purposes, 
whether  for  draught  or  for  subsistence.  Dur 
ing  part  of  the  year  the  inhabitants  of  those 
desolate  countries  subsist  upon  its  flesh  or 
milk,  its  skin  furnishes  them  with  the  chief 
part  of  their  dress,  and  its  horns  with  such 
domestic  utensils  as  they  require.  The  dog 
is  also  trained  to  draw  the  sledge. 

The  feathered  race  in  Asia,  includes  very 
many  of  the  known  species.  In  the  south 
ern  parts  are  found  many  of  the  tropical  birds, 
distinguished  by  the  most  beautiful  plumage 
and  some  of  them  uttering  sounds  that  have 
a  resemblance  to  the  human  voice.  Here  are 
also  found  some  of  the  largest  and  rarest  birds, 
— the  ostrich,  the  cassowary,  and,  in  the 
Himalaya  Mountains,  the  gypaete,  one  of 
which,  shot  by  a  British  officer,  is  stated  by 
Bishop  Heber  to  have  measured  from  the  ex 
tremity  of  one  wing  to  another  the  enormous 
length  of  14  feet.  The  other  birds  are  eagles, 
kites,  vultures,  magpies,  in  the  higher  coun 
tries,  hawks,  crows,  wild  geese  and  ducks, 
flamingos,  herons,  bustards,  florikens,  rock 
pigeons,  lapwings,  storks,  plovers,  snipes, 
quails,  partridges,  and  almost  all  the  other 
small  birds  to  be  found  in  similar  climates. 
In  Northern  Asia  the  feathered  creation  is 
nearly  the  same  as  in  Europe. 

The  principle  of  life,  which  is  so  active 
throughout  the  torrid  zone,  and  produces 
quadrupeds  of  the  most  enormous  size,  is 
also  visible  in  the  magnitude  and  numbers  of 
the  reptile  tribe,  many  of  them  armed  with 
the  most  fatal  poisons,  all  of  them  odious  to 
the  sight,  and  some  such  as  the  Python  Bivit- 
tatus  attaining  the  length  of  twenty  feet,  and 
of  such  prodigious  muscular  strength  as  to 
coil  round  and  crush  large  animals  to  death. 
The  influence  of  cold  is  adverse  to  the  growth 
of  large  serpents,  which  are  not  found  in  Asia 
to  the  north  of  the  Altai'  Mountains.  The 
shark,  which  is  found  in  all  warm  climates, 
haunts  the  tropical  seas  of  Asia ;  and  the 
crocodile,  which  is  a  different  animal  from  the 


alligator  of  America,  though  equally  power 
ful  and  ferocious,  infests  the  rivers.  Innum 
erable  insects  of  every  form,  and  most  of 
them  noxious  and  destructive,  swarm  in  the 
torrid  regions  of  this  continent.  During  the 
short  summers  of  Northern  Asia,  the  inus- 
quito  and  other  insects  abound  in  the  woody 
tracts  of  Siberia,  insomuch  that  near  the  Ural 
Mountains  the  peasants  burn  constant  fires 
before  their  cottages,  as  a  defence  against 
their  attacks.  But  the  locust,  which  is  com 
mon  in  certain  parts  of  Asia,  is  the  most  mis 
chievous  of  all  these  winged  creatures.  They 
light  upon  a  country  in  a  cloud  which  dark 
ens  the  air,  and  leave  nothing  green  behind 
them ;  fields  sown  with  grain  being  utterly 
laid  waste,  and  trees  stripped  of  their  leaves, 
and  of  all  power  to  ripen  their  fruits.  They 
overspread  the  country  with  an  appearance 
of  blackness  for  many  miles ;  and  when  they 
are  driven  by  the  winds  into  the  sea,  their 
dead  bodies  cover  the  shore  in  heaps.  The&e 
destructive  animals  appear  occasionally  in 
the  countries  to  the  north  and  west  of  the 
Indus,  in  Beluchistan,  in  the  desert  tracts  of 
Khorassan,  and  in  Persia.  They  are  some 
times  seen  in  Arabia  in  countless  swarms ; 
and  frequently  to  the  north  of  the  Altai 
Mountains,  at  the  sources  of  the  Irtisch, 
whence  they  extend  their  destructive  flight 
as  far  as  the  Crimea  and  the  southern  prov 
inces  of  the  Russian  empire. 

Asia  has  been  subject  to  more  awful  revo 
lutions  than  any  other  part  of  the  world. 
Though  it  was  at  a  very  early  period  the 
seat  of  flourishing  kingdoms,  it  was  soon  des 
olated  by  war.  Amid  those  revolutions  it  is 
not  surprising  that  some  of  the  most  ancient 
empires  of  Asia  should  have  entirely  disap 
peared  ;  that  populous  cities  should  have 
fallen  into  decay  and  ruin ;  and  that  exten 
sive  countries,  once  the  seats  of  wealth,  com 
merce,  and  science,  should  now  lie  desolate. 
The  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  have  been 
long  blotted  out  of  the  page  of  history ;  and  no 
traces  of  them  remain  in  the  population  of  the 
world.  The  kingdom  of  the  Jews  has  also 
been  overthrown ;  but  this  ancient  race  are 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


still  wanderers  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and 
are  found  in  most  parts  of  Asia.  There  arc 
other  h' ve  principal  races,  who,  it  is  remarked 
by  Sir  "W.  Jones,  have  in  different  ages 
divided  among  themselves  as  a  kind  of  in 
heritance,  and  who  still  occupy,  the  vast  con 
tinent  of  Asia,  with  the  many  islands  de 
pending  on  it.  These  are  the  Hindus,  the 
Chinese,  the  Tartars,  the  Arabs,  and  the  Per 
sians.  The  origin  of  those  different  races 
is  a  curious  subject  of  inquiry,  and  must  be 
sought  for  in  the  remotest  antiquity,  and 
from  the  doubtful  analogies  supplied  by  re 
ligion,  manners,  and  language.  Sir  W.  Jones, 
who  has  so  well  illustrated  many  obscure 
points  of  ancient  history,  is  of  opinio.i  that 
Persia  was  the  original  seat  of  mankind, 
from  which,  as  from  a  common  centre,  they 
have  gradually  spread  over  the  earth.  Ac 
cording  to  his  learned  hypothesis,  deduced 
from  ancient  works  and  an  examination  of 
the  primitive  languages,  a  nourishing  empire 
was  established  in  Persia  or  Iran,  in  the  ear 
liest  dawn  of  history ;  and  the  population  con 
sisted  of  the  three  distinct  races  of  Hindus, 
Arabs,  and  Tartars.  About  the  era  of  Ma 
homet,  it  appears  that,  besides  the  language 
in  common  use,  the  learned  had  a  language 
of  their  own,  which  had  the  name  of  the 
Pahlavi ;  and  there  was  the  still  more  an 
cient  and  abstruse  language  of  the  Zend,  in 
which  some  sacred  books  were  written,  only 
known  to  a  sect  of  priests  and  philosophers. 
The  Pahlavi  he  clearly  proves  to  be  of  Chal- 
daic  origin,  and  the  Zend,  from  an  imperfect 
vocabulary  which  he  procured,  to  be  a  dia 
lect  of  the  Sanscrit,  the  ancient  and  learned 
tongue  of  the  Brahmins  in  India.  Having 
thus  ascertained  the  analogy  between  the 
language  of  the  ancient  Persians  and  that 
of  the  Arabs  and  the  Hindus,  he  concludes 
that  they  must  have  originally  been  the  same 
nation ;  and  that,  as  Persia  could  not  be 
peopled  from  the  east  by  the  Hindus,  whose 
religion  forbids  them  to  emigrate,  nor  by  the 
Arabs  from  the  weet,  as  we  have  not  the 
slightest  tradition  of  any  such  immigration, 
both  Arabs  and  Hindus  must  have  come 


from  Persia,  since  we  may  still  trace  in  this 
country  the  remains  of  their  respective 
tongues,  all  of  which  appear  to  have  been 
derived  from  one  common  and  more  ancient 
root. 

The  people  of  Tibet  are  descended  from 
the  Hindus,  and,  according  to  the  hypothesis 
of  Sir  "W.  Jones,  who,  on  all  these  subjects 
unites  solid  reasoning  with  the  most  profound 
learning,  have  engrafted  the  doctrines  of 
Buddha  on  their  ancient  religion.  Their 
language,  though  it  has  been  corrupted  by 
an  intercourse  with  the  Chinese,  still  bears 
the  traces  of  a  Sanscrit  origin.  The  Af 
ghans  or  Patans,  who  occupy  Afghanistan 
between  Persia  and  Hindustan,  are  said  to 
have  sprung  originally  from  the  Jews ;  but 
their  language,  which  is  evidently  of  the  In 
do-European  root,  does  not  warrant  this  tra 
dition.  The  Japanese  and  the  Chinese  are 
evidently  derived  from  a  common  stock,  their 
literature,  religion,  and  manners  being  the 
same.  The  Burmese  are  considered  by  some 
ethnologists  to  belong  to  the  Hindu  race, 
though  others  give  them  a  Tartar  origin. 

The  Tartars  or  Tatars,  under  which  appel 
lation  we  include  the  hordes  of  shepherds 
who  range  over  the  vast  plains  of  Asia,  un 
der  the  names  of  Scythians,  Huns,  Mongols, 
and  Kalmucs,  differ  entirely  from  the  Hin 
dus  and  Arabs  in  features,  complexion,  and 
form,  as  well  as  in  manners  and  language, 
and  appear  evidently  to  be  a  distinct  race. 
Their  language,  which  is  the  Turci  or  the 
Turki,  of  which  the  modern  Turkish  is  a  di 
alect,  might,  according  to  Sir  W.  Jones,  bo 
easily  traced  to  a  different  root  from  the  oth 
ers.  This  ancient  Tartarian  language  ho 
mentions,  on  grounds  which  it  would  not  be 
easy  to  disprove,  was  current  in  Persia  at  a 
very  early  age  ;  and  hence  he  concludes  that 
the  Tartars  formed  part  of  the  ancient  pop 
ulation  of  Persia,  and,  along  with  the  other 
two  races,  issued  from  that  country  to  occupy 
the  deserts  of  Asia.  The  Chinese,  according 
to  the  same  learned  author,  whose  opinion  is 
founded  on  the  Sanscrit  institutes  of  Menu, 
were  originally  a  military  tribe  of  the  Hin- 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


dus,  who,  abandoning  the  ordinances  of  the 
Brahmin  religion,  and  living  in  a  state  of 
degradation,  emigrated  eastward,  and  occn- 

o  *  o 

pyiug  the  countries  bordering  on  Hindustan, 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  Cliinese  empire. 
But  the  whole  country  has  been  since  over 
run  and  conquered  by  hordes  of  Tartars ; 
and  from  the  intermixture  of  those  two  races 
have  sprung  the  modern  Chinese,  whose 
coarse,  broad,  and  Tartar-like  physiognomy 
bears  no  longer  the  traces  of  their  Hindu 
ancestry. 

Of  the  various  races  which  people  the 
islands  of  Asia,  the  Malays  appear  to  deserve 
particular  noticf.  Sir  W.  Jones  supposes 
them  to  be  descended,  cince  the  time  of  Ma 
homet,  from  the  Arabian  traders  and  mar 
iners  who  frequented  the  Asiatic  archipelago. 
But  by  later  and  more  accurate  inquiries 
they  are  now  ascertained  to  have  been  orig 
inally  settled  in  Menangkaban,  in  the  centre 
of  the  island  of  Sumatra,  and  to  have  ruled 
over  the  whole  country,  from  which  they  sent 
out  colonies  to  the  other  islands.  The  Ma 
layan  annals  examined  by  Mr.  Marsden,  and 
other  documents,  satisfactorily  prove  that,  so 
far  from  emigrating,  as  was  generally  sup 
posed,  from  the  peninsula  of  Malacca  to  the 
Asiatic  islands,  they  were  original  settlers  in 
Sumatra,  from  which  they  issued  to  invade 
and  conquer  the  Malacca  peninsula ;  and  they 
had  established  a  powerful  empire  prior  to 
the  Mahometan  conquests.  The  Malays  pro 
fess  the  Moslem  creed,  which  was  introduced 
about  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and 
has  made  rapid  progress  among  all  those 
islanders.  But  their  original  religion  was 
that  of  Bramah,  blended  with  the  antecedent 
rude  idolatry  of  the  country,  such  as  is  still 
seen  among  the  Battas.  The  Malay  adven 
turers  who  invaded  the  Malacca  peninsula  in 
the  twelfth  century  conquered  the  country; 
and  the  indigenous  inhabitants,  so  far  from 
being  the  stock  from  which  the  Malays  have 
sprung,  are  an  entirely  different  race,  resem 
bling  more  nearly  the  negroes  of  Africa. 
The  Malayan  empire,  which  extended  all 
over  Sumatra,  is  now  dismembered,  though 


its  colonies  have  been  found  on  the  coasts  of 
the  Malacca  peninsula,  and  throughout  the 
islands  as  far  east  as  the  Moluccas.  The 
Malayan  language  is  spoken  without  any 
mixture  in  the  inland  country  of  Sumatra ; 
it  is  understood  everywhere,  and  has  ex 
tended  over  all  the  eastern  islands.  The 
Bugis  in  the  island  of  Celebes  are  a  well- 
known  race  in  the  eastern  archipelago.  Dur 
ing  the  flourishing  era  of  the  Malayan  em 
pire  in  Sumatra  they  had  established  that  of 
Gviah  or  Mengkasar  in  Celebes  on  the  east : 
like  the  Malays,  they  sent  forth  numerous 
colonies ;  and  at  one  period  extended  their 
conquests  as  far  west  as  Acheen  in  Sumatra 
and  Keddah  in  the  Malayan  peninsula ;  and 
in  almost  every  part  of  the  Archipelago 
Malayan  and  Bugis  settlers  are  to  be  found. 
In  all  those  Asiatic  islands  there  is,  however, 
an  indigenous  race,  who  were  settled  there 
prior  to  the  Malays  or  the  Bugis ;  and  these 
last  appear  to  have  been  intruders,  but  at 
what  period  of  the  world  cannot  now  be 
known.  The  native  inhabitants  of  Sumatra, 
Java,  and  the  other  islands,  differ  frczn  them 
in  character,  habits,  and  features.  The  Bat 
tas,  in  the  interior  of  Sumatra,  are  a  distinct 
people,  with  their  own  peculiar  habits  and 
language ;  they  have  been  reproached  by 
travellers  for  eating  human  flesh,  of  which 
Sir  Stamford  Raffles  produces  undeniable 
evidence.  The  natives  of  Java  are  a  quiet, 
contented  race,  attached  to  the  soil,  and  have 
not  the  roving,  maritime,  and  piratical  hab 
its  of  the  Malays. 

With  resrard  to  the  number  of  inhabitants 

O 

in  Asia,  we  have  no  data  for  any  accurate 
estimate.  The  Asiatics  possess  no  statistical 
knowledge ;  and,  excepting  surveys  instituted 
by  government  for  the  purposes  of  taxation, 
no  other  political  inquiries  are  ever  set  on 
foot  by  authority.  The  various  accounts  of 
the  Chinese  population  differ  to  the  extent  of 
100,000,000.  Those  regarding  Persia,  Hin 
dustan,  the  Asiatic  islands,  etc.,  are  little 
more  to  be  depended  on ;  and  still  less  can 
we  expect  any  accurate  census  of  the  roving 
population  of  Arabia  or  Tartary. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


The  character  of  the  Asiatics  is  represented 
in  a  very  unfavorable  light  by  all  travellers. 
Lieutenant  Pottinger,  who  travelled  in  Hin 
dustan,  Persia,  and  other   countries,  asserts 
that  moral  turpitude  may  be  said  to  pervade 
the  population  and  society  of  every  nation  in 
Asia  of  which  we  have  the  slightest  knowl 
edge  :  and  this  description  is  confirmed  by 
other  travellers,  who  describe  the  people  to 
be  dissolute  in  their  morals,  of  cold  and  sel 
fish  dispositions,  and  withal  cruel  and  treach 
erous  ;  without  any  regard  to  truth,  and  in 
dulging,  without  either  restraint  or  shame, 
in  the  most  scandalous  crimes.     Of  all  the 
nations  in  Asia  the  Persians  are  reckoned  to 
be  the  most  refined;  and  yet,  according  to 
Herbert,  Chardin,  and  others,  and  more  re 
cently  Fraser,  Pottinger,  and  Sir  J.  Malcolm, 
they  are  stained  with  all  the  Asiatic  vices  of 
cruelty,  meanness,  lying,  and  the  grossest  li 
centiousness.  The  Hindus  do  not  rank  higher 
than  the  Persians  in  the  scale  of  morality ; 
and  among  the  Burmese  and  other  eastern 
states  the  treatment  of  women,  who  are  held 
to   be  an  inferior  class,  and   are   sold  into 
slavery  by  their  husbands  and  parents,  and 
the  cruelties  which  they  commit  in  war,  be 
sides  other  revolting  customs,  indicate  a  state 
of  manners,  which,  contrasted  with  those  of 
Europe,  may  be  justly  considered  barbarous. 
Of  the  low  state  of  morals  among  the  Chi 
nese  we  need  seek  no  other  evidence  than 
the  inhuman  practice,  which  is  known  to  pre 
vail  in  all  the  populous  cities,  of  exposing 
new-boni  children  to  perish  on  the  streets. 
There  is  no  truer  mark  of  barbarism  than  an 
indifference  to  the  suiferings  of  our  fellow- 
creatures  ;  as  on  the  other  hand  it  is  only  in 
a  highly   civilized   community  that  man   is 
trained  to  the  exercise  of  social  benevolence. 
The  savage  is  always  found  to  be  cold,  unso 
cial,  and  selfish :  in  the  progress  of  society 
this  selfish  principle  is  corrected ;  man  is  im 
pressed  with  the  duties  which  he  owes  to  his 
fellow-men,  and  is  taught  to  know  experi 
mentally,  that  it  k  not  in  the  selfish  pursuit  of 
his  own  good,  but  in  the  mutual  interchange 
of  benefits  that  the  greatest  sum  of   indi 


vidual  happiness  is  to  be  found.  If  TVO  ex 
amine  the  manners,  institutions,  and  policy 
of  different  nations,  it  will  be  seen  that  man 
kind  are  humane  and  moral  exactly  as  they 
are  instructed ;  and  that  as  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge  leads  to  the  practice  of  all  the 
social  virtues,  ignorance  as  surely  produces 
cruelty,  selfishness,  and  vice.  Thus,  among 
the  Persians  and  Turks  cruelties  are  com 
mitted  which  would  be  repudiated  by  the 
more  advanced  civilization  of  Russia;  and 
in  illustration  of  the  same  principle,  we  may 
here  mention  a  circumstance  which  serves  to 
place  in  an  equally  striking  contrast  the  man 
ners  of  the  English  and  Chinese.  An  Eng 
lish  vessel  happened  to  be  at  anchor  in  the 
roads  of  Canton,  when  a  Chinese  boat  was 
overset  and  the  crew  precipitated  into  the 
water.  The  accident  was  observed  by  num 
bers  of  the  Chinese,  who  beheld  with  the  ut 
most  indifference  their  countrymen  strug 
gling  for  their  lives.  But  the  officers  and 
seamen  of  the  English  vessel  instantly  low 
ered  their  boats,  and  were  seen,  with  all  their 
usual  zeal  in  the  cause  of  humanity,  striving 
to  save  the  lives  of  those  who  were  entire 
strangers  to  them.  Now  we  cannot  have  a 
surer  index  to  the  station  which  each  nation 
holds  respectively  in  the  scale  of  civilization, 
than  the  opposite  conduct  which  they  sev 
erally  pursued  in  this  case  ;  mid  this  insensi 
bility  to  human  distress  is  not  peculiar  to  the 
Chinese ;  it  seems  to  pervade  the  whole  pop 
ulation  of  Asia  ;  while  in  Europe  we  see  ev 
erywhere  proofs  of  active  benevolence, — the 
most  munificent  establishments  for  the  relief 
of  misery;  hospitals  for  the  sick  and  infirm; 
houses  of  refuge  for  the  aged,  the  blind,  the 
destitute,  and  the  insane ;  besides  charitable 
associations  of  every  description.  For  all 
the  afflictions  to  which  frail  humanity  is  sub 
ject,  the  active  sympathy  of  Europe  supplies 
a  remedy ;  and  the  spacious  structures  which, 
under  the  influence  of  this  feeling,  have 
been  reared  up  in  all  the  European  towns, 
are  at  once  the  splendid  monuments  of  hu 
manity  and  of  high  civilization.  In  Asia 
the  rich  and  the  powerful  associate,  not  to 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


33 


relieve.  but  to  oppress  the  poor ;  and  through 
out  its  wide  extent  no  asylum  for  distress, 
nor  any  charitable  institutions,  are  to  be  seen. 
The  miserable  are  left  to  their  fate,  which  is 
generally  to  die  unpitied,  either  of  famine 
or  disease.  There  is  no  part  of  Asia  in 
which  intelligence  is  widely  diffused  among 
the  people ;  and  hence,  while  they  are  "  to 
vice  industrious,"  they  are  to  nobler  ends 
"  timorous  and  slothful."  Yet  in  the  exterior 
pomp  and  show  of  the  Asiatics  there  is  some 
thing  specious  and  imposing;  and  the  rich 
magnificence  of  their  flowing  robes,  their 
gorgeous  palaces,  their  splendid  mosques  and 
gilded  temples,  are  calculated  to  raise  ideas 
of  high  improvement,  which  a  nearer  inspec 
tion  fails  to  realize :  and,  after  all,  what  is  there 
in  this  tinsel  glare  of  oriental  luxury  that  can 
be  compared  to  the  severe  simplicity  and 
solid  refinements  of  Europe. 

This  degraded  state  of  society  seems  to  be 
the  joint  effect  of  tyranny  and  superstition. 
In  Asia  there  is  no  government  which  wears 
even  the  semblance  of  freedom.  In  form,  as 
well  as  in  practice,  they  are  purely  despotic, 
the  princes  being  tyrants,  and  the  people 
slaves.  Xor  is  the  power  of  the  prince  con 
trolled  by  the  influence  of  manners,  as  in 
Europe,  where  the  monarch,  however  abso 
lute,  seldom  indulges  in  the  license  of  despotic 
sway,  and  where  life  and  property  are  fully 
protected.  The  manners  of  Asia  favor  the 
exercise  of  unlimited  power;  and  this  vast 
continent  is  accordingly  one  scene  of  ex 
cess  and  misrule,  where  the  mere  will  of  the 
monarch  is  a  warrant  for  the  proscription  and 
death  of  any  individual,  however  powerful, 
and  for  the  ruin  of  his  family.  The  people, 
ruled  according  to  those  severe  maxims  of 
despotism,  live  in  continual  dread  of  violence 
and  wrong;  and  they  naturally  resort,  in  self- 
defense,  to  fraud,  falsehood,  and  treachery, 
which  are  the  resources  of  weakness.  Thus 
all  sense  of  independence  is  at  last  extin 
guished  ;  and  under  the  iron  rod  of  their  po 
litical  masters  they  degenerate  into  abject 
slaves,  without  honor  intelligence,  or  mor 
ality.  Despotism  in  Asia  assumes  so  severe 
5 


a  character,  that  it  invades  the  security  of 
private  life,  relaxes  all  social  ties,  and  react 
ing  on  the  people  with  its  pernicious  influ 
ence,  tends  still  farther  to  debase  them,  and 
to  fit  them  for  the  endurance  of  its  degrading 
yoke. 

The  prevailing  superstitions  of  Asia  have 
had  their  due  share  in  corrupting  the  man 
ners  of  the  people.  In  Asiatic  Turkey,  in 
Arabia,  Persia,  and  partly  also  in  Hindustan 
and  the  Asiatic  isles,  the  people  have  adopted 
the  Mahometan  faith;  in  Hindustan  they 
have  followed  the  religion  of  Brahma ;  and 
in  Thibet,  and  farther  eastward  among  the 
Burmese,  in  China,  and  the  isles  of  Japan, 
the  religion  of  Buddha  or  Foe  is  universally 
established,  which,  however  corrupted  in  its 
various  forms  and  idolatries,  is  still  known  to 
be  derived  from  the  Brahminical  faith,  K"ow 
all  those  different  systems  enjoin  a  variety  of 
minute  observances,  and  tedious  pilgrimages 
and  penances,  a  strict  compliance  with  which 
constitutes  the  essence  of  religion.  A  pil 
grimage  to  Mecca,  for  example,  atones  for  all 
the  iniquities  of  a  Mahometan  life  ;  and  the 
Hindus  and  others  have  their  pilgrimages 
and  penances  for  the  expiation  of  guilt.  A 
relaxation  of  morals  is  the  consequence ;  and 
hence  in  those  eastern  countries  a  strict  pro 
fession  of  religion  is  not  inconsistent  with 
the  most  scandalous  crimes. 

The  sanction  given  to  polygamy  by  all 
the  systems  of  religion  in  the  East  has  also 
tended  to  encourage  licentiousness.  Ma 
homet  found  it  convenient  to  allow  this  in 
dulgence  to  his  followers ;  and  the  Hindus, 
the  Burmese,  the  Chinese,  and  most  of  th& 
other  Asiatic  nations,  follow  the  same  rule;, 
In  all  Christian  countries  marriage  is  ie&- 
pected  as  a  sacred  and  an  honorable  ti«j 
equally  binding  on  both  parties ;  and  expert 
ence  proves,  that  where  its  obligations.  »r© 
duly  fulfilled,  it  is  calculated  to  produce  all 
the  happiness  and  virtue  which  can  be  at 
tained  by  man  in  this  sublunary  state-.  In 
the  intercourse  of  a  European  family  the  best 
affections  of  our  nature  are  called  forth. 
Here,  as  the  poet  expresses  it, 


34 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Flows  the  smooth  current  of  domestic  joy  ; 
and  in  those  scenes  the  rising  generation  re 
ceive,  from  the  example  and  tuition  of  pa 
rents,  those  just  and  early  impressions,  which 
are  never  erased.  How  different  are  the 
baneful  consequences  of  polygamy,  which, 
being  contrary  to  the  order  of  nature,  must 
be  upheld  by  tyranny,  and  which  degrades 
the  weaker  sex,  from  being  the  free  and 
equal  companions  of  man,  into  the  slaves  of 
his  pleasures.  The  domestic  tyrants  of  the 
East  rule  with  absolute  power  over  all  the 
inmates  of  the  harem ;  any  of  whom,  in  a 
fit  of  rage  or  jealousy,  they  may  consign  to 
a  cruel  death,  no  eye  witnessing  the  deed. 
The  effect  of  polygamy  in  this  manner  is 
not  merely  to  taint  the  morals  of  society, 
but  the  laws  and  policy  of  the  state.  It  esta 
blishes  a  tyrant,  not  on  the  throne,  which 
would  be  the  lesser  evil,  but  at  the  head  of 
every  family ;  and  on  his  unruly  passions 
the  law  imposes  no  restraint.  Hence  in  Asia 
domestic  comfort,  so  much  prized  in  Europe, 
cannot  be  known.  An  Asiatic  family  is  not 
the  abode  of  purity  and  of  domestic  peace, 
but  of  licentiousness  and  strife  ;  the  husband 
and  father  the  object  of  terror  rather  than 
affection  ;  the  women  his  abject  slaves,  lead 
ing  a  life  of  jealousy  and  malice,  and  often 
conspiring  against  each  other  by  the  most 
diabolical  arts.  The  institution  of  polygamy, 
which  in  this  manner  converts  one  half  of 
the  community  into  tyrants  and  the  other 
half  into  slaves,  has  proved,  in  every  country 
in  which  it  has  been  introduced,  the  bane  of 
morality  as  well  as  of  social  peace.  In  Europe 
the  purer  influence  of  Christianity,  conse 
crating  the  marriage  union,  and  impressing 
on  man  a  just  consideration  for  the  other  sex, 
has  raised  them  to  the  rank  in  society  which 
properly  belongs  to  them.  It  has  released 
them  forever  from  the  bondage  of  tyranny 
and  vice  ;  and  under  its  mild  and  beneficent 
maxims  the  nations  of  Europe  have  attained 
to  a  degree  of  morality,  refinement,  and  in 
telligence,  which  distinguishes  them  to  their 
advantage  above  the  most  polished  nations 
of  antiquity,  and  presents  a  decided  contrast  \ 


to  the  licentiousness  and  misery  of  the  East. 
But  if  such  be  the  state  of  society  among 
the  civilized  inhabitants  of  Asia,  what,  it 
may  be  asked,  is  the  condition  of  its.  rude 
tribes  ?  Among  those  semi-barbarians  who 
have  no  fixed  habitations,  but  who  dwell  in 
tents,  migrating  periodically  with  their  flocks 
in  quest  of  pasture,  all  crimes  of  violence, 
such  as  rapine,  revenge,  and  murder  prevail 
without  any  restraint.  The  pastoral  tribes 
of  Asia  retain  all  their  Tartar  habits  of  fe 
rocity  ;  robbery  is  their  daily  occupation, 
handed  down  from  father  to  son  ;  and  they 
are  perpetually  engaged  in  predatory  inroads, 
in  which  they  carry  off  as  their  lawful  prey 
all  that  they  can  seize — corn,  cattle,  goods, 
and  men  and  women,  who  are  sold  for  slaves. 
If  any  traveller  wrere  to  venture  within  this 
region  of  violence,  he  would  be  robbed  and 
murdered  without  mercy ;  and  no  merchan 
dise  can  be  transported  from  one  place  to  an 
other  without  a  sufficient  escort.  The  regulai 
commerce  of  Asia  is  in  consequence  carried 
on  in  caravans,  or  large  companies  of  mer 
chants,  who  travel  together  for  safety ;  and 
even  these  are  not  secure  from  the  savage 
tribes,  the  remnants  of  the  Tartar  popula 
tion,  who  inhabit  the  mountains  and  central 
plains,  and  who  frequently  emerge  from  their 
fastnesses  in  great  force  for  the  purposes  of 
plunder.  Such  were  the  shepherds  who,  undei 
Zinghis  Khan  and  Tamerlane,  issued  forth 
in  innumerable  bands,  subverting  the  great 
empires  of  the  world,  and  extending  their 
dominion  irom  sea  to  sea.  But  various 
causes  have  concurred  to  circumscribe  their 
power.  Among  these  we  may  reckon  the 
invention  of  fire-arms,  which  in  war  gives 
the  entire  ascendancy  to  civilized  nations. 
Prior  to  this  invention  the  weapons  used 
were  extremely  simple,  and  could  be  easily 
fashioned  by  the  rudest  tribes.  In  archery, 
or  in  the  use  of  the  sling,  the  merest  eavagca 
may  excel ;  and  for  a  close  encounter  the 
spear  or  the  sword  could  be  easily  procured, 
and  as  effectually  wielded  by  a  barbarian  as 
by  any  other  arm.  But  the  materiel  of  mod 
ern  war  is  far  more  complicated  and  expensive. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


35 


and  cannot  be  procured  without  the  aid  of 
wealth,  and  the  nicest  mechanical  art  as  well 
as  science ;  so  that  it  is  justly  observed  by 
the  historian  of  Rome,  that  in  the  present 
state  of  the  military  art,  a  nation  must  be 
civilized  before  it  can  conquer  other  nations. 
Since  the  invention  of  fire-arms  the  superi 
ority  of  civilized  over  barbarous  nations  has 
been  seen  in  every  encounter  which  has 
taken  place,  and  "  the  reign  of  independent 
barbarism  has  been  contracted  within  a  nar 
row  span." 

The  extensive  region  of  Tartary,  which 
occupies  the  centre  of  Asia,  has  never  been 
very  distinctly  defined ;  but  it  is  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  the  civilized  empires  of  Asia 
— on  the  north  by  Asiatic  Russia,  and  on  the 
pouth  by  Persia,  Hindustan,  and  China ;  and 
as  the  use  of  fire-arms  has  augmented  the 
military  strength  of  these  different  states, 
they  have  gradually  extended  their  sway 
over  the  savage  tribes  on  their  frontiers. 
Russia,  which  was  overrun  by  Tamerlane 
and  other  conquerors  about  the  end  of  the 
14th  century,  was,  after  about  200  years  of 
obstinate  and  bloody  wars,  emancipated  from 
the  Tartar  yoke  ;  and  it  has  ever  since  been 
making  reprisals  on  its  barbarous  enemies, 
having  reduced  the  tribes  on  its  frontiers — 
the  Kalmucs,  the  Bashkirs,  the  Kirghises, 
who  inhabit  the  banks  of  the  Yolga  and  the 
country  on  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  Sea, 
besides  numerous  other  Tartar  tribes  on  the 
Chinese  frontier,  near  the  sources  of  the 
Irtisch,  the  Obi,  the  Yenesei,  and  the  Lena. 
Her  wars  with  the  Turks,  also,  an  Asiatic 
tribe,  though  of  a  different  origin  from  the 
broad-featured  race  of  Tartars,  exemplify  in 
a  striking  manner  the  warlike  superiority  of 
civilized  nations.  The  contests  of  China 
with  the  barbarous  hordes  of  Mongols,  Kal- 
kas,  and  Eluths,  to  the  west  and  northwest 
of  her  territory,  and  with  the  Mantchoo 
Tartars,  who  inhabit  the  country  to  the 
north,  bordering  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  have 
also  terminated  in  their  entire  subjection. 
They  have  been  successively  subdued  by  the 
Chinese  armies ;  and  the  missionary  Gerbil- 


lon,  giving  an  account  of  a  great  victory 
gained  by  the  Chinese,  ascribes  it  to  the 
superiority  of  their  artillery,  which  the  bar 
barians  had  no  means  of  opposing.  Persia 
has  been  long  a  feeble  power  ;  and  the  Tar 
tar  tribes  who  range  along  her  northern  and 
eastern  frontiers  are  still  extremely  powerful, 
and  frequently  molest  the  adjoining  coun 
tries  by  their  incursions.  Independent  Tar 
tary  may  now  therefore  be  comprised  within 
the  following  boundaries,  namely,  the  Altai 
Mountains  on  the  north,  which  form  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  Russian  empire ; 
the  Caspian  Sea  on  the  west ;  Chinese  Tar 
tary  on  the  east ;  and  Persia  and  Hindustan 
on  the  south.  These  boundaries  inclose  a 
space  of  about  1,200  miles  in  length,  from 
the  Altai'  Mountains  to  Persia ;  and  900  in 
breadth,  from  the  Caspian  Sea  to  Chinese 
Tartary.  To  this  must  be  added  the  country 
between  Hindustan  and  Persia,  including 
Sinde  at  the  mouth  of  the  Indus ;  and  west 
ward  the  mountainous  regions  of  Beluchistan, 
as  well  as  Afghanistan.  In  the  high  district 
of  Balk,  which  is  within  this  space,  and  which 
is  situated  on  the  northern  declivity  of  the 
Hindu  Koh  or  Himalaya  Mountains,  and  in 
Buckharia  or  Bokhara,  on  the  fertile  banks 
of  the  Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes,  where  the 
towns  of  Bokhara,  Samarcand,  Khivah,  Kou- 
kan,  Khojund,  and  Murghelan,  etc.,  some 
form  of  civil  order  is  maintained  by  the  in 
dependent  princes  of  the  country ;  but  with 
these  exceptions  the  Tartar  manners  still 
prevail  throughout  this  extensive  region. 
The  towns  are  thinly  scattered,  and  the  pas 
toral  hordes  range  over  the  face  of  the  land 
in  all  the  license  of  savage  freedom.  These 
consist,  not  of  the  Tartars  who  possessed  the 
country  in  the  time  of  Tamerlane,  but  of 
the  Usbecks,  a  Turkoman  tribe,  who  appear 
to  have  descended,  with  the  whole  mass  of 
their  people,  from  the  inhospitable  countries 
in  the  north,  to  the  fine  plains  of  the  Oxus 
and  the  Jaxartes,  and  to  have  expelled  the 
Tartars,  whose  place  thej  now  occupy. 
The  Turkoman  tribes,  who  inhabit  the  El- 
burz  Mountains  to  the  south  of  the  Caspian, 


8G 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WORLD. 


and  the  deserts  of  Kliarasrn,  which  extend 
eastward  from  this  interior  sea  about  600 
miles,  are  described  by  Fraser,  in  his  in 
structive  work  on  Persia,  as  singularly  fierce, 
cruel,  and  blood-thirsty  in  their  habits.  They 
pour  down  from  their  deserts  in  great  force 
on  the  cultivated  districts,  plundering  villa 
ges  and  caravans  with  every  circumstance  of 
atrocious  outrage,  murdering  on  the  spot  the 
old,  the  feeble,  and  the  helpless,  and  carrying 
into  slavery  those  who  are  fit  for  labor,  and 
thus  depopulating  extensive  tracts  that  were 
before  fertile  and  well  inhabited.  On  the 
east  of  Persia  the  same  ravages  are  com 
mitted  by  other  tribes,  who  dispose  of  their 
captives  to  slave-merchants,  by  whom  they 
are  carried  to  the  markets  of  Bokhara  and 
Khivah.  On  the  south  the  wild  inhabitants 
of  Beluchistan,  so  well  described  by  Lieu 
tenant  Pottinger,  one  of  the  most  judicious 
and  enterprising  travellers  of  modern  times, 
plunder  and  murder  their  prisoners,  or  carry 
them  for  sale  to  some  of  the  great  slave-mar 
kets  in  the  East.  Numerous  tribes  of  shep 
herds  feed  their  flocks  on  the  banks  of  the 
Oxns  and  the  Jaxartes  ;  and  they  are  found 
scattered  over  all  the  northern  and  eastern 
countries  of  Central  Asia,  as  far  as  the 
boundaries  of  Russia  and  China.  But  in 
the  present  improved  state  of  the  military 
art  they  are  no  longer  formidable,  and  they 
waste  their  force  in  casual  inroads,  which 
are  easily  repelled. 

From  the  earliest  ages  the  countries  of 
Western  Asia,  namely,  Asia  Minor,  the 
valley  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  and 
Persia,  were  familiarly  known  to  Europeans ; 
but  of  the  northern  plains  inhabited  by  the 
Scythian  tribes,  and  of  the  rich  and  im 
proved  countries  of  Hindustan  and  China 
in  the  east,  they  were  only  informed  by 
vague  and  inaccurate  reports,  which  were 
elowly  corrected  by  the  progress  of  com 
merce  or  of  conquest.  Of  the  ancient  ex 
pedition  of  Semiramis  into  India  we  know 
nothing  more  than  that  her  armies  were 

forced  to  retreat  with  loss.     But  the  subse- 

/ 

quent  invasion  and  conquests  of  Darius  ex 


tended  the  knowledge  of  the  Europeans  to 
the  modern  provinces  of  Lahore  and  Moul- 
tan,  commonly  called  the  Punjaub.  or  the 
country  watered  by  the  five  head  branches 
of  the  Indus.  Herodotus  describes  the  cli 
mate  of  the  country  as  intensely  hot ;  the 
inhabitants  in  sonic  points  as  little  bettei 
than  barbarians  ;  and  with  a  small  grain  of 
truth  he  mixes  the  strangest  and  most  absurd 
fables.  He  mentions  the  populousness  and 
wealth  of  the  country,  and  the  staple  pro 
duce  of  cotton  or  wool  growing  on  trees ; 
the  story  of  the  white  ants  turning  up  the 
earth  and  digging  up  gold,  which  has  been 
copied  by  succeeding  writers  ;  and,  finally, 
the  region  of  the  five  rivers  as  bounded  by 
a  barren  plain,  which  must  no  doubt  be  the 
sandy  desert  that  lies  between  the  valley  of 
the  Indus  and  the  Ganges.  The  Scythians 
or  Tartars  who  wandered  over  the  northern 
and  eastern  plains  of  Asia  were  only  known 
by  their  irruptions  into  Europe.  The  two 
tribes  of  the  Massagetse  and  the  Saca?,  the 
former  inhabiting  the  desert  plains  to  the 
east  of  the  Aral  and  north  of  the  Jaxartes, 
and  the  latter  the  country  to  the  northwest 
of  India,  are  mentioned  by  Herodotus  and 
other  ancient  writers  ;  and  their  description 
is  merely  a  detail  of  pastoral  manners.  The 
expedition  of  Alexander  into  India  was  a 
great  step  in  the  progress  of  Asiatic  geo 
graphy.  This  warlike  prince  was  intent  not 
merely  on  conquest,  but  on  the  diffusion  of 
arts,  commerce  and  science  ;  and,  like  some 
modern  conquerors,  his  army  was  accom 
panied  by  a  body  of  men  of  science,  who 
were  instructed  to  measure  each  day  the  dis 
tance  traversed,  to  make  an  accurate  table 
of  the  various  routes,  and  to  observe  and 
describe  the  countries  through  which  they 
passed.  Science  thus  followed  in  the  train 
of  arms ;  and  it  was  by  a  European  army 
that  the  remote  regions  of  the  East  were 
first  explored.  Alexander  pursuing  his  vic 
torious  march  through  Asia  Minor,  passed 
the  limits  of  European  discovery,  and  entered 
the  eastern  country  of  Bactriana  in  pursuit 
of  the  Persian  army.  Having  passed  the 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


37 


Paropamisan  range  of  the  Himalaya  Moun 
tains,  crossed  tlie  Oxus,  and  taken  Mara- 
canda.  the  modern  Samarcand,  lie  advanced 
northward  to  the  Jaxartes,  where  he  pursued 
the  Scythian  host  into  the  northern  deserts  to 
the  eastward  of  the  Aral.  Retracing  his  steps, 
he  again  crossed  the  Paropamisan  Mountains, 
and  advancing  eastward  among  hostile  tribes, 
through  the  modern  country  of  Cabul  or 
Afghanistan,  to  the  south  of  the  Hindu  Ivoli 
range,  lie  crossed  the  Indus  near  the  moun 
tains,  and  having  defeated  the  Indian  army 
of  Porus,  he  obtained  command  of  the  coun 
try  watered  by  the  five  tributary  streams  of 
the  Indus,  where  his  course  was  arrested  by 
the  murmurs  of  his  troops,  who  refused  to 
follow  him  across  the  desert  to  the  Ganges. 
Still  intent  on  discovery  as  well  as  on  con 
quest,  he  fitted  out  a  large  fleet,  and  sailing 
clown  the  Indus  to  its  mouth,  in  the  Indian 
Ocean,  he  instructed  his  admiral,  Nearchus, 
to  return  to  Persia  by  sea,  while  he  took  his 
course  through  the  modem  country  of  Mek- 
ran,  and  was  nearly  lost  with  his  whole  army 
in  its  sandy  deserts.  Kearchus  directed  his 
course  along  the  shores  of  Asia,  and  triumph 
ing  over  the  perils  of  unknown  seas,  arrived 
safely  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  which  he  ascended 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Tigris.  This  is  the  first 
great  voyage  of  discovery  of  which  we  have 
any  authentic  account ;  and  considering  the 
age  of  the  world  in  which  it  was  accom 
plished,  it  must  be  viewed  as  a  singular  dis 
play  of  courage  and  of  nautical  skill.  Alex 
ander  was  not  equally  successful  in  tracing 
the  connection  of  the  Red  Sea  with  the  In 
dian  Ocean,  which  remained  unknown  until 
the  reign  of  the  Ptolemies  in  Eirpvt. 

CJJ.    t/ 

Seleucus,  the  successor  of  Alexander,  car 
ried  his  arms  into  India  for  the  purpose  of 
completing  its  conquest ;  but  he  does  not  ap 
pear  to  have  reached  the  valley  of  the  Gan 
ges.  He  sent,  however,  to  the  court  of 
Sandracoltus,  an  Indian  prince  who  reigned 
over  all  the  countries  from  Delhi  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Ganges,  his  ambassador  Me- 
gasthenes  who  acquired  the  most  important 
and  clear  information  respecting  those  un 


known  regions.  He  visited  the  celebrated 
city  of  Palibothra,  the  site  of  which  has  so 
much  perplexed  modern  geographers  and, 
with  some  admixture  of  fable,  he  accurately 
describes  the  countries  on  the  Ganges,  and 
their  productions ;  the  amazing  size  of  the 
rivers ;  the  most  remarkable  animals  which 
he  saw,  among  others  the  Bengal  tiger ;  and 
the  manners  of  the  people,  and  their  div 
ision  into  castes,  with  other  singular  cus 
toms. 

During  the  reign  of  the  Ptolemies  in 
Egypt  the  geography  of  Asia  was  still  far 
ther  illustrated,  not  by  conquest,  but  by  com 
merce.  Alexandria  was  at  that  time  the 
great  emporium  of  the  eastern  trade  ;  and 
India  was  explored  in  its  most  remote  parts, 
for  the  precious  commodities  which  it  was 
supposed  to  produce.  The  Egyptian  mar 
iners  entering  the  Indian  Ocean  from  the 
Red  Sea,  and  coasting  along  the  Arabian 
shore,  stretched  across  the  Persian  Gulf  by 
the  help  of  the  southwest  monsoon,  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Indus ;  whence  they  sailed 
southward  along  the  Malabar  coast,  and 
doubling  Cape  Coinorin,  extended  their  voy 
age  on  the  coast  of  Coroinandel  as  as  far  as 
the  modern  city  of  Masulipatam. 

In  the  age  of  Ptolemy  the  geographer, 
which  was  a  century  later,  the  knowledge  of 
the  Europeans  had  extended  eastward  be 
yond  the  Ganges  to  the  Burman  empire  and 
the  Gulf  of  Siam,  though  it  does  not  appeal 
that  the  navigators  of  antiquity  ever  reached 
the  Chinese  coast.  The  commerce  of  India 
was  carried  on  by  land  as  well  as  by  sea ; 
and  regular  caravans  commenced  their  route 
from  Byzantium  eastward  through  Asia 
Minor  and  Persia,  passing  through  the  mod 
ern  cities  of  Ilamadan  and  Herat ;  and 
journeying  northward,  and  crossing  th« 
Oxus  and  the  modern  country  of  Bokhara, 
they  passed  the  great  branch  of  the  Hima 
laya  Mountains  which  runs  northward  from 
the  main  range  under  the  modern  appella 
tion  of  Bolor  Dagh ;  and  descending  into 
the  lower  plains  of  Little  Tibet,  they  assem 
bled  in  great  numbers,  and,  after  halting  for 


88 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


some  time,  took  their  journey  to  the  capital 
of  Serica  or  China,  which  occupied  a  period 
of  seven  months.  The  description  given  of 
the  Seres  as  a  frugal  and  mercantile  people, 
averse  to  all  intercourse  with  strangers,  and 
carrying  on  their  trade  at  a  single  station  on 
the  frontier,  answers  entirely  to  the  modern 
character  of  the  Chinese.  The  commerce, 
which  during  the  flourishing  era  of  Rome 
was  carried  on  between  Europe  and  the  east 
ern  parts  of  Asia,  was  interrupted  by  the 
inroads  of  the  barbarous  nations  who  assailed, 
and  in  the  end  overthrew,  the  Roman  em 
pire  ;  and  all  knowledge  of  Asia  was  for  a 
time  lost.  It  was  not  till  the  Gth  or  7th  cen 
tury,  during  the  reign  of  the  caliphs  at  Bag 
dad,  that  the  Arabian  geographers  acquired 
a  knowledge  of  those  countries.  During 
this  period  the  country  to  the  west  of  the 
Bolor  Dagh  Mountains,  which  rtretch  north 
ward  nearly  to  the  frontier  of  Siberia,  con 
sisting  of  extensive  plains,  watered  by  the 
Ox  us  and  the  Jaxartes,  was  well  known  to 
them  ;  and  they  were  imperfectly  acquainted 
with  the  southern  plains  of  Asia  inhabited 
by  the  Tartars,  though  they  were  as  usual 
the  subject  of  fables.  The  eastern  countries 
of  Hindustan,  the  beautiful  region  of  Cash 
mere,  the  great  Asiatic  plains,  and  China, 
with  the  island  of  Sumatra  and  others,  were 
known  to  the  Arabian  geographers,  though 
they  seem  to  have  had  no  correct  knowledge 
of  the  Asiatic  shores.  Their  accurate  de 
scription  of  Chinese  manners  leaves  no  doubt 
of  their  having  reached  that  country.  The 
invasion  of  the  Holy  Land  by  the  crusaders 
tended,  among  its  other  consequences,  to  in 
troduce  into  Europe  a  knowledge  of  those 
countries  in  Asia  which  were  famed  for 
wealth  and  the  remains  of  ancient  refine 
ment  ;  and  from  the  camps  of  the  crusading 
kings,  as  well  as  from  the  pope,  some  remark 
able  embassies  were  sent  to  the  Tartar  sov 
ereigns,  the  descendants  of  the  conqueror 
Zinghis,  the  site  of  whose  capital  of  Kar- 
rakorum  is  now  the  subject  of  dispute,  though 
it  is  generally  agreed  that  it  must  have  been 
situated  far  east,  in  the  wilds  of  Tartary. 


The  object  of  the  embassies  dispatched  by 
the  pope  to  the  Tartar  camp  was  to  divert 
the  storm  of  barbarian  invasion  from  Europe 
The  ambassadors  were  triars,  who  were  car 
ried  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  Tartars,  in 
the  eastern  wilds  of  Asia,  through  countries 
which  had  never  been  explored  by  any  Euro 
peari.  Rubruquis,  a  friar,  who  was  sent  am 
bassador  by  St.  Louis  to  the  Tartars,  has 
given  a  lively  and  circumstantial  account  of 
his  adventures.  He  reached  the  Tartar  cap 
ital  of  Karrakorum  after  a  fatiguing  and 
dangerous  journey  of  more  than  two  months, 
having  traversed  a  vast  tract  of  unknown 
country,  and  brought  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  Europeans  the  immense  plains  and  high 
lands  of  Central  Asia,  Eastern  Tartary  or 
the  country  of  the  Mongols,  Tibet  and  Ca 
thay  or  China,  and  the  eastern  shores  of  the 
continent.  All  these  countries  were  after 
wards  visited  by  the  celebrated  Venetian 
traveller  Marco  Polo,  who,  being  dazzled  by 
the  splendid  accounts  diffused  through  Eu 
rope  of  the  wealth  and  luxury  ot  Asia,  was 
inflamed  with  the  desire  of  exploring  those 
distant  countries.  He  accordingly  proceeded 
through  A  sia  Minor,  Persia,  the  high  coun 
try  of  Balk,  visited  the  cities  of  Cashgar  and 
Yarkund,  and  skirting  the  great  desert  of 
Shamo  or  Gobi,  he  reached  the  Tartar  capital 
of  Karrakorum,  and  finally  entered  the  Chi 
nese  empire,  of  which  his  account  is  circuin 
stantial  and  correct,  and  of  which  some  of 
the  magnificent  cities,  though  they  have 
fallen  from  their  ancient  importance,  are  still 
recognized  in  his  accurate  description.  He 
returned  to  Venice  by  sea  after  an  absence 
of  twenty-four  years,  having  obtained  ac 
counts  of  the  eastern  islands  of  Java,  Suma 
tra,  Ceylon,  and  of  Ormus  in  the  Persian 
Gulf,  at  that  time  the  great  and  splendid 
emporium  of  the  Indian  trade.  The  discov 
ery,  in  1498,  of  the  passage  to  India  by  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  opened  the  Indian  seaa 
to  the  European  fleets  ;  and  shortly  after  this 
great  event,  the  southern,  and  partly  also 
the  eastern  shores  of  Asia,  were  completely 
explored,  as  well  as  that  great  archipelago 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


39 


which  extends  from  the  Malacca  peninsula 
to  New  Holland.  In  the  interior  of  the 
continent  the  progress  of  discovery  was  much 
slower,  and  only  kept  pace  with  the  gradual 
extension  of  the  Russian  dominion  over  the 
barbarous  tribes  in  Northern  Asia.  The 
Tartars  under  Tamerlane  in  1382  had  in 
vaded  the  east  of  Europe,  had  taken  Mos 
cow,  and  overrun  all  the  countries  on  the 
"Volga  and  the  Dnieper.  The  rise  of  the 
northern  empire  was  for  more  than  two  cen 
turies  obstructed  by  the  inroads  of  the  bar 
barians  ;  and  it  was  only  after  long  and  ob 
stinate  struggles  that  they  yielded  to  the 
superiority  of  the  Russian  arms.  About  the 
middle  of  the  16th  century  Russia  had  ex 
tended  her  conquests  to  the  Obi,  and  her  em 
pire  was  enlarged  northward  and  eastward, 
until  it  reached  the  frontiers  of  China  and 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  general  form  of  the 
continent,  which  was  exhibited  in  the  maps 
from  mere  conjecture,  was  in  this  manner 
laid  open  to  Europeans ;  and  in  the  course 
of  the  last  century  the  eastern  and  northern 
shores  were  surveyed ;  also  Kamtschatka, 
the  Kurile  Islands,  and  Jesso.  The  islands 
of  Japan  had  been  previously  discovered  by 
navigators.  The  relative  limits  of  the  Asi 
atic  and  American  continents  were  traced 
by  Behring,  Tschirikoff,  and  other  naviga 
tors,  who  also  discovered  the  Aleutian  or 
Fox  Islands ;  and  finally  by  Captain  Cook, 
who  advancing  into  Behring's  Straits  as  far 
as  the  parallel  of  70°  44',  ascertained  the 
near  approach  and  true  bearing  of  the  two 
continents. 

The  interior  countries  of  Asia  near  the 
Caspian  and  Aral  Seas  have  been  visited  by 
Russian  travellers,  who  have  corrected  some 
errors  of  long  standing  in  Asiatic  geography. 
Lake  Aral  was  either  unknown  to  the  an 
cients,  or  they  confounded  it  with  the  Caspian 
Sea,  of  which  they  supposed  it  to  form  a 
part,  and  to  be  the  receptacle  of  the  great 
river  Oxus.  After  the  fact  of  two  separate 
seas  was  fully  known,  the  Oxus  was  still  sup 
posed  to  terminate  in  the  Caspian  ;  and  its 
course  was  laid  down  accordingly  in  all  the 


most  approved  charts.  The  Russians,  having 
visited  those  countries,  ascertained  by  actual 
observation  that  the  Oxus,  as  well  as  the  Jax- 
artes,  terminates  in  the  Sea  of  Aral.  There 
seems,  however,  an  ancient  channel  by  which 
at  least  one  portion  of  the  waters  of  the  Oxua 
at  one  time  may  have  found  their  way  iutc 
the  Caspian,  as  mentioned  by  ancient  authors. 
Eastern  Asia,  namely,  the  Chinese  empire, 
with  the  source  and  termination  of  all  its 
great  rivers ;  the  northern  country  of  the 
Tartars  ;  the  course  of  the  great  river  Am 
our  ;  with  the  high  lands  of  Central  Asia, 
namely,  Mongolia,  the  original  seat  of  the 
Mongols,  were  in  the  course  of  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries  explored  by  the 
Romish  missionaries,  as  well  as  by  mercan 
tile  travellers.  In  162-4  Antonio  d'Andrada, 
a  Jesuit,  travelled  from  the  coast  of  the  Great 
Mogul  to  China.  He  passed  through  the 
country  of  Serinagur,  and  ascending  the 
great  Himalaya  range,  he  and  his  companions 
endured  such  incredible  hardships  that  he 
was  forced  to  return.  He  afterwards  cross 
ed  these  mountains  along  with  a  caravan, 
and  was  among  the  earliest  travellers  who 
reached  the  country  of  Tibet,  which  he 
describes,  and  also  the  manners  and  religion 
of  the  people.  In  1603  the  missionary  Goez 
set  out  from  Lahore,  where  he  resided  at  the 
Mogul  court,  on  his  way  to  China.  He  tra 
velled  westward,  and  crossing  the  Indus, 
passed  through  the  countries  of  Kabul  or 
Afghanistan,  Cashgar  to  the  north,  and  the 
country  on  the  banks  of  the  Oxus ;  and 
crossing  a  ridge  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains, 
he  arrived  at  Yarkund.  From  this  place  he 
journeyed  with  a  caravan  across  the  central 
country  of  Mongolia  to  China,  These  mis 
sionaries  were  received  into  high  favor  by 
the  Chinese  emperors,  who  valued  them  on 
account  of  their  science,  and  gave  them  ac 
cess  to  the  public  archives,  which  contained 
all  the  Chinese  surveys  of  the  empire  and 
of  the  adjacent  countries.  By  the  help  of 
these  they  exhibited  with  accuracy  the  in 
terior  geography  of  Tibet,  and  also  ol  that 
extensive  country  beyond  the  Ganges  which 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


now  forms  the  Burinan  empire,  and  which 
is  watered  by  the  great  rivers  that  take  their 
rise  in  the  central  mountains  and  run  south 
ward—the  Irawaddy  into  the  Indian  Ocean, 
the  Setang  into  the  Gulf  of  Martaban,  of 
which  it  forms  the  estuary,  the  Saluen  into 
the  same  gulf,  the  Menam  into  the  Gulf  of 
Siam,  and  the  Menam  Kong  or  the  Mekong 
into  the  Chinese  Sea.  These  missionaries 
prosecuted  with  equal  activity  and  zeal  their 
inquiries  into  the  interior  geography  of 
China  ;  they  traced  the  great  rivers  the  IIo- 
angho  or  Yellow  River,  and  the  Yank-tee- 
Kianjr  or  Blue  River,  to  their  termination  as 

O  * 

well  as  to  their  source,  which  they  found  to 
be  in  the  depths  of  the  central  mountains, 
and  not  in  the  imaginary  lake  of  Cayamay, 
as  had  been  generally  believed.  Grueber, 
who  -set  out  on  his  travels  to  the  East  in 
1G56,  traversed  the  whole  country  of  China, 
partly  by  land  and  partly  by  water  ;  and  his 
route  to  Europe  was  through  the  Tartar  de 
serts  to  Lassa,  a  town  in  Tibet,  and  thence 
through  the  mountainous  country  of  J^epaul 
to  Battana  on  the  Ganges,  Benares,  and  fin 
ally  to  Agra,  which  he  reached  after  a  jour 
ney  of  more  than  twelve  months.  Other 
journeys  equally  enterprising  were  also  un 
dertaken  by  the  missionaries.  Desideri  set 
out  in  1714  from  Delhi,  and  travelled  across 
the  Himalaya  Mountains  through  Cashmere 
into  Tibet ;  and,  at  a  later  period,  Horace  de 
la  Penna,  with  a  body  of  twelve  mission 
aries,  resided  in  the  same  country  for  a  num 
ber  of  years.  The  missionary  Gerbillon, 
who  was  in  great  favor  at  the  Chinese  court, 
travelled  in  1C88  through  the  Tartar  deserts, 
with  a  Chinese  embassy,  to  the  banks  of  the 
Selingha,  there  to  settle  with  the  Russians 
the  respective  limits  of  the  two  empires ; 
and  having  been  also  in  the  practice  of  fol 
lowing  the  emperor  in  his  hunting  expedi 
tions  into  Tartary,  he  contributed  with  other 
travellers  to  illustrate  the  geography  of  these 
countries  and  the  manners  of  the  people. 

The  great  extension  of  the  British  con 
quests  in  Northern  India  has  laid  open  to 


Europeans  all  that  portion  of  Asia,  which 
lies  on  the  southern  declivity  of  the  Himalaya 
Mountains,  which  is  interesting  not  only  from 
its  natural  grandeur,  but  also  as  it  contains 
the  sources  of  the  Indus,  the  Ganges,  and 
the  Brahmapootra.  The  Europeans  were  in 
debted  for  all  the  knowledge  which  they  pos 
sessed  of  those  countries  to  the  Chinese  mis 
sionaries,  who  represented  the  Ganges  to  rise 
on  the  north  of  the  Himalaya  chain,  from 
two  small  streams  which  pass  the  town  of 
Ladak.  They  fixed  the  source  of  the  Indus 
in  the  Bolor  Mountains,  one  of  the  cross 
ridges  which  run  north  and  south  from  the 
main  Himalaya  ridge.  The  British  in  India, 
with  all  their  characteristic  ardor  in  the 
cause  of  science,  have  corrected  those  errors 
of  the  Chinese  geographers,  having  ascer 
tained  the  source  of  the  Ganges  to  be  not  on 
the  north,  but  on  the  southern  side  of  the 
Himalaya  Mountains.  The  extent  and  bear 
ing,  and  the  vast  elevation,  of  many  of  the 
highest  peaks  of  this  northern  barrier  of 
Hindustan,  have  also  been  fixed  by  the  ac 
curate  observations  of  Lieutenant  Webb  and 
other  officers.  From  the  embassy  of  Elpkin- 
stone  into  Afghanistan  we  have  received 
more  full  details  of  that  country ;  and  the 
course  westward  of  the  great  Himalaya  chain 
has  been  accurately  traced,  as  well  as  the 
upper  course  of  the  Indus,  though  the 
source  of  that  river  is  still  imperfectly  known. 
The  missions  of  Turner  into  Bootan,  of  Kirk- 
patrick  and  Buchanan  into  Nepaul,  and  the 
embassy  of  Major  Symes  and  Dr.  Buchanan 
to  the  court  of  Ava,  and  of  Mr.  Crauford, 
who  resided  in  the  character  of  ambassador 
at  that  court,  and  whose  works  have  thrown 
great  light  on  the  commerce  and  manners  of 
Asia,  have  contributed  materially  to  illus 
trate  the  geography  of  those  countries.  Of 
the  vast  regions  of  Tartary  to  the  west  of 
China,  and  under  its  dominion,  we  know 
little  except  from  the  earlier  travellers  and 
|  missionaries,  and  from  the  accounts  published 
of  the  journeys  of  the  Russian  embassies 
;  through  these  countries. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


CHINA. 


TTIIIE  Chinese  writers  pretend  to  trace 
_1_  back  their  government  to  a  period  ante 
rior  to  the  Flood ;  a  ridiculous  absurdity  which 
we  should  not  feel  ourselves  called  upon  to  no 
tice,  but  that  European  writers  of  no  mean 
order  have,  without  going  to  the  full  extent 
of  Chinese  extravagance,  admitted  their  ex 
istence  as  a  nation  considerably  more  than 
two  thousand  years  before  Christ.  Its  early 
history,  indeed,  like  that  of  most  other  na 
tions  of  any  considerable  antiquity,  seems  to 
be  an  imaginative  distortion  of  a  few  truths 
mixed  up  with  a  vast  number  of  fictions. 
Theii*  founder  and  first  monarch  they  affirm 
to  have  been  Fohi,  who  is  presumed  by  many 
writers  to  have  been  the  same  with  Koah. 
The  eastern  mountains  of  Asia  they  take  to 
be  the  Ararat  of  Scripture  ;  and  they  assert 
that,  as  the  waters  subsided,  Xoah  followed 
the  course  of  the  rivers  to  the  south  until  he 
arrived  at  China,  where,  being  much  struck 
with  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  land,  he 
eventually  settled. 

As  the  Chinese,  contrary  to  the  practice 
of  almost  all  nations,  have  rarely,  if  ever, 
sought  to  conquer  other  countries,  their  an 
nals  for  many  ages  furnish  nothing  remark 
able  ;  and  although  they  date  the  origin  of 
their  imperial  dynasties  (excluding  these  of 
the  fabulous  times)  two  thousand  years  be 
fore  the  Christian  era,  we  find  thaj  the  coun 
try  was  long  divided  into  several  states  of 
independent  sovereignties ;  the  princes  or 
chiefs  of  which  were  perpetually  at  war  with 
each  other.  Though  it  was  in  the  very  na- 
•  fi 


ture  of  things  that  some  one  prince  should 
be  more  powerful  than  the  others,  and  even 
be  possessed  of  a  certain  degree  of  authority 
over  them,  yet  war  between  state  and  state 
was  the  chief  condition  of  China.  Dynasty 
succeeded  dynasty ;  territorial  limits  were 
perpetually  shifting  with  the  good  or  ill  suc- 
O3ss  of  this  or  of  that  prince;  and  what 
Milton  says  of  the  early  warfare  of  the  petty 
princes  of  Britain,  may  most  justly  be  re 
peated  here — that  it  would  be  no  more  use 
ful  or  interesting  to  dilate  upon  the  early 
wars  "of  the  Chinese,  than  to  describe  the 
skirmishes  of  the  kites  and  crows. 

Twenty-two  dynasties  of  princes  are  enu 
merated  as  having  governed  China  from 
2207  B.  c.  to  the  present  day,  the  reigning 
emperor  being  the  fifth  monarch  of  the 
twenty-second  or  Tai-Tsin  dynasty.  What 
maybe  termed  the  authentic  history  of  China 
does  not  begin  till  the  time  of  Confucius, 
who  flourished  about  five  canturies  before 
the  Christian  era,  and  who  must  be  regarded 
as  the  great  reformer  of  China.  He  endeav 
ored  to  unite  in  one  great  confederation  the 
numerous  states  which  harassed  each  other 
by  mutual  wars,  and  constructed  a  moral 
code  for  the  government  of  the  people.  He 
forbore  to  dive  into  the  impenetrable  arcana 
of  nature  ;•'  neither  did  he  bewilder  himself 
in  abstruse  researches  on  the  essence  and  at 
tributes  of  a  Deity,  but  confined  himself  to 
speaking  with  the  most  profound  reverence 
of  the  First  Principle  of  all  beings,  whom 
he  represented  as  the  most  pure  and  perfect 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Essence,  the  Author  of  all  things,  who  is 
acquainted  with  our  most  secret  thoughts, 
and  who  will  never  permit  virtue  to  go  un- 
recompensed,  nor  vice  unpunished. 

It  is  not  until  B.  c.  2-iS  that  Chinese  his 
tory  begins  to  be  at  all  developed.  Che- 
II  wang-te,  the  founder  of  the  Tsin  dynasty,  in 
that  year  succeeded  to  the  throne,  and  the 
petty  princes  of  China,  as  well  as  the  Huns 
who  inhabited  the  immense  plains  beyond 
the  Oxus,  speedily  found  that  they  had  a  war 
rior  to  deal  with.  Whenever  these  princes 
ventured  to  meet  him  they  were  always  de 
feated,  until  he  had  completely  subdued  all 
the  states,  and  consolidated  the  empire. 

Having  provided  for  his  power  within  the 
empire,  he  next  turned  his  attention  to  its 
rea'ular  and  efficient  defence  against  foreign 

O  *^  o 

invaders.  The  very  desultoriness  of  the  at 
tacks  of  the  Huns  made  it  difficult  to  subdue 
them.  When  he  could  meet  with  them,  and 
force  them  into  a  pitched  battle,  he  never 
failed  to  give  an  excellent  account  of  them  ; 
but  they  were  no  sooner  dispersed  than  they 
rallied ;  no  sooner  chastised  in  one  part  of 
the  empire  than  they  poured  furiously  down 
to  repeat  their  offences  in  some  other. 

Whether  the  monarch  himself,  or  his  able 
general,  Mung-Teen,  conceived  the  grand 
idea  of  surrounding  China — as  it  was  then 
limited — with  a  wall,  it  would  now  be  no 
easy  matter  to  ascertain ;  certain  it  is  that 
the  wall  was  erected  under  the  superinten 
dence  of  the  general. 

This  perfectly  stupendous  monument  of 
human  skill  and  industry  (which  is  1,500 
miles  in  length,  thirty  feet  high,  and  fifteen 
feet  thick  on  the  top),  could  only  have  been 
completed  by  an  absolute  monarch. 

By  the  stern  exercise  of  his  unchecked 
power,  the  emperor  had  this  mighty  wall, 
with  embattled  towers  at  convenient  dis 
tances  on  the  top,  completed,  and  the-  towers 
o-arrisoned,  so  as  to  serve  at  once  for  watch 

O 

towers  and  fortresses.  His  warlike  spirit, 
however  commendable  in  itself,  seems  under 
Borne  circumstances  to  have  degenerated  into 
a  savage  obduracy  of  character.  Thus  we 


find  that  the  very  man  who  so  efficiently  ex 
erted  himself  for  the  physical  protection  of 
his  subjects,  was  so  utterly  insensible  to  their 
moral  and  intellectual  wants,  that  he  ordered 
the  destruction  of  the  whole  body  of  Chinese 
literature,  in  the  low  and  disgraceful  hope  of 
thus  destroying  all  traces  of  Chinese  history 
previous  to  the  commencement  of  his  dynas 
ty  !  The  mode  in  which  the  wish  was  car 
ried  into  execution  was  every  way  worthy  of 
the  motive  that  prompted  it ; — if  it  is  true, 
as  it  is  recorded,  that  for  refusing  to  aid  in 
this  wholesale  and  worse  than  barbarous  de 
struction,  upwards  of  five  hundred  of  the 
learned  were  brutally  buried  alive !  The 
works  of  Confucius  were  secreted  by  some 
man  of  noble  and  well  directed  mind,  and 
were  found,  years  after  the  emperor's  death, 
by  some  workmen  employed  in  repairing  a 
house. 

On  the  death  of  Che-H wang-te,  his  son 
Urh-she,  less  politic  or  less  powerful  than  his 
father,  found  it  impossible  to  prevent  new 
outbreaks  among  the  princes  who  had  been 
reduced  to  the  position  of  mere  nobles  and 
lieutenants  of  the  emperor.  Whether  leag 
uing  against  the  commands  of  the  emperor, 
or  fiercely  assailing  each  other,  they  filled 
the  whole  land  with  strife,  rapine,  and  blood 
shed;  where  the  sword  had  shed  human 
blood,  the  torch  in  but  too  numerous  instan 
ces  consumed  human  habitations  ;  whole  cit 
ies  were  in  some  cases  destroyed  and  made 
utterly  desolate,  and  the  total  annihilation 
of  the  empire  seemed  at  hand,  when  there 
arose  in  the  land  one  of  those  men  of  iron 
nerve  and  iron  hand  who  frequently  appear 
at  precisely  that  moment  when  the  myriad 
evils  of  anarchy  can  only  be  put  an  end  to 
by  a  man  who  possesses  the  talents  of  the 
soldier  joined  to  the  unbending  will  of  the 
despot. 

Lien  Pang,  the  man  in  question,  was  orig 
inally  the  captain  of  a  band  of  robbers,  and 
notorious  in  that  character  alike  for  his  bold 
ness  and  his  success.  The  distracted  state  of 
the  country  opened  the  way  to  his  joining 
the  profession  of  a  leader  of  free  lances  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


48 


that  of  a  robber,  and,  at  first  in  alliance  with 
some  of  the  princes,  and  subsequently  in  op 
position  to  all  of  them  in  succession,  lie 
fought  so  ably  and  successfully,  that  he  sub 
dued  the  whole  empire,  changed  his  name  to 
that  of  Kaon-te,  and  ascended  the  throne, 
thus  founding  the  Hang  dynasty.  Though 
thus  successful  within,  he  was  greatly  annoyed 
by  the  Huns ;  and  so  far  was  his  usual  suc 
cess  from  attending  him  in  his  endeavors  to 
free  the  empire  from  them,  that  he  bought 
their  quietness  with  many  and  costly  presents, 
which  on  his  death  and  the  succession  of  his 
son  was  changed  to  a  stipulated  annual  trib 
ute. 

During  several  years  there  were  no  events 
worth  recording  in  the  history  of  China ;  but 
in  the  reign  of  Woo-tee,  the  empire  was  as 
sailed  by  a  succession  of  misfortunes  and 
calamities.  Owing  to  along  continuance  of 
heavy  rains  the  Hoangho  river  burst  its 
banks,  sweeping  away  everything  in  its  path, 
causing  a  destruction,  not  only  of  property 
but  also  of  human  life,  that  was  truly  ter 
rible.  During  the  same  reign  the  cultivated 
lands  were  left  completely  bare  by  the  inva 
sion  of  a  vast  anny  of  those  destructive  crea 
tures,  locusts ;  and  a  fire  occurred  in  the 
capital  which  burned  property  to  a  frightful 
extent,  and  was  only  extinguished  after  it 
had  consumed  a  great  portion  of  the  city,  in 
cluding  almost  the  whole  of  the  imperial 
palace.  To  counterbalance  these  great  na 
tional  calamities  this  reign  had  one  piece  of 
national  good  fortune  of  the  highest  conse 
quence  :  the  Huns  had  made  their  appear 
ance  again  in  vast  numbers ;  they  were  com 
pletely  routed  in  a  great  battle  by  the  Chi 
nese,  under  their  general,  Wei-sing,  who  took 
many  thousands  of  prisoners,  together  with 
the  whole  of  the  tents,  stores,  and  baggage 
of  these  nomadic  plunderers.  So  thoroughly 
humbled  were  the  Huns  on  this  occasion, 
that  for  very  many  years  they  did  not  again 
make  their  appearance ;  they  even  paid  hom 
age  to  the  emperor,  Senen-Te,  against  whom, 
nowever,  they  broVe  out  as  fiercely  as  ever 
towards  the  close  of  his  reign. 


In  the  first  year  of  the  Christian  era,  Ping- 
te  ascended  the  imperial  throne.  He  only 
reigned  about  five  years,  and  being  a  weak 
prince,  was  even  during  that  period  rather 
the  nominal  than  the  real  emperor ;  for  both 
he  and  the  empire  were  completely  ruled  by 
Wang-mang,  a  prince  of  great  energy,  who, 
on  the  death  of  Ping-te,  took  actual  posses 
sion  of  the  throne,  of  which  he  had  long 
been  the  virtual  owner.  Many  princes  es 
poused  the  cause  of  the  displaced  dynasty ; 
but  though  they  perpetually  made  war  upon 
the  able  usurper,  he  kept  possession  of  the 
throne  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Wang-mang  died  A.  D.  23,  and  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Hwae-yang-wang ;  he  died  in  A.  D. 
58,  and  was  succeeded  by  Kwang-Woo.  This 
reign  is  chiefly  remarkable  on  account  of  the 
introduction  into  China,  from  the  neighbor 
ing  country  of  Eastern  India,  of  the  Bud 
dhist  religion. 

In  the  year  89,  and  the  reign  of  Ho-te,  the 
Tartars,  who,  as  well  as  the  Huns  and  the 
Cochins,  were  the  perpetual  pests  of  China, 
again  made  their  appearance.  They  were 
worsted  in  several  encounters,  and  very  many 
thousands  of  them  perished.  They  were 
driven,  broken  and  dispirited,  to  the  Caspian, 
and  only  then  escaped  owing  to  the  fear  with 
which  the  mere  prospect  of  a  long  voyage 
inspired  the  Chinese.  For  several  years  after 
this  event  the  affairs  of  China  were  in  a  very 
pitiable  state  ;  the  Tartars,  returning  again 
and  again,  added  by  their  ravages  to  the  dis 
tress  caused  by  bad  seasons  ;  and  just  under 
those  very  circumstances  which  made  the 
rule  of  a  vigorous  and  able  man  more  than 
ever  desirable,  it,  singularly  enough,  chanced 
that  reign  after  reign  fell  to  the  lot  of  mere 
children,  in  whose  names  the  kingdom  waa 
of  course  governed  by  the  court  favorites  of 
the  existing  empress ;  the  high  trust  of  the 
favorite  naturally  arising  more  from  the  em 
press's  favor  than  from  his  fitness  or  integ 
rity.  Drought,  famine,  plague,  and  the  fre 
quent  curse  of  foreign  invasion,  made  this 
part  of  Chinese  history  truly  lamentable. 

In  the  year  220  the  empire  was  divided 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


into  three,  with  the  usual  effect  of  divided 
rule  in  neighbors  between  whom  nature  has 
placed  no  boundary  of  sea,  or  rock,  or  imprac 
ticable  desert. 

In  the  year  288,  the  emperor  Woo-te  suc 
ceeded  in  again  uniting  the  states  into  one 
empire.  He  died  about  two  years  later,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Ilwuy-te,  who  reigned 
seventeen  years,  but  was  guilty  of  many  cru 
elties,  and  was  consequently  much  disliked. 

The  history  of  no  fewer  than  113  years 
terminating  A.  D.  420,  may  be  summed  up 
in  three  words  —  confusion,  pillage,  and 
slaughter.  Either  native  generals  and  na 
tive  armies  fought,  or  the  fierce  Hun  and 
still  fiercer  Tartar  carried  death  and  dis 
may  throughout  the  empire.  Years  of 
bloodshed  and  confusion  at  length  inclined 
the  more  important  among  the  native  e<tai- 
petitors  to  peace,  and  two  empires  were 
formed,  the  northern  and  southern ; — the 
Nan  and  the  Yuh-chow. 

Lew-yn,  or  Woo-te,  emperor  of  the  south 
ern  empire,  though  he  was  far  superior  in 
the  wealthiness  of  his  share  to  the  prince  of 
the  north,  was  originally  the  orphan  of  pa 
rents  of  low  rank,  who  left  him  in  circum 
stances  of  such  destitution,  that  his  youth 
was  supported  b;y  the  actual  charity  of  an  old 
woman,  who  reared  him  as  her  own  son.  As 
soon  as  he  was  old  enough  he  enlisted  as  a 
soldier,  and  subsequently  made  his  way  to  the 
empire  by  a  succession  of  murders  of  mem 
bers  of  the  royal  family,  including  the  em 
peror,  Kung-te,  who  was  the  last  of  the  Tsin 
dynasty.  Lew-yn,  or  Woo-te,  compelled 
that  unfortunate  monarch  publicly  to  abdicate 
in  his  favor.  The  prison  of  deposed  kings 
is  proverbially  synonymous  with  their  grave. 
The  case  of  Kung-te  was  no  exception  to  the 
general  rule ;  he  was  put  to  death  by  poison. 

AVoo-te  died  in  422 :  his  son,  Ying-Yang- 
"Wang,  succeeded  him ;  but  was  speedily  de 
posed  in  favour  of  Wan-te.  This  prince 
issued  an  edict  against  the  Buddhist  doctrines. 
All  Buddhists  were  banished :  the  Buddhist 
temples  burned,  and  many  priests  put  to 
death  or  cruelly  tortured  and  mutilated. 


"Wan-to,  learned  himself,  was  a  great  frienc 
and  promoter  rf  learning.  Several  colleges 
were  founded  by  him,  and  his  exertions  in  this 
respect  were  the  more  valuable,  as  they  were 
imitated  by  the  prince  of  the  north.  Wan-to 
having  sharply  reproved  his  son  Lew-Chaou, 
for  some  misconduct,  and  threatened  to 
disinherit  him,  the  son  brutally  murdered  him 
at  the  instigation  of  a  bonze  or  priest,  who 
represented  that  act  as  the  only  means  of 
preventing  the  father's  threat  from  being 
carried  into  effect.  The  guilt  of  both  the 
prince  and  his  priestly  instigator  met  with 
its  fitting  reward.  Lew-senen,  half-brother 
to  the  prince,  raised  a  powerful,  army,  and 
attacked  Lew-Chaou,  who  with  his  whole 
family  was  beheaded,  and  all  his  palaces  raxed 
to  the  ground. 

Fei-le  King-IIo  has  been  aptly  enough  com 
pared  to  the  Caius  Caligula  of  Rome  :  blood 
shed  appeared  to  be  his  greatest  delight ;  to 
be  privileged  to  approach  him  was  at  the 
same  time  to  be  in  constant  peril  of  being 
butchered;  and  he  was  no  less  obscene  than 
cruel ;  an  immense  and  gorgeously  decorated 
hall  being  exclusively  devoted  to  the  r.iost 
disgusting  and  frantic  orgies.  The  'cry 
officers  of  his  palace  could  not  tolerate  his 
conduct,  for  in  the  year  following  his  acces 
sion  to  the  throne  he  was  dispatched  by  one 
of  the  eunuchs  of  his  palace. 

Ming-te-Tac-che  succeeded  to  the  throne 
A.D.  4-60.  What  he  might  have  proved  if  his 
accession  had  been  unopposed  wo,  can  but 
guess  ;  but,  being  opposed,  he  YTAS  aroused 
to  a  rage  perfectly  ungovernable.  Those  of 
his  relatives  who  actually  took  up  arms 
against  him  were  not  more  hateful  than  those 
of  them  who  did  not,  and  many  of  the  latter 
were  put  to  death  by  him.  Ilis  whole  reign 
was  passed  in  warfare  with  one  or  more  of 
the  princes  of  the  family.  This  state  of 
things  lasted  for  nearlv  six  vears,  and  caused 

CJ  v  «/ 

so  much  misery  to  the  people,  that  there 
would  speedily  have  been  a  general  rising  for 
the  purpose  of  dethroning  him,  but  for  his 
opportune  death. 

Anarchy  and  war  marked  the  two  follow- 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


ing  reigns  of  Chwang-yu-wang  and  Shun-te; 
i lie  former  was  dispatched  by  an  eunuch  em 
ployed  by  an  aspiring  general,  who  also 
uompeUed  Shun-te  to  abdicate  in  his  favor, 
and  soon  afterwards  assassinated  him. 

In  470  the  aspiring  and  reckless  general 
Seawu-Taduching  ascended  the  throne,  un 
der  the  title  of  Kaou-te-now ;  he  reigned  but 
two  years,  and  the  succeeding  princes  of  this 
dynasty,  Tsi,  which  terminated  in  502,  were 
engaged  in  continual  war  with  the  prince  of 
the  north,  but  performed  neither  warlike  nor 
peaceful  services  to  merit  notice. 

A  new  dynasty,  the  Leang,  was  now  com 
menced  by  "Woo-te,  who  ascended  the  throne 
in  502.  Under  him  the  old  wars  between  the 
northern  and  southern  empires  were  con 
tinued.  Nevertheless,  though  warlike  and 
active  at  the  commencement  of  his  reign,  he 
showed  himself  a  great  admirer  and  patron  of 
learning.  lie  revived  some  learned  establish 
ments  that  had  fallen  into  decay,  and  founded 
some  new  ones ;  but  probably  his  most  im 
portant  service  was  that  of  publicly  teaching 
in  person.  We  may  fairly  doubt  whether 
such  a  prince  was  not  better  skilled  in  the 
arts  of  war,  as  then  practised,  than  in  studious 
lore  ;  but  his  example  tended  to  make  learn 
ing  fashionable,  and  he  may  therefore  be  said 
to  have  afforded  it  the  greatest  encourage 
ment.  AYhatever  his  actual  attainments,  his 
love  of  study  seems  to  have  been  both  deep  and 
and  sincere  ;  for  while  yet  in  the  prime  of 
mental  and  bodily  vigor,  he  abandoned  the 
pomp  and  power  of  the  throne,  and  retired 
to  a  monastery  with  the  avowed  intention  of 
devoting  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  study. 
This,  however,  had  such  mischievous  effect 
upon  public  affairs,  that  the  principal  man 
darins  compelled  him  to  quit  his  peaceful 
retirement  and  reascend  the  throne  ;  but  the 
re-st  of  his  Hie  was  passed  in  strife  and  tumult, 
which  eventually  broke  his  heart.  His  son 
and  successor  had  scarcely  commenced  his 
reign,  when  he  was  put  to  death,  and  suc 
ceeded  by  Yuen-te.  This  emperor  also  was 
fond  of  retirement  and  study,  and  greatly 
neglected  the  affairs  of  his  empire,  which, 


distracted  as  it  constantly  was  by  the  violence 
and  intrigues  of  the  piinces  cf  the  empire, 
required  a  stern  and  vigorous  attention. 

Shin-pan-seen,  who  was  not  only  a  prince 
of  the  empire,  but  also  prime  minister  to  the 
emperor,  raised  a  rebellion  against  his  con 
fiding  and  peaceful  master,  whose  first  intima 
tion  of  his  danger  was  given  to  him  by  the  fierce 
shouts  of  the  rebel  force  at  the  very  gates  of 
his  palace.  On  hearing  those  boding  shouts, 
the  emperor,  awakened  from  his  delicious 
reveries,  calmly  closed  the  book  he  had  been 
so  intent  upon,  put  on  his  armour,  and  as 
cended  the  ramparts.  A  single  glance 
showed  him  that  it  was  too  late  for  resistance ; 
he  returned  to  his  library,  and,  setting  fire  to 
it,  resigned  himself  to  his  fate.  The  library 
of  this  unfortunate  monarch,  who  would 
probably  have  been  both  powerful  and  glori 
ous  had  he  ruled  over  a  less  divided  and 
turbulent  people,  is  said  to  have  contained 
140,000  volumes. 

The  next  emperor  worthy  of  any  mention, 
however  slight,  is  Wan-te,  whose  short  reign 
was  so  vigorous,  prudent,  and  successful,  that 
he  must  be  considered  to  have  been  the  chief 
cause  of  the  reunion  which  occurred  so  soon 
after  his  death  between  the  northern  and  south 
ern  empires.  He  died  in  5C6,  and  was  succeed 
ed  by  his  son,  Pe-tsung,  who  was  speedily  de 
throned  by  his  uncle  and  the  empress  dow 
ager. 

The  throne  was  then  filled  by  Suen-te. 
During  his  short  reign  of  less  than  three 
years,  he  fought  boldly  and  constantly  against 
his  opponents,  and  did  much  towards  promot 
ing  the  fast  approaching  union  of  the  two 
empires. 

On  the  death  of  Suen-te,  in  the  year  569, 
he  was  succeeded  by  How  Chow,  a  mere 
sensualist  and  idler,  whose  debauchery  and 
indolence  disgusted  and  angered  his  people 
more,  probably,  than  hardier  and  more  active 
vices  would,  even  though  they  had  been 
productive  of  a  fiercer  and  more  obvious  kind 
of  tyranny.  A  powerful  and  warlike  noble. 
Yang-keen,  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  dis 
affected  nobles  and  their  followers,  and  laid 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


siege  to  the  imperial  city.  The  inhabitants, 
who,  as  mi glit  be  expected,  were  even  more 
disgusted  with  the  effeminacy  and  profligacy 
they  had  witnessed,  than  the  besiegers,  threw 
open  the  gates  almost  without  a  struggle. 
The  immediate  advisers  of  the  emperor  and 
the  notorious  companions  of  his  proiligatc 
revels  were  sternly  put  to  death,  and  search 
was  then  made  for  the  emperor.  That  cow 
ardly  sensualist  had  taken  refuge  with  all 
his  family  in  a  dry  well,  whence  he  was 
dragged  out  half  dead  with  terror,  and  expect 
ing  no  less  than  instant  death  at  the  hands 
of  the  victorious  rebel  leader.  But  Yang- 
keen,  either  in  mercy,  or  with  the  politic  view 
of  placing  an  additional  obstacle  to  all  other 
pretenders  that  might  arise,  spared  both  him 
and  his  family. 

On  usurping  the  throne,  A.D.  572,  Yang- 
keen's  very  first  act  was  to  consolidate  the 
northern  empire  with  the  southern.  In  this 
he  found  little  difficulty.  Wei,  the  last 
really  great  prince  of  the  northern  empire, 
was  both  so  well  able  to  war,  and  so  little  in 
clined  to  do  so  without  occasion,  that  he  made 
his  state  at  once  feared  without,  and  peaceful 
and  prosperous  within.  lie  was  poisoned  by 
his  own  mother,  a  women  of  high  but  cruel 
spirit,  and  of  great  talents  and  most  restless 
disposition.  Both  she,  while  she  acted  as 
regent  to  her  grandson,  and  the  latter  when  he 
had  taken  the  reins  of  government  into  his 
own  hands,  plunged  the  state  into  all  the 
venomous  and  mischievous  wars  of  the  im 
perial  princes ;  and  this  fatal  departure  from 
the  peaceful  polity  of  the  former  ruler,  and 
the  absence  of  any  improvement  in  his  mili 
tary  power,  struck  a  blow  at  the  safety  and 
integrity  of  the  northern  empire,  which,  after 
a  separate  existence  of  upwards  of  a  century 
and  a-half,  was  reannexed  to  the  southern 
empire  almost  without  an  effort. 

Yang-keen  having  been  so  successful  in 
obtaining  the  throne  and  consolidating  the 
empire,  turned  his  attention  to  restraining 
the  violence  and  rapine  of  the  Tartar  chiefs 
His  reputation  for  skill,  valor,  and  firmness, 
here  did  him  good  service  The  Tartars  well 


aware  of  the  character  of  the  monarch  whoir 
they  had  now  to  deal  with,  professed  tl. em- 
selves  desirous  rather  of  his  friendship  thai 
his  enmity  ;  and  to  showr  the  sincerity  of 
what  they  call  their  amity,  they  went  so  fai 
as  to  pay  him  homage.  With  his  usual  shrewd 
policy,  Yang-keen  gave  one  of  the  imperial 
princesses  in  marriage  to  the  principal  Tartar 
chief.  Xor  was  he  ill  rewarded  for  the  facil i ty 
with  which  he  permitted  himself  to  substitute- 
alliance  for  strife.  During  his  reign,  his 
people  remained  free  from  the  incursions  ol 
the  Tartars,  which  had  previously  been  fre 
quent  as  the  natural  tempests,  and  lar  more 
destructive. 

On  the  death  of  Yang-keen,  in  604,  tho 
heir  to  the  throne  was  strangled  by  a  young 
er  brother,  Yang-te,  who,  having  committed 
the  fratricide,  and  removed  all  other  obstacles 
from  his  path,  ascended  the  throne  in  605. 
But  if  he  obtained  the  throne  shamefully,  he 
filled  it  well.  Though  eminently  a  man  of 
taste  and  pleasure,  he  was  no  less  a  man  of 
judgment,  enterprise,  and  energy.  In  the 
early  part  of  his  reign  he  formed  extensive 
gardens,  which  for  magnitude  and  tasteful- 
ness  were  never  before  witnessed  in  China; 
and  in  these  gardens  it  was  his  chief  delight 
to  ride,  attended  by  a  retinue  of  a  thousand 
ladies,  splendidly  attired,  who  amused  him 
with  vocal  and  instrumental  music,  and  with 
dancing  and  feasts  of  grace  and  agility  on 
horseback.  This  luxurious  habit  did  not, 
however,  prevent  him  from  paying  great  at 
tention  to  the  solid  improvements  of  which 
China  at  that  time  stood  so  much  in  need. 
It  would  be  idle  to  remark  upon  the  impor 
tance  (to  both  the  prosperity  and  the  civiliza 
tion  of  a  people)  of  good  and  numerous  means 
of  communication  between  all  the  extrem 
ities  of  the  land.  Many  of  his  canals  and 
bridges  still  exist,  as  proofs  both  of  his  zeal 
and  judgment  in  this  most  important  depart 
ment  of  the  duty  of  a  ruler. 

His  talents,  energy,  and  accomplishments 
did  not  save  him  from  the  fate  which  we 
deplore,  even  when  the  worst  of  rulers  are 
its  victims.  He  had  been  on  a  tour,  not  ini- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


47 


probably  with  a  view  to  some  new  improve 
ment  in  the  face  of  the  country,  when  he 
was  assassinated.  This  melancholy  event,  it 
seems  very  probable,  arose  from  the  success 
ful  artifices  of  Le-yuen :  he  was  both  power 
ful  and  disaffected ;  had  previously  signalized 
himself  by  the  most  factious  conduct,  and 
immediately  after  the  assassination  put  him 
self  forward  to  place  King-te  upon  the  vacant 
throne.  What  motive  Le-yuen  had  in  mak 
ing  this  man  the  mere  puppet  of  sovereignty 
for  a  brief  time,  it  is  difficult  to  conjecture ; 
but  it  is  certain  that  King-te  had  scarcely 
ascended  the  throne  before  Le-yuen  caused 
him  to  be  strangled,  and  assumed  the  sover 
eign  power  himself  under  the  name  of  Kaou- 
tsoo. 

For  some  years  previous  to  his  usurpation 
the  Tartars  had  returned  to  their  old  practice 
of  making  incursions  into  the  northern  parts 
of  China,  on  some  portion  of  which  they  had 
actually  proceeded  to  settle  themselves. 
Kaou-tsoo  attacked  them  with  great  spirit, 
and  in  many  severe  engagements  made  such 
slaughter  among  them  as  to  impress  them 
with  a  salutary  fear  of  pushing  their  encroach 
ments  farther. 

Looking  with  a  politic  and  prescient  eye 
at  the  state  of  other  nations,  Ivaou-tsoo  was 
extremely  anxious  about  that  singular  and 
ferocious  people  the  Turks,  who  about  the 
commencement  of  his  reign  began  to  be  very 
troublesome  to  Asia. 

Dwelling  between  the  Caspian  Sea  and 
the  river  Hypanis,  the  Turks  were  a  hardy 
people,  living  chiefly  upon  the  spoils  of  the 
chase.  Thus  prepared  by  their  way  of  life 
for  the  hardships  of  war,  and  having  their 
cupidity  excited  by  the  rich  booty  of  cara 
vans,  this  people  could  not  fail  to  be  other 
wise  than  terrible  when,  under  a  brave  and 
politic  leader,  they  went  forth  to  the  con 
quest  of  nations  instead  of  the  pillage  of  a 
caravan,  and  appeared  as  a  great  multitude 
instead  of  a  mere  isolated  handful  of  robbers. 
To  China  they  were  especially  hateful  and 
mischievous ;  for  they  were  perpetually  at 
war  with  the  Persians,  with  wTho.m,  just  at 


that  time,  far  the  most  valuable  portion  of 
Chinese  commerce  was  carried  on.  The  Per 
sians  fell  before  the  Turkish  power,  and  that 
restless  nation  endeavored  to  push  its  con 
quests  into  China.  It  might  probably  have 
effected  this  had  a  different  man  ruled  the 
empire ;  but  the  emperor  not  merely  repulsed 
them  from  his  own  territory,  but  chastised 
the  disaffected  Tibetians  who  had  aided 
them  and  pushed  forward  into  China,  whence 
he  had  expelled  the  Turks. 

After  a  victorious  and  active  reign  of 
twenty-two  years  and  a  few  months,  this 
brave  and  politic  emperor  died,  and  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Chun-tsung,  whose  effeminacy  was 
the  more  glaringly  disgraceful  from  contrast 
with  the  brave  and  active  character  of  his 
predecessor.  The  single  act  for  which  his 
historians  gave  him  any  credit,  is  that  of  hav 
ing  made  it  necessary  for  the  literati,  who  by 
this  time  exercised  pretty  nearly  as  much  in 
fluence  in  both  private  and  public  affairs  in 
China  as  the  clergy  did  in  Europe  during  the 
middle  ages,  to  sustain  a  rather  severe  public 
examination. 

Of  the  next  seventeen  monarchs  of  China 
there  is  literally  nothing  recorded  that  is 
worthy  of  transcript ;  nor  during  their  reigns 
did  anything  of  moment  occur  to  China  be 
yond  the  civil  dissensions,  which  were  fre 
quent,  and,  indeed,  inevitable  in  a  country 
where  effeminate  princes  committed  their 
power  to  intriguing  eunuchs,  who  scarcely 
ever  failed  to  prevent  a  resumption  of  it,  by 
the  dagger  or  the  poisoned  cup. 

Chwang-tsung,  son  of  a  brave  and  skillful 
general,  founded  the  How  Tang  dynasty, 
and,  at  least  at  the  outset  of  his  reign,  was  a 
bright  contrast  to  his  predecessors.  He  had 
from  mere  boyhood  shared  the  perils  and 
hardships  of  his  father,  whom  he  had  accom 
panied  in  many  of  his  expeditions.  At  the 
commencement  of  his  reign  he  gave  every 
promise  of  being  the  greatest  monarch  China 
ever  saw.  In  his  apparel  and  diet  he  emu 
lated  the  frugality  of  the  meanest  peasant 
and  the  plainest  of  his  troops.  Lest  he 
should  indulge  in  more  sleep  than  nature . 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


actually  required,  he  was  accustomed  to  have 
uo  other  bed  than  the  bare  ground,  and,  as  if 
this  luxurious  way  of  lying  might  lead  him  to 
waste  in  sleep  any  of  that  precious  time  of 
which  he  was  a  most  rigid  economist,  he  had, 
it  is  said,  a  bell  so  fastened  to  his  person,  that 
it  rung  on  his  attempting  to  turn  round,  so 
loudly  as  to  awaken  him,  and  after  it  did  so 
he  immediately  rose,  to  repose  no  more  until 
his  usual  hour  on  the  ensuing  night.  Extremes 

O         O 

are  proverbially  said  to  meet ;  but  certainly 
one  would  never  have  suspected  that  so  Spar 
tan  a  yo,  th  would  have  heralded  a  manhood 
of  exceed  ng  luxury,  and  even  licentiousness. 
But  so  it  was ;  his  companions  were  among 
the  most  debauched  wassailers  in  his  ampirc, 
and  he  emulated  their  conduct.  Yet  though 
he  departed  from  the,  perhaps,  too  rigid  se 
verity  of  his  manners,  he  was,  to  the  last,  a 
brave  and  active  man,  and  was  slain  at  the 
head  of  his  troops  in  a  battle  fought  in  92(5. 

The  next  emperor  was  Ming-tsung,  who 
reigned  for  only  seven  years.  He  was  both 
active  and  beneficent.  His  people  looked 
upon  him  as  a  parent,  and  his  whole  reign 
seems,  in  fact,  to  have  been  the  expression 
and  achievement  of  a  truly  kind  and  pater 
nal  feeling.  He  died  in  933. 

Min-te  succeeded  to  the  throne  in  933.  He 
only  reigned  one  year ;  but  in  that  very  brief 
space  of  time  he  contrived  to  deserve,  if  not 
to  obtain,  the  execration  of  the  Chinese 
women,  not  only  of  his  own  time,  but  up  to 
the  present  hour.  He  it  was  who  established 
the  truly  barbarous  practice  of  confining  the 
feet  of  female  children  of  the  higher  classes 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  toes  are  bent  com 
pletely  under  the  soles  of  the  feet,  which  are, 
it  is  true,  rendered  very  diminutive  in  ap 
pearance  by  this  abominable  method,  but  are 
at  the  same  time  rendered  almost  useless. 

Min-te  died  in  934,  in  the  first  year  of  his 
reign,  and  was  succeeded  by  Fei  Tei,  who 
paid  the  fearful  price  of  fratricide  for  the 
tlirone.  He  possessed,  it  would  seem,  a  great 
share  of  merely  animal  courage,  and  like  the 
generality  of  persons  who  do  so,  he  was  dis 
tinguished  for  his  exceeding  barbarity.  Even 


the  Chinese,  accustomed  as  they  were  to  des 
potism  in  all  its  varieties  of  misrule,  could 
not  endure  the  excess  and  wantonness  of  his 
cruelty.  A  formidable  revolt  broke  out; 
and  finding  himself  hard  pressed  by  his  ene 
mies,  and  abandoned  at  every  moment  by  hid 
troops,  he  collected  the  whole  of  his  family 
together,  and  set  fire  to  his  palace — his  wealth, 
his  family,  and  himself  being  consumed  in 
the  flames. 
Kaou-tsenow  ascended  the  throne,  bein^the 

o 

first  of  the  How-tsin  dynasty.  lie  was  more 
the  nominal  than  the  real  monarch,  his  min 
ister,  Hung-taieu,  usurping  a  more  than  im 
perial  power.  The  minister,  in  fact,  is  in 
every  way  more  worthy  of  mention  than  the 
monarch,  for  according  to  the  most  credible 
accounts  the  invention  of  printing  from 
blocks  was  a  boon  conferred  by  him  upon 
China  in  the  year  937. 

Both  this  reign  and  that  of  Chuh-ten. 
which  closed  this  short-lived  dynasty,  were 
occupied  in  perpetual  battling  witli  the  rest 
less  Tartars,  who  for  ages  seem  to  have  had 
an  instinctive  certainty  of  having,  sooner  or 
later,  the  rule  of  China  as  the  reward  of  their 
determined  and  pertinacious  inroads. 

In  960,  Kung-te,  a  child  of  only  six  years 
of  age,  being  upon  the  throne,  the  people 
arose  and  demanded  his  abdication.  Of  ma 
ternal  and  eunuch  misgovernment  they  cer 
tainly  had  for  centuries  past  had  abundant 
and  very  sad  experience.  How  far  the  suc 
cessful  aspirant  to  the  throne  was  concerned 
in  rousing  their  fears  into  activity  and  fer 
vor  does  not  appear ;  but  it  is  certain  that 
the  revolt  against  the  infant  emperor,  and 
the  election  of  Chaou-quang-yin  as  his  suc 
cessor,  were  events  in  which  the  people 
showed  great  unanimity  of  feeling.  The 
founder  of  the  Sung  dynasty  did  not  com 
mence  his  reign  under  the  most  promising 
circumstances ;  for  on  the  ceremonial  of  his 
acceptance  of  the  throne,  he  actually  as 
cended  it  in  a  state  of  intoxication. 

Nevertheless,  this  prince,  who  on  ins  eleva- 
!  tion  to  the  throne  took  the  name  of  Taou- 
'  tsoo,  was  in  reality  one  of  the  best  of  the 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


Chinese  monarchs,  both  as  a  warrior  and  as 
a  domestic  ruler.  The  new  emperor,  imme 
diately  after  his  accession,  caused  the  most 
rigid  inquiry  to  be  made  into  the  expenses 
of  the  state;  and  every  useless  office  was 
abolished,  and  every  unfair  charge  sternly 
and  promptly  disallowed.  In  effecting  this 
great  and  important  reform,  the  emperor  de 
rived  no  small  advantage  from  having  for 
merly  been  a  private  person,  as  in  that  cap 
acity  he  no  doubt  would  have  the  opportu 
nity  to  note  many  abuses  which  could  never 
be  discovered  by  the  emperor  or  any  of  the 
imperial  princes.  His  frugality  seems  to 
have  been  as  impartial  as  it  was  wise ;  for 
though  he  raised  his  family  for  four  gen 
erations  to  the  rank  of  imperial  princes,  he 
at  the  same  time  insisted  upon  their  being 
content  with  the  most  moderate  revenue  that 
was  at  all.  consistent  with  their  rank. 

Though  the  election  of  the  new  emperor 
was  nearly  as  unanimous  as  such  an  event 
can  reasonably  be  expected  to  be,  it  must 
not  be  understood  that  his  elevation  met 
with  no  opposition  even  of  an  armed  char 
acter.  On  the  contrary,  the  independent 
princes  of  Han  and  the  extreme  northern 
people  of  the  empire  rose  in  arms  to  oppose  him. 

The  emperor  made  immense  levies  of  men 
throughout  the  provinces  that  were  faithful 
to  him,  and  marched  against  his  enemies. 
The  subsequent  conflicts  were  dreadful ;  and 
the  troops  of  the  prince  of  Han,  well  know 
ing  that  they  had  little  mercy  to  hope  for  if 
taken  prisoners,  fought  with  the  fury  and  ob 
stinacy  of  despair,  and  they  were  well  second 
ed  by  the  Tartars.  Thousands  fell  in  each 
engagement ;  and  though  the  emperor  was  a 
warrior,  and  a  brave  one,  he  is  said  to  have 
often  subsequently  shed  tears  at  the  mere 
remembrance  of  the  bloodshed  he  witnessed 
during  this  war.  The  overwhelming  levies 
of  the  emperor,  and,  perhaps,  that  "  tower 
of  strength" — the  royal  name — which  the 
adverse  faction  wanted,  made  him,  but  not 
till  after  a  desperate  struggle,  completely  suc 
cessful. 

Having  put  down  this  opposition,  he  next 
7 


proceeded  against  the  prince  of  Choo,  whom 
he  captured  and  deprived  of  his  dominions. 
Among  the  millions  of  souls  whom  he  thus 
added  to  his  subjects  was  an  extremely  num 
erous  and  well-appointed  army.  This  ho 
forthwith  incorporated  with  his  own,  and 
thus  strengthened  in  force,  marched  against 
Kyang  Nan  and  southern  Han. 

Here  again  he  was  completely  successful, 
and  he  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  chas 
tisement  of  the  Mongols  of  Leaon-tung,  who 
had  joined  the  prince  of  Han  in  the  former 
war ;  but  the  issue  of  this  expedition  was 
still  uncertain  when  the  emperor  died. 

Though  engaged  in  war  from  the  beginning 
to  the  very  end  of  his  reign,  this  emperor 
was  extremely  attentive  to  the  internal  state 
of  his  empire,  and  more  especially  in  a  par 
ticular  which  previously  had  been  but  too 
much  neglected — the  impartial  administra 
tion  of  justice.  When  he  was  not  actually 
in  the  field  he  was  at  all  times  accessible  ;  to 
the  humblest  as  to  the  highest  the  gates  of 
the  imperial  palace  were  always  open,  and 
in  giving  his  decision  he  knew  no  distinction 
between  the  mandarin  and  the  poor  laborer. 
This  conduct  in  his  military  and  civil  affairs 
procured  him  the  enviable  character  of  being 
"the  terror  of  his  enemies  and  the  delight 
of  his  subjects." 

Tae-tsung,  son  of  the  last  mentioned  mon 
arch,  ascended  the  throne  at  the  death  of  his 
father,  whose  warlike  measures  he  proceeded 
to  carry  out,  and  whose  warlike  character 
and  abilities  he  to  a  very  great  extent  in 
herited.  During  his  entire  reign  he  was 
engao-ed  in  war :  now  with  the  Mongols,  at 

O     O  '  o          ' 

that  time  the  most  threatening  of  all  the 
enemies  of  the  empire,  and  now  with  this  or 
that  refractory  native  prince.  After  twenty- 
one  years  of  almost  perpetual  warfare,  with 
many  successes  and  comparatively  few  de 
feats,  Tae-tsung  died  in  997,  leaving  behind 
him  a  character  only  less  honorable  than  that 
of  his  predecessor,  inasmuch  as  he  paid  far 
less  constant  and  minute  attention  to  the  in 
ternal  order  of  the  empire  and  the  individual, 
welfare  of  his  subjects. 


50 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WOULD. 


Chin-tsung  now  succeeded  to  the  empire,  a 
prince  whose  character  and  conduct  strangely 
contrasted  with  those  of  his  two  immediate 
predecessors.  The  bonzes  or  priests  were 
the  only  persons  who  had  reason  to  like  him ; 
and  even  their  likino-,  excited  though  it  was 

O'  O 

by  personal  advantage,  must  have  been  mixed 
with  no  slight  feeling  of  contempt.  There 
was  no  tale  that  they  could  tell  him  which 
was  too  extravagant  for  his  implicit  belief ; 
no  command  too  absurd  for  his  unqualified 
obedience. 

The  bonzes  were  not  the  only  persons  who 
profited  by  the  emperor's  fatuity  ;  the  war 
like,  indefatigable,  and  shrewd  Tartars 
speedily  perceived  the  difference  betwixt 
an  emperor  who  divided  liis  time  between 
dreaming  and  listening  to  the  interpretations 
of  his  dreams — leaving  the  empire  and  its 
vast  complicated  interests  to  the  care,  or 
carelessness,  of  eunuchs  and  timeservers — 
and  the  warlike  and  clear-headed  emperors 
with  whom  they  had  to  deal  during  the  two 
preceding  reigns.  They  poured  in  upon  the 
empire  with  a  fury  proportioned  to  the  inef 
fective  resistance  they  anticipated,  and  their 
shrewd  conjectures  were  amply  justified  by 
the  event.  Resistance,  indeed,  was  made  to 
them  on  the  borders  ;  but  instead  of  their 
being  driven  beyond  the  frontiers  with  a  mes 
sage  cf  mourning  to  thousands  of  Tartar 
families,  their  absence  was  purchased.  Great 
stores  of  both  money  and  silk  were  paid  to 
them  by  order  of  the  Chinese  court,  which, 
like  the  Romans  when  Rome  had  become 
utterly  degenerate,  was  fain  to  purchase  the 
peace  it  dared  not  or  could  not  battle  for. 

Ying-tsimg,  Shin-tsung,  and  Hwuy-tsung, 
the  three  immediate  successors  of  the  weak 
prince  of  whose  reign  we  have  just  spoken, 
followed  his  impolitic  and  shameful  policy 
of  purchasing  peace.  We  emphatically  say 
impolitic,  because  common  sense  tells  us  that 
to  yield  tribute  once,  is  to  encourage  the  de 
mand  of  it  in  future.  And  so  it  proved  in 
this  case.  The  tribute  once  secured,  the 
hardy  and  unprincipled  Tartars  again  re 
turned  to  the  charge,  to  be  again  bought  off, 


and  to  derive,  of  course,  renewed  assurance 
of  booty  whensoever  they  should  again  think 
proper  to  apply  for  it. 

Hwuy-tsung,  the  third  of  the  emperors 
named  above,  having  a  dire  perception  of  the 
error  committed  by  himself  and  his  three 
immediate  predecessors,  determined  to  adopt 
a  new  course,  and,  instead  of  bribing  the 
"  barbarians  "  who  so  cruelly  annoyed  him, 
to  hire  other  barbarians  to  expel  them,  thus 
adding  to  the  folly  of  buying  peace  the  still 
farther  folly  of  giving  the  clearest  possible 
insight  into  the  actual  weakness  of  his  con 
dition,  to  those  who,  being  his  allies  as  long 
as  they  received  his  wages,  would  infallibly 
become  his  enemies  the  instant  he  ceased  to 
hire  them. 

This  prince  engaged  the  warlike  tribe  of 
Neu-che  Tartars  in  the  defence  of  his  terri 
tory.  They  ably  and  faithfully  performed 
what  they  had  engaged  ;  but  when  they  had 
driven  out  the  Nien-cheng  Tartars  they  flatly 
refused  to  quit  the  territory,  and  mado  a 
hostile  descent  upon  the  provinces  of  Pecheli 
and  Shansi,  which  they  took  possession  of. 

At  the  same  time  the  Mongols  were  pour 
ing  furiously  down  upon  the  provinces  of 
Shau-tong  and  Ilonan ;  and  the  terrified  and 
utterly  un warlike  emperor  saw  no  other 
means  of  saving  his  dominions  than  by  com 
ing  to  immediate  terms  with  his  late  allies 
and  present  foes — the  victorious  and  imper 
ious  ]Sreu-che  Tartars.  lie  accordingly  went 
to  their  camp,  attended  by  a  splendid  retinue 
of  his  chief  officers,  to  negotiate  not  only 
for  peace,  but  also  for  their  active  and 
prompt  aid  against  the  Mongols.  But  the 
emperor  had  so  long  left  the  affairs  of  the 
empire  in  the  hands  of  intriguers  and  venal 
sycophants,  that  he  was  not  sufficiently  ac 
quainted  with  his  actual  position  to  take 
even  ordinary  precautions ;  he  was  literally 
sold  by  his  ministers  into  the  hands  of  his 
enemies  ;  and  on  reaching  the  Tartar  camp, 
he  found  that  he  was  no  longer  a  powerful 
prince  treating  for  peace  and  alliance  with 
an  inferior  people,  but  a  powerless  prisoner 
of  war,  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  and 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


51 


abandoned  by  his  friends;  And  abandoned 
he  indeed  was,  by  all  save  his  son.  That 
spirited  prince,  faithful  to  his  fallen  father, 
and  indignant  at  the  treachery  that  had  been 
practised  against  him,  put  the  ministers  to 
death,  and  gathered  an  immense  force  against 
the  Mongols,  who,  in  the  meantime, '  had 
been  making  the  most  rapid  and  terrible  ad 
vances.  Eapine  and  fire  marked  their  path 
whithersoever  they  went.  The  emperor's 
gallant  and  faithful  son  made  admirable  but 
useless  efforts  to  approach  them.  Leaving 
devastation  and  misery  in  their  rear,  they 
rapidly  drew  near  the  capital,  laid  siege  to 
the  imperial  palace  itself,  butchered  thou 
sands  of  the  inhabitants,  including  some  of 
the  imperial  family,  and  sent  the  rest  into 
captivity. 

Kaou-tsung  II.  at  this  period  reigned  over 
the  southern  provinces.  "When  the  barbar 
ians  overran  the  northern  parts  of  the  em 
pire  he  made  bold  and  able  attempts  at  beat 
ing  them  off  from  his  dominions ;  but  they 
were  far  too  warlike  and  numerous  for  his 
limited  resources.  To  the  northern  provinces 
and  to  the  captive  emperor  he  was  unable  to 
afford  any  assistance  by  force  of  arms,  nor 
could  his  humblest  and  most  tempting  offers 
to  the  savage  foes  induce  them  to  liberate  a 
prisoner  or  evacuate  a  rood  of  land.  All 
that  he  was  able  to  gain  from  them  was  per 
mission  to  retain  his  own  rule  in  peace,  on 
paying  an  annual  tribute  and  acknowledging 
his  subjection. 

During  two  succeeding  reigns  the  Chinese 
enjoyed  the  blessings  of  peace ;  but  the  im 
prudence  of  Ning-tsung.  untaught  by  exper 
ience  of  the  danger  of  calling  in  barbarian 
aid,  brought  into  China  a  vast  horde  of  Mon 
gols — the  fiercest  and  greediest  even  among 
the  barbarous  Tartar  tribes. 

In  1194  the  celebrated  Genghis  Khan  was 
at  the  head  of  the  Mongol  Tartars.  At  the 
outset  of  this  warrior's  career  his  people  re 
volted  from  him,  excepting  only  a  very  few 
families,  on  the  ground  of  his  being,  at  the 
death  of  his  father,  too  young  to  rule  a  nu 
merous  and  extremely  warlike  people.  But 


the  youth  displayed  so  much  talent  and  cour 
age,  and  his  earliest  essays  as  a  warrior  were 
so  entirely  and  strikingly  successful,  that  the 
tide  of  opinion  speedily  turned  in  his  favor : 
and  an  old  and  venerated  Mongol  chief  hav 
ing,  in  a  public  assembly  of  the  people 
prophesied  that  the  youth,  then  known  by  his 
family  name  of  Temujin,  would,  if  support 
ed  as  he  deserved  to  be,  prove  to  be  the 
greatest  of  their  khans — Genghis  Khan  (the 
Mongol  words  for  greatest  king)  was  immedi 
ately  made  the  youth's  name  by  acclamation, 
and  the  bold  but  barbarous  and  vacillating 
people  as  unanimously  submitted  to  him 
now,  as  formerly  they  had  seceded  from  him 

It  was  to  this  chief,  who  had  already  made 
his  name  a  name  of  terror  far  beyond  the 
banks  of  the  Selinga,  the  native  abode  of  hia 
fierce  race,  that  Ning-tsung,  the  then  emper 
or,  applied  for  aid  to  drive  out  other  Tartars, 
by  whom,  as  well  as  by  native  mal-contents, 
the  nation  was  very  sorely  oppressed  at  that 
period. 

Genghis  Khan,  already  inured  to  conquest 
and  thirsting  for  extended  dominion,  eagerly 
complied  with  the  impolitic  request  of  Ning- 
tsung.  During  the  reign  of  that  monarch, 
and  of  Le-tsung,  by  whom  he  was,  at  his 
death  in  1225,  succeeded,  the  Mongols  passed 
from  triumph  to  triumph,  the  unhappy  na 
tives  suffering  no  less  from  the  barbarians 
who  were  hired  to  defend  them  than  from 
the  other  barbarians  who  avowedly  entered 
the  empire  for  purpose  of  rapine  and  blood 
shed.  Le-tsung,  a  prince  whose  natural  in 
dolence  was  increased  by  his  superstitious 
attachment  to  the  most  superstitious  priests 
in  his  empire,  was  a  voluntary  prisoner  in 
his  palace,  while  the  Mongols  were  driving 
from  one  province  to  another  not  merely  the 
intruding  foe  and  foreigner,  but  also  the 
rightful  and  already  suffering  inhabitant. 
The  atrocities  committed  in  what  the  Mon 
gols  seemed  to  be  bent  upon  making  an  act 
ual  war  of  extermination  were  dreadful ;  the 
most  authentic  accounts,  and  those  which 
peem  most  entirely  free  from  exaggeration, 
speak  of  the  slaughter  among  the  unfortunate 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


people  as  amounting  to  some  hundreds  of 
thousands. 

Genghis  Khan  dying,  was  succeeded  by  a 
grandson  named  Kublai ;  and  Le-tsung  also 
dying,  was  succeeded  by  Too-tsung.  This 
last-named  prince  was  as  debauched  as  his 
predecessor  had  been  superstitious ;  and, 
wholly  taken  up  with  the  gratification  of  his 
shameful  sensuality,  he  saw,  almost  without 
a  care  or  struggle,  the  Mongols,  under  Kub 
lai,  proceeding  with  their  ravages,  and  Kub 
lai  at  length  become  master  of  the  northern 
provinces. 

Thus  far  successful,  it  was  not  likely  that 
the  conquering  chief  should  forbear  from 
turning  his  attention  to  the  southern  prov 
inces,  which,  as  we  learn  from  Marco  Polo, 
were  considered  by  far  the  most  wealthy  and 
splendid  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  East. 

The  very  wealth  of  the  southern  empire, 
and  its  comparatively  long  exemption  from 
war,(  rendered  it  pretty  certain  that  it  would 
easily  be  overrun  by  him  who  had  conquered 
the  hardier  and  more  experienced  warriors 
of  the  north.  Province  after  province,  and 
city  after  city  was  taken,  without  the  experi 
ence  on  the  part  of  the  Mongols  of  anything 
even  approaching  to  a  severe  check,  many  of 
the  most  powerful  nobles,  who  were  the  most 
bound  in  honor  and  duty  to  have  defended 
the  country,  actually  joining  the  enemy. 

"With  rapid  and  sure  steps  the  enemy  at 
length  approached  the  city  of  Kinsai,  the 
capital  and  royal  residence,  and  wealthy  to 
an  extent  not  easily  to  be  described.  The 
then  emperor,  Kung-tsung,  seemed  to  have 
despaired  of  successful  defence  against  a  foe 
so  long  and  to  such  an  extent  victorious,  and 
to  have  supposed  that  his  empress  could  more 
successfully  appeal  to  a  victor's  mercy  than 
he  could  to  the  fortune  of  war.  He  accord 
ingly  got  together  all  the  treasure  that  could 
be  at  all  conveniently  embarked,  on  board 
his  fleet,  gave  the  command  of  it  to  his  most 
experienced  naval  commander,  and  put  out 
to  sea. 

The  fact  of  the  defence  of  Kinsai  being 
committed  to  a  beautiful  woman  did  not 


prevent  Kublai  from  ordering  his  generals  to 
use  the  utmost  exertions  in  bringrins;  the  siegre 

o      o  o 

to  a  speedy  conclusion.  Such  :rders  ensured 
an  activity  which  reduced  the  empress  and 
her  garrison  to  the  most  alarming:  distresses  ; 

o 

but  the  empress  consoled  herself  under  every 
new  disaster  by  a  prophecy  which  had  been 
made  by  a  court  astrologer — a  kind  of  cheat 
very  popular  with  most  of  the  Chinese  mon- 
archs  of  that  time — that  Kinsai  could  only  be 
taken  by  a  general  having  a  hundred  eyes. 
As  such  a  specimen  of  natural  history  was 
by  no  means  likely  to  appear,  the  empress 
allowed  nothing  to  daunt  her,  until  on  inquir 
ing  the  name  of  a  general  whom  Kublai  had 
entrusted  to  made  a  new  and  vigorous  assault 
on  the  city,  she  was  told  that  it  was  Chin 
san  la  yan.  These  words — which  mean  the 
hundred  eyed — seemed  in  such  ominous 
agreement  with  the  requirement  of  the 
prophecy,  that  the  empress  allowed  her 
hitherto  high  courage  to  give  place  to  a 
superstitious  horror,  and  she  immediately 
surrendered  the  city,  on  receiving  from 
Kublai  assurance,  which  he  very  honorably 
fulfilled,  of  treatment  and  an  allowance  in 
conformity  with  her  rank. 

Sa-yan-fu,  which  was  a  far  stronger  city 
than  the  capital,  and  against  which  no  super 
stitious  influence  was  brought,  held  bravely 
out  against  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  Mongols 
for  upwards  of  three  years.  Marco  Polo  and 
his  brother  Nicolo,  the  Italian  travellers  and 
traders,  anxious  to  ingratiate  themselves  with 
the  formidable  and  prosperous  Kublai,  sup 
plied  him  Avith  besieging  engines  which  threw 
stone  balls  of  the  tremendous  weight  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  pounds.  Such  missiles 
soon  made  practicable  breaches  in  the  hith 
erto  impregnable  walls.  The  town  was 
stormed,  and  Kublai,  enraged  at  its  long  and 
obstinate  resistance,  gave  it  up  to  the  mercy 
of  his  troops. 

The  fugitive  emperor  found,  in  some  dis 
tant  and  strongly  fortified  islets,  a  shelter 
for  his  treasure,  but  not  that  safety  for  him 
self  which  he  had  sought  with  so  mujh  sacri 
fice  of  dignity  and  character.  He  had  no1 


J 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


long  been  at  his  post  of  ignoble  security  when 
he  was  seized  with  an  illness  which,  speedily 
terminated  his  life.  The  empress,  who  seems 
to  have  been  altogether  as  brave  and  adven 
turous  as  her  husband  was  timid,  strengthen 
ed  the  fleet  at  Yae  islands,  under  the  com 
mand  of  the  emperor's  favorite  admiral, 
Low-sewfoo,  proclaimed  Te-ping,  her  son, 
emperor,  and  repaired  writh  him  on  board  the 
fleet.  The  Mongol  fleet,  after  attacking  Can 
ton,  hove  in  sight  of  the  imperial  fleet,  when 
a  tremendous  action  commenced  and  continu 
ed  for  an  entire  day.  The  Mongols,  though 
even  their  loss  was  dreadful,  were  victorious, 
and  the  Chinese  or  imperial  fleet  was  so 
much  shattered  that  Low-sewfoo  found  it 
impossible  to  get  his  crippled  vessels  through 
the  straits.  Dreaming  the  very  worst  from 
the  resentment  which  Kublai  was  likely  to 
feel  at  this  new  resistance  on  the  part  of  the 
empress,  that  brave  but  unfortunate  woman 
committed  suicide  by  jumping  overboard. 
Her  example  was  followed  by  several  of  her 
principal  attendants,  including  the  admiral, 
who  leaped  overboard  with  the  young  emperor 
in  his  arms.  So  disastrous  a  day  as  this 
could  not  fail  to  be  decisive ;  all  the  com 
paratively  small  part  of  the  south  that  had 
hitherto  held  out  was  quickly  overrun  and 
the  whole  empire  was  now  under  a  Mongol 
emperor  concentrated  into  one.  Under  the 
title  of  Shi-tsu,  Kublai  ascended  the  imperial 
throne  in  1279,  and  in  so  doing  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  Yuen  dynasty. 

Shi-tsu  having  obtained  the  mighty  and 
vast  empire  of  China,  now  determined  to  use 
its  resources  in  adding  Japan  to  his  already 
unwieldly  possession.  But  this  time  he  was 
fated  to  a  fortune  very  different  from  that 
which  usually  attended  him.  The  Japanese, 
instead  of  shrinking  at  the  approach  of  a  force 
that  from  its  previous  successes  might  well 
have  made  them  pause  as  to  the  prudence  of 
resistance,  fortified  theii  forts  in  the  strong- 

'  O 

est  manner  time  would  admit.     One  beinir  at 

O 

length  taken,  the  resistance  of  the  garrison 
was  punished  by  the  butchery  of  every  man 
without  exception,  eight  of  the  number  being- 


beaten  to  death  with  clubs.  The  real  reason 
of  this  cruel  distinction  being  awarded  to  the 
eight  unhappy  persons  was,  most  likely,  that 
they  were  distinguished  either  in  their  rank 
or  in  the  zeal  and  determination  of  their 
resistance.  But  the  fondness  that  exists  for 
the  marvellous  has  caused  this  occurrence  tc 
be  attributed  to  the  somewhat  inexplicable 
mechanical  impossibility  of  putting  them  to 
death  by  decapitation,  on  account  of  iron 
chains  which  they  wore  round  their  necks. 

The  brutal  cruelty  displayed  by  Shi-tsu  01 
his  officers  to  the  garrison  of  this  single  fort, 
was  productive  of  no  advantage  to  his  arms. 
Before  the  terror  which  such  barbarity  might 
possibly  have  carried  into  the  hearts  of  other 
garrisons  had  time  to  produce  weakness  or 
treachery,  a  tremendous  storm  arose  by  which 
a  great  portion  of  the  Tartar^  or  rather  the 
Tartar-Chinese,  fleet  was  wrecked.  The  e\ 
tent  of  injury  so  alarmed  the  commanders, 
that  they  hastened  home  with  the  remainder 
of  their  ships,  abandoning  many  thousand  of 
their  followers  to  the  vengeance  of  the  Jap 
anese. 

Shi-tsu  died  in  1295  ;  and  it  was  not  until 
his  grandson,  Tching-sung,  ascended  the 
throne,  and  began  to  imitate  the  ambitious 
and  warlike  conduct  of  his  great  predeces 
sor,  that  anything  worthy  of  even  casual 
mention  occurred  in  the  history  of  the  subju 
gated  people  of  China. 

Tchin-sung  is  better  known  In  Europe  as 
Tiinoor  the  Tartar,  or  Tamerlane,  whose 
treatment  of  his  opponent  Bajazet  has  been 
made  the  subject  of  so  many  dramas  and 
tales.  His  name  of  Timoor  (the  iron)  seems 
to  have  been  exactly  suited  to  his  energetic, 
untiring,  and  unsparing  nature.  Fixing  the 
imperial  residence  at  Samarcand,  he  appears 
to  have  formed  the  project  of  carrying  on  the 
work  of  subjugation  to  the  utmost  possible  ex 
tent  in  all  directions.  Persia,  Georgia,  and  Del 
hi  speedily  felt  and  succumbed  to  his  power : 
he  drove  the  Indians  to  the  Ganges,  and  utter 
ly  destroyed  Astracan  and  other  places  in  that 
direction.  Bajazet,  the  Ottoman  monarch, 
seems  to  have  had  the  most  just  cause  im- 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD 


aginable  to  arrest  the  course  of  a  man  who 
was  evidently  determined  upon  making  him 
self,  if  possible,  the  sole  monarch  of  the  East. 
But  the  Ottoman  was  far  inferior  to  the  Tar 
tar  in  that  strength  which  is  as  important  to 
success  as  even  a  good  cause  itself.  We  are 
assured  that  while  Bajazet  had  only  120,000 
men,  his  opponent  brought  700,000  into  the 
field.  The  day  on  which  this  tremendous 
battle  was  fought  was  sultry  in  the  extreme, 
yet  so  obstinate  were  both  parties,  that  the 
contest  continued  from  the  morning  until  a 
late  hour  at  night.  The  comparatively  small 
army  of  Bajazet  was  in  the  end  completely 
routed,  and  the  unfortunate  monarch  himself 
prisoner.  The  conduct  of  Tamerlane  on  this 
occasion  was  such  as  would  cast  disgrace  on 
the  most  signal  courage  and  talents.  He  had 
his  captive  put  into  an  iron  cage  and  carried 
from  place  to  place  with  him  in  all  his  ex 
cursions,  exhibiting  him  like  a  wild  beast. 
The  unfortunate  Bajazet  lived  in  this  most 
pitiable  condition  until  the  year  1403,  when 
he  died,  as  tradition  says,  of  a  broken  heart. 

Tamerlane  during  his  various  and  exten 
sive  expeditions  had  committed  the  internal 
government  of  his  empire  to  certain  princes 
of  his  house — his  grandson  and  nephews. 
Their  authority  and  character  being  far  less 
respected  and  feared  than  his  own,  several  in 
surrections  had  taken  place,  and  Tarmerlane, 
or  Tchin-sung,  now  marched  towards  China 
with  the  avowed  determination  of  inflicting 
severe  chastisement ;  but  as  he  was  advanc 
ing  with  forced  marches  for  that  purpose,  he 
was  seized  with  an  illness  which  terminated 
both  his  enterprises  and  his  life,  in  1405. 

After  the  death  of  the  formidable  Tamer 
lane  his  descendants  kept  up  a  perpetual 
scramble  for  the  empire,  in  which  they  con 
trived  the  utter  ruin  of  the  high  character 
they  owed  to  him.  A  series  of  revolts  and 
intrigues  followed  each  other  during  the  rule 
or  the  strifes  of  some  succeeding  emperors 
and  pretenders ;  and  the  next  event  of  which 
we  feel  it  necessary  to  give  any  account  is  an 
embassy  sent  from  Persia  to  China  in  the 
reign  of  Yunglo,  also  called  Ching-tsoo. 


The  account  of  this  embassy  is  the  more 
interesting,  because  it  gives  us  considerable 
insight  into  the  manners  and  state  of  society 
in  China  at  that  time,  and  mentions  what 
Marco  Polo  does  not — tea,  to  which,  more 
than  aught  else,  China  owes  its  importance 
in  the  eyes  of  the  modern  inhabitants  of 
Europe.  Even  at  this  early  period  the  Chi 
nese  seem  to  have  all  the  modern  jealousy 
of  the  entrance  of  strangers  into  the  so-called 
"  Celestial  Empire/'  Before  the  embassy  in 
question  was  allowed  even  to  set  foot  upon 
the  boundaries  of  the  empire,  an  exact  list 
of  all  persons  belonging  to  the  emba>sagc 
was  required,  including  even  the  very  hum 
blest  attendants,  and  the  ambassadors-in-chief 
were  called  upon  to  swear  to  the  truth  and 
exactness  of  the  list.  Chinese  jealousy  being 
satisfied  thus  far,  the  embassage  commenced 
its  toilsome  journey  of  one  hundred  days 
towards  the  capital.  It  is  only  fair  to  add, 
however,  that  after  their  first  suspicion  was 
formally  and  officially  silenced,  there  seems 
to  have  been  a  most  liberal  hospitality  shown 
in  the  way  of  substantial  good  fare,  accom 
panied  by  an  unstinted  supply  of  excellent 
wines. 

The  capital  of  China,  Cambulu,  now 
known  far  better  by  the  name  of  Pekin,  is 
spoken  of  as  being  even  at  that  time  a  city 
of  great  magnitude  and  opulence. 

The  long  intercourse  with  Jesuits,  mis 
sionaries,  and  others  specially  sent  there, 
with  a  reference  to  their  science,  judgment 
and  aptitude  for  the  difficult  business  of  com 
municating,  not  merely  knowledge  itself  but 
also  the  desire  for  it,  could  scarcely  have  left 
the  Chinese  so  much  behind  the  rest  of  the 
world  in  invention  and  practice  in  the  higher 
productions,  even  had  no  progress  been  pre 
viously  made  by  them.  But  when  so  early 
as  the  15th  century  we  hear  of  such  an 
achievement  as  the  Turning  Tmcer,  of  which 
we  are  about  to  give  a  description,  who  will 
consent  to  believe  that  above  four  centuries 
later  they  are  the  backward  and  ignorant 
people  they  are  called  ? 

That  really  wonderful  structure,  the  turn 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


55 


ing  tower,  is  stated  by  shrewd  and  intelligent 
observers  to  whom  we  owe  our  knowledge 
of  it,  to  be  worthy  of  the  visit  and  careful 
examination  of  every  smith  and  carpenter 
nyon  the  lace  of  the  earth.  What,  in  fact, 
ire  we  acquainted  with  of  merely  human 
construction  that  can  for  an  instant  bear 
comparison  with  a  tower  fifteen  stories  high, 
each  story  twelve  cubits  high,  and  the  whole 
edifice  twenty  cubits  in  circumference  ? 
What  can  surpass  the  ingenuity  of  the 
people  who  could  make  this  large  structure, 
having  a  total  height  of  180  cubits,  which 
turns  round  upon  a  metal  axis ;  and  that 
with  little  more  difficulty  than  if  it  were 
merely  a  child's  toy  ?  Assuredly,  the  people 
who  even  in  whim  could  erect  such  a  struc 
ture  as  this  at  the  period  of  more  than  four 
centuries  ago,  cannot  now  be  the  incapable 
and  unprovided  race  which  many  late  ac 
counts  would  represent  them. 

The  emperor's  palace  at  Pekin  is  described 
as  being  rich  and  spacious  in  the  extreme. 
^Vliile  the  ambassadors  and  their  suite  were 
there,  it  was  constantly  surrounded  by  about 
two  thousand  musicians,  playing  and  singing 
anthems  to  the  praise  of  the  emperor,  whose 
throne  was  of  solid  gold,  ascended  by  a  flight 
of  nine  silver  steps.  On  the  emperor  ascend 
ing  this  extremely  gorgeous  throne,  the  chiefs 
of  the  embassy  were  introduced ;  and  after  a 
brief  and  merely  formal  audience,  at  which 
they  did  not  prostrate  themselves  in  the 
Chinese  fashion,  but  bowed  in  that  of  the 
Persians,  they  were  reconducted  to  the  apart 
ments  provided  for  them,  where  a  sheep,  a 
goose,  and  two  fowls,  with  fruit,  vegetables, 
and  tea.  were  daily  served  out  to  every  six 
persons. 

The  evil  deed,  whether  of  man  or  nation, 
very  rarely  proves  to  be  other  than  an  evil 
seed.  The  unprovoked  aggression  of  the 
Chinese-Tartars  under  Kublai,  was  not  only 
productive  of  great  injury  to  the  Chinese 
fleet  at  the  time,  but  led  to  very  many  sub 
sequent  losses  and  calamities.  Favorably 
situated  as  Japan  was  for  the  maintenance 
of  a  fleet,  it  was  a  power  upon  \vhich  such  a 


piratical  attack  as  that  of  Kublai  could  not 
be  made  without  incurring  serious  danger  of 
heavy  reprisals. 

Tin-tsung,  an  extremely  well-inclined 
prince,  found  the  attacks  of  the  Japanese  so 
frequent  and  so  fearfully  injurious  to  his 
people,  and  to  the  imperial  fleet,  that  his 
earliest  care  was  directed  to  that  subject. 
The  Japanese,  an  essentially  sea-faring 
people,  had,  according  to  the  least  exag> 
gerated  accounts,  from  six  to  seven  thousand 
vessels  of  various  sizes,  manned  with  their 
most  daring  and  unprincipled  people,  not  a 
few  of  them  ready  for  piracy  and  murder, 
as  a  part  of  their  proper  trade.  Running 
suddenly  into  the  Chinese  ports,  the  daring 
adventurers  committed  acts  not  merely  of 
robbery,  but  of  the  most  wanton  destruction 
of  property  and  life,  firing  whole  towns  and 
villages,  and  retiring  with  immense  booty. 
During  the  eleven  years  of  his  reign  the 
emperor  Tin-tsung  was  so  spirited  and  in 
cessant  in  his  opposition  to  these  daring 
rovers,  that  he  \vould  most  probably  have 
permanently  rid  his  country  of  them,  had  his 
life  not  been  so  early  terminated. 

Suen-tsung,  who  succeeded  to  the  last- 
named  emperor,  was  but  barely  allowed  to 
ascend  the  throne  when  he  was  almost  de 
throned  by  some  of  the  grandees  of  the 
empire,  among  whom  was  his  own  uncle. 
Fortunately  for  the  emperor,  his  army  was 
more  faithful  to  him  than  the  grandees ;  and 
after  a  most  obstinate  engagement  between 
it  and  the  force  of  the  insurgents,  the  latter 
were  completely  overthrown.  With  a  far 
greater  lenity  than  would  have  been  shown 
by  some  monarchs  after  being  so  early  and 
so  deeply  offended,  the  emperor  spared  the 
lives  of  the  ringleaders,  though,  as  a  sheer 
matter  of  self-defence,  he  reduced  some  of 
them  to  the  rank  of  commoners,  and  con 
fiscated  the  estates  of  others. 

Though  the  commencement  of  his  reign 
was  thus  stormy,  he  was  very  little  disturbed 
by  revolts  afterwards,  to  the  time  of  his 
death  in  1436.  He  was  succeeded  by  Chin- 
tung,  a  minor ;  the  empress-dowager  being 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD 


his  guardian,  and  the  real  state  authority 
being  divided  between  her  and  her  chief 
adviser,  the  eunuch  "Wan-chin.  This  latter 
personage  seems  to  have  had  nobler  and 
more  spirited  notions  of  government  than 
were  commonly  displayed  by  the  effeminate 
and  venal  court  favorites.  He  not  only 
took  prompt  and  active  measures  for  re 
pressing  the  Tartars,  who  annoyed  the 
Tartar-Chinese  with  as  much  impartiality 
as  though  they  had  been  still  a  purely 
Chinese  people  and  government,  but  also 
took  the  field  in  person.  13oth  he  and  the 
youthful  emperor  were  taken  prisoners,  and 
matters  began  to  look  very  prosperously  for 
the  Tartars,  who  were  not  only  more  expert 
in  the  use  of  the  newly  introduced  fire-arms, 
but  also  invariably  used  them,  which  upon 
certain  solemn  days  the  Chinese,  from  super 
stitious  notions,  refused  to  do.  As  a  matter 
of  course,  the  Tartars  always  sought  every 
chance  of  taking  them  at  so  great  a  disad 
vantage,  and  made  fearful  havoc  whenever 
'they  contrived  to  do  so.  But  the  bold  spirit 
which  Wan-chin  had  infused  into  the  councils 
of  the  imperial  court  soon  turned  the  scale. 
The  imperial  authority  was  assumed  by 
King-tae,  who,  however,  subsequently  showed 
that  he  had  assumed  such  authority  in  the 
truest  spirit  of  a  loyal  subject  and  most 
honorable  man.  He  advanced  against  the 
Tartars,  and  opposed  them  with  such  skill, 
courage,  and  tenacity,  that  he  completely 
defeated  them,  compelled  them  to  restore 
the  young  Ching-tung  to  liberty  unransomed, 
and  then  immediately  abdicated,  and  placed 
upon  the  throne  the  young  sovereign  whom 
his  valor  and  conduct  had  already  restored 
to  liberty.  The  remainder  of  the  reign  of 
Ching-tung,  about  ten  years,  was  compara 
tively  peaceful  and  prosperous. 

The  early  part  of  the  10th  century  pro 
duced  an  event  of  which  even  yet  the  con 
sequences  are  but  partially  and  dimly  seen 
—the  appearance  of  the  Portuguese  at  China. 
To  India  they  had  already  made  their  way 
by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  in  India 
they  had  an  extremely  flourishing  settle 


ment.  The  governor  of  the  Portuguese  in 
India  determined  to  send  a  somewhat  impos 
ing  embassy  to  China ;  accordingly,  Andrada 
and  Perez,  the  two  ambassadors,  sailed  to 
Canton,  their  own  vessel  being  under  a 
convoy  of  eight  large  ships,  well  manned 
and  armed.  Perez  and  Andrada,  with  twc 
vessels,  were  allowed  to  proceed  up  tho 
river  on  their  embassy.  While  thev  did  SG 

*/  •' 

the  crews  and  merchants  who  were  left  with 
the  other  vessels  in  the  Canton  river,  busied 
themselves  in  endeavoring  to  trade  with  the 
natives.  As  usual,  wherever  a  turbulent 
body  of  seamen  is  concerned,  the  laws  of 
mcum  and  tuum  were  frequently  set  at 
nought,  and  this  one-sided  system  of  free- 
trading  so  greatly  enraged  the  Chinese,  that 
the  little  fleet  was  surrounded  by  the  Chinese 
war  junks,  and  only  escaped  capture  by  the 
opportune  occurrence  of  a  severe  storm. 
Perez,  though  far  up  the  country,  and  per 
sonally  innocent,  was  seized  by  the  Chinese 
as  the  scape-goat  of  his  fellow-countrymen's 
offences.  He  was  hurried  baok  to  Canton 
with  the  utmost  ignominy,  loaded  with  irons, 
and  put  into  a  prison,  from  which  he  never 
again  emerged  until  death  set  him  free. 

About  this  time  a  state  of  bloodshed  and 
horror  existed  in  China,  such  as  probably 
was  never  before  equalled,  even  in  that 
country  of  distraction,  the  annals  of  which 
are  so  confused  by  usurpations,  interming 
ling  of  dynasties,  and  alterations  in  terri 
torial  extent  and  nomenclature,  that  the 
historian  who  desires  to  convey  truth  is  not 
unfrequently  obliged  to  allow  his  pen  to 
pause  until  the  current  of  the  older  liistories 
becomes  less  turbid  and  torrent-like. 

On  the  accession,  in  1627,  of  Ilwae-tsung, 
the  Tartars,  who,  during  the  comparatively 
quiet  seven  years'  reign  of  this  emperor's 
immediate  predecessor,  had  been  preparing 
themselves  for  war,  broke  out  fiercely  and 
suddenly.  The  time  was  peculiarly  favor 
able  to  their  anticipated  overthrow  of  the 
empire,  which  was  overrun  by  two  robbers, 
whose  armies  were  not  only  more  numerous 
than  that  of  the  emperor,  but  had  already  so 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


57 


far  beaten  it  as  to  have  obtained  possession 
of  some  important  provinces.  City  after 
city  had  fallen  before  these  fierce  rebels,  and 
the  imperial  general  was  at  length  so  pressed 
by  them,  that  being  at  once  in  despair  of 
successful  resistance,  and  determined  not  to 
surrender,  he  caused  the  dykes  to  be  cut 
through  which  restrained  the  river  Iloang-ho 
from  inundating  the  country  in  which  he 
was  encamped,  and  he  and  the  whole  of  the 
troops  and  inhabitants,  in  all  above  200,000, 
were  drowned. 

If  the  affairs  of  the  empire  were  desperate 
before,  the  loss  of  this  force  could  not  fail 
to  complete  the  ruin.  The  rebels  and  rob 
bers  who  had  alone  been  so  formidable,  now 
united  with  the  Mantchoo  Tartars.  The 
emperor,  finding  that  there  was  no  longer 
any  hope  or  safety  for  him  even  in  his  own 
palace,  strangled  himself.  The  last  city  that 
endeavored  to  make  head  against  the  vic 
torious  and  formidable  Tartars  and  robbers 
was  Tae-yuen.  The  inhabitants,  and  a  com 
parative  handful  of  impeiial  troops,  defend 
ed  this  with  a  stern  obstinacy,  which,  under 
a  different  state  of  things  in  the  empire  at 
large,  would  have  been  very  likely  to  save 
it  ;  the  Tartars  were  repulsed  again  and 
again,  until  the  very  number  of  their  slain 
enabled  them  to  fill  up  the  ditches  and 
mount.  Instead  of  admiring  the  gallantry 
of  their  conquered  opponents,  and  treating 
them  with  mercy,  the  Tartars  savagety  put 
the  inhabitants  to  the  sword,  and  then  gave 
the  devoted  city  to  the  flames. 

Woo  Sau-quei,  an  able  politician  as  well  as 
a  brave  general,  did  not,  even  now  that  the 
emperor  was  slain,  and  the  most  precious 
parts  of  the  empire  in  the  hands  of  the  Tar 
tars  or  rebels,  despair  of  retrieving  affairs. 
By  a  lavish  distribution  of  rich  presents  he 
engaged  the  Mantchoo  leaders  to  abandon 
the  cause  of  the  rebel?,  and  to  join  with  him 
against  their  chief. 

Woo  San-quoi's  policy  succeeded  in  pro 
curing  him  the  alliance  of  the  Mantchoo 
Tartars;  and,  aided  by  them,  he  vanquished 
their  former  allies,  the  rebels,  after  a  series 


of  achievements  on  both  sides,  that  equal 
anything  recounted  in  the  wars  of  the  most 
distinguished  generals  of  ancient  times. 

But  a  new  proof  was  now  exhibited  of  the 
danger  of  purchased  allies.  The  Tartars 
having  put  down  the  rebels,  took  possession 
of  Pekin,  which  they  expressed  their  deter 
mination  to  'protect,' — a  word  to  which 
armed  protectors  attach  a  meaning  very  differ 
ent  from  that  assigned  to  it  by  the  protected. 
They  proclaimed  Shun-che,  a  son  of  their 
own  monarch,  emperor  of  the  northern  prov 
inces  of  China,  the  seat  of  his  government 
being  Pekin,  while  the  princes  and  mandarins 
of  the  southern  provinces  proclaimed  Choo- 
yew,  the  seat  of  whose  government  was  at 
]STankin. 

There  being  a  northern  and  a  southern 
empire,  and  the  thrones  being  respectively 
filled  by  a  Tartar  and  a  Chinese,  it  might 
easily  have  been  foreseen  that  war  and  blood 
shed  would  once  more  vex  the  unhappy  peo 
ple  of  both  empires;  and  the  opposite  na 
tures  of  the  two  emperors,  far  from  decreas 
ing,  increased  this  probability.  The  emper 
or  of  the  south  was  unworthy  of  his  high 

«/ 

station,  and  ill-calculated  for  its  peculiar  ex 
igencies  at  that  time.  His  indolence  and 
gross  sensuality  added,  no  doubt,  to  the  tyr 
annies  of  the  subordinates  to  whom  he  com 
mitted  the  cares  of  state,  while  he  abandoned 
himself  to  his  indulgences,  caused  a  spirit  of 
revolt  to  show  itself,  which  the  northern  em 
peror  was  not  slow  to  avail  himself  of. 
Marching  rapidly  upon  the  southern  prov 
inces,  he  possessed  himself  of  the  capital, 
ISTankin,  and,  after  a  long  series  of  successes, 
became  master  of  the  whole  empire,  with 
the  exception  of  some  few  comparatively 
unimportant  portions ;  and  the  princes  of  even 
these  may  be  said  to  have  been  his  tributa 
ries  rather  than  independent  rulers. 

Shun-che  was  the  first  emperor  of  China 
who  came  into  direct  hostile  collision  with 
the  Russians,  who  in  his  reign  made  theii 
way  to  the  great  river  Amur  on  the  borders, 
of  Tartary.  The  Russians  seized  upon  Dau- 
ri,  a  fortified  Tartar  town  of  some  strength, 


,S8 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


and  in  several  battles  obtained  signal  advan 
tages.  But  subsequently  the  Chinese  recov 
ered  their  ground,  and  a  treaty  was  entered 
into  by  which  all  the  northern  bank  of  the 
Amur,  together  with  the  sole  navigation  of 

O  O 

Uiat  river,  was  assigned  to  the  Chinese, 
and  Tobolsk  was  fixed  as  the  neutral  trading 
ground  of  the  two  nations. 

Busily  and  successfully  as  Shun-che  was 
engaged  in  war,  he  seems  to  have  been  by 
no  means  insensible  to  the  importance  of  the 
urts  of  peace.  The  Portuguese  and  other 
missionaries  and  scholars  who,  in  despite  of 
almost  innumerable  obstacles,  had  by  this 
time  settled  themselves  in  China  in  consider 
able  numbers,  found  at  the  hands  of  this 
warlike  monarch  a  degree  of  friendship  and 
patronage  highly  creditable  to  him.  He  not 
only  prevented  them  from  being  subjected  to 
any  annoyance,  but  even  appointed  one  of 
them,  Adam  Schaal,  to  the  post  of  superin 
tendent  of  mathematics, — a  post  that  gave 
opportunity,  of  which  Schaal  in  the  next 
reign  very  skillfully  availed  himself,  of  ob 
taining  tne  higueBS  mfmence  in  the  state. 

Kang-he,  who  ascended  the  throne  in  1661, 
was  a  minor,  four  principal  personages  of  the 
empire  forming  the  regency.  The  German, 
Schaal,  was  appointed  to  the  important  post 
of  principal  tutor.  Such  was  the  influence 
Schaal  acquired  in  this  position,  that  he  was 
virtually  for  some  time  prime  minister  of 
China. 

But  the  abilities  of  Schaal  and  the  other 
missionaries,  though  they  could  raise  them  to 
power  and  influence,  could  not  guard  them 
from  envy.  The  Chinese  literati,  and  even 
the  regents  themselves,  at  length  became 
excited  to  anger  by  the  very  learning  they 
had  availed  themselves  of,  and  by  the  influ 
ence  it  had  procured  for  the  foreigners 
through  Schaal;  for  among  the  many  ser 
vices  he  had  rendered  to  the  State,  it  is  said 
that  on  one  occasion  he  actually  preserved 
Macao  from  destruction.  But  envy  was  afoot, 
the  most  absurd  charges  were  made  against 
the  missionaries,  and  they  were  at  length  de 
prived  of  ah1  emplo)Tncnt,  while  many  of 


them  were  loaded  with  chains  and  tlirown 
into  prison.  Schaal,  who  was  now  far  ad 
vanced  in  years  and  very  infirm,  sank  beneath 
his  afflictions  soon  after  their  commencement, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine.  It  id 
much  to  the  credit  of  the  young  emperor 
that  he  had  so  well  profited  by  the  instruc 
tion  of  his  foreign  friends,  that  as  soon  as  ho 
attained  his  majority  he  restored  them  to 
their  influence  and  appointments,  the  place 
of  the  deceased  Schaal  being  bestowed  upon 
the  missionary  Yerbiest. 

We  have  previously  alluded  to  the  skill 
and  courage  evinced  by  the  general  Woo  San- 
quei,  when  the  Mantchoo  Tartars  and  the 
rebels  caused  so  much  misery  to  the  empire. 
When  the  Mantchoo  Tartars,  after  aiding 
him  in  putting  down  the  rebels,  had  fairly 
established  the  Mantchoo  dynasty  upon  the 
throne,  the  general  was  appointed  governor 
of  Kweichow  and  Yuri-nan.  Ills  position  in 
the  north-west  of  the  empire,  discontent  with 
his  command,  distinguished  as  it  was,  added, 
perhaps,  to  a  natural  restlessness  and  love 
of  warfare,  caused  him  now  to  levy  war  up 
on  the  neighboring  places.  His  military 
skill  and  his  great  resources  speedily  enabled 
liirn  to  make  himself  master  of  the  southern 
and  western  provinces.  His  success  was  at 
once  so  great  and  so  rapid,  that  the  emperor 
and  his  court  were  thrown  into  consternation, 
and  Yerbiest,  who  among  his  numerous 
abilities  including  that  of  a  founder  of  great 
guns,  was  applied  to  to  superintend  the  cast 
ing  of  some.  From  some  inexplicable  mo 
tives  he  declined  compliance  with  the  request, 
or  rather  the  order,  for  as  a  high  officer  of  the 
empire  such  he  must  have  felt  it.  He  per 
sisted  in  refusing,  until  significant  hints  that 
his  refusal  was  attributed  to  collusion  with 
the  rebels,  showed  him  that  his  life  would  not 
be  safe  did  he  not  comply  with  the  emperor's 
wishes.  Cannon  were  then  cast,  and  the 
speedy  consequences  was,  that  Woo  San-quei, 
who,  probably,  would  in  a  brief  space  have 
been  master  of  the  capital  and  the  throne, 
was  beaten  back  within  safe  limits.  Woo  San- 
quei,  after  another  unsuccessful  endeavor  at 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


iisurping  the  empire,  died  in  1679,  and  was 
succeeded  in  what  remained  of  his  power  by 
his  son,  who  shortly  after  put  an  end  to  his 
own  life. 

In  1080  the  Mongol  Tartars  assailed  the 
emperor,  but  the  European  cannon  enabled 
him  to  beat  off  these  enemies  with  greater 
ease  lie  had  the  same  success  over  the 
Elenths  on  the  north-western  frontier  of  the 
empire. 

Successful  in  war  by  the  aid  of  the  mis 
sionaries,  he  wras  no  less  so  in  commerce :  the 
rj/ai'j  Peter  the  Great,  would,  in  all  proba 
bility,  but  for  their  mediation,  have  been 
prevented  from  concluding  a  peace  with 
China ;  and  though  the  commercial  advan 
tages  which  resulted  from  that  peace  were 
not  immediate,  they  were  vast  and  certain. 
As  a  whole,  the  reign  of  this  emperor  may 
be  considered  by  far  the  noblest  of  all  spoken 
of  in  his  country's  annals.  As  a  millitary 
sovereign  he  will  bear  a  comparison  even 
with  the  daring  and  hardy  Kublai,  while 
he  had  the  rare  merit — scarcely  inferior  to 
genius  itself — of  skill  in  discovering  genius, 
and  of  steady  support  to  ministers  possessing 
it,  regardless  of  court  intrigue  and  court 
jealousies.  Canton,  in  his  reign,  even  more 
than  it  has  ever  been  since,  was  a  port  open 
to  all  nations,  and  China  was  enriched  by 
commerce  with  all  nations ;  and  his  people 
had  real  cause  for  grief  when  he  died,  in  the 
year  1722. 

Yung-ching,  who  now  ascended  the  throne, 
began  his  reign  by  an  act  which  held  out 
but  little  hopes  that  he  would  distinguish 
himself  by  wisdom  like  that  of  his  predeces 
sor.  It  had  been  seen  that  in  the  preceding 
reign  the  missionaries  had  performed  the 
most  important  services.  In  doing  so,  and 
in  enjoying  the  high  imperial  favor  which 
those  services  secured  to  them,  it  was  to  be 
expected  that  they  should  incur  many  en 
mities  ;  and  had  the  new  emperor  been  as 
wise  as  his  predecessor,  to  3 'ich  enmities  would 
be  have  attributed  the  host  of  complaints 
which  now  assailed  his  ears.  But  the  emperor 
was  at  least  equal  to  any  man  in  his  vast 


dominions  in  fierce  and  bigoted  hatred  of 
Christianity ;  and  he  gladly  received  and 
implicitly  listened  to  all  complaints  against 
the  missionaries  and  their  native  converts, 
who  at  this  time  probably  numbered  about  a 
quarter  of  a  million.  Orders  were  issued  for 
the  expulsion  of  the  whole  of  the  mission 
aries,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  whose 
mathematical  attainments  rendered  their 
services  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  the 
court  ;  and  there  were  a  few  sheltered  at  the 
imminent  risk  of  both  parties  by  the  more 
zealous  of  their  pupils,  and  thus  enabled  to 
evade  the  edict  and  in  some  measure  to  pre 
serve  the  leading  truths  of  their  teaching 
among  the  native  converts.  But  it  was  a 
very  insignificant  number  of  these  mission 
aries  that  remained  in  China,  owing  to  both 
these  causes,  and  the  whole  of  their  chapels 
and  stations  were  either  sacked  and  destroy 
ed  by  ferocious  mobs,  converted  into  public 
offices,  or  perverted  to  idolatrous  worship. 
The  excessive  violence  which  this  emperor 
displayed  towards  the  catholic  missionaries 
caused  the  king  of  Portugal  in  1726  to  dis 
patch  an  embassy  to  the  emperor  on  their  be 
half.  The  ambassadors  were  received  with  dis 
tinction  ;  but,  though  general  promises  were 
given  even  with  profusion,  the  converts  to 
Christianity  derived  not  the  slightest  practical 
benefit  from  this  interference  on  their  be 
half. 

In  the  year  1726,  a  new  and  more  terrible 
persecution  took  place.  Both  torture  and  im 
prisonment,  the  former  in  most  cases  termin 
ating,  after  the  most  frightful  agonies,  in  the 
death  of  the  sufferers,  were  now  resorted  to 
in  every  corner  of  the  land  where  a  Christian 
could  be  discovered.  Deep  policy,  however, 
was  mixed  up  with  this  vengeful  spirit ;  and 
to  avoid  the  persecution  it  was  only  necessary 
to  declare  reconversion  to  Confucius  or 
Buddha.  It  may  easily  be  supposed  that, 
under  such  circumstances,  the  number  of 
Christians  was,  nominally  at  least,  soon  re 
duced  to  a  mere  handful.  One  of  the  causes 
of  this  terrible  persecution  was  a  dreadful 
famine  which  occurred  in  the  previous  year. 


GO 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


and  which  was  attributed  to  the  sin  of  con 
version  to  Christianity.  With  the  usual  in 
consistency  of  fanaticism,  it  was  quite  over 
looked,  that  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  who 
j>erished,  not  one  in  a  thousand  had  ever  even 
heard  of  Christianity. 

The  year  1730  was  marked  by  an  event 
which  Yung-dung's  worst  flatterers  could 
not,  after  his,  two  terrible  persecutions  of  the 
Christians,  venture  to  attribute  to  any  undue 
encouragement  of  the  new  faith.  The  whole 
province  of  Pecheli — in  which  Pekin  is  situat 
ed — was  shaken  by  an  earthquake.  The 
imperial  city  was  for  the  most  part  laid  in 
ruins ;  and  the  emperor,  who  was  at  the 
time  walking  in  the  garden,  was  violently 
thrown  to  the  ground.  In  Pekin  alone 
upwards  of  10,000  souls  perished,  and  at 
least  thrice  that  number  in  other  parts  of  the 
province.  The  emperor  distributed  upwards 
of  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  money  for  the 
relief  of  the  survivors. 

The  best  that  can  be  said  of  his  reign  is, 
that  it  was  a  peaceful  one  ;  and  the  interval 
of  peace  would  have  been  infinitely  more 
valuable  than  it  was,  had  the  Christians  and 
their  foreign  and  highly  intelligent  instruct 
ors  been  allowed  to  improve  it  to  the  best 
advantage.  He  died  in  the  year  1735. 

The  throne  was  now  filled  by  Keen-lung  ; 
whose  first  act  was  to  recall  the  princes  and 
courtiers  who  had  been  banished  by  his 
father.  This  done,  he  put  down  some  re 
volts  among  the  Elenths  and  other  tribes  on 
the  north-western  frontiers.  Probably  it 
was  the  vigor  with  which  he  executed  this 
latter  measure  that  caused  a  deputation  to 
be  sent  from  Russia  to  settle  the  disputes 
which  were  perpetually  breaking  out  as  to 
the  trade  between  the  two  countries. 

Ragusinki,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Russian  embassy,  acquitted  himself  with  so 
diuch  address,  that  he  obtained  a  treaty  by 
which  a  Russian  caravan,  not  to  exceed  two 
hundred  in  number,  was  to  visit  China  for 
purposes  of  trade  once  in  every  three  years  ; 
a  church  was  to  be  erected  ;  and  a  limited 
number  of  Russians  were  to  take  up  their 


permanent  abode  in  the  Chinese  capital  foi 
the  purpose  of  acquiring  the  language. 

The  next  important  event  of  this  reign 
was  the  expedition  sent  by  the  emperor  in 
17G7  against  the  Burmese.  This  expedition 
seems  to  have  originated  wholly  in  the  most 
wanton  lust  of  war  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese, 
who,  in  the  sequel,  were  very  deservedly 
punished.  An  army  of  above  100,000  men 
marched  into  Burmah  ;  but  no  regular  army 
appeared  to  oppose  its  progress.  As  it  pene 
trated  farther,  however,  every  foot  of  countrv, 
and  especially  where  swamp  or  jungle  ren 
dered  the  route  naturally  more  difficult,  had 
to  be  traversed  with  active  and  daring 

O 

hordes  of  guerillas  hovering  upon  its  rear 
and  flanks,  cutting  off  stragglers,  pouring 
suddenly  down  upon  weak  detachments  or 
divisions — such  as  the  very  nature  of  the 
country  made  inevitable  ;  and,  in  short,  act- 
ing  with  such  efficient  destructiveness,  that 
the  Chinese  lost  upwards  of  50,000  men 
without  ever  coming  to  a  general  engage 
ment  !  Incredible  as  it  would  seem  in  Eu 
ropean  warfare,  of  the  immense  army  of 
100,000  men,  only  2,000  returned  to  China 
— the  rest  were  all  killed  or  taken  prisoners ; 
and  all  in  the  latter  category  were  naturalized 
and  settled  in  Burmah.  Even  this  horrible 
loss  of  life  did  not  prevent  the  emperor  from 
1  persisting  in  his  unjust  scheme.  lie  pent  a 
still  greater  force  under  his  favorite  general 
A-quci,  who  was  as  fond  of  war  and  as  fero 
cious  as  himself.  Choosing  what  lie  thought 
a  less  difficult  line  of  march,  A-quei  had 
scarcely  entered  the  Burmese  territory  when 
he  found  that  if  he  had  fewer  human  enemies 
to  contend  against  than  his  predecessor, 
he  had  a  still  more  deadly  and  irresistible 
enemy,  the  jungle  fever.  He  saw  his  men 
perish  around  him  by  thousands,  and  he  was 
glad  to  hasten  from  the  deadly  place  with 
even  a  diminished  army,  rather  than  remain 
to  see  it  wholly  annihilated.  And  the  result 
of  all  this  loss  was,  that  China  was  obliged 
to  agree  to  a  treaty  which  confined  her  do 
minion  within  her  natural  frontiers,  thereby 
giving  to  Burmah  rich  gold  and  silver  mines 


HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD. 


61 


which  otherwise  would  have  remained  un 
disputed  in  the  possession  of  China. 

Keen-Lung  was  engaged  in  several  minor 

O  O      O 

wars  originating  in  endeavors  of  the  more 
distant  northern  and  western  tribes  to  throw 
i>jf  the  yoke. 

The  Mahometan  Tartars,  a  brave  and 
bigoted  race,  made  an  inroad  into  the  prov 
ince  of  Sheng-si :  A-quei,  who  was  sent 
Against  them,  called  upon  them  to  surrender 
the  city  in  which  they  had  entrenched  them 
selves,  and,  on  being  refused,  took  it  by 
storm,  and  put  every  human  being  he  found 
within  the  walls  to  the  sword,  save  a  few  of 
the  chiefs  whom  he  sent  to  court.  The  em 
peror,  whose  bloodthirsty  nature  was  such 
that  he  was  accustomed  to  have  criminals 
tortured  in  his  presence,  ordered  these  un 
happy  chiefs  to  be  tortured  before  his  assem 
bled  court,  and  then  cut  to  pieces  and  thrown 
to  the  do<rs  !  ]S"ot  content  with  this  sangui- 

O 

nary  act,  the  monster  gave  orders  to  A-quei 
to  march  upon  the  Mahometan  Tartars,  and 
put  all  to  the  sword  who  were  above  fifteen 
years  of  age. 

Many  rebellions  took  place  during  this 
reign ;  among  them  was  that  of  the  people  of  '•• 
the  island  of  Formosa.  The  mandarins  who 
acted  as  viceroys  in  this  island  were  guilty 
Df  the  most  shameful  exactions  and  cruelties. 
On  one  occasion  they  put  to  death  a  manda 
rin  who  had  ill-treated  them.  The  viceroy 
of  Fuh-keen,  being  commissioned  to  avenge 
the  death  of  the  mandarin,  sailed  to  the 
island  and  sacrificed  victims  to  his  manes, 
without  regard  to  the  gilt  or  innocence  of 
those  he  immolated.  The  Formosans  soon 
became  so  enraged  that  they  rose  en  masse, 
butchered  every  Chinese  and  Tartar  in  the 
island,  and  were  only  at  length  induced  to 
return  to  their  yoke — after  having  bravely 
oeaten  off  the  imperial  fleet — on  being  in 
demnified  for  their  losses,  and  assured  against 
the  recurrence  of  the  tyranny  of  which  they 
complained. 

As  though  fairly  wearied  out  with  the 
strife  and  bloodshed  of  sixty  years  of  perpet 
ual  warfare,  Keen-lung  abdicated  the  throne 


in  favor  of  his  son  Kea-Mng.  Though  he 
never  personally  commanded  his  ai  mies,  he 
caused  more  bloodshed  than,  probably,  any 
modern  commander,  with  the  single  excep 
tion  of  Napoleon. 

Kea-king's  first  use  of  his  power  was  to  re 
new  those  persecutions  of  the  Catholics 
which  in  the  last  reign  had  seemed  to  be 
falling  into  desuetude.  Torture  and  death 
were  the  fate  of  many ;  still  more  were  sen 
tenced  to  wear  the  cangou,  or  wooden  collar, 
during  their  lives,  or  were  banished  to  Tar- 
tary,  which  last  was  a  singularly  impolitic 
punishment,  as  the  Tartars  needed  no  discon 
tented  men  to  incite  them  to  revolt. 

A  rebellion  of  a  very  threatening  nature, 
inasmuch  as  some  members  of  the  imperial 
family  and  other  principal  persons  were  con 
cerned  in  it  was  planned  a  few  years  later. 
By  some  fortunate  accident,  or,  still  more 
probably,  through  the  treachery  of  some 
of  the  confederates,  the  plot  was  discov 
ered  ere  it  was  ripe  for  execution.  Many 
of  the  principal  conspirators  were  put  to 
death,  and  others  only  escaped  death  to  suf 
fer  the  confiscation  of  their  property,  which 
was  peculiarly  acceptable  to  the  almost  ut 
terly  empty  treasury  of  the  emperor. 

In  1792,  Lord  Macartney  was  sent  as  am 
bassador  to  China,  to  endeavor  to  establish 
trade  with  that  country  upon  a  better  and 
surer  footing,  and  more  especially  to  ob 
tain  for  the  British  factory  a  cessation  of  the 
insolence  and  extortion  of  the  viceroy  of 
Canton.  The  embassy  was  productive  of 
but  little  good  effect.  The  insolent  and  ex 
tortionate  viceroy  was  recalled,  it  is  true,  but 
his  successor  was  not  long  in  office  ere  he 
went  far  beyond  him  in  both  of  those  bad 
qualities.  The  ambassador  was  blamed  at 
home  for  having  been  too  high  and  unbend 
ing  in  his  demeanor ;  but  the  truth  is,  that 
the  time  had  not  come  for  a  proper  under 
standing  to  exist  between  the  Chinese  and 
any  European  nation. 

When,  in  1808,  it  was  feared  that  Bona 
parte  would  aim  at  the  eastern  trade  of  Eng 
land,  Admiral  Drury  was  ordered  to  Macao  ; 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


but  after  much  wordy  disputation  between 
the  Cliinese  authorities  there  and  the  admiral, 
the  latter  retired  after  a  slight  collision,  in 
which  he  lost  one  man.  The  Chinese  pre 
tended  to  have  gained  a  great  victory,  a 
magniloquent  account  of  the  same  was  sent 
to  Pekin,  and  a  pagoda  actually  erected  to 
commemorate  it. 

In  1816,  another  ambassador,  Lord  Am- 
herst  was  sent  to  China,  but  his  mission  was 
to  the  full  as  unsatisfactory  as  that  of  Lord 
Macartney. 

After  twenty-five  years'  reign,  marked  far 
more  by  despotic  temper  than  by  the  talent 
necessary  to  render  it  effective,  Kea-king 
died  in  the  year  1820. 

The  trade  of  England,  as  well  as  of  all 
other  nations,  with  China  has  ever  been  sub 
ject  to  such  restrictions,  and  been  liable  to 
EO  many  interruptions,  from  the  caprice  of 
the  Chinese,  and  from  the  insolence  with 
wliich  those  caprices  had  been  acted  upon, 
that  it  has  of  necessity,  from  time  to  time, 
very  much  partaken  of  the  character  of 
smuggling — even  as  regards  articles  to  which 
no  moral  exception  could  by  possibility  be 
taken. 

Opium  was  imported  into  China  as  early  as 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  it  was  not  until 
toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  that 
Kea-king  prohibited  it.  It  was  high  time  to 
put  some  check  upon  the  use  of  it ;  for  though 
it  was  professedly  important  only  as  a  medicin 
al  drug,  it  was  imported  to  the  extent  of  one 
thousand  chests  per  annum  as  early  as  1776, 
and  the  importation  has  been  perpetually  in 
creasing  in  amount  up  to  1796.  Up  to  this 
tune,  be  it  remembered,  the  traffic  was  strict 
ly  legal ;  it  paid  a  duty  of  five  mace  per 
catty,  and  was  for  the  most  part  delivered  to 
and  bonded  by  the  government. 

It  is  clear  that  from  1796  the  trade  in  this 
drug  was  mere  smuggling;  equally  clear 
that  whether  John  Tomkins  or  "  The  Com 
pany  "  was  the  trader,  that  trader  was  a 
smuggler.  When  the  East  India  Company, 
having  the  monopoly  of  the  eastern  trade, 
compelled  the  ryota  of  Patna  to  grow  opium 


instead  of  rice,  and  compelled  the  ryots  of 
divers  other  parts  of  the  Anglo-Indian  terri 
tory  to  do  the  same,  the  act  was  one  which 
the  English  press  ought  loudly  to  have  de 
nounced,  and  which  the  English  senate  ought 
to  have  put  a  stop  to,  on  pain  of  the  loss  of 
the  Company's  charter.  All  this  is  clear; 
but  there  is  another  consideration.  The  gov 
ernment  of  China  is  essentially  paternal; 
from  the  emperor  to  the  lowest  officer  of  his 
state  link  connects  link,  as  from  the  father 
of  a  family  to  his  youngest  child  or  his  mean 
est  servant.  The  trade  in  opium  was  forbid 
den  from  time  to  time  by  edicts ;  but  the 
very  officers  who  were  charged  with  the  duty 
of  enforcing  those  edicts  were  themselves  the 
virtual  importers  of  opium  !  Had  the  Chi 
nese  authorities  at  Canton  and  along  the 
coast  not  connived  at  the  trade  for  enormous 
bribes,  or  as  was  even  more  frequently  the  case, 
been  themselves  actual  traders  in  the  article, 
the  trade  would  have  been  at  an  end  years 
ago,  and  when  only  a  comparatively  small 
portion  of  British  capital  was  involved  in  it. 

It  was  not  until  1839  that  anything  in  the 
shape  of  a  real  determination  to  put  down 
the  trade  was  exhibited  by  the  Chinese. 

Lin  appeared  at  Canton,  in  that  year,  a 
"  high  commissioner  " — an  officer  possessing 
almost  dictatorial  powers,  and  one  who  had 
not  been  more  than  thrice  previously  ap 
pointed  during  the  present  dynasty.  In  an 
edict,  he  said :  "  I,  the  commissioner,  am 
sworn  to  remove  utterly  this  root  of  misery ; 
nor  will  I  let  the  foreign  vessels  have  any 
offshoot  left  for  the  evil  to  bud  forth  again." 
The  British  commissioner,  and  between  two 
and  three  hundred  British  subjects,  were  then 
thrown  into  a  state  of  close  confinement ;  the 
guards  placed  over  them  heaped  every  insult 
upon  them,  and  threatened  them  with  bein«_' 
deprived  of  provisions  arid  water.  Captain 
Elliott,  the  British  superintendent,  under 
such  circumstances,  saw  no  means  of  evading 
the  demands  of  the  Chinese;  and  upwards 
of  20,000  chests  of  opium,  valued  at  $20,- 
000,000,  were  delivered  to  commissioner  Lin 
for  destruction. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WOKLD. 


03 


In  1840,  war  was  declared  by  England 
against,  the  Chinese.  The  leading  events, 
however,  which  followed,  being  related  in 
this  work,  in,  the  history  of  Great  Britain,  it 
would  be  superfluous  to  give  them  here. 

All  differences  being  finally  adjusted,  and 
his  celestial  majesty  being  on  terms  of  the 
strictest  amity  with  her  Britannic  majesty,  a 
ratification  of  the  treaty  between  the  two 
countries  was  announced  on  July  27,  1843. 
From  that  day  the  Hong  merchants'  monop 
oly  and  Consoo  charges  were  to  cease  ;  and 
the  conditions  upon  which  trade  was  in  future 
to  be  carried  on,  appeared  in  a  notice  issued 
by  Sir  Henry  Pottinger,  the  British  plenipo 
tentiary  in  China ;  who  published  an  export 
and  import  tariff,  and  also  a  proclamation,  in 
which  he  trusts  that  the  commercial  treaty 
will  be  found,  in  practice,  mutually  advan 
tageous,  beneficial,  and  just,  as  regards  the 
interest,  honor,  and  the  future  augmented 
prosperity  of  the  governments  of  the  two 
mighty  contracting  empires  and  their  subjects. 

The  next  important  event  that  appears  in 
the  history  of  China  is  the  Tae-Ping  rebel 
lion.  The  government,  as  we  have  seen, 
after  passing  through  the  hands  of  almost 
every  race  of  Eastern  Asia,  had  been  in  the 
possession  of  the  Mantchoo  Tartars  since  the 
year  1044:.  The  country  had  always  been 
rent  by  civil  and  religious  discussions,  and 
the  jealousies  of  the  heterogeneous  tribes 
which  compose  its  population.  At  the  time 
of  the  rebellion  which  we  speak  of,  there 
were  no  less  than  three  other  insurrections  in 
different  parts  of  the  empire.  None  of  them, 
however,  attracted  such  attention  in  Eu 
rope  as  that  known  by  the  name  of  Tae- 
ping.  IIung-Sin-Tsuen,  or,  as  he  calls  him 
self  the  Tien-Wang,  the  king  of  Heaven,  its 
leader,  was  born  in  an  insignificant  village, 
not  far  from  Canton.  His  parents  were  so 
poor  that  they  could  not  afford  to  give  him 
che  education  necessary  to  pass  the  State  ex 
aminations,  for  those  who  seek  posts  under 
the  government  of  China.  For  several  years 
in  succession  he  attended  these  examinations 
at  Canton  without  success.  One  of  these  times, 


ho  met  an  American  missionary  who  gave 
him  a  bundle  of  tracts  in  Chinese.  He  took 
them  without  noticing  them,  and  laid  them 
aside.  Several  years  after  this  he  had  a 
severe  attack  cf  illness,  during  which  he 
thought  he  saw  visions,  and  heard  wild  pro-1 
phecies  about  his  future.  Some  time  after 
he  accidentally  took  up  the  tracts  which  had 
been  given  him,  and  perused  them  with  at 
tention.  They  seem  to  have  wrought  a  great 
impression  on  his1  mind,  for  he  immediately 
abandoned  the  system  of  Confucius,  and 
went  to  the  mountains  to  preach  the  new  re 
ligion  which  he  had  devised  by  combining 
the  Christian  worship  of  God  with  the  ma 
terialistic  fancies  of  the  Chinese.  In  1840, 
having  gained  a  considerable  number  of 
followers,  he  made  an  attempt  to  destroy  the 
Pagan  shrines  of  the  Buddhists  and  Lao-lye. 
In  the  disturbance  that  ensued  two  of  his 
adherents  were  thrown  into  prison,  where  one 
of  them  died.  Disappointed  at  this  failure  of 
his  mission,  he  gave  up  his  preaching  for  the 
time,  and  became  a  cattle  herd.  Although 
he  disappeared  from  public  view,  he  seems 
still  to  have  been  recognized  as  the  leader  of 
the  God -worshippers,  as  his  sect  was  called. 
Ten  years  afterward,  in  1850,  a  rebellion 
broke  out  in  the  province  of  Canton,  caused 
by  the  wretched  condition  of  the  people. 
The  insurgents  joined  the  God-worshippers, 
and  took  their  name,  in  order  to  avail  them 
selves  of  their  influence.  The  imperialists 
tried  to  arrest  Sin-Tsuen  as  their  leader, 
when  he,  assembling  his  followers,  took  pos. 
session  of  a  market-house,  and  fortified  him 
self  there.  In  this  way  the  rebellion  com 
menced.  He  organized  his  army,  giving 
the  name  of  Wangs  (kings)  to  his  chief  officers. 
His  religion,  which  had  previously  been  a 
kind  of  barbarous  Christianity,  now  became 
corrupted  by  the  influence  of  his  supreme 
power.  He  arrogantly  called  himself  the 
brother  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  son  of  God. 
He  declared  that  he  had  been  to  heaven,  and 
had  seen  his  wife  thero.  But  with  ah1  these 
vagaries  he  showed  a  good  deal  of  military 
ability.  In  August  of  the  following  year  he 


64 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AVORLD. 


captured  tho  city  of  Yung-ail,  and  left  it 
only  to  ravage  the  Province  of  Iloo-nan, 
through  which  he  passed,  destroying  the 
pities,  and  devastating  the  country.  In 
March,  1853,  he  captured  the  great  city  of 
Nankin,  and  put  more  than  20,000  of  the 
inhabitants  to  death,  justifying  himself  by 
quotations  from  the  Old  Testament. 

Ue  established  his  capital  at  Nankin,  and 
neglecting  the  opportunity  which  lay  open 
to  him,  of  taking  Pekin  by  a  rapid  advance, 
he  passed  his  time  in  the  seclusion  of  his 
harem,  composing  prayers  and  proclamations. 
Before  long  the  imperialists  arrived  and 
began  to  besiege  the  city,  but  as  long  as  they 
did  not  close  the  river,  the  Tae-pings  were 
able  to  obtain  provisions ;  at  last,  however, 
thi  s  was  effected  by  a  fleet  of  junks,  and 
staivation  threatened  the  garrison.  The 
Tien-Wang  now  composed  a  hymn,  declaring 
that  Providence  would  soon  relieve  them, 
which  he  obliged  all  his  officers  to  recite 
every  day.  When  their  rations  were  nearly 
exhausted,  two  of  the  Wangs  came  up  with 
their  forces,  and  attacked  the  besiegers  in  the 
rear,  while  a  rally  was  made  at  the  same 
time  from  the  town.  This  raised  the  siege, 
and  the  Tae-pings  were  at  liberty.  They 
next  attacked  Shanghae,  but  as  it  was  de 
fended  by  the  English  naval  force  with  all 
the  advantages  of  European  artillery,  they 
were  repulsed  with  terrible  loss. 

While  the  allied  forces  of  France  and  Eng 
land  were  at  war  with  China,  the  Tae- 
pings  merely  pillaged  the  country  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Nankin ;  but  after'the 
treaty  of  I860,  they  showed  more  en 
ergy,  and  went  so  far  as  to  take  the  free 
port  of  Ning-po.  They  did  not  molest  the 
foreign  merchants  in  the  town,  but  they 
slaughtered  the  native  inhabitants  without 
mercy.  They  then  proposed  to  treat  Shang- 
Lae  in  the  same  way,  but  the  allies  warned 
them  that  that  city  was  under  their  protec 
tion.  Paying  no  attention  to  this,  they 
continued  to  advance,  when  the  allies  on 
their  side  took  the  offensive,  and  attacked 
them  in  April,  1862,  and  following  up  the 


success  which  they  obtained,  in  a  very  short 
time  recaptured  the  principal  cities  that 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels.  The  Eu 
ropean  forces,  however,  were  soon  compelled 
by  the  climate  to  confine  themselves  to  the 
defense  of  Shanghae,  and  to  leave  the  sup 
pression  of  the  rebellion  to  the  native  troops 
of  tho  emperor. 

During  this  period,  the  government  itself 
had  not  been  free  from  dissensions.  The 
Emperor,  Ilien-ping,  on  the  approach  of  the 
allies  in  18GO,  had  gone  to  his  country  resi 
dence  in  the  interior.  lie  died  there  on  the 
22d  of  August,  of  that  year.  He  had  suc 
ceeded  to  the  throne  while  he  was  very 
young,  and  abandoning  himself  to  the  pleas 
ures  of  the  harem,  he  had  suffered  his  power 
to  be  exercised  by  artful  courtiers  who  rob 
bed  and  oppressed  the  people.  When  he 
died,  his  son,  a  boy  of  seven  years  old,  was 
proclaimed  emperor,  under  the  regency 
of  his  father's  ministers,  and  his  mother. 
The  prince  Kung  who  was  a  man  of  more 
character  and  integrity  than  the  rest  of  the 
royal  family,  was  not  disposed  to  submit  to 
this  arrangement.  lie  accordingly  went  to 
Jehoh,  where  the  regency  was  established, 
and  brought  back  the  young  prince  and  the 
empress  mother  to  Pekin.  Here  he  pro 
claimed  himself  and  the  empress  the  joint  re 
gents  of  the  kingdom,  and  ordered  the  min 
isters  to  be  executed  for  usurping  the  power 
to  which  they  had  no  claim,  not  having  been 
appointed  by  the  late  emperor. 

Prince  Rung  after  establishing  his  position, 
turned  his  attention  to  improvements  in 
the  administration.  He  proclaimed  greater 
liberties  of  religion,  and  opened  new  ports  to 
foreign  trade. 

During  the  following  year,  the  govern 
ment,  aided  by  France  an«l  England,  gained 
many  advantages  over  the  insurgents.  These 
victories  were*  however,  attended  by  loss  of 
many  gallant  officers.  Admiral  Protet,  of 
the  French  navy,  was  killed  in  an  attack 
upon  Kiu-Ying,  and  the  American  General 
Ward  died  in  September,  1862,  from  a 
wound  which  be  received  in  an  engagement 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


65 


at  Ning-po.  He  was  succeeded  in  the 
command  of  the  Chinese  army  by  General 
Barge  vine,  who  was  soon  obliged  to  retire  in 
consequence  of  an  altercation  with  a  wealthy 
mandarin,  holding  the  office  of  paymaster, 
about  the  pay  for  his  troops.  The  interview 
ended  in  his  carrying  off  $±0,000  by  force, 
whereupon  the  mandarin  denounced  him  as 
guilty  of  high  treason,  and  offered  a  reward 
for  his  head,  compelling  him  to  take  ref 
uge  on  board  a  British  man-of-war.  Cap 
tain  Holland  was  assigned  to  the  command, 
and  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Burlingame,  the 
American  minister,  the  charges  against  Gen 
eral  Burgevine  were  withdrawn.  The  Gen 
eral  thereupon  joined  the  insurgents,  but  he 
soon  became  disgusted  with  their  conduct, 
and  left  them. 

It  would  be  tedious,  even  if  the  space 
allotted  to  this  sketch  permitted,  to  follow 
out  all  the  details  of  the  movements  of  the 
rebels  and  the  imperial  army.  We  shall 
therefore  allude  only  to  the  chief  results  ob 
tained  in  the  different  campaigns.  During 
the  spring  and  summer,  the  English  contin 
gent  under  Major  Gordon,  captured  most  of 
the  important  town  which  had  been  held  by 
the  Tae-pings.  A  large  part  of  the  rebel 
forces  surrendered  on  December  5th  at  Soo- 
chow,  having  made  terms  with  the  Imperial 
ists  under  Major  Gordon ;  but  no  sooner 
did  the  Chinese  enter  the  city  than  they 
violated  their  treaty,  plundering  the  town, 
and  slaughtering  the  inhabitants  as  well  as 
the  capitulating  army.  Major  Gordon  strove 
to  stop  the  massacre  and  to  protect  the  peo 
ple,  but  he  could  do  little  against  the  Footai, 
who  was  associated  with  him  in  the  command. 

An  appeal  was  made  to  the  Chinese  gov 
ernment  against  the  native  officers,  but  no 
clear  decision  was  obtained.  About  this  time 
a  good  deal  of  interest  was  excited  in  Eng 
land  by  a  rather  complicated  negotiation  be 
tween  some  English  shipbuilders  and  the 
Chinese  officials,  in  which  the  government 
of  Great  Britain  was  implicated. 

The  year  1864  opened  with  new  disasters 
for  the  Tae-ping  rebellion.  Major  Gordon  in 
9 


the  beginning  of  the  year  captured  the  cities  of 
E-shing  and  Ly-ing,  with  a  very  slight  loss  of 
men,  and  compelled  about  twenty  thousand 
rebels  to  lay  down  their  arms;  By  the  capture 
of  this  latter  place  the  rebel  district  was  divid 
ed  into  two  portions,  and  communications 
were  opened  with  the  Imperialists.  An  attack 
upon  the  town  of  Kuitang,  on  the  21st  of 
March,  was  repulsed  with  severe  loss  to  the 
assaulting  party,  and  Major  Gordon  himself 
was  severely  wounded. 

The  Tae-pings  had  now  increased  their 
army  with  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  of  the  most 
ferocious  of  the  Chinese  tribes.  They  trav 
elled  without  any  commissariat,  devastating 
the  country  and  committing  horrible  out 
rages  upon  the  inhabitants,  and  they  made  no 
distinction  in  their  violence  between  natives 
and  foreigners.  Gordon,  after  his  repulse  at 
Kuitang,  determined  on  attacking  this  body 
of  rebels.  In  the  first  engagement  the  Im 
perialists  met  with  little  success,  but  in  April 
Major  Gordon  took  the  command  in  person 
and  defeated  a  greatly  superior  force  of  the 
Tae-pings  at  Waisoo,  and  then  moved  upon 
the  city  of  Chang  chow-foo,  which  he  cap 
tured  after  a  siege  of  some  weeks.  Soon 
afterward  he  retired  from  the  Chinese  ser 
vice,  in  consequence  of  the  violation  of  an 
agreement  which  he  had  made  with  the  en 
emy,  concerning  the  safety  of  some  prison 
ers.  After  obtaining  his  discharge  from  ac 
tive  service  he  still  aided  the  Chinese  by  his 
counsel,  and  by  drilling  their  soldiers  in  a 
camp  of  instruction,  which  he  formed  at 
Shanghae.  The  city  of  Nankin,  for  a  long 
time  the  headquarters  of  the  rebellion,  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Imperialists  on  the  19th  of 
July.  It  was  entered  by  a  breach  made  in 
the  walls  by  a  mine.  The  palace  of  Tien- 
Wang,  the  leader  of  the  rebellion,  was  found 
burnt  to  ashes,  and  it  was  reported  that  he 
himself  lay  buried  under  the  ruins.  Chung 
Wang,  one  of  the  Tae-ping  generals,  was  tak 
en,  and  by  the  command  of  the  emperor  was 
"  cut  into  a  thousand  pieces." 

The  Tae-pings  again  collected  their  forces 
and  ol  tained  at  first  some  small  advantages 


66 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


over  the  Imperialists,  but  in  November  they 
were  totally  defeated,  with  the  loss  of  their 
chiefs,  in  a  battle  fought  in  the  province  of 
Kiang-ti.  Although  their  main  army  was 
thus  entirely  broken  up  and  destroyed,  scat 
tered  bands  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
still  kept  up  the  rebellion,  and  contributed, 
with  two  other  insurrections  which  were  then 
in  progress,  to  keep  up  the  confusion  of  the 
empire.  The  American  general,  Burgevine, 
was  arrested  by  the  mandarins  in  May,  while 
on  his  way  to  join  the  Tae-pings  at  Chang- 
chow.  His  release  was  refused  by  the  vice 
roy,  and  it  was  afterward  officially  announced 
that  he  had  been  drowned  with  other  pris 
oners. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1SC5,  the  re 
bellion  of  the  Mohammedan  Dhurganes  in 
Western  Tartary,  which  had  broken  out  in 
1802,  took  a  more  formidable  shape,  and  in 
creased  so  rapidly  that  in  a  few  months  the 
entire  province  of  Hi,  and  the  rest  of  west 
ern  Tartary,  passed  beyond  the  control  of 
the  Chinese.  The  insurrection,  also,  of  the 
Nien-Fu,  which  likewise  had  begun  some 
Lime  before  now,  rose  to  considerable  prom 
inence,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  summer, 
with  the  assistance  of  some  of  the  Moham 
medans  and  Tae-pings,  they  advanced  to 
Pekin  with  the  design  of  attacking  it,  but 
they  were  repulsed  by  the  Imperialists.  By 
this  defeat  the  power  of  the  Nien-Fu  was  com 
pletely  shattered,  and  we  hear  little  more  of 
them  as  an  independent  force. 

While  the  Imperial  government  was  thus 
successful  over  its  enemies,  it  did  not  neglect 
the  reforms  which  were  so  much  needed  in 
its  foreign  policy.  It  encouraged  native  in 
dustry  by  removing  the  restrictions  which 
had  formerly  been  placed  on  trade,  and  en 
couraged  intercourse  with  other  nations.  The 
Chinese  were  allowed  to  purchase  foreign 
ships  and  to  sail  them  themselves.  With  the 
greater  fac'lities  allowed  to  missionaries, 
Christianity  began  to  make  greater  progress. 
Postal  communications  were  regularly  estab 
lished  throughout  the  empire,  and  new  lines 
of  steamers  were  established.  The  most  im 


portant  event  to  the  United  States  in  1866, 
was  the  commencement  of  direct  trade 
between  China  and  the  Pacific  coast  by  the 
line  of  steamships  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Com 
pany,  which  promises  to  bring  a  great  part 
of  the  Eastern  trade  to  the  United  States. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  1867,  the  American 
bark,  Rover,  of  Port  Jefterson,  L.  L,  com 
manded  by  Captain  Hunt,  was  wrecked  on 
the  island  of  Formosa,  and  the  captain  and 
crew  were  massacred.  One  of  the  crew,  a 
Chinaman,  managed  to  escape,  and  brought 
the  news  to  the  United  States  Consul  at 
Swatoo.  The  general  of  the  island,  a  Tar 
tar,  promised  satisfaction,  upon  the  represen 
tations  of  the  Americans,  but  as  he  neglected 
any  farther  proceedings,  Admiral  Bell,  the 
commander  of  the  United  States  squadron, 
sent  an  expedition,  composed  of  the  Hartford 
and  the  Wyoming,  to  the  scene  of  the  mas 
sacre.  They  encountered  the  Formosans  on 
the  13th  of  June.  Owing  to  the  extreme 
heat  of  the  sun,  and  the  impossibility  ot 
drawing  the  enemy  from  their  jungle,  the 
parties  dispatched  from  the  ships  were  com 
pelled  to  withdraw.  In  this  fight  Lieut-Com 
mander  Mackenzie  was  killed.  The  Chinese 
authorities  were  subsequently  compelled  to 
establish  a  military  post  on  the  island,  and  to 
guarantee  the  security  of  Americans. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  events  of  the 
time,  and  one  which  shows  the  progress  of 
Chiua  in  European  civilization,  was  the  foun 
dation  of  a  college  at  Pekin  for  the  study  of 
foreign  languages  and  science. 

By  an  Imperial  decree  November  21, 
1867,  the  American  minister  to  China,  Mr 
Anson  Burlingame,  was  appointed  a  special 
ambassador  to  the  foreign  powers,  to  revise 
the  treaties  between  them  and  the  Chinese 
government,  with  power  to  adjust  the  com 
plications  which  have  hitherto  arisen  in  their 
commercial  intercourse.  He  left  Pekin  in 
December  for  the  United  States,  with  an  em 
bassy  composed  of  two  Chinese  officials  of 
high  rank,  Chili  Kang  and  Sun  C/hia  Ku,  six 
Chinese  student  interpreters,  two  speaking 
English,  two  French,  and  two  Russian.  Mr. 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


J.  McLeary  Brown,  of  the  British  Legation, 
and  Mr.  E.  Deschamps,  a  French  gentleman, 
were  appointed  secretaries.  Leaving  Shang- 
hae  in  February,  the  embassy  first  Trent  to 
Japan,  where  they  remained  but  a  short  time, 
owing  to  the  impossibility  of  carrying  out  any 
negotiations  during  the  revolutionary  distur 
bance  then  going  on. 

Mr.  Burlingame  and  his  suite  finally  ar 
rived  in  the  United  States  by  the  new  line 
of  steamers  to  San  Francisco,  and  after  con 
cluding  a  treaty  at  "Washington,  by  which 
important  rights  and  privileges  were  guaran 
teed  to  Americans,  and  visiting  the  principal 
cities  of  the  United  States,  he  proceeded  to 
Europe  to  revise  the  treaties  of  China  with 
the  European  powers. 

In  England  he  was  most  favorably  re 
ceived  by  the  queen,  and  succeeded,  although 
not  without  some  opposition,  in  effecting  his 
object  with  the  Foreign  Office.  The  Emperor 
of  the  French  evinced  a  strong  personal  in 
terest  in  the  object  of  the  mission,  and  fur 
thered  its  accomplishment  with  hearty  co- 
uperation.  Equal  success  attended  him  at  the 
courts  of  Sweden  and  Prussia,  and  he  was 
about  to  sign  a  like  treaty  with  the  Czar, 
when  he  was  struck  down  at  St.  Petersburg 
by  a  severe  congestion  of  the  lungs,  the  con 
sequence  of  exposure  to  the  unaccustomed 
rigor  of  the  northern  winter,  that  caused  his 
death  on  Feb.  23d,  1870,  after  an  illness  of 
only  four  days.  The  Emperor  of  Eussia,  at 
whose  court  he  died,  hastened  to  show  the 
most  distinguished  honors  to  his  memory, 
and  to  personally  manifest  his  sympathy  with 
the  wife  and  children  who  had  attended  him 
in  his  last  hours.  The  remains  were  trans 
ported  to  America,  to  be  interred  in  the 
burial  place  of  his  family  in  Massachusetts. 

The  accomplished  historian,  Mr.  Bancroft, 
in  a  dispatch  to  Mr.  Fish,  the  Secretary  of 
State,  thus  speaks  of  his  loss  at  this  impor 
tant  period  of  his  mission,  and  of  the  results 
he  had  already  accomplished  : 

"  Sra :  The  telegram  will  have  communi 


cated  to  you  the  news  of  the  death  of  Mr. 
BURLINGAME,  at  St.  Petersburg,  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  23d  of  February.    The  loss  is  the 
more  grievous  since  he  occupied  at  the  time 
a  position  that  insured  him  an  honorable 
place  in  the  history  of  the  world.     He  waa 
fulfilling  his  great  duty  of  introducing  China 
into  the  circle  of  civilized  states,  and  plac 
ing  it  under  the  protection  of  international 
law ;  and  his  death  is  a  loss,  not  to  the  em 
pire  alone  by  which  he  was  employed,  but 
to  humanity.     He  was  conducting  his  great 
business  with  prudence,  suavity  and  courage, 
and  was  winning  for  himself  more  and  more 
a  place  in  the  esteem  of  the  public  men  of 
Europe.     He  possessed  the  qualities  which 
fitted  him  for  his  high  position  in  so  eminent 
a  degree,  that  I  know  of  no  one  who  could 
replace  him,  and  that  is  the  universal  opinion. 
The  further  he  proceeded,  the  more  his  rep 
utation  and  his  influence  increased,  and  the 
government  of  Italy  was,  in  a  particular 
manner,  Veady  to  extend  to  him  the  heartiest 
welcome  and  the  most  cordial  co-operation. 
He  would  have  embodied  in  so  great  a  de 
gree  the  public  opinion  of  Europe  in  favcx 
of  the  policy  which  he  represented,  that  it 
was  sure  to  become  established.     In  Berlin 
he  gained  the  good  opinion  of  all  with  whom 
he  had  to  deal,  and  I  hear  on  every  side, 
from  scholars  and  from  statesmen,  the  strong 
est  expressions  of  regret  at  the  premature 
close  of  his  career.     The  historian,  B.AJSTKE, 
said  to  me  that  he  looked  upon  his  death  ag 
a  loss  to  the  human  race.     During  the  stay 
of  Mr.  Burlingame  at  Berlin  I  was  constantly 
with  him,  and  can  bear  witness  that  his  ex 
emplary  fidelity  to    the    government    into 
whose  service  he  had  transiently  entered, 
only  increased  his  affection  for  the  country 
of  his  birth.    It  had  been  his  intention  to 
return  to  us  in  about  two  years,  and  the  ex 
traordinary  extent  of  his  political  experience 
in  Asia,  and  at  so  many  courts  in  Europe; 
would  have  eminently  prepared  him  for  fu 
tare  honorable  usefulness  at  home." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


JAPAN. 


L>  historv,  the  Japanese  do  not  make  the 

. 
1    game  pretence  to  extravagant  antiquity  as 

the  Hindus  and  Chinese.  They  are  content 
with  going  back  to  the  commencement  of  tjie 
reign  of  their  first  spiritual  monarch,  whose 
name  was  Sinmu,  or  at  full  length  Sinmu 
Tenu,  meaning  "  the  supreme  of  all  men," 
and  the  "  divine  conqueror,"  a  descendant  of 
the  gods.  lie  was  the  first  emperor,  the  sup 
posed  civilizer  of  the  Japanese,  and  ascended 
the  throne  GGO  B.  c.  From  him  to  A.  D.  71, 
there  reigned  only  ten  emperors,  which  gives 
an  average  of  73  years  to  each  reign !  The 
first  of  these  emperors  is  reported  to  have 
lived  167  years,  and  to  have  reigned  70,  and 
the  last  of  them  to  have  lived  139  years  and 
to  have  reigned  98.  From  A.  D.  71  to  1G90, 
there  reigned  104  emperors,  which  makes  the 
average  duration  of  a  reign  in  tliis  period 
only  15  years  and  7  months,  its  shortness  he- 
ing  in  a  good  measure  ascribable  to  the  very 
frequent  practice  of  abdication,  sometimes 
voluntary,  and  sometimes  compulsory.  Bor 
rowing  from  Ksempfer,  we  may  notice  a  few 
of  the  most  remarkable  events  of  this  long 
period.  In  G93  the  art  of  brewing  saki  was 
discovered.  In  749,  gold,  which  had  hereto 
fore  been  imported  from  China,  was  first 
discovered  in  Japan.  In  7S8  a  strange  peo 
ple,  not  Chinese,  invaded  Japan,  and  their 
final  expulsion  involved  a  war  of  eighteen 
years.  In  1147  was  born  Yortiomo,  the  first 
secular  emperor.  Placed  in  command  of  an 
army  to  suppress  a  rebellion,  this  personage 
used  the  power  thus  entrusted  to  him  for  his 


own  aggrandizement,  by  usurping  nearly  the 
whole  temporal  power  of  his  sovereign,  leav 
ing  him  little  more  than  the  spiritual,  and 
thus  establishing  the  form  of  government 
which  has  existed  down  to  our  time.  In  1284 
the  Mogul  Tartar  conquerors  of  China  invad 
ed  Japan  with  an  armada  of  4000  ship?,  car 
rying  a  force,  according  to  the  Japanese,  of 
240,000  men.  This  was  the  celebrated  expe 
dition  of  Kublai  Khan  (grandson  of  the 
renowned  Genghis,)  the  patron  of  Marco  Polo. 
This  great  armada  was  nearly  destroyed  by  a 
storm.  Had  it  effected  a  landing  in  sufficient 
force,  it  is  probably  that  it  would  have  made 
a  conquest  of  Japan,  as  the  people  who  fitted 
it  out  had  just  made  of  China. 

Japan  was  first  made  known  to  Europe  by 
Marco  Polo,  who  was  in  China  at  the  time  of 
the  Mogul  expedition.  This,  however,  did 
not  lead  to  its  discovery.  A  Chinese  junk, 
manned  by  Portuguese,  was  driven  upon  its 
coast  by  a  storm  in  1542,  forty-four  years 
after  the  arrival  of  the  Portuguese  in  India. 
In  1549,  seven  years  after  the  discovery,  the 
Jesuits,  headed  by  Francis  Xavier,  the  fa 
mous  apostle  of  the  Indies,  made  their  appear 
ance  in  Japan,  and  forthwith  the  labor  of 
converting  the  inhabitants  went  on  prosper 
ously  until  15 87,  or  for  thirty-eight  years, 
when  it  was  partially  arrested  by  the  first 
persecution,  which  was  of  no  great  severity. 
That  took  place  under  the  Emperor  Taico 
Sanaa,  the  most  illustrious  of  all  the  secular 
emperors  of  Japan — a  man  who,  by  mere 
force  of  character,  had,  from  the  condition  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


69 


a  hewer  of  wood,  raised  himself  to  the  throne. 
"  The  heathen  priesthood,"  says  Ksempfer, 
"  took  alarm  at  the  rapid  spread  of  Christian 
ity ;  and,  in  1587,  the  emperor  issued  a  pro 
clamation  prohibiting  his  subjects,  under  pain 
of  death,  from  embracing  the  new  religion ; 
and  several  persons  were  executed  for  diso 
bedience."  It  does  not  appear  however,  that 
more  than  six  or  seven  and  twenty  suffered 
on  this  occasion.  The  son  of  Taico,  himself 
an  usurper,  was  dethroned  by  another  usurp 
er  ;  and  under  him  the  persecution  of 
Christianity  became  terrible,  for,  in  1590, 
it  is  stated  that  no  fewer  than  20,570  Chris 
tians  were  put  to  death.  Another  persecu 
tion  followed  in  1597,  when  among  others 
that  suffered  were  some  European  priests, 
who  were  crucified.  After  this,  however,  a 
lull  of  forty  years  took  place,  when  the  per 
secution  was  renewed  in  1637 ;  and  in  a  single 
day  of  the  ensuing  year,  the  12th  of  April, 
37,000  Christians  were  put  to  death.  The 
persecutions  of  Roman  emperors  were  trifles 
to  such  wholesale  butcheries.  For  the  two 
following  years  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese 
were  finally  expelled  the  empire.  The  Eom- 
ish  priesthood  boast  that  before  the  first  per 
secution  they  had  made  1,800,000  converts, 
and  that  in  the  year  that  followed  it  they  had 
made  12,000 ;  so  that  in  all  they  had  probably 
converted  not  fewer  than  two  millions  of  the 
Japanese,  reckoning  among  their  proselytes 
several  of  the  vassal  princes. 

The  decree  which  isolated  Japan  from  the 
rest  of  the  world  is  as  follows : — "  No  Japan 
ese  ship  or  boat  whatsoever,  nor  any  native 
of  Japan,  shall  presume  to  go  out  of  the 
country.  Whoso  acts  contrary  to  this  shall 
die,  and  the  ship,  with  the  crew  and  goods 
aboard,  shall  be  sequestered,  till  further 
orders.  All  Japanese  who  return  from  abroad 
shall  be  put  to  death.  Whoever  discovers  a 
Christian  priest  shall  have  a  reward  of  from 
400  to  500  schuets  (from  £305  to  £381),  and 
for  every  Christian  in  proportion.  All  per 
sons  who  propagate  the  doctrine  of  the 
Christians  (the  worship  of  the  fathers),  or  bear 
this  scandalous  name,  shall  be  imprisoned  in 


the  Ombra  or  common  jail  of  the  town.  The 
whole  race  of  the  Portuguese,  with  their 
mothers,  nurses,  and  whoever  belongs  to  them, 
shall  be  banished  to  Macao.  Whoever  pre 
sumes  to  bring  a  letter  from  abroad,  or  to 
return  after  he  has  been  banished,  shall  die, 
with  all  his  family  ;  also  whoever  presumes 
to  intercede  for  him  shall  be  put  to  death. 
No  nobleman  nor  any  soldier  shall  be  suffer 
ed  to  purchase  goods  of  any  kind  from  a  for 
eigner." 

The  Japanese  government  acted  fully  up 
to  the  letter  of  its  bloody  decree  of  prescrip 
tion.  In  1640,  three  years  after  its  publica 
tion,  and  the  year  which  immediately  followed 
the  practical  expulsion  of  the  Portuguese  and 
Spaniards,  the  Portuguese  government  of 
Macao  sent  a  mission  to  Japan,  wliich,  with 
its  retinue,  amounted  in  all  to  seventy-three 
persons.  On  their  arrival  at  Nagasaki,  the 
parties  were  arrested,  and  an  order  came  in 
due  time  from  the  capital  directing  them  to 
be  beheaded,  and  it  was  carried  into  effect 
on  all  but  twelve  of  the  meanest  persons,  re 
served  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  back  a 
threatening  message,  to  the  effect  that, 
"  Should  the  king  of  Portugal,  nay,  the  very 
God  of  the  Christians,  presume  to  enter  his 
dominions,  he  would  serve  them  in  the  very 
same  manner." 

The  ceremony  of  trampling  on  the  cross 
was  instituted  on  the  expulsion  of  the  Chris 
tians,  and  seems  still  to  be  persevered  in.  It 
seems,  however,  always  to  have  been  confined 
to  those  parts  in  which  the  Christian  religion 
had  obtained  the  chief  footing, — namely,  the 
town  of  Nagasaki,  and  the  provinces  of 
Omura  and  Bungo,  in  the  island  of  Kiu-siu. 
This  is  Ksempfer's  account  of  it : — "  Anothel 
solemn  and  important  act,  in  their  opinion 
is  performed  in  the  beginning  of  the  year. 
This  is  the  Jefume,  that  is,  in  the  strictest 
sense,  '  the  figure-treading/  because  they 
trample  over  the  image  of  our  blessed  Sav 
iour  extended  on  the  cross,  and  that  of  hig 
holy  mother,  or  some  other  saint,  as  a  con 
vincing  and  unquestionable  proof  that  they 
for  ever  renounce  Christ  and  his  religion. 


70 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


This  detestable  solemnity  begins  in  the  sec 
ond  day  of  the  first  month." 

The  proscription  of  one  particular  form  of 
worship,  while  so  many  other  religions  or 
Beets  were  tolerated,  or  viewed  with  indiffer 
ence,  is  easily  explained.  The  new  religion 
was  propagated  by  an  energetic  race  of  men, 
and  its  votaries  inspired  with  an  active  zeal 
unknown  to  all  the  old  forms  of  worship. 
Christianity,  in  a  word,  was  proscribed,  not 
on  account  of  its  tenets,  but  on  account  of 
the  danger  apprehended  from  those  who 
taught  it.  The  persecution  was  not  a  religious 
but  a  political  one.  Its  ministers  and  follow 
ers  threatened  the  subversion  of  the  native 
government  and  institutions,  and  the  substi 
tution  of  a  foreign  yoke.  They  were  deemed 
guilty  of  high  treason,  and  punished  accord 
ing  to  the  bloody  code  of  Japan.  According 
to  the  Japanese  notions,  a  dangerous  insur 
rection  was  suppressed  by  the  extermination 
of  the  insurgents.  In  this  matter  the  Japan 
ese  acted  with  foresight ;  for  there  can  be  little 
doubt  but  that  the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards 
would,  in  due  course,  and  through  the  in- 
Etrumentality  of  the  Catholic  religion,  have 
effected  the  conquest  of  Japan,  unless  we  sup 
pose  them,  which  is  highly  improbable,  to 
have  acted  with  a  forbearance  which  neither 
Spaniards,  Dutch,  nor  English  have  exhibit 
ed  in  other  parts  of  the  East.  The  Japanese 
not  only  saw  this,  but  very  plainly  expressed 
it.  Thus,  when  the  Spanish  governor  of  the 
Philippines,  in  the  year  1597,  sent  an  envoy 
to  the  Emperor  Taico  Sanaa  to  remonstrate 
with  him  respecting  his  persecution  of  the 
Christians,  he  thus  addressed  the  Spanish 
official, — "  Conceive  yourselves  in  my  position 
the  ruler  of  a  great  empire,  and  suppose  cer 
tain  of  my  subjects  should  find  their  way  in 
to  your  possessions,  on  the  pretence  of  teach 
ing  the  doctrine  of  Sinto.  If  you  should 
discover  their  assumed  zeal  in  the  cause  of 
religion  to  be  a  mere  mask  for  ambitious  pro 
jects  ;  that  their  real  object  was  to  make 
themselves  masters  of  your  dominions,  would 
not  you  treat  them  as  traitors  to  the  state  ?  I 
hold  the  Fathers  to  be  traitors  to  my  state, 


and  as  such  I  treat  them.     You  would  do 
the  same." 

The  priests  of  the  various  ancient  forms  of 
worship,  a  numerous  body, — for  in  the 
ecclesiastical  capital  alone  they  amounted  to 
52,169,  with  6,020  temples, — were  equally 
interested  with  the  government  in  the  sup 
pression  of  the  rival,  and  to  them  dangerous 
religion.  The  violence,  insolence,  and  indis 
cretion  of  the  Fathers,  provoked  the  native 
priesthood  beyond  bearing.  The  Jesuits  eulo 
gize  one  of  the  converted  tributary  chiefs  for 
his  zeal,  alleging  that  he  had  destroyed  heathen 
temples  and  monasteries  reckoned  by  some 
at  no  fewer  than  3,000.  Some  of  these  tribu 
tary  princes  even  went  the  length  of  sending 
an  embassy  to  the  Pope,  and  king  of  Spain, 
which  the  emperor  would  not  fail  to  consider 
as  an  act  of  high  treason.  About  the  time 
that  the  first  edict  against  Christianity  was 
published,  the  emperor,  who  was  the  cel 
ebrated  Taico  Sanaa,  dispatched  two  imperial 
commissioners  to  Father  Cuello,  the  vice- 
provincial,  demanding  an  ajiswer  and  expla 
nation  to  the  following  questions : — "  Why 
he  and  his  associates  forced  their  creed  on 
the  subjects  of  the  empire  ?  Why  they  in 
cited  their  disciples  to  destroy  the  national 
temples  ?  Why  they  persecuted  the  bonzes  ? 
Why  they  and  the  rest  of  their  nation  used 
for  food  animals  useful  to  man,  such  as  oxen 
and  cows  ?  And  finally,  why  they  permitted 
the  merchants  of  their  nation  to  traffic  in  his 
subjects,  and  carry  them  away  as  slaves  to 
the  Indies?"  Evasive  answers  only  were 
given  to  these  demands,  but  the  destruction 
of  the  temples  and  the  traffic  in  slaves  were 
not  denied.  With  such  provocations  as  these, 
we  cannot  wonder  at  persecution,  although 
shocked  at  the  ferocity  and  vindictiveness 
of  its  excesses.  "Now,"  says  Kcempfer, 
"  as  to  the  fall  of  the  Portuguese,  I  heard  it 
often  affirmed  by  people  of  great  credit 
among  Japanese  themselves,  that  pride  and 
covetousness  in  the  first  place, — pride  amongst 
the  great,  and  covetousness  in  the  j>eople  of 
less  note, — contributed  very  much  to  render 
the  whole  nation  odious."  In  our  time  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


71 


persecution,  with  the  murder  of  ambassadors, 
would  certainly  be  avenged  by  an  invasion, 
very  probably  ending  in  a  conquest  of  Japan. 
Even  in  the  seventeenth  century,  Spain 
would  probably  have  engaged  in  such  an  en 
terprise  from  the  Philippines,  had  she  not 
about  this  time  been  separated  from  Portugal ; 
and  the  naval  superiority  of  the  Dutch,  in 
alliance  with  the  Japanese,  proved  an  insup 
erable  obstacle. 

The  Dutch  made  their  first  appearance  iu 
Japan  in  1600,  fifty-eight  years  after  its  dis 
covery  by  the  Portuguese,  and  about  half-a- 
century  after  the  latter  nation  had  been  carry 
ing  on  trade  with  it.  In  common  with  the 
Portuguese,  and  eventually  with  the  Span 
iards,  they  carried  on  with  it  an  active  and 
profitable  intercourse,  down  to  the  time  of 
the  exclusion  of  these  two  nations.  The  seat 
of  this  commerce  was  Firando,  in  the  island 
of  Kiu-siu.  "When  the  last  persecution  of 
Catholic  Christianity  was  in  progress,  the 
Dutch  furnished  information  of  the  political 
intrigues  of  their  commercial  rivals  to  the 
Japanese.  They  were  called  upon  to  assist 
in  destroying  the  last  refuge  of  the  Japanese 
Christians  in  Simabarra,  in  Kiu-siu,  and 
effected  with  the  cannon  of  their  ships  what 
had  baffled  the  skill  of  the  imperial  forces. 
This  last  event  happened  in  1639,  and  two 
years  after,  imperial  commissioners  arrived 
in  Firando  to  remonstrate  with  them  respect 
ing  what  appeared  to  be  very  venial  proceed 
ings.  They  were  thus  addressed  :  "  In  former 
times,  it  was  well  known  to  us,  that  you  both 
served  Christ,  but  on  account  of  the  bitter 
enmity  you  ever  bore  each  other,  we  imagin 
ed  there  were  two  Christs.  Now,  however, 
the  emperor  is  assured  to  the  contrary.  Now, 
he  knows,  you  both  serve  one  and  the  same 
Christ.  From  any  indication  of  serving  him, 
you  must  for  the  future  forbear.  Moreover, 
on  certain  buildings  which  you  have  newly 
erected,  there  is  a  date  carved,  which  is 
reckoned  from  the  birth  of  Christ.  These 
buildings  you  must  raze  to  the  ground  forth 
with."  The  order  was  incontinently  com 
plied  with,  but  their  prompt  obedience  did 


not  save  the  Dutch  from  being  removed  in 
1641  from  Firando  and  its  comparative  lib 
erty  to  the  virtual  imprisonment  on  the  island 
of  Dezima  in  the  harbor  of  Nagasaki. 

In  1613  we  have  the  first  authentic  infor 
mation  of  the  English  having  attempted  an 
intercourse  with  Japan,  but  it  is  certain,  from 
the  accurate  information  concerning  it  given 
by  the  Elizabethan  writer  whom  we  have 
more  than  once  quoted,  that  they  must  have 
frequented  it  much  earlier.  W  illi  am  Adams, 
an  Englishman,  who  acted  as  pilot  to  the 
first  Dutch  vessel  that  arrived  at  Japan,  and 
settled  there,  induced  his  countrymen  to  at 
tempt  to  establish  a  trade.  Accordingly,  a 
ship  called  the  Clove,  commanded  by  Capt. 
John  Saris,  was  dispatched  for  Japan,  and 
reached  Firando  on  the  llth  of  June,  1613. 

Adams,  who  stood  in  high  favor,  obtained 
for  his  countrymen  a  most  favorable  recep 
tion,  and,  in  a  letter  to  the  King  of  England, 
the  emperor  desires  "  the  continuance  of 
friendship  with  your  Highness — and  that  it 
may  stand  with  your  good  liking  to  send 
your  subjects  to  any  part  or  port  of  our  do 
minions,  where  they  shall  be  most  heartily 
welcome  ;  applauding  much  their  worthiness 
in  the  admirable  knowledge  of  navigation, 
having  with  much  facility  discovered  a  coun 
try  so  remote,  being  no  whit  amazed  with 
the  distance  of  so  mighty  a  gulf,  nor  great 
ness  of  such  infinite  clouds  and  storms,  from 
prosecuting  honorable  enterprises  of  discov 
eries  and  merchandizing — wherein  they  shall 
find  me  to  further  them  according  to  their 
desires."  The  English,  however,  did  not 
succeed,  and,  after  a  ten  year's  trial,  in  which 
they  expended  £40.000,  they  withdrew  from 
the  country. 

In  1653  a  fruitless  attempt  was  made  to 
renew  their  intercourse  with  Japan,  said  to 
have  been  defeated  by  the  Dutch  informing 
the  Japanese  that  the  Queen  of  England  was 
a  daughter  of  the  King  of  Portugal.  The 
failure  is  not  to  be  regretted,  since  it  is  cer 
tain  that  under  the  blighting  influence  of  a 
monopoly,  trade  could  not  have  prospered  in 
Japan,  or  anywhere  else. 


72 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


It  is  not  necessar}-  to  advert  to  any  of  the 
subsequent  small  and  futile  attempts  made  to 
oj>en  an  intercourse  with  the  long-locked 
empire  of  Japan,  since  they  are  all  superseded 
by  die  more  successful  attempts  recently 
made. 

To  America  undoubtedly  belongs  the  credit 
of  having  been  the  first  to  re-establish  com 
mercial  relations  with  Japan.  The  increased 
traffic  in  this  part  of  the  world,  particularly 
between  Eastern  Asia  and  North-AVestern 
America,  and  the  importance  of  the  whale- 
fishery  in  the  Japanese  seas,  had  rendered  it 
very  desirable  to  have  free  access  to  at  least 
pome  of  the  ports  of  Japan.  Repeated  at 
tempts  had  been  made  by  England,  Eussia, 
and  the  United  States,  but  without  success, 
when  at  length  the  United  States  government 
resolved  to  make  an  effort  worthy  of  the  ob 
ject,  and  accordingly  fitted  out  an  expedition 
under  the  command  of  Commodore  M.  C. 
Perry.  The  ccmmodore  sailed  from  Nor- 
folk  in  the  Mississippi  war  steamer,  on  2-ith 
November  1852,  to  be  followed  as  soon  as 
possible  by  the  other  vessels  of  the  expedi 
tion,  lie  arrived  in  the  Bay  of  Yeddo  on 
8th  July  1853,  with  four  vessels,  two  war- 
steamers  and  two  sloops  of  war,  and  after 
some  negotiations  he  delivered  the  letter  of 
the  President,  promising  to  return  for  an 
answer  in  the  spring.  The  rest  of  the  year 
was  spent  at  Loo  Choo  and  China,  and  on 
12th  February  1854,  the  squadron  reappeared 
in  the  Bay  of  Yeddo,  having  by  this  time 
been  increased  to  nine  vessels,  three  steam- 
frigates,  four  sloops  of  war,  and  two  store- 
ships.  A  treaty  was  concluded  on  the  31st 
of  March,  in  terms  of  which  the  ports  of 
Simoda  in  the  island  of  Nipon,  and  Ilako- 
dadi  in  Yesso,  are  opened  for  the  reception 
of  American  ships,  where  they  will  be  sup 
plied  with  wood,  water,  provisions,  coal,  and 
other  articles,  BO  far  as  the  Japanese  possess 
them.  Ships  in  distress,  or  from  stress  of 
weather,  may  enter  other  ports  ;  and  seamen 
shipwrecked  on  any  part  of  the  coast  are  to 
be  aided  and  carried  to  either  Simoda  or 
Ilakodadi.  Shipwrecked  seamen  and  others 


temporarily  residing  at  these  ports  are,  at  Si 
moda,  free  to  go  anywhere  within  the  limits 
of  17  English  miles  from  a  small  island  in 
the  harbor,  and  in  like  manner  at  Ilakodadi 
within  12  miles.  Ships  of  the  United  States 
are  also  permitted  to  trade  under  such  regu 
lations  as  shall  bo  temporarily  established  by 
the  Japanese  government  for  that  purpose. 
All  the  privileges  that  may  hereafter  be 
granted  to  any  other  nation  are  to  be  accorded 
to  the  United  States.  On  the  7th  of  Septem 
ber  following,  an  English  squadron,  consisting 
of  a  frigate  and  three  steamers,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Rear- Admiral  Sir  James  Stirling, 
entered  the  harbor  of  Nagasaki.  The  pri 
mary  object  of  this  visit  to  Japan  was  tc 
search  for  Russian  vessels,  but  it  was  also  in 
tended  to  attempt  to  establish  friendly  rela 
tions  between  the  two  nations.  A  treat}' 
was  entered  into,  the  effect  of  which  is  to 
open  absolutely  and  at  once  to  British  ships 
of  every  description,  for  effecting  repairs  and 
obtaining  fresh  water,  provisions  and  other 
supph'es,  two  of  the  most  convenient  harbors 
in  Japan — Nagasaki  and  Ilakodadi ; — to  oper. 
inferentially  to  British  ships  in  distress  any 
other  port  in  Japan  it  may  be  expedient  for 
them  to  seek  shelter  in ;  to  secure  eventually 
to  British  ships  and  subjects  in  every  port  of 
Japan  which  may  hereafter  be  open  to  for 
eigners,  equal  advantages  with  the  ships  and 
subjects  of  the  most  favored  nation,  except 
ing  only  the  advantages  at  present  accorded 
to  the  Dutch  and  Chinese.  It  imposes,  in 
return  for  these  concessions,  no  other  obliga 
tion  on  British  ships  and  subjects  than  that 
of  respecting  the  laws  and  ordinances  of  the 
ports  they  visit.  More  recently  the  Rus 
sians  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  similar 
footing  in  Japan.  On  the  17th  of  June  a 
new  treaty  writh  the  United  States  was  nego 
tiated  by  the  Consul  General  Mr.  Townsend 
Harris,  by  which  the  port  of  Nagasaki  in 
addition  to  Simoda  and  Hakodadi  was 
opened  to  American  commerce,  and  addi 
tional  privileges  granted  to  American  mer 
chants.  Subsequently,  Mr.  Harris  concluded 
a  still  more  favorable  treaty,  and  the  earl  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


73 


Elgin  also  obtained  new  advantages  for 
(•he  British  trade.  About  this  time  the  reign 
ing  tycoon  of  Japan  died  and  was  succeeded 
by  h.is  son.  The  famous  Japanese  embassy 
which  attracted  so  much  attention  in  the 
United  States,  and  particularly  in  New  York, 
u  here  their  reception  furnished  an  opportu 
nity  for  an  extraordinary  display  of  civic 
munificence,  left  Yeddo  in  1860.  After  ne 
gotiating  their  treaty  at  Washington,  they 
visited  the  principal  cities  and  returned  to 
Japan  in  the  same  year.  This  advance 
towards  intercourse  with  foreign  nations 
seems  to  have  excited  some  opposition  among 
the  more  conservative  nobles  of  the  empire, 
who  were  not  disposed  to  give  up  their  hered 
itary  prejudices,  for  soon  after  the  return  of 
the  expedition  to  the  United  States,  the  prime 
minister  was  assassinated,  by  the  instigation 
of  Prince  Mito,  as  it  was  supposed.  A  short 
time  after  Prince  Mito  himself  was  killed, 
and  an  attack  was  made  on  several  of  the 
foreign  representatives  in  Japan.  The  con 
sul  of  the  Netherlands  was  killed,  and  Mr. 
Olyphant  of  the  British  legation  was  wound 
ed.  An  effort  was  made  to  bring  the  mur 
derers  to  justice,  and  a  number  of  them  were 
discovered  and  executed.  Mr.  Alcock,  the 
British  minister,  however,  was  not  satisfied, 
and  endeavored  to  excito  his  country  to  a 
war  with  Japan.  The  American  minister, 
Mr.  Townsend  Harris,  on  the  other  hand, 
strove  to  promote  peace  with  the  United 
States,  maintaining  that  the  safety  of  foreign 
commerce  would  be  better  secured  by  show 
ing  a  friendly  disposition  and  honorably 
carrying  out  the  treaties  which  had  been 
made.  In  1861,  ambassadors  were  sent  from 
Japan  to  France  and  England,  but  the  em 
bassy  in  neither  case  was  accompanied  by 
nobles,  as  was  that  which  came  to  the  United 
States.  In  the  same  year,  Mr.  Harris  asked 
to  be  relieved  on  the  ground  of  ill  health, 
and  Mr.  Robert  II.  Pruyn,  of  Albany,  was 
appointed  in  his  place. 

As  has  been  said  already,  the  opening  of 
foreign  trade  produced  two  violent  parties  in 
the  State.      The  Tycoon  was  the  leader  of 
10 


those  friendly  to  foreign  intercourse,  while  the 
Mikado,  the  spiritual  emperor  and  actual 
reigning  prince,  was  the  chief  of  the  opposi 
tion.  The  nobles  who  were  generally  on  the 
side  of  the  emperor,  were  engaged  continual 
ly  in  instigating  conspiracies  against  the  Eu 
ropeans  and  those  who  favored  them.  The 
violence  of  this  faction  now  rendered  it  un 
safe  for  any  foreigner  to  remain  in  the  coun 
try.  In  1862,  two  English  marines  were  mur 
dered,  and  subsequently,  a  party  of  English 
travellers  were  attacked  in  a  public  road,  and 
one  of  them  was  killed.  Colonel  Neale,  the 
British  representative,  was  instructed  to  de 
mand  reparation,  and  a  fleet  under  Admiral 
Ivuper  was  sent  to  support  his  requisition. 
The  British  government  required  the  execu 
tion  of  the  murderers,  a  formal  apology  from 
the  Japanese,  and  a  heavy  indemnity  in 
money.  The  French  government  at  the 
same  time  instructed  their  fleet  at  Japan  to 
assist  the  English  if  necessary.  The  Japan 
ese  officials  at  first  tried  to  evade  the  ques 
tion  by  endeavoring  to  throw  the  responsibil 
ity  on  the  independent  princes.  by  this 
means  they  obtained  some  delay,  but  Colonel 
Neale,  at  last,  seeing  that  they  had  no  inten 
tion  of  compliance,  placed  the  matter  in  the 
hands  of  the  fleet.  The  threat  of  an  imme 
diate  bombardment  of  Yeddo,  had  the  result 
of  making  the  Japanese  place  the  sum  of 
2,500,000  pounds  in  the  hands  of  the  British 
Ambassador. 

The  American  representative,  Mr.  Pruyn, 
had  succeeded  amid  all  this  difficulty,  in 
keeping  on  friendly  terms  with  the  govern 
ment.  After  the  other  foreign  ministers  had 
left,  he  still  remained  at  Yeddo.  On  June 
24th,  all  the  foreign  ambassadors  were  told 
that  the  emperor  was  determined  to  expel  all 
the  barbarians  and  to  close  the  ports.  Mr. 
Pruyn  replied,  that  American  citizens  would 
still  remain  in  Japan,  and  that  Ihe  treaty  of 
the  United  States  would  protect  them  if  ne 
cessary.  A  few  days  after  this,  an  American 
steamer  was  attacked  in  the  Straits  of  Si- 
monosaki,  by  two  Japanese  vessels.  The 
steamer  succeeded  in  escaping,  and  Mr.  Pruyn 


74 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


dispatched  the  United  States  Steamer  Wy 
oming,  on  the  16th  of  July,  to  the  place. 
After  a  short  fight  she  destroyed  both  the 
Japanese  vessels,  and  silenced  the  batteries  on 
shore,  losing  in  the  engagement  four  killed 
and  seven  wounded. 

About  the  same  time,  the  French  naval 
force  had  an  encounter  at  the  same  place. 
Soon  afterwards,  a  meeting  of  the  foreign  re 
presentatives  was  held  at  Yokohama,  and  it 
was  agreed,  that  the  inland  sea  which  the  out 
rageous  acts  of  the  Prince  of  Nagato  had 
closed,  should  be  forcibly  opened  by  the  na 
val  forces  of  the  United  States,  France,  Great 
Britain,  and  the  Netherlands,  Mr.  Seward, 
in  answer  to  the  representations  of  the  Amer 
ican  minister,  sent  him  instructions  to  de 
mand  full  compliance  with  the  treaty  and 
large  indemnity  for  the  outrages  which  had 
been  committed.  In  consequence  of  the 
failure  of  Colonel  Neale's  negotiations  with 
the  Prince  of  Satsuma,  Admiral  Neale  pro 
ceeded  with  the  English  to  Kagodima,  the 
stronghold  of  that  potentate,  and,  on  the  14th 
of  August,  he  attacked  the  forts  and  city,  and 
destroyed  three  Japanese  vessels  that  were  in 
the  harbor  and  several  junks.  The  town  was 
said  to  have  been  completely  demolished. 
The  fleet  lost  two  officers  and  seven  sailors. 
Though  the  result  of  the  engagement  was  not 
as  great  as  was  expected,  the  Prince  was  in 
duced  to  send  ambassadors  to  Colonel  Neale, 
and  it  was  finally  arranged  that  he  should  pay 
the  sum  which  had  been  demanded,  a#d  that 
he  should  try  to  bring  the  murderers  of  Mr. 
Richardson  to  justice. 

This  lesson  from  the  English  and  the 
demonstration  of  the  United  States  and 
France  which  had  preceded  it,  had  a  whole 
some  effect  on  the  people ;  for,  although  the 
internal  dissensions  of  the  government  with 
respect  to  foreigners  did  not  cease,  yet  no 
more  outrages  were  perpetrated  for  some  time. 
The  native  party,  however,  was  still  strong ; 
and,  in  less  than  a  year  afterwards,  another 
attack  by  the  Prince  of  Nagato  on  a  United 
States  vessel,  and  at  the  same  time  the  refu 
sal  of  the  authorities  to  ratify  a  treaty  with 


France  which  had  been  concluded  by  their 
ambassadors,  caused  a  second  expedition  for 
the  purpose  of  putting  a  stop  to  the  outrages 
of  the  native  princes.  The  allied  fleets  of 
Great  Britain,  France,  and  Holland,  attacked 
the  forts  at  Simarosaki  on  the  5th  of  Sep 
tember.  No  American  vessel  of  war  was  at 
Japan  at  that  time,  but  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  was  displayed  from  a  steamer 
chartered  by  the  American  minister.  The 
next  day  a  body  of  marines  were  landed,  and 
the  works  were  taken  by  assault.  After  this 
the  expedition  moved  on  to  Hakusima,  but 
they  found  that  the  natives  had  already 
retired,  alarmed  at  the  destructive  power  of 
the  Armstrong  guns,  which  had  been  so  ef 
fectively  employed  on  the  day  before.  A  flag 
of  truce  was  presently  sent  off  from  the 
shore,  asking  that  terms  for  peace  might  be 
considered.  The  result  of  the  negotiations 
was  a  treaty,' by  which  the  prince  complied 
with  all  the  demands  of  foreign  ministers, 
and  the  Gorogio,  or  Council  of  State,  prom 
ised  never  again  to  oppose  the  intercourse  of 
the  people  with  other  nations. 

This  treaty,  however,  was  no  better  ob 
served  than  the  others  which  preceded  it,  and 
towards  the  end  of  the  next  year  the  foreign 
ministers  were  again  obliged  to  call  in  the 
aid  of  the  navy.  The  appearance  of  the 
force  proved  sufficient,  and  negotiations  were 
entered  upon  without  the  usual  preliminary 
bombardment.  Although  during  their  coun 
cils  the  Japanese  thus  managed  to  main 
tain  peace  with  the  Europeans,  the  violent 
struggle  between  the  parties  in  the  govern 
ment  almost  created  a  civil  war  among  them 
selves.  At  length,  however,  the  Daimios 
were  obliged  to  yield,  and  the  Mikado  finaDy 
ratified  the  treaty  which  had  been  demanded 
by  the  English,  French,  and  Dutch  represen 
tatives.  The  most  important  privileges  thus 
obtained  were  considered  to  be  the  opening 
of  the  ports  of  Osaka  and  Iliogo,  which  took 
place  on  the  first  of  January,  1868. 

The  new  Tycoon,  Stotbashi,  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  his  position  in  January,  1867. 
He  showed  a  more  enlightened  spirit  than 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


75 


his  predecessors,  and  seemed  to  appreciate 
the  advantages  which  his  country  would  de 
rive  from  a  more  unrestricted  trade  with 
foreigners.  Such  opinions  of  course  aroused 
the  hostility  of  the  nobles,  and  conspiracies 
against  his  life  were  frequent,  and  there  were 
rumors  of  his  assassination.  Unable  to  ex 
ercise  the  functions  of  his  office  amid  this 
opposition,  he  resigned  his  power  in  Decem 
ber,  18G7,  to  the  new  Mikado.  These 
changes  in  the  government  have  had  no  in 
fluence  on  the  foreign  policy  of  Japan.  The 
treaties  with  foreign  nations  are  now  toler 
ably  well  observed,  although  outrages  on 
foreign  vessels  by  some  of  the  half  independ 
ent  princes  still  occur  occasionally.  The  in 


creased  facilities  of  intercourse  with  Japan, 
and  the  growing  importance  of  her  com 
merce,  have  excited  of  late  years  more  inter 
est  in  the  institutions  and  customs  of  her 
people,  but  the  operation  of  her  government, 
the  different  powers  of  her  officers,  and  the  re 
lation  of  the  Tycoon  to  the  Mikado,  are  still 
very  indistinctly  understood. 

A  fact  which  serves  to  show  the  introduc 
tion  of  "Western  ideas  and  civilization  into 
Japan,  in  spite  of  the  conservatism  of  the 
people,  is  the  order  for  $25,000  worth  of 
American  school  books  and  apparatus,  which 
was  given  to  a  New  York  publisher  by  the 
last  embassy  which  passed  through  Washing, 
ton. 


THE    OKIEJSTTAL    AECHIPELAGO. 


IT  is  only  from  the  time  of  the  Javanese 
conversion  to  the  Mohammedan  religion, 
which  all  parties  are  agreed  in  asserting  to 
have  been  consummated  by  the  overthrow  of 
the  most  potent  Hindu  state  of  the  island  in 
1478,  that  the  history  of  JAVA  begins  to  have 
Borne  faint  semblance  of  congruity.  All  that 
transpired  previous  to  this  date  is  more  a 
matter  of  archaeology  than  of  history  or 
chronology.  They  possess  chronological  ta 
bles,  but  in  these  the  earlier  period  is  palpa 
bly  fabulous ;  the  dates,  after  the  manner  of 
the  Hindus,  being  expressed,  not  in  numeral 
characters,  or  in  words  representing  numbers, 
but  in  mystical  terms,  differently  interpreted 
by  di^erent  parties.  It  is  a  favorite  notion 
with  Javanese  chronologists  that  the  islands 
of  Sumatra,  Java,  Bali,  Lomboc  and  Sum- 
bawa,  formed  at  one  time  a  continuous  land, 
and  they  assign  precise  dates  preposterously 
modern,  to  the  times  in  which  they  became 
so  many  different  islands.  Sumatra,  accord 
ing  to  these  statements,  was  separated  from 
Java  in  the  year  1192,  Bali  from  Java  in 
1282,  and  Lomboc  from  Sumbawa  in  1350, 


that  is  above  half  a  century  after  Marco  Polo 
had  passed  through  the  Archipelago. 

From  the  eleventh  century  the  Javanese 
chronology  assumes  an  air  of  at  least  some 
feasibility ;  but  even  from  that  time  down  to 
1478,  there  is  much  discrepancy  between  dif 
ferent  statements,  according  as  the  mystic 
words  in  which  dates  are  expressed  are  inter 
preted.  Thus,  the  "thousand  temples"  of 
Brambanan,  the  finest  remains  of  Hinduism 
in  the  island,  are  said  by  one  account  to  have 
been  built  in  1096,  and  by  another  in  1266. 

The  great  events  of  Javanese  history  are 
the  respective  conversions  of  the  people  to 
Hinduism  and  Mohammedanism.  Of  the 
time  when  the  first  of  these  took  place,  or 
the  manner  in  which  it  was  brought  about, 
we  have  no  positive  information.  The  evi 
dence  derived  from  language  and  ancient 
monuments,  sufficiently  attests  the  general 
prevalence,  if  not,  indeed,  the  universality  of 
some  form  or  modification  of  the  religion  of 
the  Hindus  over  the  island;  but  anything 
beyond  this  is  matter  of  inference  or  conjec 
ture.  Ancient  states  existed  which  had  ao 


7G 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


quired  a  considerable  amount  of  civilization 
and  power,  as  is  shown  by  the  ruins  of  palaces 
and  temples ;  but  none  of  them  had  any  dur 
ability, — none  of  them  ruled  over  the  whole 
island,  while  several  of  them,  according  to 
tradition,  existed  at  one  and  the  same  time. 

The  Hindus,  it  is  highly  probable,  migrated 
to  Java  and  established  their  religion  in  it  at 
a  very  early  period,  probably  as  early  as  the 
sixth  century.  That  the  Hindus  and  their 
religion,  however,  existed  in  Java  from  the 
end  of  the  thirteenth  to  that  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  is  a  matter  of  certainty,  proved  by 
monumental  dates  entirely  reliable. 

The  history  of  the  conversion  of  the  Jav 
anese  to  the  religion  of  Mohammed,  even  at 
this  comparatively  recent  period,  is  much 
enveloped  in  fable.  The  parties  who  effected 
the  conversion  were  the  mixed  descendants 
of  Arabs,  Persians,  Malays,  and  Mohamme 
dans  of  Hindustan, — parties  who  had  settled 
on  its  northern  coast  for  the  purposes  of 
trade  ;  who  were  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  natives  of  their  country  and  their  lan 
guage  ;  and  who,  in  process  of  time,  had  ac 
quired  wealth  and  influence.  Of  such  men 
were  the  real  missionaries  of  Islam  in  Java 
composed,  and  the  work  of  conversion  was 
certainly  a  slow  one.  As  early  as  the  year 
of  our  time  1358,  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
had  been  made  by  missionaries  of  tliis  de 
scription  to  convert  the  Sunda  nation.  An 
other  was  made  in  1391  to  convert  the  proper 
Javanese  ;  and  the  tomb  of  one  of  the  reputed 
saints  who  made  this  attempt,  one  Maulana 
Ibrahim,  still  exists  in  Gressik,  bearing  the 
year  of  Salivana,  1334,  or  of  our  time  1412. 
In  the  year  of  Christ  1460,  the  Mohammedan 
converts  assembled  a  force  for  the  conquest 
of  Majapait,  the  capital  of  the  principal 
Hindu  state,  but  were  defeated ;  and  it  was 
not  until  1478,  eighteen  years  after,  that  they 
succeeded  in  capturing  the  capital,  over 
throwing  the  state,  and  establishing  their 
own  power  and  faith. 

It  was  in  the  reign  of  the  second  prince  of 
this  dynasty,  that  the  Dutch  made  their  first 
appearance  in  Java,  under  Houtman,  in  1505. 


In  1610  they  obtained  permission  from  the 
Sunda  prince  of  Jacatra,  to  build  a  fort  near 
to  the  spot  on  which  now  stands  the  city  of 
Batavia.  In  1619  this  fort  was  besieged  by 
the  joint  forces  of  the  princes  of  Jacatra  and 
Bantam,  aided  and  abetted  by  the  English, 
It  was  relieved  by  a  Dutch  fleet  under  Ad 
miral  Koen,  and  the  assailants  defeated  and 
driven  oft'.  It  was  after  this  event  that  the 
name  of  Batavia,  first  given  to  the  fortress, 
was  bestowed  on  the  town.  In  1628  Batavia 
was  besieged  by  a  numerous  army  sent  against 
it  by  the  reigning  prince  of  Mataram,  with 
the  hope  of  expelling  the  Dutch  from  the 
island ;  but  by  the  skill  and  courage  of  the 
European  garrison,  the  rude  and  disorderly 
host  was  baffled  and  routed.  From  this  time 
the  history  of  Java  is  properly  that  of  its 
European  conquerors.  No  considerable  ter 
ritorial  acquisition,  however,  was  made  until 
1677,  when  the  Dutch  obtained  a  cession  of 
the  principality  of  Jacatra.  From  that  time 
up  to  the  year  1830,  every  war  carried  on  by 
them  with  the  native  princes,  whether  a& 
principals  or  auxiliaries,  invariably  ended  in 
a  cession  of  territory  to  the  former ;  so  that, 
at  present,  hardly  one-fourteenth  part  of  the 
island  is  in  possession  of  native  rulers,  and 
even  that  is  entirely  tributary  and  dependent. 

Of  the  early  history  of  SUMATRA  we  know 
next  to  nothing.  Mohammedanism  is  said  to 
have  been  first  introduced  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  when  the  Arabians  were  in  the  habit 
of  undertaking  voyages  to  the  East  Indies 
and  to  China.  About  the  end  of  the  twelfth 
century  the  Malays  began  to  spread  them 
selves  from  their  original  seats  in  Sumatra 
over  the  peninsula  of  Malacca  and  the  Sunda 
Islands,  wrhere  they  continued  to  be  the 
dominant  race  until  the  fourteenth  century 
When  the  Portuguese  landed  here  in  1509, 
they  found  that  the  ancient  Malay  kingdom 
of  Meiiangcabau  had  been  dissolved  ;  but 
there  was  a  powerful  monarch  ruling  over 
Acheen,  who  endeavored  to  exclude  the 
strangers  from  nis  country.  In  1575  the 
Portuguese  shipping  in  the  harbor  of  Acheen 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


77 


was  destroyed  by  the  natives,  and  in  1582  an 
attempt  which  they  made  to  gain  possession 
of  the  town  proved  quite  unsuccessful.  No 
pennanent  settlement  was  made  on  the  island 
till  1600,  when  the  Dutch  established  a  fac 
tory  at  Pulo  Chinko,  on  the  west  coast.  The 
kingdom  of  Acheen  had  by  this  time  begun 
to  decline  in  power,  being  distracted  by  in 
ternal  wars  and  discords.  The  success  of  the 
Dutch  was  at  first  greatly  promoted  here,  as 
in  the  other  parts  of  the  East  Indies,  by  the 
fact  that  they  arrived  at  a  time  when  the 
natives  were  bitterly  and  justly  exasperated 
against  the  Portuguese,  on  account  of  the 
oppression  and  cruelty  which  they  in  many 
cases  exhibited,  and  to  which  the  conduct  of 
the  new-comers  afforded  a  favorable  contrast. 
But  it  soon  appeared  that  the  commercial 
eagerness  of  the  Dutch  was  no  less  grasping 
and  aggressive  than  had  been  the  Portuguese 
lust  of  plunder  and  conquest.  They  rapidly 
increased  the  number  of  their  factories  and 
settlements,  founding  one  at  Padang  in  1649, 
at  Palembang  in  1664,  and  in  many  other 
parts  of  the  island,  and  securing  to  them- 
fcelves  the  monopoly  of  the  profitable  trade  in 
pepper. 

The  English  followed  the  Dutch  in  this 
island,  and  founded  a  colony  at  Bencoolen  in 
1685 ;  but  they  never  made  so  much  progress 
here  as  their  rivals.  In  1811,  the  Dutch  set 
tlements  in  the  East  Indies  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  British ;  Holland  having  been  at  that 
time  annexed  by  Napoleon  to  France.  But 
by  the  peace  of  1816  these  colonies  were 
restored  to  the  Dutch,  who  have  since  retained 
them.  In  1824  they  exchanged  the  settle 
ment  of  Malacca  for  the  British  colony  of 
Benccolen.  A  singular  war  which  took 
place  subsequently  in  Sumatra  led  to  a  mate 
rial  extension  of  the  Dutch  possessions.  It 
was  occasioned  by  a  religious  sect  called 
Padries,  who  first  made  their  appearance 
here  about  the  beginning  of  the  century. 
Their  principles  were  at  first  harmless  enougn, 
being  simply  abstinence  from  gambling, 
smoking  opium,  and  drinking  intoxicating 
liquors  ;  and,  for  about  eighteen  years,  they 


flourished  in  peace.  But  about  1815  a  soci 
ety  of  this  sect  was  formed  for  the  purpose 
of  spreading  their  doctrines  and  practices  by 
force ;  and  this  speedily  roused  resistance 
and  opposition.  The  Malays  and  Battas 
made  common  cause  against  the  Padries; 
and  for  a  long  time  a  fierce  struggle  was  car 
ried  on,  which  devastated  Menangcabau  and 
the  neighboring  regions.  At  length  the  as 
sistance  of  the  Dutch  was  called  in  against 

O 

the  Padries,  and  with  their  help  the  sect  was 
entirely  put  down.  The  indirect  results  of 
this  war  were  the  annexation  of  Menangcabau 
to  the  Dutch  possessions,  in  1835,  and  the 
opening  up  to  them  of  the  Batta  country, 
from  which  foreigners  had  previously  been 
excluded. 

BORNEO  is  one  of  the  largest  islands  in  the 
world,  being  1,500  miles  in  circumference. 
It  is  seated  under  the  equator,  and  occupies 
nearly  the  centre  of  the  eastern  archipelago. 
The  west  and  northeast  sides  of  it  are  a 
desert,  and  the  east  is  comparatively  little 
known.  The  inland  parts  are  mountainous  ; 
and  the  southeast,  for  many  leagues  together, 
is  an  unwholesome  morass. 

Borneo  was  discovered  by  the  Portuguese 
in  1521.  The  English  and  Portuguese  several 
times  attempted  to  found  establishments  on 
its  coasts  without  success.  The  sovereignty 
of  the  south  coast  was  ceded  to  the  Dutch  by 
the  sultan  of  Banjermassin  in  1787;  but  the 
most  important  event  in  the  recent  history  of 
Borneo  is  the  enterprise  of  Sir  James  Brooke, 
who  first  visited  the  island  in  1839,  and  has 
since  been  actively  engaged  in  the  suppres 
sion  of  piracy,  the  diffusion  of  education,  and 
the  encouragement  of  commerce  and  manu 
factures. 

The  Dyaks  are  divided  into    numerous 
iribes,  the  chief  being  those  of  the  interior, 
or  hill  Dyaks,  and  the  Dyaks  of  the  coast, 
many  of   whom    are  daring  pirates.     The 
Dyaks  of  the  north  coast  have  been  conquered 
y  the  Malays,  who  treat  them  with  great 
ruelty.     The  island  is  divided  into  many 
separate  states,  governed  by  native  chiefs ; 


78 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  best  known  of  these  is  Borneo  Proper, 
which  extends  over  the  level  space  on  the 
north  coast.  On  the  north  coast,  near  the 
northwest  part  of  the  island,  is  the  territory 
of  Sarawak,  which  was  placed  under  the  ra- 
jahship  of  Sir  James  Brooke.  This  terri 
tory  enjoys  an  excellent  climate,  and  is  rich 
in  mineral  and  agricultural  products. 

THE  PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS  were  discovered 
in  1521  by  Magelhaens,  who  named  them  the 
Archipelago  of  St.  Lazarus.  In  15G5  they 
were  taken  possession  of  by  a  fleet  which 
was  dispatched  from  Mexico,  in  consequence 
of  orders  from  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  and  first 
stopped  at  the  island  of  Zebu,  which  was 
soon  wholly  subdued.  In  1570  a  fleet  sailed 
from  the  island  of  Panay  for  Luzon,  and 
after  several  engagements  with  the  princes  of 
the  country,  effected  a  settlement  on  the  Bay 
of  Manilla.  In  1571  the  Spanish  admiral 
took  possession  of  the  town  of  Manilla,  which 
he  constituted  the  capital  of  the  Spanish  pos 
sessions  in  the  Philippines  (so  named  after 
Philip  II.),  and  proceeded  in  his  reduction  of 
the  island  under  the  Spanish  authority.  To 
wards  the  conclusion  of  the  sixteenth  century 
a  considerable  trade  was  openly  earned  on 
with  Japan ;  and  many  rich  cargoes  were 
brought  from  that  country  to  Manilla,  which 
had  now  become  an  emporium  of  the  trade 
with  China,  Java,  the  coast  of  Coromandel 
and  Mexico.  In  1590  the  island  of  Sooloo 
was  attacked  by  the  Spaniards,  but  they  were 
repulsed  with  great  slaughter  by  the  natives ; 
nor  could  the  Spanish  maritime  force  make 
any  impression  on  the  Soloo  pirates,  who  con 
tinued  for  nearly  three  centuries  the  scourge 
of  these  seas.  In  1762  Manilla  was  attacked 
by  the  British  under  Admiral  Cornish  and 
General  Draper,  and  the  place  was  stormed 


on  the  5th  of  October.  A  capitulation  wai 
agreed  upon  next  day,  when,  in  order  to  re 
deem  the  city  from  general  plunder,  a  ran 
som  was  agreed  upon  of  one  million  sterling. 
Manilla  was  restored  to  the  Spaniards  at  the 
peace  of  1763,  and  has  ever  since  remained 
in  their  possession.  Besides  Manilla  and  tho 
larger  establishments  in  Luzon,  the  Spaniards 
have  many  smaller  settlements  scattered  over 
the  islands  to  the  southward  ;  but  they  were 
long  unable  to  protect  them  against  the  at 
tacks  of  the  pirates  who  infest  these  seas 
In  1851,  however,  the  governor-general  sent 
an  expedition  against  the  Sooloo  islands,  with 
a  view  to  putting  a  stop  to  these  attacks.  In 
this  he  proved  successful,  having  destroyed 
the  power  of  the  sultan  of  Sooloo,  and  formed 
a  settlement  in  the  principal  island. 

The  MOLUCCAS  were  first  visited  by  the 
Portuguese  in  1510 ;  but  shortly  after,  their 
right  of  possession  was  disputed  by  the  Span 
iards  under  Magelhaens,  at  the  head  of  a 
small  fleet  sent  out  by  Charles  V.  This  dis 
pute  at  length  terminated  in  favor  of  the 
latter.  It  was  not  till  1596  that  the  Dutch 
made  any  permanent  settlements  on  these 
islands.  The  Dutch  East  India  Company, 
founded  in  1603,  had  obtained  in  1618  the 
supremacy  over  many  of  the  princes  of  the 
Moluccas,  who  were  allowed  to  retain  their 
authority  subject  to  the  company.  This  com 
pany  was  dissolved  in  1795,  and  the  Moluc 
cas  became  immediate  dependencies  of  Hol 
land.  During  the  French  war  of  1796, 
however,  they  were  taken  by  the  British, 
who  held  possession  of  them  till  1800,  when 
they  were  returned  to  Holland.  The  islands 
were  again  occupied  by  the  British  in  1810, 
but  were  finally  restored  to  the  Dutch  in 
1814,  by  the  treaty  of  Paris. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


79 


BURMAH  AND  SIAM. 


r  1 1HE  Burmans  appear  to  be  inferior  to 
JL  tlie  Hindus,  and  still  more  to  the  Chi 
nese,  in  arts,  manufactures,  and  industry,  and 
in  all  the  institutions  of  civil  life.  Their 
Government  is  a  pure  despotism,  the  king 
dispensing  torture,  imprisonment,  or  death, 
according  to  his  sovereign  discretion.  One 
of  his  customary  titles  is,  lord  of  the  life  and 
property  of  all  his  subjects ;  and  they  fre 
quently  find  to  their  cost  that  this  is  no  vain 
title.  The  chief  object  of  government  seems 
to  be  the  personal  honor  and  aggrandizement 
of  the  monarch  ;  and  the  only  restraint  on 
the  exercise  of  his  prerogative  is  the  fear  of 
an  insurrection.  He  is  assisted  in  his 
administration  by  a  public  and  a  privy 
council. 

The  country  at  large  is  ruled  by  provincial 
governors;  and  is  divided  into  provinces, 
townships,  districts,  villages,  and  hamlets. 

The  criminal  code  of  the  Burmese  is  bar 
barous  and  severe,  and  the  punishments  in 
flicted  are  shocking  to  humanity. 

The  Burmese  are  not  votaries  of  Brahma, 
but  sectaries  of  Buddha,  who  is  universally 
considered  by  the  Hindus  as  the  ninth  Ava 
tar,  or  descent  of  the  Deity  in  his  capacity  of 
preserver ;  and  the  rites,  doctrines,  and  priest 
hood  are  nearly  the  same  as  in  other  coun 
tries  where  Buddhism  prevails.  Neither 
Christianity  nor  Mohammedanism  has  made 
any  progress.  Foreigners  enjoy  religious  tol 
eration,  but  the  Burmese  rulers  view  any  at 
tempt  to  convert  the  natives  to  the  Christian 
or  any  other  foreign  faith  as  an  interference 


with  their  allegiance,  and  tLey  discourage  all 
such  schemes. 

The  ancient  history  of  Ava  is  very  imper 
fectly  known ;  the  more  early  records  relating 
chiefly  to  dynasties  of  which  little  more  io 
given  than  their  names.  We  learn  from  the 
Portuguese  navigators,  that  about  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  four  powerful  states 
ruled  over  those  countries  which  He  between 
the  south-east  province  of  British  India,  Yu- 
nan  in  China,  and  the  Eastern  Sea,  nameJy, 
Arracan,  Ava,  Pegu,  and  Siam.  By  the  help 
of  the  Portuguese,  the  Burmans  subdued  the 
Peguans,  and  maintained  their  supremacy 
over  them  throughout  the  seventeenth  and 
during  the  first  forty  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  the  Peguans  revolted,  and  a 
war  ensued,  in  the  course  of  which,  by  the 
aid  of  arms  procured  from  Europeans,  they 
gained  several  victories  over  the  Burmans ; 
and,  having  taken  their  capital  Ava,  and 
made  the  king  a  prisoner,  they  reduced  the 
whole  country  to  submission.  Alompra,  who 
had  been  left  by  the  conqueror  in  charge  of 
Monchaboo,  an  inconsiderable  village,  plan 
ned  the  deliverance  of  his  country.  He  at 
tacked  the  usurpers  at  first  with  small  detach 
ments  ;  but,  when  his  forces  increased,  he  sud 
denly  advanced  and  took  possession  of  the 
capital,  in  the  autumn  of  1753.  In  1754,  the 
Peguans,  anxious  to  recover  their  lost  con 
quests,  sent  an  armament  of  war-boats  against 
Ava ;  but  after  an  obstinate  and  bloody  bat 
tle  they  were  totally  defeated  by  Alompra. 
In  the  districts  of  Prome,  Donabew,  Loonzay 


80 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


etc.,  the  Burmans  revolted,  and  succeeded 
either  in  expelling  or  putting  to  the  sword, 
all  the  Pegu  garrisons  in  their  towns.  In 
1754,  Prome  was  besieged  by  the  king  of  Pe 
gu,  who  was  again  defeated  by  Alompra  in 
a  severe  battle,  and  the  war  was  transferred 
from  the  upper  provinces  to  the  mouths  of 
the  navigable  rivers,  and  the  numerous  creeks 
and  canals  which  intersect  the  lower  country. 
In  1775,  Alompra  defeated  in  a  general  bat 
tle,  Apporaza,  the  king  of  Pegu's  brother, 
after  which  the  Peguans  were  driven  from 
Bassein  and  the  adjacent  country,  and  were 
forced  to  withdraw  to  the  fortress  of  Syriam, 
distant  twelve  miles  from  Rangoon.  Here 
they  enjoyed  a  brief  repose,  Alompra  being 
called  away  to  quell  an  insurrection  of  his 
own  subjects,  and  to  repel  an  invasion  of  the 
Siamese ;  but,  returning  victorious,  he  laid 
siege  to  the  fortress  of  Syriam  and  took  it 
by  surprise,  when  the  garrison  were  mostly 
put  to  the  sword,  the  Europeans  being  made 
prisoners.  In  these  wars  the  French  sided 
with  the  Peguans,  the  English  with  the  Bur- 
Dupleix,  the  governor  of  Pondi- 


uians. 


cherry,  had  sent  two  sliips  to  the  aid  of  the 
former,  but  the  master  of  the  first  was  de 
coyed  up  the  river  by  Alompra,  when  his  ve&- 
eel  was  taken,  and  he,  along  with  his  whole 
crew  was  massacred.  The  other  escaped  by 
being  accidentally  delayed,  and  carried  ac 
counts  of  this  disaster  to  Pondicherry.  Alom 
pra  was  now  master  of  all  the  navigable  riv 
ers  ;  and  the  Peguans,  being  entirely  shut  out 
from  foreign  aid,  were  finally  subdued.  In 
1757,  the  conqueror  laid  siege  to  the  city  of 
Pegu,  which  finally  capitulated  on  condition 
that  the  king  should  govern  the  country,  but 
tliat  he  should  do  homage  for  his  kingdom, 
and  should  also  surrender  his  daughter  to  the 
victorious  monarch.  Alompra,  with  Asiatic 
perfidy,  never  contemplated  the  fulfillment  of 
(he  earlier  of  these  conditions;  and,  having 
succeeded  in  obtaining  possession  of  the  town 
through  the  imbecility  of  the  king,  aban 
doned  it  to  the  fury  of  liis  soldiers.  In  the 
following  year,  the  Peguans  endeavored  to 
throw  off  the  yoke,  but  they  were  overthrown 


In  a  decisive  engagement  near  Rangoon  ;  and 
Alompra  arriving  soon  after,  quelled  the  re 
bellion.  He  afterwards  reduced  the  town  and 
district  of  Tavoy,  and  finally  undertook  the 
conquest  of  the  Siamese.  His  army  ad 
vanced  to  Mergui  and  Tennasserim,  both  of 
which  towns  were  taken ;  and,  he  was  besieg 
ing  the  capital  of  Siam  when  he  was  taken  ill. 
He  immediately  ordered  his  army  to  retreat, 
in  hopes  of  reaching  his  capital  alive ;  but  he 
expired  on  the  way,  in  1760,  in  the  fiftieth 
year  of  his  age,  after  he  had  reigned  eight 
years.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  oldest  son. 
Namdojee  Praw.  whose  reign  was  disturbed 
by  the  rebellion  of  his  brother  Shembuan, 
and  afterwards  by  one  of  his  father's  gener 
als.  By  his  vigor  he  succeeded  in  quelling 
these  revolts  ;  and,  he  afterwards  turned  his 
arms  against  the  refractory  Peguans,  whom 
he  reduced  to  subjection.  He  died  in  a  lit 
tle  more  than  three  years,  leaving  one  son  in 
his  infancy.  On  his  decease  the  throne  was 
seized  by  his  brother  Shembuan.  He  was 
intent,  like  his  predecessors,  on  the  conquest 
of  the  adjacent  states ;  and  he  accordingly 
made  war  in  1765,  on  the  Munnipore  Cas- 
sayers,  and  also  on  the  Siamese,  with  partial 
success.  In  the  following  year  he  renewed 
the  war  with  the  latter,  defeated  the  Siamese 
and,  after  a  long  blockade,  obtained  posses 
sion  of  their  capital.  But,  while  the  Bur- 
mans  were  extending  their  conquests  in  this 
quarter,  they  were  invaded  by  a  very  large 
Chinese  army  from  the  province  of  Yu- 
nan.  This  army  was  hemmed  in  by  the  skill 
of  the  Burmans ;  and,  being  reduced  by  the 
want  of  provisions,  it  was  afterwards  attacked 
and  totally  destroyed,  with  the  exception  of 
2500  men,  who  were  sent  in  fetters  to  work 
in  the  Burmese  capital  at  their  several  trades. 
In  the  meantime,  the  Siamese  revolted 
from  the  Burmese  yoke ;  and  while  the  Bur- 
man  army  was  marching  against  them,  the 
Peguan  soldiers  who  had  been  incorporated 
in  it  rose  against  their  companions,  and  com 
mencing  an  indiscriminate  massacre,  pursued 
the  Burma  i  army  to  the  gates  of  Rangoon, 
wliich  they  besieged,  but  were  unable  to  cap- 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


8] 


ture.  In  1774 ,  Shembuan  was  engaged  in  re 
ducing  the  marauding  tribes.  He  took  the 
district  and  fort  of  Martaban  from  the  re 
volted  Peguans ;  and,  in  the  following  year 
he  sailed  down  the  Irrawaddy  with  an  army 
of  50,000  men,  and,  arriving  at  Rangoon, 
put  to  death  the  aged  monarch  of  Pegu 
along  with  many  of  his  nobles,  who  had 
shared,  with  him  in  the  offence  of  rebellion. 
He  died  in  1776,  after  a  reign  of  twelve  years 
during  which  he  had  extended  the  Burmese 
dominions  on  every  side,  having  reduced  to 
a  state  of  vassalage  the  petty  states  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  the  uncivilized  tribes  in 
the  western  hills,  as  well  as  those  in  the  moun 
tainous  tracts  to  the  east  of  the  Irrawaddy. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  a  youth  of 
eighteen,  who  proved  himself  a  bloodthirsty 
despot,  and  was  put  to  death  by  his  uncle, 
Mindragee  Praw  in  1782,  who  ascended  the 
vacant  throne,  and  in  1783,  sent  a  fleet  of 
boats  against  Arracan,  which  was  conquered 
and  the  Rajah  and  his  family  were  made 
prisoners.  Cheduba,  Ramnee,  and  the  Broken 
Isles  soon  afterwards  surrendered. 

The  Siamese,  who  revolted  in  1771,  were 
never  afterward  subdued  by  the  Burmans. 
They  retained  their  dominion  over  the  sea- 
coast  as  far  as  Mergui ;  and  in  the  year  1785 
they  attacked  the  island  of  Junkseylon  with 
a  fleet  of  boats  and  an  army.  But  they 
were  ultimately  driven  back  with  loss ;  and 
a  second  attempt  by  the  Burman  monarch, 
who,  in  1786,  invaded  Siam  with  an  army 
of  30,000  men,  was  attended  with  no  better 
success.  In  1793  peace  was  concluded  be 
tween  these  two  powers,  the  Siamese  yield 
ing  to  the  Burmans  the  entire  possession  of 
the  coast  of  Tenasserim  on  the  Indian  Ocean, 
and  the  two  important  seaports  of  Mergui 
and  Tavoy. 

In  1795  the  Burmese  were  involved  in  a 
dispute  with  the  British  in  India,  in  conse 
quence  of  their  troops,  to  the  amount  of 
5,000  men,  entering  the  district  of  Chitta- 
gong  in  pursuit  of  three  robbers  who  had 
fled  from  justice  across  the  frontier.  Expla 
nations  being  made,  and  terms  of  accommo- 
11 


dation  offered  by  General  Erskine,  the  com 
manding  officer,  the  Burmese  commander 
retired  from  the  British  territories,  when  the 
fugitives  were  restored,  and  all  differences 
for  the  time  amicably  arranged. 

But  it  was  evident  that  the  gradual  exten 
sion  of  the  British  and  Burmese  territories 
would,  in  time,  bring  the  two  powers  into 
close  contact  along  a  more  extended  line  of 
frontier,  and  in  all  probability  lead  to  a  war 
between  them.  It  happened,  accordingly, 
that  the  Burmese,  carrying  their  arms  into 
Assam  and  Munnepore,  penetrated  to  the 
British  border  near  Sylhet,  on  the  northeast 
frontier  of  Bengal,  beyond  which  were  the 
possessions  of  the  chiefs  of  Cachar,  under 
the  protection  of  the  British  government. 
The  Burmese  leaders,  arrested  in  this  man 
ner  in  their  career  of  conquest,  and  flushed 
with  past  success,  were  impatient  to  measure 
their  strength  writh  their  new  neighbors. 
They  attacked  a  party  of  sepoys  within  the 
frontier,  seized  and  carried  oft'  British  sub 
jects,  and  at  all  points  their  troops,  moving 
in  large  bodies,  assumed  the  most  menacing 
positions.  The  island  of  Shaparee,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Naaf  river,  had  been  occupied 
by  a  small  guard  of  British  troops.  These 
were  attacked  on  September  23,  1823,  dur 
ing  the  night,  by  the  Burmese,  and  driven 
from  their  post  with  the  loss  of  several  lives ; 
and  to  the  repeated  demands  of  the  British 
for  redress  no  answer  was  returned.  Other 
outrages  ensued ;  and  at  length,  in  February, 
1824,  war  was  declared  by  the  British  gov 
ernment. 

After  two  years  of  varying  fortune,  the 
Burmese  war  was  brought  to  a  successful 
termination  by  Sir  Archibald  Campbell. 
The  peace,  however,  was  not  of  very  long 
continuance,  and  in  1852  another  war  broke 
out ;  as  in  the  former,  the  English  finally 
triumphed,  and  the  province  of  Pegu  was 
annexed  to  the  British  Empire.  , 

The  government  of  Siam  is  a  pure  despot 
ism,  uncontrolled  by  laws,  ancient  usages,  or 
any  form  of  assembly.  There  is,  indeed,  a 
body  of  laws  occupying,  it  is  said,  about  sev- 


82 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


enty  volumes,  but  the  king  has  the  power  of 
at  any  time  superseding  the  ordinary  course 
of  justice.  He  has,  indeed,  absolute  power 
over  the  property,  liberty,  and  lives  of  his 
subjects.  A  large  part  of  the  population  is 
in  a  state  of  slavery ;  and  every  man  above 
the  age  of  twenty  is  bound  to  devote  four 
months  of  the  year  to  the  service  of  the  king. 
The  parent  has  absolute  power  over  his  chil 
dren,  and  may  even  sell  them  for  slaves ;  but 
he  cannot  take  away  their  life.  Polygamy 
is  legal,  but  there  is  always  one  wife  in  chief 
who  has  the  pre-eminence  and  control  over 
the  rest.  Marriage  is  a  purely  civil  rite,  and 
divorces  are  frequent  and  obtained  with  little 
difficulty. 

The  religion  of  Siam  is  Buddhism.  The 
priests,  or  bonzes,  are  very  numerous,  exceed 
ing,  it  is  said,  a  hundred  thousand.  They 
generally  live  in  convents  attached  to  the 
temples,  and  are  relieved  of  all  taxes  or  ser 
vices  to  the  king  or  state.  Every  male  must, 
at  some  period  of  his  life,  become  a  candi 
date  for  the  priestly  office,  and  remain  for 
at  least  three  months  in  a  monastery,  after 
which  he  may  return  tc  his  secular  con 
dition 

The  Siamese  annals  begin  about  five  cen 
turies  before  the  Christian  era,  with  the  usual 
amount  of  fable ;  but  from  the  founding  of 
the  city  of  Ayuthia,  the  ancient  capital  cf 
the  kingdom,  about  the  middle  of  the  four 
teenth  century,  they  seem  to  be  tolerably  re 
liable.  The  first  European  nation  that  es 
tablished  communication  with  Siam  was  the 
Portuguese,  when  engaged  in  the  siege  of 
Malacca,  in  1511.  Soon  after  this  a  consid 
erable  number  of  Portuguese  seem  to  have 
located  in  the  country,  and  we  find  them 
rendering  valuable  assistance  to  the  Siamese 
in  their  wars  with  the  neighboring  nations. 
About  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  Dutch  obtained  a  footing  in  the 
country,  and  from  that  time  Portuguese  in 
fluence  gradually  declined.  Toward  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  a  Greek  sailor 


named  Phaulcon  arrived  in  the  country,  and 
so  ingratiated  himself  with  the  king  as  to  be 
appointed  prime  minister.  lie  persuaded 
the  king  to  cultivate  friendship  with  the  Eu 
ropean  countries,  and  induced  him  to  send 
ambassadors  to  the  court  of  Louis  XI Y. 
These  arrived  in  France  in  1684,  and  also 
visited  London,  when  a  commercial  treaty 
was  concluded  with  the  government  of 
Charles  II.  The  French  king,  in  1685,  dis 
patched  an  embassy  to  Siam,  with  a  view  to 
convert  the  -King  of  Siam  to  the  Calholic 
faith.  This  not  succeeding,  two  years  later 
a  second  embassy  was  sent  out  with  five  hun 
dred  soldiers,  which  also  failed  in  its  object ; 
and  soon  after,  a  revolution  happening  in  the 
country,  the  royal  family  were  driven  from 
the  throne,  Phaulcon  was  murdered,  and  the 
French  were  expelled  from  the  country. 
About  1766  the  country  was  overrun  by  the 
Burmese,  who  took  by  assault  the  capital, 
Yuthia,  and  committed  great  slaughter. 

The  English  seem  to  have  had  little  inter 
course  with  the  Siamese  till  very  recently. 
In  1822  Mr.  John  Crawford  was  commission 
ed  by  the  Marquis  of  Hastings,  then  Governor- 
General  of  India,  to  visit  Siam  and  endeavor 
to  establish  commercial  relations  between  that 
country  and  India,  but  met  with  compar 
atively  little  success.  In  1826  a  commercial 
treaty  was  concluded  with  England,  and  » 
similar  treaty  was  concluded  with  the  United 
States  in  1833.  In  1855,  Sir  John  Bowring 
visited  Siam,  was  very  favorably  received, 
and  succeeded  in  concluding  a  treaty  of 
friendship  and  commerce  between  her  Brit 
ish  Majesty  and  the  King  of  Siam.  A  Brit 
ish  consul  is  now  allowed  to  reside  at  Bang 
kok,  and  British  subjects  may  reside  perma 
nently  there  or  within  a  certain  distance 
from  that  town.  British  vessels  may  trade 
freely  at  any  of  the  seaports  of  Siam,  and 
in  place  of  the  previous  heavy  restrictions, 
merchandise  is  now  subject  to  slight  import 
or  export  duties.  A  similar  treaty  has  since 
been  concluded  with  the  United  States. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


INDIA. 


PRIOR  to  Alexander's  expedition  into 
India,  which  took  place  327  years  be 
fore  the  Christian  era,  the  Greeks  appear  to 
have  known  little  of  these  eastern  countries, 
except  from  the  confused  accounts  of  travel 
lers  ;  and  nothing  whatever  of  the  countries 
beyond  the  sandy  desert  of  the  Indus,  which, 
with  its  tributary  streams,  was  the  limit  of 
Alexander's  progress  eastward.  The  men  of 
science  who  accompanied  this  warlike  prince 
brought  to  Europe  full  and  accurate  accounts 
of  the  countries  which  he  had  conquered ; 
and  the  spirit  of  inquiry,  now  awakened 
amongst  the  Greeks,  was  still  further  gratified 
by  the  ample  accounts  of  Megasthenes,  the 
ambassador  sent  to  India  by  Seleucus,  and 
who  resided  long  at  Palibothra,  the  capital 
of  the  Prasii,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ganges. 
The  Greek  writers,  drawing  their  information 
from  those  sources,  describe  the  leading  fea 
tures  of  Indian  society  and  manners,  and 
with  an  accuracy  which  stamps  authenticity 
on  their  narratives.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
dwell  upon  the  particulars  of  Alexander's 
expedition,  which  are  fully  descr  bed  in  many 
other  works  ;  and  from  that  ur  til  the  period 
of  the  Mohammedan  conquest,  when  the 
native  records  commence,  there  is  nearly  a 
complete  chasm  in  the  annals  of  Hindustan. 
The  Hindus  had  either  no  records,  or  these 
had  been  destroyed  during  the  intestine  com 
motions  which  have  always  prevailed  in  India. 
The  historical  poem,  the  Mahabarat,  is  a  tis- 
Bue  df  extravagant  fables.  Ferishta's  history, 
written  early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  is 


supposed  to  have  been  collected  from  Persian 
authors ;  and  the  most  valuable  part  of  it 
begins  after  the  commencement  of  the  Mo 
hammedan  conquests.  It  was  about  the  year 
1000  that  Hindustan,  formerly  ruled  by  a 
pure  Hindu  monarchy,  fell  under  the  sway  of 
the  Mohammedan  conquerors,  who  subdued 
all  the  provinces  west  of  the  Ganges,  and 
formed  them  into  one  great  empire.  On  the 
fall  of  this  empire,  India  became  one  scene 
of  commotion  and  war,  and  her  finest  pro 
vinces  were  laid  waste.  It  was  then  that  the 
Mahratta  empire  arose,  like  a  meteor  in  the 
political  sky,  blazing  for  a  while,  and  soon 
fading  into  obscurity  ;  and  by  its  fall  paving 
the  way  for  the  ascendency  of  the  British, 
whose  powerful  sway  now  extends  from  the 
Himalaya  Mountains  to  Cape  Comorin.  "We 
shall  endeavor  to  sketch  the  leading  and  most 
eventful  scenes  of  that  political  drama,  which 
has  thus  terminated  in  the  subjection  of  all 
India  to  one  great  ruling  power. 

The  Mohammedan  powers  having  subdued 
Persia  and  the  neighboring  countries,  made 
occasional  inroads  into  India ;  and,  about 
A.  D.  1000,  Mahmoud  entered  Hindustan,  in 
which  he  effected  a  permanent  establishment. 
This  prince  was  the  grandson  of  Subuctagi, 
the  ruler  of  Ghizni,  consisting  of  the  tract 
which  composed  the  kingdom  of  Bactria 
after  the  division  of  Alexander's  empire, 
namely,  the  countries  lying  between  Parthia 
and  the  Indus,  and  south  of  the  Oxns.  Ho 
invaded  India  twelve  several  times,  massa 
cring  in  his  intolerant  rage  the  Hindus  as 


HISTOEY  OF  THE   WORLD. 


infidels,  und  defacing  and  destroying  their 
temples.     "  Nothing,"  observes  Major  Ren- 
nell,  with  his  usual  force,  "  oftends  our  feel 
ings  more  than  the  progress  of  destruction, 
urged  on  by  religious  zeal,  as  it  allows  men 
to  suppose  themselves  agents  of  the  divinity, 
thereby  removing  those  checks  which  inter 
fere  with  the  perpetration  of  ordinary  vil- 
lany,  and  thus  makes  conscience  a  party  where 
she  was  meant  to  be  a  judge."     The  last  in 
vasion  of  India  by  Mahmoud  was  in  1024-, 
and  in  four  years   afterwards  he  died.     His 
dominions  comprehended    the    eastern  pro 
vinces  of  Persia,  nominally  all  the  Indian 
provinces  westward  of  the  Ganges,  to  the 
peninsula  of  Gujerat,  and  from  the  Indus  to 
the  mountains  of  Ajmere.     The  Punjab,  or 
the  tract  watered  by  the  Indus,  and  its  five 
tributary  rivers,  was  all  that  was  subjected 
to  the  regular  government  of  the  Mohamme 
dans.     The  rajpoots  of  Ajmere  defended  their 
nigged  mountains  and  close  valleys  with  ob 
stinate  valor.     The  Ghiznian  empire  was  in 
the  year  1158  divided  into  two  ;  the  western 
portion  being  seized  on  by  the  family  of  the 
Gaurides  (so   denominated    from    Gaur  or 
Ghir,   a  province  or  city  lying  beyond  the 
Indian  Caucasus),  whilst  the  countries  on  the 
Indus  were  possessed  by  Chusero  or  Cusroe, 
who  fixed  the  seat  of  his  empire  at  Lahore. 
The  Mohammedans  now  extended  their  con 
quests  eastward;  and  Mohammed  Gori,  in 
119-i,  took  the  city  of  Benares,  which  he 
abandoned  to  pillage.     He  carried  his  arms 
to  the  south  of  the  river  Jumna,  and  took 
the  fortress  of  Gualior;  he  also  reduced  the 
eastern  frontier  of  Ajmere.     He  was  suc 
ceeded  in  1205  by  Cuttub,  who  fixed  his  cap 
ital  at  Delhi,  and  founded  in  Hindustan  the 
dynasty  of  the  Patans  or  the  Afghans,  who 
inhabited  the  mountainous  tract  situated  be 
tween  India  and  Persia.     The  Emperor  Alt- 
mush  succeeded  him  in  1210,  and  extended 
his  conquests  over  Bengal.     In  his  reign  the 
renowned  Genghis  Khan  subdued  the  west 
ern  empire  of  Ghizni;  and  the  Moguls,  or 
the  Monguls,  his  successors,  about  the  year 
1 24  2,  made  frequent  irruptions  into  the  north 


western  provinces  of  Hindustan.  The  coun 
try  was  in  the  meantime  a  scere  of  intestine 
commotion,  from  the  contests  of  rebellious 
chiefs  aspiring  to  supreme  authority,  and 
from  the  irruptions  of  the  predatory  hill 
tribes  into  the  plains  below.  In  1265,  about 
100,000  of  these  plunderers  were  put  to  the 
sword,  and  a  line  of  forts  constructed  along 

'  O 

the  foot  of  the  hills.     In  the  mean  time,  the 
Patan  monarchs  of  Demi  were  prosecuting 
their  conquests   eastward,  and  the  Moguls 
were  making  incursions  into  the  western  pro 
vinces  ;  and  a  considerable  number  of  them 
under  Ferose  II.  were  at  length  permitted 
to  settle  in  the  country  in  the  year  1292.     In 
1293  this  emperor  invaded  the  Deccan,  or 
the  country  lying  to  the  south  of  the  ]Srer- 
buddah  and  the  Cuttack  rivers.     He  was  de 
posed  and  murdered  by  Alia,  the  governor  of 
Gurrah,  who  advised  the  expedition,  and  who 
extended  his  conquests  in  the  Deccan.     Ca- 
foor,  one  of  his  generals,  penetrated  into  the 
Carnatic,  or  the  peninsula  lying  to  the  south 
of  the  Kistna  river,   in    1310.     Rebellions 
breaking  out  in  Tellingana,  a  principality  in 
the  Deccan,  it  was  again  subjugated  in  ]  322 
and  in  1326,  in  which  year  Alia  died,  and  the 
Carnatic  was  ravaged  from  sea  to  sea.     Under 
a  succeeding  emperor,  Mohammed  III.,  the 
Mohammedans  were  driven  from  the  Deccan 
and  Bengal,  and  lost  much  territory  in  Gu 
jerat  and  the  Punjab.     Ferose  III.,  who  suc 
ceeded,  was  more  intent  on  domestic  im 
provement,  and  in  constructing  canals,  than 
on  foreign  conquest.     He  died  in  1388,  and 
Mahmoud  III.  succeeded,  during  whose  mi 
nority  great  confusion  ensued  ;  and  in  1398 
the  country  was  invaded  by  Tamerlane,  who 
advanced  to  Delhi,  which  submitted  without 
a  struggle,  and  was  abandoned  to  the  fury  of 
the  soldiery,  who  continued  for  several  days 
to  massacre  the  defenceless  inhabitants.     The 
military  irruption  of  Tamerlane  into  Hindus 
tan  was  more  for  the  sake  of  plunder  than 
of  conquest,  though  it  added  to  the  existing 
anarchy  of  the  country.     In  1413  Mahmoud 
died,  and  with  him  ended  the  Patan  dynasty, 
founded  by  Cuttub  in  1205.     A  period  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


85 


great  confusion  followed,  and  numerous  com 
petitors  contended  for  dominion.  This  state 
of  anarchy,  which  came  to  a  height  under 
Ibrahim  II.  in  1516,  paved  the  way  for  the 
conquest  of  Hindustan  by  Sultan  Baber,  a 
descendant  of  Tamerlane  and  of  Genghis 
Khar,,  who  reigned  over  a  kingdom  composed 
ge no  pally  of  the  provinces  situated  between 
the  Indus  and  Samercand.  Being  dispos 
sessed  of  the  northern  portion  of  his  domin 
ions  by  the  Usbecks,  he  invaded  India,  and 
in  1525  defeated  the  emperor  of  Delhi,  and 
conquered  the  northeastern  province  of  India. 
He  was  succeeded,  after  a  reign  of  five  years, 
by  his  son  Humaioon,  who  was  driven  from 
bis  throne  by  the  rebellion  of  Sheer  Khan, 
whose  successful  usurpation  was  succeeded 
by  such  a  period  of  disorder,  five  sover 
eigns  having  appeared  on  the  throne  in  the 
course  of  nine  years,  that  Humaioon  was  re 
called  in  1554,  and  died  the  following  year, 
leaving  his  son,  the  celebrated  Acbar,  only 
fourteen  years  of  age,  the  heir  to  the  throne. 
His  was  a  long  and  glorious  reign  of  fifty-one 
>Tears,  in  which  the  revolted  provinces  were 
reduced  from  Ajmere  to  Bengal,  and  consoli 
dated  into  one  empire  by  the  unlimited  toler 
ation  of  the  Hindus  and  all  others,  and  gen 
erally  by  a  just  and  wise  policy.  In  1585 
and  the  subsequent  years  he  invaded  the 
Deccan,  which,  by  the  dissolution  of  the 
Bahmenee  empire,  w,as  divided  among  the 
sovereigns  of  Bejapoor,  Ahmednagur,  and 
Golconda,  wrlulst  another  army  was  reducing 
the  country  of  Cashmere  in  an  opposite  di 
rection.  At  the  time  of  Acbar's  death,  in 
1605,  he  had  possession  of  the  western  part 
of  Berar,  Candeish,  Tellingana,  a  division  of 
Golconda,  and  the  northern  part  of  Ahmed 
nagur,  the  capital  of  which  was  taken  in 
1601,  after  a  long  and  bloody  siege,  and  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  relieve  the  place  by 
the  confederate  princes  of  the  Deccan. 
Acb'ir  died  in  1605,  at  which  time  his  empire 
was  divided  into  fifteen  viceroyalties,  called 
subahs;  namely,  Allahabad,  Agra,  Oude, 
Ajmere,  Gujerat,  Bahar,  Bengal,  Delhi,  Ca- 
bul,  Lahore,  Moultan,  Malwah,  Berar,  Can 


deish,  and  Ahmednagur.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Selim,  under  the  title  of  Jehan- 
guire.  It  was  in  his  reign,  in  1615,  that  Sir 
Thomas  Roe,  the  first  English  ambassador, 
was  sent  to  +Jie  Mogul  emperor  of  Hindustan ; 
and  the  Portuguese  had  by  this  time  acquired 
considerable  settlements  in  Bengal  and  Gu 
jerat.  Shah  Jehan,  who  disturbed  his  fa 
ther's  reign  by  constant  rebellions,  succeeded 
to  the  throne  in  1627,  and  pursued  his  con 
quests  in  the  Deccan  with  renewed  vigor, 
filling  the  country  with  plunder  and  devasta 
tion.  It  was  in  this  reign,  in  the  year  1633, 
that  the  first  serious  quarrel  took  place  be 
tween  the  Portuguese  and  the  Moguls,  when 
the  former  were  expelled  from  Hooghly  on 
the  Ganges.  In  1658  the  country  was  again 
distracted  by  the  civil  wars  of  the  emperor 
and  his  sons,  and  of  the  sons  amongst  them 
selves  contending  for  dominion.  Shah  Jehan 
died  on  the  21st  of  January  1666,  after  being 
seven  years  confined  in  the  Castle  of  Agra. 
The  Mogul  empire  at  his  death  extended 
from  Cabul  to  the  Nerbuddah,  westward  of 
this  river  to  the  Indus,  and  eastward  it  com 
prehended  Bengal  and  Orissa;  and  to  the 
south  the  Moguls  had  reduced  a  large  tract 
of  country  bounded  by  Berar  on  the  east, 
westward  by  the  hills  towards  Concan,  and 
by  the  dominions  of  Golconda  and  Benjapore 
to  the  south.  These  convulsions,  by  which 
India  was  at  this  time  distracted,  ended  in 
the  elevation  to  the  throne  of  the  renowned 
Aurungzebe,  the  youngest  son  of  Shah  Jehan, 
whom  he  had  deposed ;  he  had  also  murdered 
or  expelled  his  three  brothers.  In  1660, 
Aurungzebe,  who  took  the  title  of  Allum- 
gere,  or  Conqueror  of  the  World,  was  firmly 
seated  on  the  throne ;  and  from  that  period 
until  the  year  1678,  Hindustan  enjoyed  more 
profound  peace  than  it  had  ever  before  known. 
In  the  mean  time  Aurungzebe  invaded  the 
Deccan,  which  during  the  latter  part  01  hid 
reign  was,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  moun 
tainous  tracts,  subdued  by  his  victorious 
arms,  and  rendered  tributary  to  the  ruler  of 
Delhi.  He  was  afterwards  engaged,  in  1678, 
in  quelling  the  rebellion  of  the  Patans  bo 


86 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


yond  the  Indus,  and  the  Rajpoot  tribes,  by 
whom  he  was  hemmed  in  amongst  the  moun 
tains,  and  narrowly  escaped.  He  again  in 
vaded  the  country  in  1681,  and  took  and  de 
stroyed  Cheitore,  the  capital,  and  all  the  ob 
jects  of  Hindu  worship  found  there.  The 
sbstinate  resistance  of  these  gallant  moun 
taineers  at  last  extorted  peace  from  the  mighty 
monarch  of  the  Mogul  Hindustan  empire. 

But  Aurungzebe  had  now  to  contend  with 
another  enemy  for  the  dominion  of  India.  In 
the  south  the  Mahratta  power  was  fast  rising 
-into  importance.  Sevajee,  the  founder  of 
this  new  state,  was  a  millitary  chief,  the 
illegitimate  son  of  the  rana  of  Odeypoor,  the 
chief  of  the  Eajpoot  princes.  In  his  youth 
he  resided  at  Poonah,  on  a  zemindary  estate 
obtained  by  his  father.  Here  he  collected 
around  him  a  numerous  banditti,  and  plun 
dered  the  country.  The  numbe1*  of  his 
followers  gradually  increasing,  he  extended 
Ms  ravages  still  farther  into  the  dominions  of 
Bejapore,  and  acquired  an  immense  booty, 
which  enabled  him  to  increase  his  force,  and 
openly  to  resist  the  troops  of  Aurungzebe 
which  were  sent  against  him.  He  expired  in 
his  fortress  of  Raynee,  of  an  inflamation  in 
the  chest,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two,  on  the  5th 
of  April  1682.  His  whole  reign  was  one 
continued  scene  of  war  and  political  intrigue, 
in  which  he  displayed  the  talents  of  a  con 
summate  general  and  an  able  and  crafty 
statesman.  "  He  met,"  says  Orme,  "  every 
emergency  of  peril,  however  sudden  and  ex 
treme,  with  instant  discernment  and  unshaken 
fortitude ;  the  ablest  of  his  officers  acquiesced 
in  the  eminent  superiority  of  his  genius,  and 
the  boast  of  the  soldiers  was  to  have  seen 
Sevajeo  charging  sword  in  hand."  At  his 
death,  his  empire,  with  the  exception  of  the 
small  territory  of  Goa  on  the  south,  Bombay, 
Salsette,  and  an  inconsiderable  tract  on  the 
north,  comprised  a  tract  of  country  about 
400  miles  in  length  and  120  in  breadth. 
He  was  besides  in  possession  at  one  time,  to 
wards  the  Eastern  Sea,  of  half  the  Carnatic. 
By  his  own  talents  he  had  thus  acquired  a 
permanent  sovereignty,  "established,"  says 


Orme,  "on  a  communion  of  manners,  customs, 
observances,  language,  and  religion,  united  in 
common  defense  against  the  tyranny  of  for 
eign  conquerors,  from  whom  they  have  re 
covered  the  land  of  their  own  inheritance." 
Sevajee  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Sambajee, 
who  was  afterwards  betrayed  into  the  hands 
of  Aurungzebe,  and  barbarously  put  to  death. 
Aurungzebe  died  in  1707,  in  the  ninetieth,  or, 
according  to  some,  the  ninety-fourth  year  of 
his  age,  at  Ahmednagur,  in  the  Deccan,  in 
the  subjugation  of  which  he  had  been  engag 
ed  from  the  year  1678  until  his  death.  He 
was  for  the  most  part  engaged  in  the  field 
during  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life. 
"Whilst  he  was  absent  in  the  Deccan,  the 
peace  of  the  empire  was  disturbed  by  insur 
rections  of  the  Rajpoots  in  Upper  India,  and 
of  the  Jauts,  now  for  the  first  time  known 
in  any  other  character  than  that  of  banditti. 
Under  his  reign  the  Mogul  empire  attained 
to  its  height.  His  dominions  extended  from 
the  tenth  to  the  thirty-fifth  degree  of  latitude, 
with  nearly  as  many  degrees  of  longitude  ; 
and  his  annual  revenue  was  equal  to  thirty- 
two  millions  sterling. 

After  the  death  of  Aurungzebe,  the  sov 
ereignty  of  the  empire  was  disputed  by  his 
four  sons,  Munzum,  Azem,  and  Kaum  Buksh, 
who  severally  contended  with  their  elder 
brother,  and  Acbar,  who  thirty  years  before 
had  been  engaged  in*  rebellion,  and  fled  to 
Persia.  Munzum  and  Azem  met  in  the  field 
with  armies  of  300,000  men  on  each  side, 
when  the  latter  was  defeated  and  slain,  and 
Munzum  ascended  the  throne  under  the  title 
of  Bahader  Shah.  He  reigned  five  years, 
and  the  empire  had  been  so  distracted  by 
civil  wars  and  anarchy,  that  it  required  all 
his  exertions  to  restore  order.  He  was  soon 
after  his  accession  called  into  the  Deccan  by 
a  rebellion  of  his  brother  Kaum  Buksh,  which 
was  quelled  by  his  death.  He  now  turned 
his  arms  against  the  Rajpoots  and  the  Sikhs, 
who  for  the  first  appeared  in  arms  in  the 
province  of  Lahore.  These  insurgents  he  re 
duced  after  much  trouble  and  delay ;  and  he 
took  up  his  residence  at  Lahore,  where  ho 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


87 


died  in  1712,  after  a  short  illness,  having 
never  during  his  reign  visited  either  Agra,  or 
Delhi  his  capital.  He  left  four  sons,  who  im 
mediately  commenced  a  contest  for  the  throne. 
Azem  Ooshawn,  who  took  possession  of  the 
treasures,  was  killed  in  a  battle  with  his  own 
brothers.  Jehan  Shah,  the  youngest,  next 
lost  his  life  in  a  battle  with  Jehamder  Shah, 
who  was  the  eldest,  and  who  successfully  dis 
puted  the  possession  of  the  throne  with  the 
remaining  brother.  At  the  end  of  nine 
months,  however,  he  was  dethroned  by 
Feroksere,  a  son  of  Azem  Ooshawn,  and 
great  grandson  of  Aurungzebe,  who  was 
elevated  to  the  throne  by  the  influence  of 
two  brothers,  Abdoola  Khan  and  Hussun 
Khan,  Seids  by  birth,  or  descendants  of  the 
prophet,  whose  talents  had  raised  them  to 
reputation  and  power.  It  was  in  this  reign 
that  the  English  East  India  Company  obtain 
ed  their  famous  firman  or  grant,  by  which 
they  were  exempted  from  all  custom  duties 
on  the  export  and  import  of  their  goods. 
This  was  considered  as  the  commercial  charter 
of  the  company  as  long  as  they  required  pro 
tection  for  their  trade.  In  1717  'Feroksere 
was  deposed  and  blinded  by  the  two  Seids, 
Hussun  and  Abdoola,  to  whom  he  owed  his 
elevation  to  the  throne.  In  his  place  they 
chose  Euffieh-ul-Dowlat,  a  son  of  •  Bahader 
Shah ;  and  in  less  than  a  year  deposed  and  put 
him  to  death.  His  brother,  who  by  their 
means  was  also  made  king,  met  with  the  same 
treatment ;  so  that  in  the  course  of  eleven 
years  from  the  death  of  Aurungzebe,  four 
princes  of  his  line  had  ascended  the  throne, 
whilst  six  others  had  met  the  usual  fate  of 
unsuccessful  aspirants  to  that  dignity. 
Mohammed  Shah,  the  grandson  of  Bahader 
Shah,  was  placed  on  the  throne  by  the  Seids 
in  1718,  from  whose  influence  he  contrived 
at  length  to  free  himself,  though  not  without 
a  rebellion  and  a  battle,  in  which  they  were 
both  slain.  In  the  mean  time  Mohammed 
Shah,  wae  deficient  in  the  vigor  which  his 
difficult  situation  required,  and  the  provincial 
governors  at  a  distance  began  to  show  symp 
toms  of  independence.  Nizam-ul-Muluck, 


the  viceroy  of  the  Deccan,  was  the  most  for 
midable  of  those  pretenders  to  sovereignty. 
He  had  reduced  the  provinces  of  Gujerat  and 
Malwah  ;  and  having  paid  a  visit  to  the  im 
perial  court,  and  observed  the  dissolute  ad 
ministration  of  affairs,  he  quitted  the  capital 
in  disgust,  under  pretence  of  a  hunting  excur 
sion,  for  his  government  of  the  Deccan.  He 
was  deprived  of  the  administration  of  Gujeret 
and  Malwah,  the  two  provinces  which  he  had 
'  acquired.  In  revenge  he  encouraged  the 
rulers  of  these  provinces  to  resist  the  imperial 
authority ;  whilst  at  his  instigation  also  the 
Mahrattas  invaded  the  country,  and  after  a 
severe  struggle  succeeded,  about  the  yeai 
1732,  in  completely  reducing  this  long-dis 
puted  territory. 

But  a  more  dreadful  calamity  was  now  im 
pending  over  the  distracted  empire.  The 
sceptre  of  Persia  had  been  long  swayed  by  a 
feeble  race  of  monarchs,  and  the  country  be 
came  an  easy  prey  to  the  hardy  mountaineers 
of  Afghanistan,  who  in  1722  laid  siege  to 
Ispahan,  when  the  feeble  Hussun  Shah  sur 
rendered  the  crown  to  the  invader.  He  had 
a  son  Thamas,  however,  who  escaped  from 
the  general  massacre  which  ensued,  and  who 
was  joined  by  many  partisans,  amongst  others 
by  Nadir,  a  son  of  a  shepherd  of  Khorassan, 
who,  with  his  band  of  followers,  soon  distin 
guished  himself  as  a  brave  and  active  sup 
porter  of  the  fallen  prince.  In  1729  he  retook 
Ispahan,  and  finally,  by  his  talents,  raised 
himself  to  the  throne  of  Persia  in  1730,  hav 
ing  put  out  the  eyes  of  the  unfortunate  son 
of  the  late  monarch.  Being  afterwards  engag 
ed  in  an  expedition  against  the  Afghans,  he 
advanced  to  the  frontier  of  Hindustan,  but 
without  any  ulterior  views  of  hostility,  when 
a  messenger  and  his  escort,  whom  he  had 
dispatched  to  the  emperor  at  Delhi,  were 
murdered  at  Jellaladad  by  the  inhabitants ; 
an  outrage  which  being  approved  by  Moham 
med  Shah,  Nadir  prepared  for  revenge.  He 
gave  up  the  offending  city^to  be  pillaged  by  his 
soldiers ;  and,  advancing  to  Delhi,  was  met  by 
the  imperial  troops, who  were  totally  defeated. 
The  views  of  the  conqueror,  however,  were  not 


88 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


hostile,  and  two  crores  of  rupees  would  have 
purchased  his  retreat  from  Hindustan.  But 
this  amicable  arrangement  was  frustrated  by  a 
dispute  between  Saadut  Khan,  subahdar  of 
Oude,  and  the  nizam  of  the  Deccan,  for  the 
vacant  office  of  Ameer-ul-Omrah,  formerly 
paymaster  of  the  forces.  Saadut  Khan,  the 
disappointed  candidate,  persuaded  Nadir 
Shidi  that  the  proffered  sum  was  no  adequate 
ransom  for  Hindustan  ;  on  which  Nadir  ad 
vanced  to  the  capital,  which,  opened  its  gates 
to  receive  him  ;  and,  for  two  days  thereafter 
the  Persian  troops  observed  the  most  exact 
discipline.  But,  in  the  course  of  the  night, 
a  rumor  was  spread  that  Nadir  was  killed,  on 
which  the  inhabitants  rose  against  their  in 
vaders,  and  massacred  many  of  them.  Na 
dir  took  severe  and  immediate  revenge.  He 
dispersed  liis  irritated  soldiers  throughout  ev 
ery7  quarter  of  the  city,  with  orders  to  spare 
neither  age  nor  sex ;  and,  in  this  indiscrim 
inate  slaughter,  100,000  persons  are  said  to 
have  perished,  while  the  city  was  set  on  fire 
in  several  places.  The  imperial  treasure  was 
plundered;  plate,  jewels,  and  specie,  were 
carried  off  to  the  incredible  amount  of  thir 
ty-two  millions  sterling.  Rich  bankers  and 
others  were  forced  by  torture  to  disclose  their 
hidden  wealth,  and  a  heavy  contribution  of 
thirty  millions  was  imposed  on  the  city  by 
the  relentless  conqueror.  Nadir  Shah  de 
parted  from  Delhi,  of  which  he  had  held  pos 
session  thirty-seven  days,  in  the  year  1739  ; 
and  the  nizam  still  retained  possession  of  the 
whole  power  of  the  empire,  which  he  sacri 
ficed  to  his  own  views  in  the  Deccan,  where 
he  established  an  independent  kingdom.  Na 
dir  Shah  died  in  1747.  In  the  subsequent 
confusion,  the  eastern  provinces  of  Persia, 
and  those  bordering  on  India,  were  formed 
by  Abdalli,  one  of  his  generals,  into  an  inde 
pendent  state,  which  comprised  the  ancient 
empire  of  Ghizni,  and  was  known  under  the 
name  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Abdalli.  Mo 
hammed  Shah  c^ed  the  same  year,  after  a 
reign  of  twenty-nine  years.  Every  day  had 
disclosed  the  growing  weakness  of  the  em 
pire,  and  strong  symptoms  of  its  early  and 


entire  dissolution.  In  1738,  Bengal  became 
independent  under  Aliverdy  Kahn,  and  it 
was  soon  afterwards  invaded  by  a  numerous 
army  of  Mahrattas  from  Poonah  and  Berar. 
About  the  same  time,  the  Rohillas,  a  tribe 
from,  the  mountains  which  separate  India 
from  Persia,  erected  an  independent  state  on 
the  Ganges,  within  eighty  miles  of  Delhi. 
Mohammed  Shah  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Ahmed  Shah,  and,  in  the  reign  of  the  latter, 
the  Mogul  empire  was  finally  dismembered. 
A  small  territory  around  Delhi  was  all  that 
remained  to  the  house  of  Timur,  and  it  was 
the  scene  of  devastation,  massacres,  and 
famine.  The  last  imperial  army  that  ever 
assembled  was  defeated  in  1749  by  the  Ro- 
hillas. 

In  1753  the  Emperor  Ahmed  Shah  was 
deposed  by  Gazi,  the  son  of  Gazi  o'Dien, 
vizir  to  Mohammed  Shah,  who  placed  on  the 
throne  Allumguire  II.,  grandson  of  Bahadcr 
Shah,  and  invested  himself  with  the  office  of 
His  perfidious  cooduct  to  the  family 


vizir. 


of  the  viceroy  of  the  provinces  of  Moultan 
and  Lahore,  under  Abdalli,  the  king  of  the 
Afghans,  involved  the  emperor  in  a  quarrel 
with  that  powerful  prince,  who  advanced 
from  Candahar  to  Lahore,  and  thence  to  Del 
hi,  the  gates  of  which  were  opened  by  the 
feeble  emperor,  and  the  defenceless  city  aban 
doned  for  weeks  to  a  licentious  soldiery. 
After  the  retreat  of  the  Abdallis,  the  vizir 
advanced  with  an  army  to  Delhi,  which  he 
entered  after  a  siege  of  forty-five  days.  The 
Mogul  emperor  was  now  reduced  to  the  most 
abject  state  of  dependence,  and  was  at  last 
assassinated  by  order  of  the  vizir,  who  was 
irritated  by  his  correspondence  with  the  Af 
ghan  monarch  Abdalli  Shah,  the  Kohillas, 
and  the  nabob  of  Oude,  with  whom  he  him 
self  was  at  war.  His  son  took  the  title  of 
Shah  Aulum ;  he  escaped  from  Delhi  when 
it  was  besieged  by  the  vizir,  and,  after  a  se 
ries  of  misfortunes,  at  last  surrendered  to  the 
British,  who  gave  him  an  asylum,  and  a  pen 
sion  for  his  support ;  and  with  him,  the  last 
of  the  Mogul  sovereigns  who  enjoyed  inde 
pendent  power,  closes  for  ever  the  glory  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


.,hi8  renowned  empire.  In  the  meantime, 
amidst  anarchy  and  desolation,  the  Mahrat 
tas  were  daily  increasing  in  power ;  they  were 
engaged  in  every  scene  of  politics  and  war 
fare,  from  Gujerat  to  Bengal,  and  from  Lahore 
to  the  Carnatic;  they  possessed  extensive 
sway  and  vast  armies ;  and  their  ambition  was 
now  to  reconstruct  a  new  Hindu  empire  out 
of  the  decayed  fragments  of  the  Mogul 
power.  The  rising  influence  of  the  Afghans 
under  the  rigorous  sway  of  Abdalli  was  the 
only  obstacle  to  this  patriotic  or  ambitious 
scheme ;  and  the  Mahrattas,  in  the  progress 
of  their  conquests  northward,  encountered 
for  the  first  time  their  great  rival  for  the  do 
minion  of  India.  Ahmed  Abdalli,  king  of 
the  Afghans,  was  taken  prisoner  when  very 
young  by  Nadir  Shah ;  he  was  first  his  slave, 
afterwards  his  mace-bearer,  and  at  his  death, 
having  collected  a  body  of  troops  and  other 
adventurers,  he  proceeded  to  his  own  coun 
try,  and  proclaimed  himself  king  of  the  Af 
ghans,  with  the  title  of  Doordowran,  or  pearl 
of  the  ago,  which  was  corrupted  into  that  of 
Dooranee,  and  became  the  name  of  one  of 
the  Afghan  tribes,  Ahmed  had  extended 
his  dominion  over  the  frontier  provinces  of 
Moultan  and  Lahore,  which,  in  retiring  from 
India,  he  had  left  under  the  administration 
of  his  son.  These  provinces  were  first  in 
vaded  by  the  Sikhs,  and  afterwards  by  the 
Mahratta  generals,  who  advanced  to  Lahore 
and  expelled  the  Abdalli  prince,  and  after 
wards  extended  their  conquests  to  the  Indus. 
Ahmed  Shah,  roused  by  the  loss  of  his  prov 
inces  and  the  dishonor  of  his  arms,  collected 
his  troops  and  encountered  the  Mahratta 
army,  amounting  to  80,000  veteran  cavalry, 
which  was  almost  entirely  destroyed,  and  the 
general  Duttah  Sindia  slain.  The  news  of 
this  defeat  spread  alarm  among  the  Mahrat- 
tas,  and  roused  them  to  the  greatest  exer 
tions.  A  vast  army  took  the  field,  and  being 
unable  to  cross  the  Jumna,  still  swollen  by 
the  rains,  proceeded  to  plunder  Delhi,  the 
capital.  Ahmed  Shah,  with  150,000  well- 
disciplined  troops,  now  advanced,  and,  in  his 
impatience  to  meet  the  enemy,  plunged  with 
12 


his  whole  army  into  the  foaming  waves  of 
the  Jumna,  which  he  crossed  in  safety.  The 
Mahrattas,  struck  by  this  daring  exploit,  re 
tired  to  the  plain  of  Paniput,  and  the  armies 
continued  in  sight  of  each  other  from  the 
26th  October  to  the  27th  January,  1761,  dur- 
ing  which  interval  several  bloody  skirmishes 
took  place.  On  this  latter  day  was  fought 
the  battle  of  Paniput,  one  of  the  most  deci 
sive  and  sanguinary  recorded  in  history. 
The  Mahrattas  were  overthrown  with  a 
dreadful  carnage.  This  great  battle  gave  an 
irreparable  blow  to  the  Mahratta  power, 
which  from  this  time  sensibly  declined,  and 
the  victorious  Abdalli  sought  no  other  fruit 
of  his  victory.  He  returned  to  his  capital 
after  remaining  a  few  months  at  Delhi,  hav 
ing  recognized  the  grandson  of  Allumguire 
as  emperor,  under  the  title  of  Shah  Aulum 
the  Second. 

A  new  scene  was  now  about  to  open  in 
India.  The  Europeans,  who  as  traders  had 
long  maintained  establishments  on  the  coasts, 
began  to  assume  an  entirely  different  char 
acter;  to  contend  with  each  other  in  the 
field  for  dominion,  and  to  mingle  in  all  the 
wars  and  politics  of  the  interior.  It  was 
necessary  for  carrying  on  the  domestic  trade 
of  India,  and  more  especially  in  providing 
goods  for  the  supply  of  Europe,  that  a  body 
of  experienced  servants  should  reside  on  the 
spot,  in  order  to  collect  and  to  purchase  com 
modities  for  exportation;  an  employment 
which,  owing  to  the  poverty  and  abject  state 
of  the  natives,  and  their  peculiar  customs, 
involved  duties  of  the  most  minute  and  labo 
rious  detail.  During  the  decline  of  the  Mo 
gul  government,  the  tranquillity  of  India  was 
frequently  shaken  by  the  contentions  of  ri 
val  chiefs ;  and  the  slight  security  afforded, 
even  in  the  best  times  to  commerce,  became 
in  this  manner  more  imperfect.  For  the  re 
ception  of  the  goods  which  it  was  necessary 
to  collect  and  store  up,  that  cargoes  might  al 
ways  be  in  readiness  for  the  Company's  ships, 
warehouses  were  built,  which,  with  the  count 
ing-houses  and  other  apartments  for  the 
agents  and  business  of  the  place,  constituted 


90 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD 


the  factories  of  the  Company.  These  facto 
ries  contained  a  valuable  store  of  property, 
which,  in  the  disordered  state  of  India,  it  be 
came  necessary  to  secure  from  the  rapacity 
both  of  governments  and  of  individuals. 
They  were,  therefore,  strongly  built  and  for 
tified  ;  their  inmates  were  armed  and  discip 
lined  ;  and,  for  better  security,  regular  troops 
were  occasionally  maintained  in  those  mer 
cantile  garrisons.  In  these  defensive  arrange 
ments  of  the  Company  we  may  discern  the 
rudiments  of  their  future  empire. 

In  1784,  France  and  England,  from  being 
auxiliaries,  became  principals  in  the  war 
which  was  then  raging  in  Europe,  and  the 
flame  soon  communicated  to  their  distant  col 
onies.  In  India  the  two  rival  powers  were 
quickly  involved  in  hostilities,  which,  how 
ever,  were-  followed  by  no  important  result ; 
and  the  English  settlement  of  Madras,  which 
had  been  taken  by  the  French  kiug,  was  res 
tored  at  the  peace  of  Aix-la-chapelle.  It  was 
soon  after  this  that  the  French  and  English, 
in  supporting  the  contending  claims  of  the 
native  princes,  again  came  into  collision.  At 
the  respective  settlement  of  the  two  Compa 
nies,  the  number  of  troops  assembled  during 
the  previous  war  was  greater  than  was  neces 
sary  for  defense,  and  the  servants  of  the  Com 
panies,  with  such  means  at  their  disposal,  now 
began  to  meditate  schemes  of  conquest. 
The  intricacies  of  Indian  politics,  and  the 
family  connexions  of  the  different  claimants 
who  contended  for  power  and  dominion,  need 
not  be  described  in  detail,  as  it  would  neither 
be  instructive  nor  acceptable  to  the  general 
reader.  A  brief  sketch  is  all  that  will  be 
necessary  to  explain-  the  nature  of  those  tran 
sactions  which  so  deeply  affected  the  future 
condition  of  India,  and  the  relations  of  the 
parties  engaged  in  them. 

In  1748  the  Nizam  Al  Mulck  died,  at  the 
age  of  104,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Nazir  Jung,  to  the  prejudice  of  liis  elder 
brother  Gazi,  vizir  to  the  nominal  emperor. 
The  contest  that  followed  on  this  occasion, 
for  the  throne  of  the  Deccan  and  the  nabob- 
ship  of  Arcot,  first  engaged  the  British  and 


French  to  act  as  auxiliaries  on  opposite  sides. 
Immediately  after  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chap- 
elle,  the  French  commandant,  M.  Dupleix, 
began  to  sow  dissension  among  the  nabobs, 
who  had  by  this  time  usurped  the  sovereignty 
of  the  country. 

On  this  occasion  Mr.  (afterwards  lord) 
Clive  first  appeared  in  a  military  capacity. 
He  had  been  employed  before  as  a  writer, 
but  seemed  very  little  qualified  for  that  de 
partment  of  civil  life.  He  now  marched 
towards  Arcot  at  the  head  of  210  Europeans 
and  500  Sepoys  ;  and  in  his  first  expedition 
displayed  the  qualities  of  a  great  commander. 
His  movements  were  conducted  with  such 
secresy  and  despatch,  that  he  made  himself 
master  of  the  enemy's  capital  before  they 
knew  of  his  march ;  and  gained  the  affections 
of  the  people  by  his  generosity,  in  affording 
protection  without  ransom.  In  a  short  time, 
however,  he  found  himself  invested  in  Fort 
St.  David's  by  Rajah  Saib,  son  to  Chunda 
Saib,  an  Indian  chief,  pretender  to  the  nabob- 
ship  of  Arcot,  at  the  head  of  a  numerous 
army  ;  the  operations  of  the  siege  being  con 
ducted  by  European  engineers.  But  Mr. 
Clive,  having  intelligence  of  the  intended 
attack,  defended  himself  with  such  vigor, 
that  the  assailants  were  everywhere  repulsed 
with  loss,  and  obliged  precipitately  to  raise 
the  siege.  He  then  marched  in  quest  of  the 
enemy ;  and,  having  overtaken  them  in  the 
plains  of  Arani,  attacked  and  entirely  de 
feated  them.  This  victory  was  followed  by 
the  surrender  of  the  forts  of  Timery,  Con- 
javeram,  and  Arani ;  after  which,  he  returned 
in  triumph  to  Fort  St.  David's.  In  the  be 
ginning  of  1752,  he  marched  towards  Madras, 
where  he  was  reinforced  by  a  small  body  of 
troops  from  Bengal.  Though  the  whole  did 
not  exceed  300  Europeans,  with  as  many  na 
tives  as  were  sufficient  to  give  the  appearance 
of  an  army,  he  boldly  proceeded  to  a  place 
called  Koveripank,  about  fifteen  miles  from 
Arcot,  where  the  enemy  '  ay  to  the  number  of 
1,500  Sepoys,  1  700  horse,  with  150  Euro 
peans,  and  eight  pieces  of  cannon.  Yictory 
was  long  doubtful,  until  Mr.  Clive  having 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


91 


sent  round  a  detachment  to  fall  upon  the  rear 
of  the  enemy,  while  the  English  attacked  the 
entrenchments  in  front  with  their  bayonets,  a 
general  confusion  ensued,  the  enemy  was 
routed  with  considerable  slaughter,  and  only 
saved  from  total  destruction  by  the  darkness 
of  the  night.  The  French  to  a  man  threw 
down  their  arms  on  this  occasion,  and  surren 
dered  themselves  prisoners  of  war;  all  the 
baggage  and  cannon  falling  at  the  same  time 
into  the  hands  of  the  victors. 

M.  Dupleix,  mortified  at  this  bad  success, 
proclaimed  Rajah  Saib,  son  of  Chunda  Saib, 
nabob  of  Arcot ;  and  afterwards  produced 
forged  commissions  from  the  Great  Mogul, 
appointing  him  governor  of  all  the  Carnatic 
from  the  Kristnah  to  the  sea. 

Next  year  both  parties  received  consider 
able  reinforcements  ;  the  English  by  the 
arrival  of  Admiral  Watson  with  a  squadron 
of  ships  of  war,  having  on  board  a  regiment 
commanded  by  Colonel  Aldercroon ;  and  the 
French  by  M.  Gadeheu,  commissary  and  gov 
ernor-general  of  all  their  settlements,  on 
whose  arrival  M.  Dupleix  departed  for  Eu 
rope  ;  and  a  provisional  treaty  and  truce 
were  concluded,  on  condition  that  neither  of 
the  two  companies  should  for  the  future  in 
terfere  in  any  of  the  differences  that  might 
take  place  in  the  country. 

Matters,  however,  did  not  long  continue  in 
a  state  of  tranquillity.  Early  in  1755  it 
appeared  that  the  French  were  endeavoring 
to  get  possession  of  all  the  Deccan.  M.  Bussy, 
the  successor  of  Dupleix,  demanded  the  for 
tress  of  Galconda  from  Salabat  Zing ;  and  M. 
Leyrit  encouraged  the  governor,  who  rented 
Yelu  to  take  up  arms  against  the  nabob.  He 
even  sent  300  French  and  as  many  Sepoys 
from  Pondicherry  to  support  this  rebel,  and 
oppose  the  English  employed  by  the  nabob  to 
collect  his  revenue  from  the  tributary  princes. 

Alverdi  Khan,  an  able  and  prudent  sub- 
ahdar,  who  had  for  fifteen  years  been  nabob 
of  Bengal,  Bahar,  and  Orissa,  having  died  in 
1756,  Surajah  Dowla  succeeded  to  the  nabob- 
ship.  He  was  congratulated  on  his  accession 
by  Mr.  Drake,  the  English  president  at  Cal 


cutta,  and  readily  promised  protection  to  his 
countrymen ;  but  he  soon  after  took  offence 
at  the  imprisonment  of  Omichund,  an  emi 
nent  Gentoo  merchant,  who  had  live'd  several 
years  under  the  protection  of  the  English 
government.  Of  this  circumstance,  however, 
Surajah  did  not  directly  complain;  but 
founded  his  pretence  of  war  upon  the  con 
duct  of  the  English  in  repairing  the  fortifica 
tions  of  Calcutta ;  which,  indeed,  was  abso 
lutely  necessary,  on  account  of  the  great 
probability  of  a  war  with  the  French.  The 
nabob,  however,  threatened  an  attack  if  the 
works  were  not  instantly  demolished.  With 
this  requisition  the  president  and  council 
pretended  to  comply  ;  but  they  nevertheless 
went  on  with  them.  Surajah  Dowla  took 
the  field  on  May  30,  1756,  with  an  army  of 
40,000  foot,  30,000  horse,  and  400  elephants ; 
and  on  June  2,  detached  20,000  men  to  in 
vest  the  fort  at  Cassumbaza,  a  large  town  on 
an  island  formed  by  the  west  branch  of  the 
Ganges.  This  fort  was  regularly  built,  with 
sixty  camion,  and  defended  by  three  hundred 
men,  principally  sepoys.  The  nabob  pre 
tending  a  desire  to  treat,  Mr.  Watts,  the 
chief  of  the  factory,  was  persuaded  to  put 
himself  in  his  power;  which  he  had  no 
sooner  done  than  he  was  made  a  close  pris 
oner,  along  with  Mr.  Batson,  a  surgeon,  who 
accompanied  him.  The  two  prisoners  were 
treated  with  great  indignity,  and  threatened 
with  death ;  but  two  of  the  council  who  had 
been  sent  for  by  the  tyrant's  command  were 
sent  back  again,  with  orders  to  persuade  the 
people  of  the  factory  to  surrender  at  discre 
tion.  This  proposal  met  with  great  opposi 
tion  ;  but  was  at  last  complied  with,  though 
very  little  to  the  advantage  of  the  prisoners ; 
for  they  were  not  only  deprived  of  everything 
they  possessed,  but  stripped  almost  naked, 
and  sent  to  Hoogly,  where  they  were  closely 
confined.  The  nabob,  encouraged  by  thip 
success,  marched  directly  to  Calcutta,  wliich 
he  invested  on  the  15th. 

It  was  impossible  that  the  garrison  could 
long  defend  themselves  against  the  great 
force  brought  against  it ;  little  or  QO  attempt 


92 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


was,  therefore,  made  at  resistance ;  the  fort 
was  consequently  soon  taken,  and  the  effects 
of  the  factory  destroyed.  Many  of  the  Eng 
lish  escaped  in  boats  and  ships  down  the 
river,  but  many  were  taken;  of  these  146 
were  confined  for  the  night  in  a  room  twenty 
feet  square,  named  the  Black  Hole,  and 
which  the  English  had  made  for  a  place  of 
confinement.  The  dreadful  heat  and  want 
of  air  quickly  deprived  some  of  existence; 
others  lost  their  reason,  and  expired  raving 
mad ;  their  entreaties  and  offers  of  money  to 
their  guards  to  give  them  water,  or  to  re 
move  them,  were  mocked  at  or  disregarded ; 
and  when  the  door  of  the  dungeon  was  open 
ed  next  morning,  only  twenty-three  were 
taken  out  alive.  Having  plundered  the 
town,  Surajah  Dowla  departed,  leaving  in  it 
a  garrison  of  3,000  men. 

The  news  of  this  disaster  put  an  end  to 
the  expedition  projected  against  M.  Bussy ; 
and  Colonel  Cli ve  was  instantly  despatched 
to  Bengal  with  400  Europeans  and  1,000  se 
poys,  on  board  of  the  fleet  commanded  by 
Admiral  "Watson.  They  did  not  arrive  till 
December  15  at  a  village  called  Fulta,  situ 
ated  on  a  branch  of  the  Ganges,  where  the 
inhabitants  of  Calcutta  had  taken  refuge 
after  their  misfortune.  Their  first  operations 
were  against  the  forts  of  Busbudgla,  Tanna, 
Fort  William,  and  Calcutta,  now  in  the  hands 
of  the  enemy.  All  these  were  reduced  al 
most  as  soon  as  they  approached  them. 
Hoogly,  the  place  of  rendezvous  for  all  na 
tions  who  traded  to  Bengal  (its  warehouses 
and  shops  being  always  filled  with  the  rich 
est  merchandise  of  the  country),  was  likewise 
reduced  and  destroyed,  with  the  granaries 
and  storehouses  of  salt  on  each  side  of  the 
river.  This  proved  very  detrimental  to  the 
nabob,  by  depriving  him  of  the  means  of 
subsistence  for  his  army. 

Surajah  Dowla,  enraged  at  the  success  of 
the  English,  now  seemed  determined  to  crush 
them  at  once  by  a  general  engagement. 
From  this,  however,  he  was  intimidated  by  a 
successful  attack  on  his  camp,  which  induced 
him  to  conclude  a  treaty  on  February  9, 1757, 


on  the  following  conditions: — 1.  That  the 
privileges  granted  to  the  English  by  the  Mo 
gul  should  not  be  disputed ;  2.  That  all  goods 
with  English  orders  should  pass  by  land  or 
water,  free  of  any  tax ;  3.  All  the  company's 
factories  which  had  been  seized  by  the  nabob 
should  be  restored;  and  the  goods,  money, 
and  effects  accounted  for ;  4.  That  the  Eng 
lish  should  have  liberty  to  fortify  Calcutta  ; 
and  5.  To  coin  their  own  gold  and  silver. 

As  intelligence  was  now  received  of  a  war 
between  France  and  England,  an  attack  was 
meditated  on  Chandernagore.  It  remained, 
therefore,  only  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the 
nabob  ;  but  in  ten  days  after  the  conclusion 
of  the  treaty,  he  sent  a  letter  to  Admiral 
Watson,  complaining  of  his  intention,  and 
surmising  that  the  English  conspired  to  turn 
their  arms  against  him  as  soon  as  they  made 
themselves  masters  of  Chandernagore.  This 
was  strenuously  denied  by  the  admiral ;  and 
a  number  of  letters  passed,  in  which  the 
latter  made  use  of  expressions  which  were 
supposed  to  imply  a  tacit  consent  that  Chan 
dernagore  should  be  attacked.  An  attack 
was  therefore  made,  and  it  soon  capitulated. 
This  intelligence,  however,  seemed  to  be  by 
no  means  agreeable  to  Surajah  Dowla.  He  pre 
tended  displeasure  on  account  of  the  English 
infringing  the  treaties,  and  complained  that 
they  had  ravaged  some  parts  of  liis  dominions. 
Tliis  was  denied  by  the  admiral ;  but  from 
this  time  both  parties  made  preparations  for 
war.  The  nabob  returned  no  answer  till  the 
13th  of  June,  when  he  sent  a  declaration  of 
war.  The  English  council  at  Calcutta  now 
resolved  on  the  deposition  of  the  nabob; 
which  at  this  time  appeared  practicable,  by 
supporting  the  pretensions  of  Meer  Jaftier 
Ali  Khan,  who  had  entered  into  a  conspiracy 
against  him.  Meer  Jaftier  had  married  the 
sister  of  Alverdi  Khan,  the  predecessor  of 
Surajah  ;  and  was  now  supported  in  his  pre 
tensions  by  the  general  of  the  horse,  and  by 
Jugget  Sect,  the  nabob's  banker,  the  richest 
merchant  in  all  India. 

Colonel  Clive  began  his  march  against  Su 
rajah  Dowla  on  the  13th  of  June.  The  de» 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


98 


action  at  Plassey  followed  (June  23), 
in  which  the  treachery  of  Meer  Jaflier,  who 
commanded  part  of  the  nabob's  troops,  and 
stood  neuter  during  the  engagement,  ren 
dered  the  victory  easy.  At  daybreak  the 
nabol  ;s  army  of  15,000  horse  and  15,000 
foot  advanced  to  attack  the  English,  dive's 
troops  were  posted  in  a  grove  defended  by 
mud-banks.  After  cannonading  them  till 
noon,  the  enemy  retired  to  their  fortified 
camp ;  and  shortly  after,  Olive  stormed  an 
angle  of  it,  put  them  to  the  rout,  and  pur 
sued  them  for  a  space  of  six  miles.  The  un 
fortunate  nabob  fled  to  his  capital,  but  left  it 
the  following  evening  disguised  like  a  fakir, 
with  only  tAvo  attendants.  By  these  he  ap 
pears  to  have  been  abandoned  and  even 
robbed  ;  for  on  the  3rd  of  July  he  was  found 
wandering  forsaken  and  almost  naked  on  the 
road  to  Patna.  Next  day  he  was  brought 
back  to  Muxadabad,  and  a  few  hours  after 
privately  beheaded  by  Meer  Jaffier's  eldest 
son. 

Meer  Jaffier  and  his  English  allies  now 
took  possession  of  the  capital  in  triumph. 
On  the  29th  of  June,  Colonel  Clive  went  to 
the  palace,  and,' in  presence  of  the  rajahs  and 
grandees  of  the  court,  solemnly  handed  him 
to  the  musnud  (or  carpet)  and  throne  of  state. 
where  he  was  unanimously  sainted  subahdar, 
or  nabob,  and  received  the  submission  of  all 
present.  While  these  transactions  were  going 
forward,  the  utmost  efforts  were  used  to  ex 
pel  the  French  entirely  from  Bengal.  It 
had  all  along,  indeed,  been  the  opinion  of 
Clive  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  French 
and  the  English  to  coexist  in  India. 

Both  parties  now  received  considerable  re 
inforcements  from  Europe  ;  Admiral  Pocock 
being  joined  on  the  24th  of  March  by  Com 
modore  Stevens  with  a  squadron  of  five  men- 
of-war  and  two  frigates.  The  British  admi 
ral  went  in  quest  of  the  French  fleet,  and  an 
engagement  took  place,  in  which  the  French 
were  defeated  with  the  loss  of  600  killed  and 
a  great  number  wounded. 

In  the  treaty  concluded  by  Clive  with  the 
Hew  subahdar,  it  was  stipulated  that  one  hun 


dred  lacs  of  rupees  should  be  paid  to  the  East 
India  Company  for  their  losses  and  the  ex 
penses  of  the  campaign,  with  compensation 
to  all  the  sufferers  at  the  taking  of  Calcutta ; 
the  company  was  also  to  have  the  zemindary 
(or  right  of  farming  the  produce  of  the  soil 
claimed  by  the  crown)  of  a  tract  of  country 
to  the  south  of  that  city.  The  subahdar  was 
also  profuse  in  his  donations  to  those  to  whom 
he  was  indebted  for  his  throne.  His  gifts  to 
Clive  amounted  to  180,OOOZ;  and  however 
much  the  latter  may  have  been  censured  at 
the  time  for  receiving  a  reward  from  the 
subahdar,  he  was  justified  by  the  usages  of 
Asia,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  he 
should  refuse  a  gift  from  the  prince  whom  he 
had  so  greatly  benefited. 

The  remainder  of  the  year  1759  proved 
entirely  favorable  to  the  British  arms. 
D'Ache,  the  French  admiral,  who  had  been 
very  roughly  handled  by  Admiral  Pocock  on 
the  3rd  of  August  1758,  having  refitted  his 
fleet,  and  being  reinforced  by  three  men-of- 
war  at  the  islands  of  Mauritius  and  Bourbon, 
now  ventured  once  more  to  face  his  antago 
nist.  A  third  battle  ensued  on  the  10th  of 
September  1759,  when  the  French,  notwith 
standing  their  superiority  both  in  number  of 
ships  and  weight  of  metal,  were  obliged  tc 
retreat  with  considerable  loss,  having  1,500 
men  killed  and  wounded,  while  those  on 
board  the  English  fleet  did  not  exceed  570. 
By  the  17th  of  October  the  British  fleet  was 
completely  refitted ;  and  Admiral  Pocock, 
having  been  joined  by  a  reinforcement  of 
four  men-of-war,  soon  after  returned  to  Eng 
land.  All  this  time  the  unfortunate  General 
Lally  had  been  employed  in  unsuccessful  en 
deavors  to  retrieve  the  affairs  of  his  country 
men  ;  but  his  fate  was  at  last  decided  by 
laying  siege  to  Wandewash,  which  had  lately 
been  taken  by  Colonel  Coote.  The  advan 
tage  in  number  was  entirely  in  favor  of  the 
French  general ;  the  British  army  consisting 
only  of  1,700  Europeans,  including  artillery 
and  cavalry,  while  the  French  amounted  to 
2,200  Europeans.  The  auxiliaries  on  the 
English  side  were  3,000  black  troops,  while 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


those  of  the  French  amounted  to  10,000  black 
troops  and  300  Caffres ;  nor  was  the  differ 
ence  less  in  proportion  in  the  artillery,  the 
English  bringing  into  the  field  only  fourteen 
pieces  of  cannon,  and  one  howitzer,  while 
the  French  had  twenty-five  pieces  in  the  field 
and  five  on  their  batteries  against  the  fort. 
The  battle  began  at  noon  (Jan.  22, 1760),  and 
in  three  hours  the  whole  French  army  fled  to 
wards  their  camp ;  but  quitted  it  on  finding 
themselves  pursued  by  the  English,  who  took 
all  their  cannon  except  three  small  pieces. 
They  collected  themselves  under  the  walls  of 
Cheltaput,  about  eighteen  miles  from  the  field 
of  battle,  and  soon  after  retired  to  Pondicherry. 
Colonel  Coote  now  caused  the  country  to 
be  wasted  to  the  very  gates  of  this  fortress, 
by  way  of  retaliation  for  what  the  French 
had  done  in  the  neighborhood  of  Madras. 
He  then  set  about  the  siege  of  Cheltaput, 
which  surrendered  in  one  day ;  a  considera 
ble  detachment  of  the  enemy  was  intercepted 
by  Captain  Smith  ;  the  fort  of  Timmery  was 
reduced  by  Major  Monson,  and  the  city  of 
Arcot  by  Captain  "Wood.  This  last  conquest 
enabled  the  British  to  restore  the  nabob  to 
his  dominions,  of  which  he  had  been  deprived 
by  the  French,  and  it  greatly  weakened  both 
the  French  force  and  interest  in  India.  M. 
Lally,  in  the  meantime  had  recalled  his  forces 
from  Syringham,  by  which  means  he  aug 
mented  his  army  with  500  Europeans.  These 
were  now  shut  up  in  Pondicherry,  which  was 
become  the  last  hope  of  the  French  in  India. 
To  complete  their  misfortunes,  Admiral  Cor 
nish  arrived  at  Madras  with  six  men-of-war ; 
and,  as  the  French  had  now  no  fleet  in  these 
parts,  the  admiral  readily  engaged  to  co-op 
erate  with  the  land  forces.  The  consequence 
was  the  reduction  of  Carical,  Chellambrum, 
and  Yerdachellum,  by  a  strong  detachment 
under  Major  Monson  ;  Tihile  Colonel  Coote 
reduced  Pcrmacoil,  Almamverpa,  and  Wai- 
dour,  lie  was  thus  at  last  enabled  to  lay 
Biege  to  Pondicherry  itself;  and  the  place 
capitulated  on  the  15th  of  January  1761,  by 
which  an  end  was  put  to  the  power  of  the 
French  in  this  part  of  the  world. 


While  the  British  were  thus  employed, 
Meer  Jaffier,  the  nabob  of  Bengal,  who  had 
been  raised  to  that  dignity  by  the  ruin  of  Sur- 
ajah  Dowla,  found  himself  in  a  very  disa 
greeable  situation.  The  treasure  of  the  late 
nabob  had  been  valued  at  sixty-four  crore  of 
rupees,  (about  80,000,OOOZ.  sterling),  and  in 
expectation  of  this  sum,  Meer  Jaftier  had 
submitted  to  the  exactions  of  the  English. 
On  his  accession  to  the  government,  however, 
the  treasure  of  which  he  became  master  fell 
so  much  short  of  expectation,  that  he  could 
not  fulfill  his  engagements  to  them,  and  wag 
reduced  to  the  extremity  of  mortgaging  his 
revenues.  In  this  dilemma  his  grandees  be 
came  factious  and  discontented,  his  army  mu 
tinous  for  want  of  pay,  and  himself  odious 
to  his  subjects.  To  this  it  may  be  added, 
that  Mr.  Vansittart,  the  successor  of  Clive, 
who  knew  but  little  of  the  merits  of  the  res 
pective  parties,  was  willing  to  conclude  a 
treaty  with  Cossim  Ali,  the  nabob's  son-in- 
law,  for  his  dethronement ;  by  which  the 
provinces  of  Burdwan,  Nidnapore,  and  Chit- 
tagong  were  to  be  made  over  to  the  Company, 
and  large  rewards  given  to  the  members  of 
council. 

Meer  Cossim  was  accordingly  raised  to  the 
musnud;  and  the  old  nabob  was  hurried  in 
to  a  boat  with  a  few  of  his  domestics  and 
necessaries,  and  sent  away  to  Calcutta  in  a 
manner  wholly  unworthy  of  the  high  rank 
he  BO  lately  held.  So  unblushingly,  indeed, 
was  the  whole  of  this  affair  conducted,  that 
the  servants  of  the  company  who  were  the 
projectors  of  the  revolution,  made  no  secret 
that  there  was  a  present  promised  them  of 
twenty  lacs  of  rupees  from  Cossim,  who  was 
desirous  of  making  the  first  act  of  his  power 
the  assassination  of  Jaffier;  and  was  very 
much  displeased  when  he  found  that  the  Eng 
lish  intended  giving  him  protection  at  Cal« 
cntta. 

It  could  scarcely  be  supposed  that  Meer 
Cossim,  raised  to  the  nabobship  in  this  man 
ner,  would  be  more  faithful  to  the  English 
than  Meer  Jaffier  had  been.  Nothing  ad 
vantageous  to  the  interests  of  the  C  unpany 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


95 


could  indeed  be  reasonably  expected  from 
such  a  revolution.  No  successor  of  Meer 
Jaffier  could  be  more  entirely  in  subjection 
than  the  late  nabob,  from  his  natural  imbe 
cility,  had  been.  This  last  consideration  had 
induced  many  of  the  council  at  first  to  op 
pose  the  revolution ;  and,  indeed,  the  only 
plausible  pretence  for  it  was,  that  the  admin 
istration  of  Meer  JaiSer  was  so  very  weak, 
that,  unless  he  was  aided  and  even  controlled 
by  some  persons  of  ability,  he  himself  must 
soon  be  ruined,  and  very  probably  the  interests 
of  the  Company  along  with  him.  Meer  Cos- 
sim,  however,  was  a  man  of  a  very  different 
disposition  from  his  father-in-law.  As  he 
knew  that  he  had  not  been  served  by  the 
English  out  of  friendship,  so  he  did  not  think 
of  making  any  return  out  of  gratitude  ;  but, 
instead  of  this,  considered  only  how  he  could 
most  easily  break  with  such  troublesome  al 
lies.  For  a  while,  however,  it  was  necessary 
for  him  to  take  all  the  advantage  he  could 
of  his  alliance  with  them.  By  their  assist 
ance  he  cleared  his  dominions  of  invaders, 
and  strengthened  his  frontiers,  and  he  re 
duced  the  rajahs  who  had  rebelled  against 
his  predecessor,  obliging  them  to  pay  the 
usual  tribute  ;  by  which  means  he  repaired 
his  finances,  and  thereby  secured  the  fidelity 
of  his  troops. 

Having  thus,  by  the  assistance  of  the  Eng 
lish,  brought  his  government  into  subjection, 
he  took  the  most  effectual  means  of  securing 
himself  against  their  power.  As  the  vicin 
ity  of  his  capital  Muxadabud  to  Calcutta 
gave  the  English  factory  there  an  opportunity 
of  inspecting  his  actions,  and  interrupting  his 
designs  when  they  thought  proper,  he  took  up 
his  residence  at  Mongheer,  a  place  200  miles 
farther  up  the  Ganges  which  he  fortified  in 
the  best  and  most  expeditious  manner.  Sen 
sible  of  the  advantages  of  the  European  dis 
cipline,  he  now  resolved  to  new  model  his  ar 
my.  For  this  purpose  he  collected  all  the 
Armenian,  Persian,  Tartar,  and  other  soldiers 
of  fortune,  whose  military  characters  might 
serve  to  raise  the  spirits  of  his  Indian  forces, 
and  abate  their  natural  timidity.  He  also 


collected  all  the  wandering  Europeans  who 
had  borne  arms,  and  the  sepoys  who  had  been 
dismissed  from  the  English  service,  and  dis 
tributed  them  among  his  troops.  He  chang 
ed  the  fashion  of  the  Indian  match-locks  to 
muskets,  and  made  many  excellent  improve 
ments  in  the  discipline  of  his  army.  But 
it  was  soon  discovered  that  all  the  pains  tak 
en  by  Meer  Cossim  to  discipline  his  troops 
had  not  rendered  them  able  to  cope  with  the 
Europeans.  Several  acts  of  treacherous  hos 
tility  on  his  part  were  followed  by  a  formal 
declaration  of  war  ;  and  several  engagements 
took  place,  in  all  of  which  the  British  army 
proved  victorious,  and  Cossim's  army  retreat 
ed.  His  active  enemy  accordingly  pene 
trated  into  the  heart  of  his  territories,  crossed 
the  numerous  branches  of  the  Ganges,  and 
traversed  morasses  and  forests  in  search  of  the 
native  foe.  At  length  the  two  armies  met  on 
the  banks  of  a  river  called  Kunas  Xullas,  Au 
gust  2d,  1763.  Cossim  had  chosen  his  post 
with  great  judgment,  and  his  forces  had  much 
of  the  appearance  of  a  European  army,  not 
only  in  their  arms  and  accoutrements,  but  in 
their  division  into  brigades,  and  even  in  their 
clothing.  The  battle  was  more  obstinate  than 
usual,  being  continued  for  four  hours :  but, 
though  the  Indian  army  consisted  of  no  few 
er  than  20,000  horse  and  8,000  foot,  the  Eng 
lish  proved  in  the  end  victorious,  and  the  en 
emy  were  obliged  to  quit  the  field  with  the 
loss  of  all  their  cannon. 

It  is  impossible  for  us  to  pursue  this  history 
of  Anglo-Indian  warfare  into  all  its  details. 
j  Our  readers  must,  therefore,  be  content  with 
rapid  descriptions  or  passing  remarks,  as  may 
happen,  in  the  narration  of  events  sufficiently 
important  in  themselves  to  require  a  length 
ened  notice  in  works  of  magnitude  wholly 
devoted  to  'the  subject.  We  pass  on,  then, 
by  observing  that  Meer  Cossim  was  subdued 
and  deposed ;  and  that  Meer  Jaffier  was  once 
more  seated  on  the  musnud.  His  reign  was. 
however,  very  short;  and,  on  his  death, 
the  council  of  Calcutta  raised  to  it  his  son, 
Nujum-ud-Dowla,  making  him  pay,  as  usual, 
a  large  sum  for  his  elevation. 


9G 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD 


The  liigh  character  which  Lord  Olive  had 
already  gained  in  the  east,  justly  marked  him 
out  for  the  government  of  India ;  and,  on 
the  3d  of  May,  1765,  he  landed  with  full 
powers  as  Commander-in-chief,  president,  and 
governor  of  Bengal.  He  remained  in  India 
about  two  years,  during  which  period  he  ef 
fected  the  most  desirable  reformations  in  both 
the  civil  and  military  departments. 

Sujah-ad-Dowla,  subahdar  of  Oude,  and 
the  nominal  emperor  of  Delhi,  Shah  Alem 
II,  having  assisted  Meer  Cossim,  the  English 
marched  against  them.  Allahabad  and  Luck- 
now  were  taken.  The  nabob  was  glad  to 
purchase  peace  by  paying  the  expenses  of  the 
war ;  and  the  emperor  conferred  upon  the 
English  the  revenues  of  Bengal,  Bahar,  and 
Orissa,  and  his  imperial  confirmation  of  all 
the  territories  conquered  by  them  within  the 
nominal  extent  of  the  Mogul  empire.  The 
East  India  Company  had  now  acquired  terri 
tory  equal  in  extent  to  the  most  flourishing 
kingdom  of  Europe  ;  and  from  this  date,  A.D. 
1765,  commences  the  recognized  sovereignty 
of  the  English,  in  Hindostan.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice  that,  though  actually  independent, 
the  great  subahdars  continued  to  the  last  mo 
ment  of  the  empire  to  solicit  imperial  firmans 
or  patents  from  the  court  of  Delhi,  confirm 
ing  them  in  the  power  they  already  possessed. 
In  the  south  of  India,besides  the  real  author 
ity  in  the  Carnatic,  the  English  had  received 
the  northern  circars  in  grant  from  the  ni- 
zam,  on  condition  of  furnishing  a  body  of 
troops  in  time  of  war.  This  alliance  involved 
them  in  a  series  of  contests  with  Ilyder  Ali, 
who  had  made  himself  sultan  of  the  Hindu 
Btate  of  Mysore. 

The  political  importance  acquired  by  the 
East  India  Company  induced  the  government 
of  Great  Britain  to  claim  a  share  in  the  ad 
ministration  of  the  Indian  territories ;  and,  in 
1773,  it  was  determined  in  parliament,  that 
all  civil  and  military  correspondence  should 
be  submitted  to  the  king's  ministers ;  that  a 
supreme  court  of  judicature  should  be  sent 
out  from  England ;  and  that  the  three  presi 
dencies  should  be  subject  to  a  governor-gen 


eral  and  council,  the  former  to  be  approved  of 
by  the  king. 

Warren  Hastings,  the  first  governor-gen 
eral,  found  the  Company's  finances  in  India 
much  embarrassed,  and  a  general  confedera 
tion  against  the  English  in  progress  amongst 
the  native  powers.  Notwithstanding  violent 
opposition  in  his  council,  he  conducted  the 
government  through  its  difficulties,  repuked 
Hyder,  humbled  the  Mahrattas,  and  obtained 
from  Asef-ad-Dowla,  the  subahdar  of  Oude, 
the  zemindary  of  Benares.  On  his  return  to 
England,  Warren  Hastings  was  impeached  by 
the  house  of  commons  for  corruption  and  op 
pression,  and  tried  before  the  house  of  lords. 
The  trial,  owing  to  frequent  interruptions, 
was  protracted  for  seven  years,  at  the  end  oi 
which  he  was  honorably  acquitted.  Those 
proceedings,  however,  are  not  necessary  to  be 
here  dwelt  upon,  as  they  belong  more  espe 
cially  to  the  parliamentary  history  of  Eng 
land.  During  his  twelve  years'  government 
in  India,  Warren  Hastings  had  raised  the 
revenue  to  double  its  previous  amount ;  but 
he  had  added  twelve  millions  and  a  half  to 
the  debt  of  the  Company. 

Lord  Cornwallis  succeeded  as  governor- 
general  in  1786.  The  relations  between  the 
British  government  and  those  of  Lucknow 
and  Hyderabad,  were  revised  and  strengthen 
ed  ;  and,  in  a  war  with  Tippoo  Saib,  who 
had  succeeded  Hyder,  in  the  principality  of 
Mysore,  Lord  Cornwallis  defeated  his  armies, 
and  besieged  his  capital,  Seringapatam.  The 
sultan,  to  obtain  peace,  gave  up  considerable 
territory  to  the  British.  It  was  under  the 
administration  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  who  was 
possessessed  of  first-rate  qualities  for  this  of 
fice,  that  the  principal  judicial  and  revenue 
regulations  were  enacted,  particularly  the  per 
petual  settlement  of  the  revenue  of  Bengal 
with  the  zemindars. 

In  1793,  Lord  Cornwallis  returned  to  Eng 
land,  and  was  succeeded  by  Sir  John  Shore, 
but  the  pacific  system  of  policy  followed  by 
him  forfeited  that  consideration  which  the 
British  government  held  in  his  predecessor's 
time  among  the  native  states.  In  1798  he 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


97 


was  succeeded  by  Lord  Mornington,  after 
wards  Marquis  cf  Wellesley. 

Tippoo  had  greatly  augmented  his  army, 
and  many  severe  battles  had  been  fought  be 
tween  him  and  the  British,  but  without 
humbling  his  tone,  or  much  diminishing  his 
power.  For  several  years,  in  fact,  the  affairs 
in  India  had  continued  in  a  state  of  doubtful 
tranquillity.  The  jealousy  of  the  British  was 
at  length  justly  aroused,  by  a  proclamation 
of  the  French  governor,  of  the  isle  of 
France,  in  1798,  which  openly  mentioned  an 
alliance  formed  between  Tippoo  t  and  the 
French  republic,  for  the  destruction  of  the 
British  power  in  India.  The  governor-gen 
eral  on  this,  demanded  an  explanation  of  him, 
which  being  evasive  and  evidently  intended 
to  procrastinate  military  operations,  the  re 
duction  of  the  fort  of  Seringapatam  was  im 
mediately  resolved  on. 

After  having  been  repulsed  with  consider 
able  loss,  in  an  attack  of  the  Bombay  army 
under  general  Stuart,  Tippoo  Saib  retreated 
to  Seringapatam.  The  main  army  under 
General  Harris,  consisted  of  31,000  men,  be 
sides  the  nizain's  cavalry,  all  completely 
equipped :  that  under  General  Stuart  was 
equally  efficient.  On  the  3d  of  April,  the 
army  came  within  sight  of  Seringapatam, 
took  its  position  on  the  5th,  and  on  the  6th 
the  principal  outposts  were  in  possession  of 
the  British.  Several  letters  passed,  and  on 
the  20th,  General  Harris  received  an  overture 
of  peace  from  Tippoo  Saib,  which  he  answer 
ed  on  the  22d,  with  a  draft  of  preliminaries ; 
but  the  terms  were  too  severe  for  the  enemy 
to  accept."  On  the  22d  of  May,  therefore, 
the  British  batteries  began  to  open,  and  in 
the  course  of  the  day  a  1  Teach  was  made  in 
the  faussebray  wall ;  the  main  rampart  was 
shattered ;  and,  to  complete  the  misfortune 
of  the  besieged,  a  shot  having  struck  their 
magazine  it  blew  up  with  a  dreadful  explo 
sion.  The  breach  being  thought  practicable, 
on  the  night  of  the  4th  of  May,  4,000  men 
were,  stationed  in  the  trenches  before  day 
break.  The  assault  was  led  on  by  General 
Baird,  and  began  at  one  o'clock.  In  six  min- 
13 


utes  the  forlorn  hope  had  reached  the  summit 
of  the  breach,  where  the  British  colors  were 
instantly  planted.  In  a  few  minutes,  the 
breach,  which  was  100  feet  wide,  was  cover 
ed  with  men.  After  a  short  conflict  the 
panic  became  general  in  the  fort  ;  thousands 
quitted  it,  and  others  laid  down  their  amis. 
A  flag  of  truce  was  soon  after  sent  to  the 
palace  of  the  sultan,  offering  protection  to 
him  and  his  friends  upon  surrendering  uncon 
ditionally.  The  young  prince  surrendered  to 
General  Baird,  and  the  body  of  Tippoo  was 
afterwards  found  in  the  gateway  of  the  fort, 
lying  among  heaps  of  slain,  covered  with 
wounds. 

His  dominions  were  now  partitioned  among 
his  conquerors,  and  the  Mahrattas  were  ad 
mitted  to  a  share,  from  motives  of  policy, 
though  they  had  taken  no  part  in  the  war. 
A  descendant  of  the  ancient  rajahs  of  Mysore, 
about  five  years  old,  was  sought  out  and 
placed  on  the  throne  with  great  ceremony, 
under  certain  conditions ;  and  the  sons  and 
relations  of  Tippoo  were  removed  to  the  Car- 
natic.  Thus  terminated  one  of  the  most  im 
portant  wars  in  which  the  Anglo-Indians  have 
been  ever  engaged ;  and  for  some  time  at  least 
it  secured  them  from  the  reappearance  of  a 
formidable  enemy.  A.  D.  1799. 

As  the  conquests'  of  Tippoo  and  Hyder 
were  retained  by  the  British,  and  a  subsidiary 
treaty  had  been  formed  with  the  nizam,  by 
wrhich  the  defense  of  his  dominions  was 
undertaken  by  them  upon  his  providing  for 
the  expense,  the  greater  part  of  the  Deccan 
was  now,  directly  or  indirectly,  subject  to  their 
authority. 

Arrangements  were  now  concluded  with 
the  nabob  of  Oude,  by  which  the  lower  part 
of  the  Douab  and  other  countries  were  ceded 
to  the  British  for  the  support  of  a  subsidiary 
force.  Under  these  transactions  followed  a 
war  with  the  Mahratta  chiefs,  Scindia,  and 
Ragoji  Chosla,  rajah  of  Berar,  whose  armies 
were  defeated  in  the  south  by  Sir  Arthur 
"Wellesley,  brother  of  the  governor-general, 
and  in  the  north  by  Lord  Lake ;  and  the  up 
per  part  of  the  Pouab,  with  Delhi  and  Agra, 


08 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


were  taken  possession  of  in  the  north  ;  whilst 
in  the  south,  Cuttack  on  the  eastern,  and  part 
of  Guzerat  on  the  western  coast,  were  annex 
ed  to  the  British  dominions.  A  war  with  Hol- 
kar,  another  Mahratta  prince,  followed.  lie 
made  a  rapid  incursion  into  the  Douab,  and 
3ommitted  some  ravages  ;  but  was  pursued  b y 
L:)rd  Lake  to  the  Sikh  country,  and  all  his 
territories  occupied  by  a  British  force.  The 
whole,  however,  was  restored  to  him  at  the 
peace. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  British  India  at 
the  period  of  the  marquis  of  Wellesley's  re 
turn  to  Europe.  He  had  conducted  public 
affairs  in  this  quarter  of  the  globe  with  an 
oriental  magnificence  of  design,  and  perhaps 
of  expenditure ;  but  he  seems  fairly  to  claim 
the  merit  of  having  crushed  in  a  most  masterly 
manner  the  alarming  combinations  of 
Mahratta  and  French  enmity,  and  entirely  to 
have  laid  the  basis  of  the  measures  which 
were  successfully  followed  out  by  Lord  Corn- 
wallis. 

In  1805 Lord Wellesley  was  succeeded  by 
Lord  Cornwallis,  again  appointed  governor- 
general.  His  policy  was  of  a  pacific  charac 
ter  ;  and  upon  his  death,  soon  after  his  arrival 
in  India,  it  was  adopted  by  his  temporary 
successor,  Sir  George  Barlow. 

Lord  Minto  arrived  in  India  in  1807.  His 
atttention  was  chiefly  directed  to  the  subju 
gation  of  the  remaining  possessions  of  the 
French  in  the  east ;  and  the  isle  of  France 
and  Mauritius,  and  the  large  island  of  Java, 
were  subdued  by  armaments  fitted  out  in 
India. 

At  the  end  of  1813  the  Marquis  of  Hast 
ings  arrived  as  governor-general.  The  deter 
mination  of  his  predecessors  to  abstain  from 
interference  with  the  native  states  had  been 
attended  with  deplorable  dissensions  amongst 
themselves,  and  had  encouraged  them  to  com 
mit  outrages  on  the  British  dominions,  the 
repression  of  which  soon  led  to  active  war 
fare.  On  the  northern  frontier  the  conduct 
of  the  Goorkha  government  of  Xepaul  having 
provoked  hostilities,  the  Himalaya  was  trav 
ersed  by  the  British  armies,  and  an  extensive 


tract  of  mountain  country  permanently  annex 
ed  to  the  state. 

The  aggressions  of  the  Pindarees,  a  set  of 
freebooters,  secretly  supported  by  the  Mali 
ratta  princes,  were  next  punished  by  the 
annihilation  of  their  hordes.  In  1844  these 
bands  comprised  about  40,000  horse,  who  sub 
sisted  wholly  on  plunder.  In  the  course  of  the 
operations  against  them,  the  peishwa  and  the 
rajah  of  Xagpore  attempted,  by  treachery  and 
murder,  to  rid  themselves  of  British  control ; 
and  hostilities  ensued,  which  placed  the  ter 
ritories  and  persons  of  both  princes  in  the 
hands  of"  their  enemies,  A.  D.  1818.  The 
Pindarees  were  at  first  bodies  of  mercenary 
horse,  serving  different  princes  for  hire  dur 
ing  war,  and  in  time  of  peace  subsisting  up 
on  plunder.  Lands  along  the  Nerbuddah  had 
been  assigned  to  some  of  their  leaders  by  the 
princes  of  Malwa ;  and  from  hence  they  oc 
casionally  made  incursions  into  the  British 
provinces,  devastating  the  country  in  the  most 
ferocious  manner,  and  disappearing  before  a 
force  could  be  assembled  against  them.  It 
was  resolved,  however,  in  the  year  1817,  to 
hunt  them  into  their  native  holds,  and  either 
to  exterminate  them,  or  to  drive  them  from 
the  position  which  they  occupied,  in  the  very 
center  of  India.  By  the  end  of  the  rainy 
season  of  that  year,  a  numerous  army  took 
the  field  for  this  purpose.  The  plan  was  that 
the  armies  of  the  different  presidencies  should 
advance  southward,  and  gradually  converging 
to  a  common  centre,  hem  in,  on  every  side, 
the  territory  of  the  robbers.  This  was  at 
length  effected ;  the  great  part  of  them  being 
destroyed,  and  the  rest  humbled  to  complete 
submission. 

Upon  the  reesstablishment  of  peace,  Puna, 
and  part  of  the  Mahratta  territories,  were  re 
tained  and  the  rest  restored  to  the  rajah  of 
Satara.  Appa  Saib,  the  rajah  of  Nagpore, 
who  had  escaped  from  confinement,  was  de 
posed  and  a  grandson  of  the  former  rajah 
elevated  to  the  throne.  Holkar,  a  youth, 
was  taken  under  the  British  piotection,  which 
was  also  extended  to  the  Rajput  princes.  By 
these  arrangements  the  whole  of  Hindostan 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


99 


tvas  brought  under  the  power  of  control  of  the 
British  government. 

In  1823  the  Marquis  of  Hastings  quitted 
his  government,  leaving  British  India  in  a 
proud  and  prosperous  condition.  At  the  end 
of  the  same  year  Lord  Amherst  arrived  from 
England.  In  1824  war  broke  out  with  the 

o 

Burmese,  who  had  for  many  years  given  much 
trouble  on  the  eastern  frontier.  An  expedi 
tion  was  sent  to  Rangoon,  which,  in  the  sec 
ond  year  of  hostilities,  advanced  nearly  to 
Ava,  the  capital ;  and  the  Burman  govern 
ment  was  glad  to  purchase  peace  in  1826  by 
the  cession  of  Assam,  Aracan,  and  the  Ten- 
asserim  provinces.  The  beginning  of  'the 
same  year  was  signalized  by  the  capture  of 
Bhurtpore,  a  strong  fortress  in  upper  India. 

The  events  which  took  place  between  this 
time  and  the  outbreak  of  the  great  Indian 
mutiny  of  1857  will  be  found  recorded  in  the 
•History  of  England.  But  the  narrative  of 
that  memorable  revolt  cannot  be  well  given 
except  in  the  history  of  that  country  which 
it  proposed  to  deliver  from  British  su 
premacy. 

On  the  29th  of  February,  1856,  Lord  Can 
ning  arrived  in  Calcutta,  to  succeed  Lord 
Dalhousie  as  governor-general  of  India.  Al 
most  his  first  act  was  to  decree  the  annexa 
tion  of  the  kingdom  of  Oude  to  the  East 
Indian  territories.  This  step  was  justified 
by  the  continued  failure  or  refusal  of  the  king 
of  Oude  to  introduce  and  maintain  a  fitting 
administration  of  justice  throughout  the  coun 
try,  which,  was  described  as  in  a  state  of 
utter  misery  without  remedy  or  hope  of 
relief. 

"Whether  this  annexation  in  any  way  has 
tened  the  outbreak  of  that  terrible  mutiny 
which  all  but  overthrew  British  dominion  in 
India  it  is  not  easy  to  say.  A  number  of 
causes  combined  to  bring  out  discontent  and 
suspicions  which  had  long  been  smouldering  ; 
but,  although  it  gave  to  the  mutiny  a  more 
frightful  appearance  at  the  time,  it  was  a  for 
tunate  thing  for  the  British  government  that 
it  was  rather  a  military  than  a  civil  movement. 
If  the  people  here  and  there  toi  k  active  part 


with  the  revolted  sepoys,  there  was  none  of 
that  steady  cooperation  which  shows  that  a 
nation  throws  its  heart  into  an  enterprise ;  and 
the  very  absence  of  this  feeling  deprived  the 
struggle  of  any  redeeming  features  which  gen 
erally  soften  the  warfare  of  a  subject  popula 
tion  against  rulers  whose  yoke  they  are  seeking 
to  throw  off.  Misrepresentation  and  falsehood 
were  the  great  promoters  of  this  movement. 
An  impression  had  gone  forth,  and  many  took 
diligent  care  to  keep  it  up,  that  the  British 
government  intended  to  force  Christianity  on 
all  the  inhabitants  of  India,  that  it  purposed 
studiously  to  insult  the  prejudices  of  caste  and 
the  traditions  of  Mohammedanism  and  Brah- 
minism  by  enforcing  the  use  of  cartridges 
greased  with  the  fat  of  pigs  and  cows.  But 
throughout  the  war  it  was  evident  that  the 
fiercer  antagonism  came  from  the  Mohamme 
dans,  who  dreamed  of  reviving  once  more 
the  worn-out  empire  of  the  Great  Mogul. 
Whether  or  not  they  put  faith  in  the  absurd 
lies  which  were  spread  abroad  against  the 
English,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
Hindu  sepoys  really  put  faith  in  them,  and 
in  many  instances  reluctantly  joined  a  move 
ment  from  which  it  was  scarcely  in  their 
power  to  keep  themselves  free.  That  the 
sepoy  when  once  committed  to  resistance  be 
lied  all  liis  long-sustained  reputation  for 
gentleness  and  loyalty,  and  showed  himself 
vindictive  and  cruel,  will  cause  no  surprise 
to  those  who  have  made  themselves  well  ac 
quainted  with  oriental  character,  and  well  con 
sidered  all  the  circumstances  of  his  condition. 
Early  in  February,  1857,  it  was  found  that 
great  uneasiness  prevailed  in  the  minds  of 
the  sepoys  at  Barrackpore  on  the  subject  of 
the  cartridges  used  for  the  Enfield  rifles.  On 
the  6th,  a  sepoy  divulged  a  plot  to  burn  the 
bungalows  and  to  seize  fort  William,  or,  fail 
ing  that,  the  treasury  at  Calcutta.  General 
Harvey  allayed  the  alarm  at  Barrackpore  for 
the  time ;  but  not  long  afterwards  the  troops 
at  Berhampore  refused  to  use  the  cartridges, 
and  an  order  was  issued  that  the  regiment 
should  be  disbanded ;  and  this  was  carried 
out  on  the  last  day  of  March.  But  two  days 


100 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


before  this  time  a  sepoy,  drunk  with  bhang, 
had  a";  the  same  place  fired  at  Lieutenant 
Bangh  and  shot  his  horse.  The  man  was 
caught,  tried,  and  sentenced  to  death:  but 

O        >  * 

lie  was  not  hanged  till  the  21st  of  April,  as 
the  sentence  needed  the  confirmation  of  the 
commander-in-chief,  who  was  at  Simla.  "When 
brought  out  to  execution,  be  confessed  his 
guilt  and  warned  his  comrades  against  listen 
ing  to  and  being  lead  astray  by  bad  advice. 
But  on  further  inquiry  it  was  thought  advis 
able  to  disband  the  regiment  to  which  he  be 
longed. 

During  the  month  of  March,  much  atten 
tion  was  roused  by  the  transmission  of  chu- 
patties,  or  small  unleavened  cakes,  which 
with  wonderful  rapidity  were  sent  about  by 
the  ckwokeydars  or  native  policemen.  But  as 
the  same  thing,  when  done  a  few  years  be 
fore,  had  been  followed  by  no  serious  conse 
quences,  it  caused  some  curious  speculation, 
but  no  very  great  anxiety.  Early  in  May, 
eighty-five  troopers  were  sentenced  at  Mee- 
rut  (thirty-eight  miles  distant  from  Delhi,) 
to  ten  years  imprisonment  for  refusing  to  fire 
with  the  Enfield  cartridges.  All  remained 
quiet  till  the  evening  of  the  following  day, 
when  the  native  troops  rose  in  mutiny,  fired 
on  their  ofiicers,  and  broke  open  the  gaol. 
A  crowd  of  prisoners  were  set  free,  and  these 
with  the  soldiers  attacked  every  European, 
and  murdered  all  whom  they  could  find, 
whether  women  or  children.  The  English 
eoldiers  were  preparing  for  *  Church  parade,' 
they  immediately  marched  to  the  lines,  when 
the  mutineers  fled  and  took  the  road  to  Del 
hi.  The  night  was  dark,  the  station  was 
blazing,  and  the  English  troops  could  not 
pursue  them ;  but  their  escape  lit  up  the 
flame  of  rebellion  throughout  India.  Early 
on  the  following  morning,  a  party  of  horse 
men  were  seen  from  the  ramparts  of  Delhi 
riding  furiously  toward  the  town.  They  were 
the  vanguard  of  the  great  army  who  flocked 
to  Delhi,  there  to  make  a  stand  against  the 
dominion  of  the  foreigner.  As  soon  as  they 
had  entered  the  Calcutta  gate,  they  began  to 
murder  every  European  whom  they  met.  On 


hearing  the  news,  a  native  regiment  was  sent 
down  to  oppose  them.  The  troopers  murder 
ed  all  the  officers,  and  then  shook  hands  with 
the  sepoys.  The  residents  then,  so  far  as  they 
were  able,  escaped  to  the  Flagstaff  Tower, 
still  trusting  in  the  fidelity  of  the  native 
troops ;  but  the  hope  was  doomed  to  disap 
pointment,  and  at  length  Colonel  Graves,  the 
brigadier,  advised  all  who  could  to  make  their 
escape.  Many  Europeans  found  their  way 
or  were  taken  to  the  palace,  but  all  were  mur 
dered  in  the  presence  of  the  king  and  his 
sons.  A  few  only,  after  facing  incredible 

*/  t  o 

dangers  and  hardships,  escaped  beyond  the 
reach  of  their  enemies.  It  was  plainly  hope 
less  to  hold  the  fortifications  against  the  re 
bels,  but  it  was  resolved  that  they  should  not 
become  possessed  of  the  powder-magazine ; 
and  Lieutenant  Willoughby  with  some  others 
as  heroic  as  himself,  determined  to  sacrifice 
his  own  life  to  defeat  the  object  of  the  mu 
tineers,  lie  was  so  severely  injured  by  the 
explosion  that  he  died  a  few  days  afterwards ; 
lieutenants  Forrest  and  Rayner  survived. 
General  Anson,  the  commander-in-chief,  was 
at  this  time  at  Simla  for  his  health.  On  hear 
ing  of  the  mutiny  he  hastened  towards  Del 
hi,  but  was  carried  off  by  cholera  at  Kurnaul. 
His  successor,  General  Reed,  was  far  too  ill  to 
be  fitted  for  the  duties  required  of  him,  but, 
on  the  8th  of  June,  he  reached  the  camp  of 
Sir  Henry  Bernard  at  Aleepore,  which  is  one 
day's  march  from  Delhi.  Here  he  was  joined 
by  General  Wilson ;  and  the  combined  force 
carried  the  position  of  the  enemy  at  Badulee 
Ke-Serai,  where  they  divided  and  took  two 
different  roads,  meeting  again  at  Hindoo 
Rao's  house,  near  the  Moree  gate  of  Delhi. 
Thus  was  commenced  the  siege  whose  victor 
ious  close  dealt  the  death-blow  to  any  hopea 
which  the  rebels  might  have  of  re-establish 
ing  the  old  Mogul  supremacy  in  India.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  dwell  at  any  length  on  the  de 
tails  of  the  outbreaks  as  they  occurred  nt  dif 
ferent  places ;  but,  in  justice,  it  should  be 
mentioned  that  these  atrocities  were  not  uni 
versal.  At  more  than  half  the  stations  of  re 
volt  no  general  massacres  were  committed, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


101 


and,  in  some  instances  the  sepoys,  while  join 
ing  in  the  mutiny,  exerted  themselves  stren 
uously  to  secure  the  safety  of  their  officers  with 
their  families.  At  Allahabad  almost  all  the 
officers  were  murdered,  and  women  and  chil 
dren  killed  with  horrid  cruelties ;  but  colonel 
Keill  arrived  on  the  llth  of  June,  and  in 
flicted  a  severe  chastisement  on  the  rebels. 
Officers,  women,  and  children  were  indis 
criminately  murdered  at  Jhansi,  in  Bundel- 
cuncl,  to  the  south  of  the  river  Jumna ;  and 
martial  law  was  proclaimed  in  the  districts 
of  Meerut,  Moozuffurnuggtir,  Boolundshuhur, 
and  the  Delhi  territory  east  of  the  Jumna. 
At  Benares  an  outbreak  was  promptly  re 
pressed,  and  the  place  was  not  threatened 
again.  All  popular  attempts  at  insurrections 
were  sternly  put  down  by  colonel  Neill. 
But  the  mutiny  spread  at  Shahjehanpoor, 
Bareilly,  and  Mooradabad,  and  the  revolted 
regiments  hastened  to  join  the  insurgents  at 
Delhi. 

The  first  solid  ground  of  hope  for  the  Brit 
ish  came  from  the  country  where  it  might 
have  been  thought  that  there  would  be  the 
least  reason  for  expecting  it.  Only  a  few 
}  ears  before,  the  people  of  the  Punjaub  were 
the  most  determined  enemies  ;  in  the  present 
struggle  tVi°-  were  the  most  valuable  allies, 
and  fought  throughout  with  the  most  implac- 
cable  hostility  against  the  sepoys.  Early  in 
May,  Sir  John  Lawrence,  the  chief  commis 
sioner  of  the  Punjaub,  found  it  prudent  to 
disarm  the  sepoy  regiments  at  Lahore ;  and 
this  task  was  accomplished  with  consummate 
tact  and  promptitude.  The  most  efficient 
aid  was  also  given  by  the  rajah  of  Putteeala 
(whose  territory  bordered  on  the  district  of 
Umballah),  as  well  as  by  the  Rajah  of  Jheend. 
In  Peshawur  Colonel  Edwardes  was  strenu 
ously  aided  by  the  native  chiefs,  who  sent 
powerful  levies  to  join  in  the  siege  of 
Delhi. 

Still  the  mutiny  of  regiments  went  on  at 
Jhelum,  at  Rawul  Pindee  and  other  places. 
At  Sealkote,  they  broke  out  with  great  bar 
barity,  but  they  soon  underwent  a  terrible 
defeat  at  the  han^s  of  General  Nicholson. 


At  Gwalior,  the  troops  of  Maharajah  Scindia 
joined  the  mutineers,  but  the  Maharajah  him 
self  opposed  them  resolutely  and  could  not 
be  driven  from  his  resolution  to  protect  the 
Europeans,  and  to  give  them  all  aid  in  theii 
attempts  to  escape.  To  the  reply  that  they 
were  fighting  for  their  dun,  or  faith,  he  re 
torted  that  robbery  and  murder  were  no  part 
of  religion,  and  that  he  could  not  join  men 
who  used  such  weapons  as  these.  But  the 
flame  was  spreading  far  and  wide.  At  Sau- 
gor,  at  Eusseerabad,  at  Keemuch,  Agra  and 
Dinapore,  the  same  scenes  of  mutiny  were 
repeated,  and  many  acts  of  cruelty  perpe 
trated.  In  Oude  the  mutiny  was  general. 
From  Seetapore  it  spread  to  Shahjehanpoor 
and  Fyzabad.  At  Lucknow  the  first  attempts 
at  revolt  were  promptly  suppressed  by  Sir 
Henry  Lawrence,  who  occupied  himself  busi 
ly  in  strengthening  the  fortifications  to  the 
utmost ;  but  within  a  few  weeks  all  the  na 
tive  forces  had  mutinied,  and  the  Europeans 
were  reduced  to  a  state  of  siege.  , 

But  more  than  all  others,  the  town  of 
Cawnpore  is  associated  with  the  most  fright 
ful  memories  of  the  Indian  mutiny.  There 
the  revolted  sepoys  joined  the  troops  of  Nana 
Sahib  at  Bithoor,  who  marched  on  Cawnpore, 
plundered  the  treasury  and  seized  the  maga 
zine,  which  had  not  been  blown  up.  The 
Europeans  were  within  the  entrenchments 
which  did  not  deserve  the  name  of  defences 
or  fortifications;  and  their  sufferings  soon 
became  intense.  On  the  24th  of  June  Kana 
Sahib  promised  to  allow  them  all  to  go  in 
safety  to  Allahabad,  if  they  would  give  up  all 
the  treasure  and  stores  in  the  camp.  This 
was  finally  agreed  to,  and  the  compact  was 
ratified  with  a  solemn  oath  by  the  Nana. 
On  the  27th  conveyances  were  sent  to  carry 
the  woman  and  children  to  the  river  side 
"VYhen  they  reached  it,  the  officers  found  th« 
boats  high  up  in  the  mud  ;  and  while  they 
proceeded  to  get  them  clear  of  the  bank,  the 
sepoys  opened  fire,  and  very  few  indeed  es 
caped  the  massacre.  Those  who  wero  not 
killed  were  carried  back  to  Cawnpore,  where 
the  men  -\vere  shot,  and  the  women  and  chil- 


102 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


dren  shut  up  in  a  building  which  had  been 
used  as  an  assembly-room. 

General  Ilavelock  had  now  returned  from 
the  war  in  Persia ;  and  he  hastened  with  all 
speed  to  Allahabad,  to  organize  the  British 
force  of  1,400  for  the  relief  of  Cawnpore. 
He  encountered  and  defeated  the  enemy  at 
Futtehpore ;  but  before  he  could  accomplish 
the  purpose  of  his  expedition,  the  nana  had 
executed  the  most  horrible  atrocity  which 
disgraced  this  fearful  war.  He  ordered  all 
the  women  and  children  to  be  murdered  and 
their  bodies  thrown  into  a  well.  General 
Ilavelock  said  that  he  spoke  without  exagger 
ation  in  saying  that  the  blood  of  these  vic 
tims  rose  above  the  soles  of  his  boots  as  he 
made  his  way  to  the  scene  of  the  butchery. 
He  found  Nana  Sahib  intrenched  in  a  very 
strong  position  at  Ahirwa  and  utterly  de 
feated  his  army.  The  next  morning  ]STana 
Sahib  blew  up  the.  magazine  and  evacuated 
Cawnpore.  He  did  not  attempt  to  make  any 
stand  at  Bithoor,  and  the  English  took  pos 
session  of  his  palace  with  twenty  guns  which 
ho  had  left  there.  Leaving  Colonel  Neill  in 
command,  General  Ilavelock  advanced  to  the 
relief  of  Lucknow.  He  engaged  the  enemy 
several  times,  and  always  with  the  same  signal 
success:  but  with  "the  forces  at  his  disposal 
it  was  hopeless  to  attempt  to  reach  Lucknow, 
and  accordingly  he  awaited  at  Cawnpore  the 
arrival  of  reinforcements  under  Sir  J.  Out- 
ram.  His  troops  were  reduced  to  TOO  ;  and 
he  wrote,  stating  as  much  to  Colonel  Inglis^ 
who  was  commanding  the  garrison  at  Luck- 
now,  and  advising  him  to  cut  his  way  out,  if 
possible.  Colonel  Inglis  explained  the  im 
possibility  of  doing  this  with  a  number  of 
helpless  women  and  children,  but  said  that 
they  had  provisions  to  last  them  till  the  10th 
of  September. 

Meanwhile,  the  siege  of  Delhi  was  prose- 
cuied  with  unabated  vigor.  In  everv  sortie 

O  *f 

the  besieged  were  defeated,  and  sometimes 
with  fearful  loss :  but  the  fortifications  re 
sisted  for  many  weeks  the  eiforts  of  the  be 
siegers,  without  sustaining  much  apparent  in 
jury.  On  the  17th  of  July,  General  Eeed. 


from  ill  health,  handed  over  the  command  to 
General  Wilson,  and  on  the  10th  of  August, 
Brigadier-General  Nicholson  arrived,  bring 
ing  with  him  a  force  of  2,500  Europeans  and 
Sikhs;  the  numbers  of  the  besiegers  were 
thus  raised  to  about  9,000,  of  whom  one-half 
were  Europeans.  An  attempt  of  the  besieg 
ed  to  start  out  of  the  city  and  attack  the 
camp  in  the  rear  was  frustrated,  and  early  in 
September  the  position  of  the  besiegers  was 
materially  improved  by  the  arrival  of  a  siege 
train  from  Meerut.  On  the  llth  a  terrific 
and  incessant  fire  was  commenced  against 
the  town ;  with  the  most  determined  bravery 
a  party  of  officers  and  men  blew  open  the 
Cashmere  gate,  almost  at  the  muzzle  of 
the  enemy's  guns ;  but  some  days  pass 
ed  before  the  whole  line  of  outer  defences 
was  taken.  The  gate  of  the  palace  was  at 
last  blown  in,  and  it  was  occupied  by  the 
troops  on  the  20th.  On  the  day  following 
the  aged  King  of  Delhi,  who  had  made 
his  escape,  was  brought  back  a  prisoner. 
His  two  sons  were  taken  in  the  tomb  of  the 
Sultan  Humaynn,  and  shot  by  Captain  Hodg 
son,  who  affirmed  that  he  did  so,  as  thinking 
that  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  rescue 
the  Princes.  Two  other  sons  of  the  King 
were  subsequently  tried,  condemned,  and 
executed. 

On  the  16th  of  September,  general  Out- 
ram  reached  Cawnpore  with  the  reinforce 
ments  for  which  General  Havelock  was 
obliged  to  wait,  and  three  days  afterwards 
the  relieving  force  crossed  the  Ganges.  They 
had  to  encounter  a  fierce  opposition  under 
the  most  disadvantageous  circumstances  be 
fore  they  could  reach  the  brave  garrison  v? ho 
for  so  many  weeks  had  kept  a  whole  army  at 
bay.  During  the  siege  Sir  Henry  Lawrence 
had  died  from  the  effects  of  a  wound  inflict 
ed  by  a  shell  which  burst  in  the  room  where 
he  was  sitting  ;  the  buildings  had  been  thor 
oughly  riddled  with  shot,  the  sick  and  wound 
ed  were  killed  in  the  middle  of  rooms  where 
it  was  thought  no  shot  could  reach  them. 
The  garrison  had  to  fight  by  night  and  by 
day,  worn  out  with  sickness  und  want  of  food. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


103 


while  the  women  and  children  were  utterly 
prostrate  from  the  misery  and  hardships  they 
were  compelled  to  undergo.  But  with  all 
this  there  was  not  only  no  complaining,  but 
an  indomitable  resolution  to  take  part  in  the 
defence,  as  far  as  their  powers  might  enable 
them.  Still  Avhen  the  relieving  force  had 
made  its  way  to  the  residency,  it  was  found 
impossible  to  convey  the  women  and  children 
to  Cawnpore,  without  the  greatest  risk  of 
being  annihilated  on  the  way  :  they  determin 
ed  therefore  to  wait  till  Sir  Colin  Campbell 
should  arrive  with  new  troops  from  England. 
The  first  ship  with  troops  left  England  on 
the  1st  of  July ;  but  it  was  not  till  the  9th  of 
November  that  Sir  Colin  Campbell  was  able 
to  march  from  Cawnpore  to  relieve  the  force 
at  Lucknow.  On  the  16th  this  work  was  at 
length  accomplished,  but  it  yet  required 
great  skill  to  remove  the  sick  and  wounded 
without  exposing  them  to  the  enemy's  fire ; 
and  tliis  was  done  by  removing  them  quietly 
during  the  night,  when  by  a  furious  fire  in 
front  the  enemy  had  been  led  to  suppose  that 
an  immediate  attack  was  intended.  On  the 
22nd  of  November  General  Havelock  died  of 
dysentery,  after  a  career  of  unbroken  victory, 
not  less  beloved  for  the  goodness  of  his  life 
than  valued  for  his  wisdom  and  bravery  as  a 
leader.  Before  the  month  ended,  General 
Windham  received  a  severe  check  near  Cawn 
pore,  and  indeed  ran  the  narrowest  risk,  not 
merely  of  being  defeated,  but  of  being  cut  to 
pieces  by  the  enemy.  Fortunately  Sir  Colin 
Campbell  arrived  in  time  to  prevent  the  ca 
tastrophe.  He  found  Cawnpore  completely 
in  possession  of  the  enemy,  and  he  had  first 
to  provide  for  the  passage  of  his  sick  and 
wounded  by  the  bridge,  which  was  the  only 
means  of  crossing  the  Ganges.  A '  constant 
fire  was  kept  upon  the  rebels  from  the  left 
bank:  till  all  had  crossed,  and  at  length  on  the 
6th  of  December,  a  battle  began,  in  which 
the  naval  brigade,  under  Captain  Feel,  con 
tributed  greatly  to  secure  the  victory.  Gen 
eral  Grant  was  then  sent  with  orders  to  de 
stroy  the  building  belonging  to  Nana  Sahib  at 
Bithoor,  and  falling  in  with  the  enemy  at 


Ghat,  a  ferry  across  the  Ganges,  he  defeated 
them  without  losing  a  single  man. 

Few  things  were  more  strange  about  thif 
mutiny  than  the  want  of  concert  with  which 
the  regiments  of  sepoys  seem  to  have  acted. 
Not  a  few  of  them  revolted  when  the  rebel 
lion  was  all  but  crushed,  and  when  mutiny 
appeared  the  very  height  of  childish  absurd 
ity.  Thus  the  34th  N.I.  at  Chittagong,  not 
far  from  Calcutta,  chose  the  18th  of  Novem 
ber  for  its  outbreak.  But  the  real  danger 
was  now  past.  The  civil  measures,  taken  by 
the  government,  if  not  so  severe  as  the  mili 
tary,  were  on  the  whole  not  less  judicious. 
In  June,  the  ex-king  of  Oude  and  his  vizir 
were  arrested  and  imprisoned  in  fort  William. 
The  liberty  of  the  Indian  press  was  suspended 
for  one  year;  and  on  the  31st  of  July,  an 
order  was  issued  regulating  the  punishment 
to  be  inflicted  on  the  mutineers.  This  order 
was  severely  criticised,  if  not  condemned  as 
impracticable,  by  those  who  had  to  cany  it 
out ;  but  the  cogency  of  its  reasoning  cannol 
be  disputed.  An  extreme  severity,  "after 
the  requisite  impression  has  been  made  on 
the  rebellious  and  disorderly,"  would,  it  af 
firmed,  only  "  exasperate  the  people,  and 
would  probably  induce  them  to  band  together 
in  large  numbers  for  the  protection  of  their 
lives,  and  with  a  view  to  retaliation,"  while 
"  it  would  greatly  add  to  the  difficulties  of 
settling  the  country  hereafter."  Against  the 
adverse  criticism  so  called  forth,  the  governor- 
general  effectually  defended  himself  by  re 
ferring  to  instances  in  which  the  indiscrimi 
nate  burning  of  villages  was  producing  the 
worst  effects  on  the  agriculture  of  the  country, 
and  where  the  repression  of  this  severity  had 
been  followed  by  the  most  encouraging  re 
sults. 

Thus  in  a  few  months  the  great  centre  of 
the  rebellion  had  been  destroyed,  and  this 
had  been  effected  before  the  arrival  of  any 
of  the  troops  who  had  been  sent  out  from 
England,  and  solely  by  the  forces  organized 
in  the  northwestern  parts  of  India.  The 
loss  in  revenue  was  estimated  at  nearly  six 
millions,  that  from  the  plunder  of  stores  and 


104 


HISTOliY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


treasures  at  nearly  three  millions,  yet  the 
area  of  cultivation  was  probably  nowhere 
diminished ;  in  Bengal  it  had  even  increased 
before  the  end  of  the  year.  In  the  district 
between  tl.e  Ganges  and  Jumna,  which  is 
known  as  the  Doab,  the  mutiny  had  been 
practically  suppressed,  but  Rohilcund  on  the 
north  of  the  Ganges  was  still  in  possession 
of  the  enemy,  who  also  held  Calpec  and  cut 
Dlf  the  communication  between  Agra  and 
Allahabad.  They  were  also  still  formidable 
in  Bundelcund ;  but  the  whole  of  Oude  had 
been  in  eifect  lost.  All  the  defeated  regi 
ments  were  flying  to  Lucknow,  determined 
there  to  make  the  last  stand  against  the 
British  power  with  all  the  resources  of  a 
large  city,  and  aided  by  a  fighting  population 
who  were  animated  by  the  strongest  hatred 
of  English  rule. 

In  January  1858,  the  king  of  Delhi  was 
tried  in  the  palace  for  his  share  in  the  rebel 
lion,  found  guilty,  and  sent  to  end  his  days 
at  Rangoon  in  Burmah.  The  campaign  of 
this  year  consisted  of  an  almost  unbroken 
series  of  victories,  and  at  one  or  two  places 
only  was  anything  like  a  really  formidable 
resistance  encountered.  After  the  recovery 
of  Keemuch  and  Indore,  Sir  Hugh  Rose 
took  the  fort  of  Ralghur,  one  of  the  strong 
est  in  Central  India ;  and  then  advanced  to 
Saugor,  where  a  number  of  English,  with 
women  and  children,  had  been  besieged  for 
many  months.  The  place  was  relieved  on 
the  3rd  of  February ;  but  a  more  important 
work  was  the  march  on  Jhansi,  the  road  to 
which  was  strongly  occupied  by  the  rebels. 
There  was  a  good  deal  of  hard  fighting  in 
which  the  enemy  was  always  defeated,  and 
at  length  the  troops  reached  Jhansi  itself, 
which  was  garrisoned  by  about  12,000  men, 
headed  by  the  Ranee,  a  woman  of  very  de 
termined  character.  The  place  was  very 
strong,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  garrison 
were  resolved  to  defend  it  to  the  uttermost, 
for  with  the  fall  of  Jhansi  the  cause  of  the 
rebels  in  Central  India  must  be  irretrievably 
lost.  But  their  efforts  were  unavailing. 
After  having  lost  some  5.000  men,  the  Ranee 


with  her  troops  abandoned  the  town.  This 
was  followed  by  the  siege  of  Awa  and  Cal- 
pee,  which  latter  place  had  been  held  by 
Tantia  Topee,  almost  the  only  rebel  leader 
who  had  acquired  any  military  reputation 
during  this  war.  This  chieftain  made  his 
way  towards  Gwalior,  and  with  others  de 
feated  Scindia  near  his  own  capital.  Scin- 
dia  was  compelled  to  fly,  and  he  took  refuge 
in  the  British  cantonments  at  Agra.  Rao 
Sahib,  a  nophew  of  Kana  Sahib,  was  placed 
on  the  throne  of  Gwalior.  But  when  Sir 
Hugh  Rose  approached  the  city,  Tantia  To 
pee  quitted  Gwalior  and  left  the  Ranee  of 
Jhansi  to  lead  the  sepoys  and  the  Gwalior 
contingent  against  the  English.  On  the  10th 
of  June,  the  final  battle  took  place,  and  the 
Ranee  died  fighting  hand  to  hand  with  her 
enemies ;  but  her  body  was  never  found, 
and  it  was  probably  burnt  after  her  death. 

At  Lucknow  the  rebel  forces  had  made 
many  attempts  to  dislodge  Sir  James  Outrain 
from  his  position  at  the  Alumbagh  before  the 
arrival  of  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  but  none  of 
these  efforts  were  successful,  and  on  the  9th 
of  March  he  attacked  the  enemy  and  seized 
their  position.  The  final  assault  took  place 
on  the  21st,  the  city  was  taken,  and  the  head 
of  the  rebellion  in  Oude  was  crushed. 

The  first  colonization  of  CF.YLON  is  by  no 
means  well  ascertained,  though,  if  we  allow, 
as  there  is  reason  for  doing,  that  the  island 
was  at  a  remote  period  joined  to  the  Indian 
continent,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  conceive 
whence  it  derived  its  first  inhabitants.  In 
the  great  Hindu  epic,  the  Ramayana,  we 
learn  of  the  conquest  of  a  part  of  Ceylon  by 
the  hero  Rama  and  his  followers,  who  be 
sieged  and  took  the  capital  of  its  king  Ra- 
wana.  No  permanent  occupation  of  the 
country  took  place  at  this  time,  and  the  island 
continued  to  be  governed  by  a  number  of 
petty  sovereigns  until  the  advent,  in  54-3 
B.C.,  of  Ayiira  an  Indian  prince  who,  arriving 
from  the  mainland  with  a  small  band  of  fol 
lowers,  succeeded  in  establishing  himself  a* 
sole  ruler  of  the  country. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


105 


To  this  king  is  attributed  the  introduction 
jf  caste  into  Ceylon,  an  institution  which, 
although  far  less  rigorously  observed  than  on 
the  continent,  is  still  maintained. 

Under  him  and  his  successors  Ceylon  at 
tained  a  degree  of  civilization  scarcely  to  be 
looked  for  in  that  remote  age  of  oriental 
despotism.  The  purity  of  the  religious  and 
moral  code,  the  strict  administration  of  jus 
tice,  and  the  well-defined  and  carefully  pro 
tected  rights  of  the  king  and  his  many 
classes  of  subjects,  excite  our  admiration  not 
less  than  our  astonishment.  It  is  impossible, 
however,  to  follow  the  subsequent  current  of 
Singhalese  history  through  its  many  intricate 
windings.  It  must  suffice  if  we  say,  that 
the  descendants  of  Ilijaya  the  conqueror 
continued  to  hold  the  reins  of  government 
with  varied  ability  and  unequal  success. 
Some  of  them  were  distinguished  for  their 
learning,  their  military  prowess,  their  benev 
olence  and  the  length  of  their  reigns.  Others 
lived  amidst  civil  dissensions  and  foreign  in 
vasions,  which  not  unfrequently  cost  them 
their  lives.  The  incursions  of  the  Malabars 
upon  their  territories  were  not  less  frequent 
and  fatal  than  those  of  the  Danes  in  Eng 
land  ;  during  a  period  of  four  or  five  cen- 
buies,  these  marauders  continued  to  pour 
their  bands  of  armed  men  into  the  island ; 
and  so  far  had  the  country  fallen  off  from  its 
ancient  prosperity  and  strength,  that  when 
in  the  year  1505  the  Portuguese  adventurer 
D' Almeida  landed  at  Colombo,  he  found 
the  island  divided  into  seven  separate  king 
doms. 

The  first  settlement  of  the  Portuguese 
was  effected  in  1517,  when  Albergaria  suc 
ceeded  in  obtaining  permission  from  the  king 
of  Cotta,  whose  territories  closely  adjoined 
Colombo,  to  erect  a  small  factory  on  the  lat 
ter  spot  for  purposes  of  trade.  Once  estab 
lished,  the  new-comers  lost  no  opportunity  of 
strengthening  their  position  and  extending 
their  intercourse  with  the  natives.  Stone 
walls  quickly  took  the  place  of  palisades ;  the 
factory  became  a  fort ;  wrhilst  bristling  can 
non  commanded  alike  the  approaches  by 
14 


land  and  the  entrance  by  sea.  Alaimed  at 
these  unequivocal  signs  of  military  posses 
sion,  the  Singhalese  kings  attempted  to  expel 
their  newly-formed  friends  from  the  island, 
in  which  they  were  joined  by  the  Moorish 
and  other  traders  opposed  to  the  progress  of 
the  Portuguese.  But  their  efforts  were  both 
late  and  ineffectual;  and  after  a  series  oi 
unequal  and  sanguinary  conflicts,  the  Euro 
peans  found  themselves  in  secure  possession 
of  the  west  coast  of  Ceylon. 

The  bigotry  and  intolerance  of  the  Por 
tuguese  were  the  constant  source  of  dissen 
sion  with  the  natives  ;  and  when,  in  the  year 
1001,  the  Dutch,  under  Admiral  Spilbergen, 
landed  on  the  east  coast  and  sought  the  alli 
ance  of  the  king  of  Kandy,  in  the  interior 
of  the  island,  every  encouragement  was  held 
out  to  them  with  the  view  of  inducing  them 
to  aid  in  expelling  the  Portuguese.  Koth- 
ing  seems  to  have  come  of  this  until  1639, 
when  a  Dutch  expedition  attacked  and  razed 
the  Portuguese  forts  on  the  east  coast ;  and 
in  the  following  year  landed  at  Kegombo, 
without,  however,  establishing  themselves  in 
any  strong  post.  In  1643  Negombo  was 
captured  and  fortified  by  the  Dutch,  and 
fifteen  years  later  the  fall  of  Columbo  gave 
that  people  entire  possession  of  the  sea-board 
of  Ceylon. 

Pursuing  a  wiser  policy  than  their  prede 
cessors,  the  Dutch  lost  no  opportunity  of 
improving  that  portion  of  the  country  which 
o\vned  their  supremacy,  and  of  opening  a 
trade  with  the  interior.  More  tolerant  and 
less  ambitious  of  military  renown  than  the 
Portuguese,  they  so  far  succeeded  in  their 
object  as  to  render  their  commerce  between 
this  island  and  Holland  a  source  of  great 
profit.  Many  new  branches  of  industry 
were  developed.  Public  works  were  under 
taken  on  a  large  scale,  and  education,  if  not 
universally  placed  within  the  reach  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  ir  aritime  provinces,  was 
at  least  well  cared  for  on  a  broad  plan  of 
government  supervision. 

That  which  they  had  so  much  improved 
by  policy  they  were,  however,  unable  to  de- 


tOti 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


fend  by  force  when  the  British  turned  their 
inns  against  them.  A  century  and  a  half 
passed  within  seven  degrees  of  the  equator 
had  wrought  great  changes  in  the  physical 
and  mental  status  of  the  Dutch  colonists. 
The  territory  which  in  1653  they  had  slowly 
gained  by  undaunted  and  obstinate  bravery, 
they  as  rapidly  lost  in  1796  by  imbecility 
and  cowardice. 

The  first  intercourse  of  the  English  with 
Ceylon  took  place  as  far  back  as  1766,  when 
an  embassy  was  dispatched  from  Madras  to 
the  king  of  Kandy,  without,  however,  lead 
ing  to  any  result.  On  the  rupture  between 
Great  Britain  and  Holland  in  1795,  a  force 
was  sent  against  the  Dutch  possessions  in 
Ceylon,  where  so  slight  was  the  opposition 
offered,  that  by  the  following  year  the  whole 
of  their  forts  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Eng 
lish  commander. 

At  first  the  island  was  placed  under  the 
care  of  the  Honorable  East  India  Company, 
but  in  1802  reverted  to  the  crown,  whose 
dominion,  however,  extended  no  further  than 
the  maritime  provinces.  The  central  tract  of 
hilly  country,  hedged  in  by  impenetrable 
forests  and  precipitous  mountain  ranges,  re 
mained  in  possession  of  "VVickrama  Singha, 
the  last  of  the  Malabar  dynasty  of  kings, 
who  showed  no  signs  of  encouraging  com 
munication  with  his  European  neighbors. 

Minor  differences  led  in  1803  to  an  invas 
ion  of  the  Kandian  territory ;  but  sickness, 
desertion,  and  fatigue  proved  more  formida 
ble  adversaries  to  the  British  forces  than  the 
troops  of  the  Singhalese  monarch,  and  peace 


was  eventually  concluded  upon  terms  by  no 
means  favorable  to  the  English.  The  cruelty 
and  oppression  of  the  king  now  became  so 
intolerable  to  his  subjects,  that  disaffection 
spread  rapidly  amongst  them.  Executions 
of  the  most  horrible  kinds  were  perpetrated. 

The  utmost  stretch  of  despotism  failed  to 
repress  the  popular  indignation  ;  and  in  1814 
the  British,  at  the  urgent  request  of  many  of 
the  Adigars  and  other  native  chiefs,  proceed 
ed  against  the  tyrant,  who  was  captured  near 
Kandy,  and  subsequently  ended  his  days  in 
exile.  With  him  ended  a  long  line  of  sov 
ereigns,  whose  ancestral  pedigree  may  be 
traced  through  upwards  of  two  thousand 
years. 

By  a  convention  entered  into  with  the 
Kandian  chiefs  on  the  2d  of  March  1815.  the 
entire  sovereignty  of  the  island  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  British,  who  in  return  'guar 
anteed  to  the  inhabitants  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  The  religion  of  Buddha  was  declar 
ed  inviolable,  and  its  rights,  ministers,  and 
places  of  worship  were  to  be  maintained  and 
protected  ;  the  laws  of  the  country  were  to 
be  preserved  and  administered  according  to 
established  forms;  and  the  rojal  dues  and 
revenues  were  to  be  levied  as  before  for  the 
support  of  the  government. 

With  the  exception  of  a  serious  outbreak 
in  some  parts  of  the  interior  in  1817,  wliich 
lasted  for  upwards  of  a  year,  and  of  two  minor 
attempts  at  rebellion  easily  put  down,  in 
1843  and  1848,  the  political  atmosphere  of 
Ceylon  has  remained  undisturbed  since  the 
deportation  of  the  last  king  of  Kandy. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


107 


ASSYRIA,   MEDIA,    AND   BABYLONIA. 


A  S  SYRIA  was  a  country  and  empire  of 
jL\^,  Asia,  the  capital  of  which  was  Nin 
eveh.  The  boundaries  of  the  country  have 
been  variously  given  by  Greek  and  Roman 
historians.  In  its  strictest  and  most  original 
sense,  it  was  applied  to  a  long  narrow  dis 
trict  lying  on  the  east  side  of  the  Tigris,  and 
which  is  commonly  called  Assyria  Proper. 
In  a  more  extended  sense,  it  comprehended 
the  whole  country  watered  by  the  Eu 
phrates  and  Tigris,  between  tha  moun 
tains  of  Armenia  on  the  north,  tho  4' of  Kur 
distan  on  the  east,  and  the  Arabian  desert  on 
the  west;  thus  including  not  only  Assyria 
Proper,  but  also  Mesopotamia  and  Babylonia. 
It  was  also  applied  to  the  empire,  the  bound 
aries  and  extent  of  which  varied  with  the 
character  of  its  monarchs. 

Assyria  Proper  was  bounded  on  the  north 
by  Armenia,  on  the  west  and  southwest  by 
the  Tigris,  which  separated  it  from  Mesopo 
tamia  and  Babylonia,  on  the  southeast  by 
Susiana,  and  on  the  east  by  the  Zagros  chain, 
separating  it  from  Media.  It  corresponded 
to  the  modern  pashalic  of  Mosul,  including 
the  plains  below  the  Kurdistan  and  Persian 
mountains. 

Being  in  the  vicinity  of  Ararat,  this  dis 
trict  was  early  peopled  after  the  flood.  From 
the  word  Asshur  being  used  in  Hebrew  both 
as  the  name  of  Shem's  second  son,  and  for 
the  country  of  Assyria,  ambiguity  has  arisen 
as  to  the  founder  of  this  empire.  In  Gene- 
BIS  x.  11,  the  sacred  historian,  in  speaking  of 
Nunrod  and  his  kingdom,  adds:  "Out  of 


that  land  went  forth  Asshur,  and  builded 
Nineveh,"  or  it  may  "be  translated  as  in  the 
margin,  "  Out  of  that  land  he  (i.  e.  Niinrod) 
went  out  into  Assyria,  and  builded  Nineveh." 
For  reasons  which  it  would  be  foreign  to  our 
present  purpose  to  narrate,  the  latter  reading 
is  generally  considered  to  be  the  more  correct, 
and  Nimrod  is  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the 
Assyrian  empire.  For  several  centuries  after 
this,  Scripture  is  silent  respecting  the  history 
of  this  country.  In  the  days  of  Abraham,  Che- 
dorlaomer,  a  king  of  Elam,  is  mentioned  (Gen. 
xiv.)  as  having,  along  with  three  other  kings, 
invaded  the  territory  of  five  petty  princes 
of  Palestine.  These  four  kings,  according  to 
Josephus,  were  only  commanders  in  the  army 
of  the  Assyrian  king,  who  had  their  domin 
ion  over  Asia.  In  the  time  of  the  Judges, 
the  Israelites  became  subject  to  a  king  of 
Mesopotamia,  Chusan-rishathaim,  who  is  by 
Josephus  styled  King  of  the  Assyrians. 

According  to  the  Greek  historians,  the 
founder  of  the  Assyrian  empire  was  Ninus, 
who  is  represented  as  having  conquered 
Babylon,  Media,  Egypt,  and  other  countries. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  widow  Semiramis, 
who  must  not,  however,  be  confounded  with 
another  queen  of  that  name  who  reigned 
some  centuries  later.  She  was  succeeded, 
after  a  long  and  glorious  reign,  by  her  son, 
Ninyas,  who,  however,  preferred  luxurious 
ease  and  indulgence  to  martial  glory.  His 
example  was  followed  by  a  long  line  of  suc 
cessors.  In  the  reigii  of  Teutamcs,  one  of 
these,  the  Trojan  war  broke  out.  Troy  was 


108 


HISTORY  OP  THE  WORLD. 


then,  according  to  Ctcsias  and  other  Greek 
writers,  subject  to  the  king  of  Assyria.  This, 
however,  seems  very  doubtful,  as  neither 
Homer  nor  Herodotus  makes  any  allusion  to 
it.  Of  this  degenerate  race,  Sardanapalus, 
the  last  of  the  dynasty,  was  the  most  effem 
inate  and  voluptuous.  His  feeble  adminis 
tration  prompted  Arbaces,  the  governor  of 
Media,  to  revolt,  a  measure  in  which  he  was 
encouraged  by  the  advice  and  assistance  of 
Belesys,  a  Chaldean  priest,  who  persuaded 
the  Babylonians  also  to  assert  their  independ 
ence.  These  provinces,  aided  by  the  Persians 
and  other  allies,  attacked  the  Assyrians,  de 
feated  their  army,  and  took  the  capital  after 
a  siege  of  two  years.  The  king,  to  prevent 
his  falling  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  col 
lected  all  his  treasures,  his  wives,  and  concu 
bines,  within  the  palace,  which  he  then  set 
on  fire,  and  thus  perished. 

After  the  death  of  Sardanapalus,  the  As 
syrian  empire  was  divided  into  three  king 
doms,  namely,  the  Median,  Assyrian,  and 
Babylonian.  Arbaces  retained  the  supreme 
power  in  Media,  and  nominated  governors  in 
Assyria  and  Babylon,  who  were  honored 
with  the  title  of  kings,  while  they  remained 
subject  and  tributary  to  the  Median  mon 
arch?. 

The  first  king  of  Assyria  alluded  to  in 
Scripture  is  he  who  reigned  at  Nineveh  when 
the  prophet  Jonah  was  sent  thither.  Hales 
supposes  him  to  have  been  the  father  of  Pul, 
the  first  Assyrian  monarch  whose  name  is 
mentioned  in  Scripture,  and  dates  the  com 
mencement  of  his  reign  B.  c.  821.  By  that 
time  the  metropolis  of  the  empire  had  be 
come  a  magnificent  and  populous  city ;  but 
one  pre-eminent  in  wickedness.  Pul  invaded 
the  land  of  Israel  during  the  reign  of  Mena- 
hem,  and  obliged  that  king  to  purchase 
peace  at  the  price  of  1,000  talents  of  silver 
(2  Kings  xv.  10, 20).  According  to  Newton, 
thio  event  took  place  in  the  year  770  B.  c. 
Hales  agrees  with  Newton  in  supposing  that 
at  Pul's  death  his  dominions  were  divided 
between  his  two  sons,  Tiglath-pileser  and 
Nabonassar — the  latter  ruling  at  Babylon, 


and  giving  name  to  the  "  era  of  Nabonas 
sar,"  which  took  its  rise  in  his  reign  B.  c.  747. 
In  the  sixth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiglath- 
pileser,  Ilezin,  King  of  Syria,  and  Pekah, 
King  of  Israel,  came  up  against  Ahaz,  and 
besieged  him  in  Jerusalem.  Ahaz  thereupon 
sent  messengers,  with  a  large  present,  to 
Tiglath-pileser,  King  of  Assyria,  requesting 
his  assistance.  The  Assyrian  king  accord 
ingly  invaded  the  territories  of  the  confeder 
ate  kings,  annexed  a  portion  of  them  to  his 
own  dominions,  and  carried  captive  a  num 
ber  of  their  subjects.  In  the  year  B.  c.  720, 
he  was  succeeded  by  Shalman,  Shalmaneser, 
or  Enemessar.  He  made  Hoshea,  King  of 
Israel,  his  tributary  vassal,  but  finding  him 
secretly  negotiating  with  So  or  Sobaco,  King 
of  Egypt,  he  laid  siege  to  the  Israelitish  cap 
ital,  Samaria,  and  took  it  after  an  investment 
of  three  years  (B.  c.  710).  He  then  reduced 
the  country  of  the  ten  tribes  to  a  province 
of  his  empire,  carried  into  captivity  the  king 
and  people,  and  settled  Cuthseans  from  Baby 
lonia  in  .their  room.  Hezekiah,  King  of  Ju- 
dah,  seeiiit*  to  have  been  for  some  time  his 
vassal.  We  learn  from  Josephus,  on  the  au 
thority  of  the  Tyrian  annals,  that  he  subdued 
the  whole  of  Phomicia  with  the  exception 
of  Tyre,  which  successfully  resisted  a  siege 
of  five  years,  and  was  at  length  relieved  by 
his  death  in  B.  c.  715.  Sargon,  mentioned 
in  Isaiah  (xx.  1)  as  being  King  of  Assyria, 
in  whose  reign  Tartan,  elsewhere  mentioned 
as  a  general  of  Sennacherib,  besieged  and 
took  Ashdod  in  Philistia,  is  by  some  supposed 
to  be  Shalmanesar  or  Esarhaddon,  Sennache 
rib's  successor;  but  Gesenius  is  probably 
more  correct  in  thinking  that  he  was  a  king 
of  Assyria  who  succeeded  Shahnaneser,  and 
reigned  only  for  two  or  three  years. 

The  result  of  Tartan's  expedition  against 
Egypt  and  Ethiopia  was  predicted  by  Isaiah, 
while  that  general  was  yet  on  the  Egyptian 
frontier  at  Ashdod.  In  the  reign  of  Senna 
cherib,  llezekiah,  King  of  Judah,  threw  off 
the  Assyrian  yoke,  and  allied  himself  with 
Egypt.  This  brought  against  him  Sennache 
rib  with  a  mighty  hoet,  who  attacked  and 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


109 


subdued  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah,  and 
compelled  him  to  purchase  peace  with  300 
talents  of  silver  and  30  talents  of  gold.  But 
notwithstanding  this  agreement,  the  king  of 
Assyria  was  not  long  in  returning  to  invest 
Jerusalem.  By  the  divine  interposition, 
however,  a  pestilence  destroyed  in  one  night 
the  Assyrian  army.  Sennacherib  himself 
lied  to  Nineveh,  where  he  was  slain  by  his 
sons  Adrammelech  and  Sharezer,  about  B.  c. 
709.  The  parricides  fled  to  Armenia,  and  a 
third  son,  Esarhaddon,  the  Sacherdon  or 
Sarchedon  of  Tobit,  and  the  Asaradinus  of 
Ptolemy's  canon,  ascended  the  throne.  The 
earlier  part  of  his  reign  seems  to  have  been 
employed  in  subduing  the  provinces  that  had 
revolted  against  him.  He  settled  colonists 
in  Samaria ;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  in  his 
reign  that  the  captains  of  the  Assyrian  host 
invaded  Judah,  and  earned  Manasseh,  the 
king,  captive  to  Babylon,  which  appears  to 
have  been  at  that  time  the  capital  of  the  As 
syrian  empire.  The  subsequent  history  of 
the  empire  is  involved  in  much  obscurity. 
The  Medes  had  already  shaken  oif  the  yoke, 
and  the  Chaldeans  soon  appear  on  the  scene 
as  the  dominant  nation  in  Western  Asia ;  yet 
Assyria,  though  much  reduced  in  extent,  ex 
isted  as  an  independent  state  for  a  consider 
able  period  after  Esarhaddon.  Hales,  follow 
ing  Syncellus,  gives  as  his  successor  a  prince 
called  Ninus  (B.  c.  667),  who  was  succeeded 
(B.C.  658),  by  Nebuchodonosor,  for  the  trans 
actions  of  whose  reign  Hales  relies  on  the 
apocryphal  book  of  Judith,  the  authority  of 
which,  however,  is  very  questionable.  The 
last  monarch  was  Saruc,  (called  also  Sardan- 
apalus,)  in  whose  reign  Cyaxares,  king  of 
Media,  and  Nabopolassar,  viceroy  of  Baby 
lon,  besieged  and  took  Nineveh,  (B.C.  606). 
What  remained  of  the  empire  was  divided 
between  the  two  victorious  powers,  and  As 
syria  Proper  became  a  pro  vince  of  Media. 

MEDIA  derived  its  name  from  Madai,  the 
third  son  of  Japhet ;  as  is  plain  from  Scrip 
ture,  where  the  Medes  were  constantly  called 
Mcdm.  Amongst  profane  authors,  Strabo 


derives  the  name  from  Medus,  the  son  of  Ja 
son  and  Medea,  others  from  Medea  herself, 
and  some  from  the  medial  position  of  the 
country. 

The  government  of  the  various  tribes  into 
which  the  country  was  divided  was  originally 
monarchical,  and  they  seemed  to  have  had 
their  own  kings  even  in  the  earliest  times. 
They  were  first  brought  under  a  foreign  yoke 
by  Pul,  said  to  have  been  the  founder  of  the 
Assyrian  monarchy,  or  by  his  immediate  suc 
cessor,  Tiglath-pileser.  From  the  time  of 
Pul,  or  Tiglath-pileser,  who  succeeded  his 
father  in  the  year  740,  B.C.,  they  remained 
subject  to  the  Assyrians  till  about  the  latter 
end  of  the  reign  of  Sennacherib,  710,  B.C., 
when,  emancipating  themselves  from  Assyr 
ian  bondage,  they  fell  into  a  state  of  anarchy. 
It  was  accordingly  found  necessary  to  appoint 
a  king ;  upon  which  Dejoces  was  named  to 
the  sovereignty,  and  with  universal  applause 
placed  upon  the  throne,  710  B.C.  'No  sooner 
had  he  been  vested  with  the  supreme  power, 
than  he  threw  of  the  mask  and  became  a  ty 
rant.  Ecbatana  was  built  and  chosen  for  the 
royal  residence,  and  a  stately  palace  was 
erected.  Dejoces  having  enacted  various 
laws  for  the  government  of  the  kingdom,  and 
having  in  a  considerable  degree  civilized  his 
unpolished  subjects,  entertained  thoughts  of 
extending  the  limits  of  his  new  kingdom,  and 
with  this  view,  he  invaded  Assyria.  Nebuch- 
odonosor,  however,  at  that  time  king  of  As 
syria,  met  him  in  the  plain  of  Ehagse,  and  a 
battle  ensued,  in  which  the  Medes  were  utter 
ly  defeated,  and  Dejoces  was  slain,  after  a 
reign,  according  to  Herodotus,  of  fifty-three 
years.  The  Assyrian  king,  following  up  his 
success,  reduced  several  cities  of  Media,  and 
almost  utterly  destroyed  Ecbatana.  Dejoces 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Phraortes,  647  B.C. 
This  prince,  not  satisfied  with  the  kingdom 
of  Media,  invaded  Persia,  and  is  said  to  have 
brought  that  nation  under  subjection.  Sue]} 
is  the  account  of  Herodotus.  Others,  how 
ever,  ascribe  the  conquest  of  Persia,  not  to 
Phraortes,  but  to  his  son  aud  successor,  Cy 
axares.  Phraortes,  however,  subdued  several 


110 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WOULD. 


neighboring  nations,  and  made  himself  mas 
ter  of  almost  all  Upper  Asia,  lying  between 
Mount  Taurus  and  the  River  Halys.  Em 
boldened  by  his  success,  he  invaded  Assyria, 
subdued  a  great  part  of  the  country,  and 
even  laid  siege  to  Nineveh,  the  metropolis. 
He  fell  before  that  city  in  the  twenty-third 
year  of  his  reign. 

His  son  Cyaxares  was  not  less  valiant  and 
enterprising  than  his  father,  and  had  better 
success  against  the  Assyrians.  With  the  re 
mains  of  that  army  which  had  been  defeated 
under  Phraortes,  he  not  only  drove  the  con 
querors  out  of  Media,  but  obliged  Chynila- 
dan  to  shut  himself  up  in  Nineveh.  To  this 
place  he  immediately  laid  close  siege ;  but 
was  obliged  to  abandon  the  enterprise  on  ac 
count  of  an  irruption  of  the  Scytliians  into 
his  own  country.  Cyaxares  engaged  these 
new  enemies  with  great  resolution,  but  was 
utterly  defeated ;  and  the  conquerors  overran 
not  only  all  Media,  but  the  greater  part  of 
Upper  Asia,  extending  their  conquests  into 
Syria,  and  as  far  as  the  confines  of  Egypt. 
They  continued  masters  of  this  vast  tract  of 
country  for  twenty-eight  years,  till  at  last 
Media  was  delivered  from  their  yoke  by  a 
general  massacre  at  the  instigation  of  Cyax 
ares. 

The  Medes  afterwards  encountered  the 
Lydians ;  and  during  the  engagement  there 
happened  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  is 
said  to  have  been  foretold  by  Thales  the 
Milesian.  Both  nations  were  terrified,  and 
Boon  afterwards  concluded  a  peace  by  tho 
mediation  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  King  of  Baby 
lon,  and  Siennesis,  King  of  Cilicia.  This 
peace  was  confirmed  by  the  marriage  of  Ary- 
enis,  the  daughter  of  Halyattes,  and  Asty- 
ages,  the  eldest  son  of  Cyaxares;  and  of  this 
marriage  was  born  in  the  ensuing  year,  Cy 
axares  II,  who,  in  the  book  of  Daniel,  ch.  v. 
31,  is  called  Darius  the  Mede.  Cyaxares, 
disengaged  from  the  Lydian  war,  resumed 
the  siege  of  Nineveh  ;  and,  having  formed  a  j 
strict  alliance  with  Nebuchadnezzar,  King  of 
Babylon,  they  joined  their  forces,  and  took 
and  destroyed  the  city  (606  B.C.).  With  this 


prosperous  event  commenced  the  great  suc 
cesses  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and  Cyaxares  ;  and 
thus  was  laid  the  foundation  of  the  two  col 
lateral  empires — as  they  may  be  called — of 
the  Medes  and  Babylonians,  which  rose  up 
on  the  ruins  of  the  Assyrian  monarchy.  Af 
ter  the  reduction  of  Nineveh,  the  two  con 
querors  led  the  confederate  army  against 
Pharaoh-!N  echo,  King  of  Egypt,  defeated 
him  near  the  Euphrates,  and  competed  him 
to  resign  what  he  had  formerly  taken  from 
the  Assyrians.  After  this  victory  they  re 
duced  all  Coelesyria  and  Phoenicia  ;  they  then 
invaded  and  laid  waste  Samaria,  Galilee,  and 
Scythopolis ;  and,  at  last,  besieged  Jerusalem, 
and  took  Jehoiakim  prisoner.  Nebuchad 
nezzar  afterwards  pursued  his  conquests  in 
the  West,  and  Cyaxares  subdued  the  Assyr 
ian  provinces  of  Armenia,  Pontus,  and  Cap- 
padocia.  Again  uniting  their  forces,  they 
reduced  Persia  and  Susiana,  and  accomplish 
ed  the  conquest  of  the  Assyrian  empire. 
The  prophet  Ezekiel,  (ch.  xxxii.  22,  etc.) 
enumerates  the  chief  nations  who  were  sub 
dued  and  slaughtered  by  the  two  conquerors, 
Cyaxares  and  Nebuchadnezzar. 

After  this  victory,  the  Babylonian  and  Mo 
dian  empires  seem  to  have  been  united;  but 
upon  the  death  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  or  rather 
towards  the  close  of  his  life,  a  war  ensued, 
which  was  only  extinguished  by  the  dissolu 
tion  of  the  Babylonian  empire.  The  Medes 
under  Astyages,  the  son  of  Cyaxares  I,  with 
stood  the  power  of  the  Babylonian  monarchs, 
and,  under  Cyrus  and  Cyaxares  II,  utterly 
destroyed  their  empire  by  the  taking  of  Bab 
ylon.  After  the  death  of  Cyaxares  the  II,  the 
kingdom  fell  to  Cyrus,  by  whom  the  seat  of 
the  empire  was  transferred  to  Persia.  After 
the  time  of  Cyrus,  the  union  between  the 
Medes  and  Persians  became  so  close,  that 
many  of  the  customs  of  the  latter,  are  be 
lieved  to  have  been  derived  from  Media  ;  and 
the  name  by  which  the  Persians  were  known 
to  the  Greeks  was  that  of  Medes,  while  in 
sacred  history  they  are  always  called  Medea 
and  Persians.  On  the  dismemberment  of 
the  Persian  empire  they  came  under  the  do- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Ill 


minion  of  the  Seleucidse,  and  subsequently, 
of  the  Parthians. 

The  Medes  were  fond  of  equestrian  exer 
cises,  and  were  great  adepts  in  archery.  The 
priests  of  the  Median  religion  were  called 
Magi  ;  and  the  principal  objects  of  worship, 
were  the  sun,  moon,  and  five  planets.  The 
seven  concentric  walls  of  Ecbatana,  the  cap 
ital,  were,  according  to  Herodotus,  decorated 
with  various  colors,  which  were  probably 
symbolical  of  these  objects  of  adoration ;  and 
the  correctness  of  this  description  has  been 
recently  confirmed  by  the  discovery  of  sim 
ilarly  colored  terraces  at  Birs  Nimroud,  near 
the  ruins  of  Babylon. 

BABYLONIA,  or  CHALD.EA,  was  a  country 
and  kingdom  of  Asia,  the  capital  of  which 
was  Babylon.  The  country  was  bounded  on 
the  north  by  the  desert  part  of  Mesopotamia, 
on  the  east  by  the  Tigris,  on  the  south  by  the 
Persian  Gulf,  and  on  the  west  by  the  Ara 
bian  desert.  The  confines  of  the  kingdom, 
however,  were  at  times  much  more  extensive. 

Passing  over  the  early  portion  of  Babylo 
nian  history,  which  is  obscure  and  doubtful, 
we  shall  limit  ourselves  to  a  short  account  of 
the  events  which  terminated  in  the  subversion 
of  the  kingdom. 

A  war  which  had  begun  between  the 
Medes,  Persians,  and  Babylonians,  in  the 
reign  of  Neriglissar,  the  father  of  Is"abona- 
dius,  had  been  carried  on  with  very  bad  for 
tune  on  the  side  of  the  Babylonians.  Cyrus, 
who  commanded  the  Median  and  Per.sian  ar 
my,  having  subdued  the  several  nations  in 
habiting  the  great  continent  from  the  ^Egean 
Sea  to  the  Euphrates,  bent  his  march  towards 
Babylon.  Nabonadius,  hearing  of  his  march 
immediately  advanced  against  him  with  an 
army.  In  the  engagement  which  ensued, 
the  Babylonians  were  defeated ;  and  the 
king,  retreating  to  his  metropolis,  was  block 
ed  up  and  closely  besieged  by  Cyrus.  The 
reduction  of  this  city  was  no  easy  enterprise. 
The  walls  were  of  a  prodigious  height,  the 
number  of  men  employed  to  defend  them 
was  great,  and  the  place  was  stored  with  all 


sorts  of  provisions  for  twenty  years.  Cyrus, 
despairing  of  being  able  to  take  such  a  city 
by  storm,  caused  a  line  of  circumvallation  to 
be  drawn  quite  around  it,  with  a  large  and 
deep  ditch;  reckoning  that  if  all  commu 
nication  with  the  country  were  cut  off,  the 
besieged  would  be  obliged  to  surrender 
through  famine,  That  his  troops  might  not 
be  too  much  fatigued,  he  divided  his  army 
into  twelve  bodies,  appointing  each  body  its 
month  to  guard  the  trenches ;  while  the  be 
sieged,  trusting  to  their  high  walls  and  mag 
azines,  insulted  him  from  the  ramparts,  and 
ridiculed  all  his  preparations,  as  so  much  un 
profitable  labor. 

After  Cyrus  had  spent  two  whole  years  be 
fore  Babylon,  without  making  any  progress 
in  the  siege,  he  at  last  thought  of  the  follow 
ing  stratagem,  which  put  him  in  possession 
of  it.  He  was  informed  that  a  great  annual 
solemnity  was  to  be  held  at  Babylon,  and, 
that  the  inhabitants  on  that  occasion,  were 
accustomed  to  spend  the  whole  night  in 
drinking  and  debauchery.  This  he,  there 
fore,  thought  a  proper  time  for  surprising 
them ;  and,  accordingly  sent  a  strong  detach 
ment  to  the  head  of  the  canal  leading  to  the 
large  lake,  with  orders,  at  a  certain  time,  to 
break  down  the  great  bank,  which  was  be 
tween  the  lake  and  canal,  and  to  turn  the 
whole  current  into  the  lake.  At  the  same 
time,  he  stationed  one  body  of  troops  at  the 
place  where  the  river  entered  the  city,  and 
another  where  it  came  out ;  ordering  them  to 
march  in  by  the  bed  of  the  river  as  soon  as 
they  should  find  it  fordable.  Towards  the 
evening,  he  opened  the  head  of  the  trenches 
on  both  sides  of  the  river  above  the  city,  that 
the  water  might  discharge  itself  into  them  ; 
by  which  means,  and  the  breaking  down  of 
the  great  dam,  the  river  was  soon  drained. 
The  troops  then  entered  the  channel,  the  one 
body  commanded  by  Gobryas,  the  other  by 
Gadates ;  and  finding  the  gates  all  left  open, 
in  consequence  of  the  disorders  of  that  riot 
ous  night,  they  penetrated  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  city  without  opposition,  and 
meeting,  according  to  agreement,  at  the  pal- 


112 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


ace,  they  surprised  the  guards  and  cut  them 
to  pieces.  Those  who  were  in  the  palace 
opened  the  gates  to  know  the  cause  of  this 
confusion,  when  the  Persians  rushed  in,  took 
the  palace,  and  killed  the  king,  who  came 
out  to  meet  them  sword  in  hand.  Thus,  an 
end  was  put  to  the  Babylonian  empire ;  and 
Cyrus  took  possession  of  Babylon  for  one 


called  in  Scripture,  Darius  the  Mede,  most 
probably  Cyaxares,  II,  uncle  to  Cyrus.  From 
this  time,  Babylonia  never  formed  a  distinct 
kingdom,  but  has  always  followed  the  fortune 
of  those  great  conquerors,  who,  at  different 
times,  have  appeared  in  Asia.  It  is  now  sub 
ject  to  the  Turks,  under  the  name  of  Irak 
Arabi. 


PARTHIA. 


PAKTHIA,  a  celebrated  empire  of  an 
tiquity,  was  bounded  on  the  "West  by 
Media,  on  the  North  by  Ilyrcania,  on  the 
East  by  Aria,  and  on  the  South  by  Carama- 
nia  and  Persis.  It  was  surrounded  on  every 
side  by  mountains  or  deserts,  and  its  sur 
face  was  hilly  and  rugged. 

The  history  of  the  ancient  Parthians  is  in 
volved  in  obscurity.  All  we  know  about 
them  is,  that  they  were  first  subject  to  the 
Medes,  then  to  the  Persians,  and  lastly  to 
Alexander.  After  the  death  of  the  Mace 
donian  conqueror,  the  province  fell  to  Seleu- 
cus  Nicator,  and  was  held  by  him  and  his 
successors  till  the  reign  of  Antiochus  Theus, 
about  two  centuries  and  a  half  B.C.  At  this 
time  the  Parthians  revolted,  and  chose 
Arsaces  as  their  king.  Seleucus  Callinicus, 
the  successor  of  Antiochus  Theus,  attempted 
to  reduce  Arsaces ;  but  the  latter  having 
had  time  to  strengthen  himself,  defeated  his 
antagonist,  and  drove  him  out  of  the  coun 
try.  Tn  a  short  time,  however,  Seleucus  un 
dertook  another  expedition  against  Arsaces, 
which  proved  still  more  unfortunate  than 
the  former ;  for  being  defeated  in  a  great 
battle,  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  died  in 
captivity.  Arsaces  being  thus  established 
in  his  new  kingdom,  reduced  Ilyrcania  and 
several  other  provinces ;  but  he  was  at  last 
killed  in  a  battle  against  Ariarathes,  King  of 


Cappadocia.  From  this  prince  all  the  other 
kings  of  Partliia  took  the  surname  of  Arsaces, 
as  those  of  Egypt  did  that  of  Ptolemy  from 
Ptolemy  Soter. 

Arsaces  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  who, 
having  entered  Media,  made  himself  master 
of  that  country  whilst  Antiochus  the  Great 
was  engaged  in  war  with  Ptolemy  Euergetes, 
King  of  Egypt.  Antiochus,  however,  had 
no  sooner  found  himself  disengaged  from  that 
war,  than  he  marched  with  all  his  forces 
against  Arsaces,  and  at  first  drove  him  com 
pletely  out  of  Media.  But  the  latter  soon 
returned  with  an  army  of  100,000  foot  and 
20,000  horse,  with  which  he  put  a  slop  to 
the  progress  of  Antiochus  ;  and  a  treaty  was 
soon  afterwards  concluded,  by  which  it  was 
agreed  that  Arsaces  should  remain  master  of 
Partliia  and  Ilyrcania,  upon  condition  of  as 
sisting  Antiochus  in  his  wars  with  oth'jr  na 
tions. 

Arsaces  II.  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Priapatius,  who  reigned  fifteen  years,  and 
left  three  sons, — Phraates,  Mithridatcs,  and 
Artabanus.  Phraates,  the  eldest,  succeeded 
to  the  throne,  and  reduced  the  Mardians, 
who  had  never  been  conquered  by  any  but 
Alexander.  His  brother  Mithridates,  who 
was  next  invested  with  the  regal  dignity,  re 
duced  the  Bactrians,  Medes,  Persians,  and 
Elymeans,  and  overrpn  a  great  part  of  the 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WOELD. 


113 


East,  penetrating  beyond  the  boundaries  ot 
Alexander's  conquests.  Demetrius  Nicator, 
who  then  reigned  in  Syria,  endeavored  to  re 
cover  these  provinces ;  but  his  army  was  en 
tirely  destroyed,  and  he  himself  taken  pri 
soner,  in  which  state  he  remained  till  his 
death.  After  this  victory,  Hithridates  made 
himself  master  of  Babylonia  and  Mesopo 
tamia  ;  so  that  all  the  provinces  between  the 
Euphrates  and  Ganges  were  now  subject  to 
his  sway. 

Mithridates  died  in  the  thirty-seventh  year 
of  his  reign,  between  138  and  130  B.C., 
leaving  the  throne  to  his  son  Phraates  II. 
But  the  latter  was  scarcely  settled  in  his 
kingdom,  when  Antioclms  Sidetes  marched 
against  him  at  the  head  of  a  numerous  army, 
on  the  pretence  of  delivering  his  brother 
Demetrius,  who  was  still  detained  in  captiv 
ity.  Phraates  was  defeated  in  three  pitched 
battles,  in  which  he  lost  all  the  countries 
conquered  by  his  father,  and  was  reduced 
within  the  limits  of  the  ancient  Parthian 
kingdom.  Antioclms,  however,  did  not  long 
enjoy  his  good  fortune.  His  numerous  army 
being  obliged  to  scatter  themselves  over  the 
country,  were  attacked  at  disadvantage  by 
the  inhabitants,  and  all  the  invaders,  along 
with  their  monarch,  were  exterminated. 
Phraates  elated  with  this  success,  proposed 
to  invade  Syria  ;  but  happening  to  quarrel 
with  the  Scythians,  he  was  cut  off,  with  his 
whole  army,  by  that  people. 

Phraates  was  succeeded  by  his  uncle  Ar- 
tabanus.  The  new  king,  however,  enjoyed 
his  dignity  for  a  very  short  time,  being  a  few 
days  after  his  accession,  killed  in  another 
battle  with  the  Scythians.  lie  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Pacorus,  who  entered  into  an  alli 
ance  with  the  Romans.  Who  was  the  next 
occupant  of  the  throne  has  not  been  ascer 
tained  ;  but  the  next  king  whose  reign  is  au 
thenticated  was  Sanatroces.  He  died  about 
70  B.C.,  after  a  reign  of  seven  years,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Phraates  III.  This  monarch 
took  under  his  protection  Tigranes,  the  son 
of  Tigranes  the  Great,  King  of  Armenia, 
gave  the  young  prince  his  daughter  in  mar- 
15 


riage,  and  invaded  the  kingdom  with  a  de 
sign  to  place  him  on  the  throne  of  Armenia; 
but  he  soon  thought  proper  to  retire,  and  to 
remain  at  peace  with  the  Eomans.  Phraates 
was  murdered  by  his  children  Mithridates 
and  Orodes  ;  and  soon  afterwards  the  former 
was  put  to  death  by  his  brother,  who  thus 
became  the  sole  master  of  the  Parthian  em 
pire. 

In  this  reign  happened  the  ever-memorable 
war  with  the  Romans  under  Crassus.  It  had 
its  origin  in  the  spirit  of  rivalry  which  ex 
isted  between  the  triumvirs  who  then  pre 
sided  over  the  destinies  of  Rome.  Pompey 
had  conquered  Mithridates  and  the  pirates  ; 
Caesar  had  subdued  Gaul ;  and  Crassus  felt 
the  necessity  of  maintaining  his  position  by 
the  achievement  of  some  military  exploit. 
Accordingly,  no  sooner  had  he  been  elected 
consul  in  55  B.C.,  and  obtained  Syria  for  hia 
province,  than  he  resolved  to  invade  Parthia. 
This  expedition,  owing  to  the  fact  that  it 
was  directed  against  a  friendly  people,  met 
with  considerable  opposition  at  its  very  out 
set.  The  Senate  refused  to  sanction  it.  The 
presence  of  Pompey  was  required  to  save  it 
from  an  attack  of  popular  dissatisfaction  as 
it  passed  through  the  streets  of  Rome. 
When  it  issued  from  the  city,  the  tribune 
Ateius,  posted  at  the  gate,  with  strange  and 
awful  incantations  and  anathemas,  devoted 
it  and  its  leader  to  perdition.  Nevertheless, 
Crassus  persisted  in  his  enterprise.  He 
marched  to  Brundusium,  and  sailed  to  Mace 
donia.  Continuing  his  route  through  Mace 
donia  and  Thrace,  across  the  Hellespont, 
and  through  Galatia  and  the  northern  part 
of  Syria,  he  crossed  the  Euphrates,  and  com 
menced  hostilities.  Yet  scarcely  had  a  few 
towns  yielded  to  the  Roman  arms,  than  that 
imprudence  of  Crassus  which  led  to  the  ruin 
of  the  expedition  began  to  manifest  itself. 
Instead  of  following  up  his  success,  pressing 
onwards,  and  attacking  the  enemy  unpre 
pared,  he  returned  to  Syria,  and  passed  the 
winter  in  inactivity.  It  was  not  deemed  ne 
cessary  to  collect  information  and  to  provide 
resources  for  the  coming  campaign.  The 


114 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


soldiers  were  allowed  to  neglect  their  train- 
Ing  and  discipline.  He  himself  spent  his 
time  in  inquiring  into  the  revenues  of  cities 
and  weighing  gold  in  the  temple  of  Ilicra- 
polis.  This  infatuation  reached  a  climax 
when  the  time  for  taking  the  field  again, 
and  advancing  into  the  heart  of  Partliia,  ar 
rived.  In  vain  did  his  ally  Artavasdes,  King 
of  Armenia,  advise  him  to  direct  his  route 
alone:  the  chain  of  the  Armenian  mountains, 

O  ' 

where  his  march  might  be  safe  from  the  at 
tacks  of  the  enemy's  cavalry.  In  vain  did 
the  qurcstor,  the  famous  Cains  Cassius,  sug 
gest  to  him  the  expediency  of  marching 
along  by  the  side  of  the  Euphrates,  where  the 
army  might  be  supplied  with  provisions  from 
the  ships.  His  ear  was  given  unreservedly 
to  an  Arab  chief,  who  professed  the  most  de 
voted  fidelity  to  the  Romans,  but  who  had 
come  expressly  to  betray  them  into  the  hands 
of  the  Parthian  king.  By  the  advice  of  this 
smooth-tongued  barbarian,  he  resolved  to  ad 
vance  right  through  Mesopotamia.  A  series 
of  disasters,  unsurpassed  in  ancient  history 
for  their  tragic  interest,  was  the  result.  The 
army  had  not  advanced  far  before  they  found 
themselves  in  the  midst  of  a  waste  sandy 
plain  stretching  away  on  all  sides  to  the 
horizon.  There  were  no  trees  to  shield  them 
from  the  burning  sun,  no  herbs  to  supply 
fodder  for  their  horses,  no  streams  to  slake 
their  parched  throats.  "Want  and  destruc 
tion  seemed  to  be  closing  around  them.  At 
this  juncture  they  received  intelligence  that 
the  foe  was  at  hand.  Then  there  rushed 
upon  their  minds  the  reports  they  had  for 
merly  heard  of  those  formidable  Parthian 
horsemen  who  were  clothed  in  impenetrable 
mail,  who  drove  their  arrows  sheer  through 
the  shields  and  breast-plates  of  their  enemies, 
and  who,  while  fleeing,  turned  round  upon 
their  saddles  and  shot  down  their  pursuers 
with  deadly  certainty.  Their  courage  began 
to  falter.  Crassus  himself  was  so  paralyzed 
with  terror  that  he  was  at  a  loss  how  to  ar 
range  his  forces  for  the  coming  onset.  At 
first  he  extended  them  in  a  long  line,  to  pre 
vent  them  from  beuig  surrounded.  Then  he 


formed  them  into  a  solid  square,  flanked  bj 
squadrons  of  cavalry.  In  this  order  they 
were  hurried  on  over  the  toilsome  desert  un 
til  they  came  in  sight  of  the  Parthians  under 
the  command  of  Surenas.  The  Parthian 
army  appeared  to  be  neither  large  nor  well- 
equipped.  But  no  sooner  had  the  signal  for 
battle  been  given,  than  up  from  its  rear,  as 
if  from  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  sprung  bat 
talion  after  battalion  of  barbarian  soldiers. 
At  the  same  instant  their  coats  of  skin, 
which  had  aided  in  concealing  them  from  the 
eye, were  dropped  off,and  they  stood  under  the 
summer  sun  a  living  mass  of  glittering  steel. 
The  order  to  advance  was  passed,  and  on 
they  came,  marching  to  the  crash  of  kettle 
drums,  and  exasperating  their  valor  to  the 
pitch  of  frenzy  with  savage  yells  and 
bellowings.  With  a  well-directed  flight  of 
arrows,  they  drove  the  advancing  battalions 
of  the  invaders  back  into  the  ranks  of  their 
densely-crowded  square.  Then,  surrounding 
that  mass  of  living  beings,  they  began  to 
pour  in  upon  it  a  continuous  shower  of  deadly 
shafts.  At  first  the  Romans  expected  that 
their  assailants  would  lay  aside  their  bows, 
and  come  to  a  hand-to-hand  engagement 
They  therefore  stood  passively  for  a  while 
under  the  winged  destruction  which  fell  upon 
them.  When  they  perceived,  however,  that 
there  were  camel-loads  of  arrows,  furnishing 
a  continual  supply  to  the  quivers  of  the  arch 
ers,  their  strained  patience  gave  way.  A 
part  of  the  army  under  young  Crassus  charged 
out  upon  their  foes,  and  finding  that  they  re 
treated,  pursued  them  at  full  speed.  Yet  no 
sooner  had  the  Parthians  drawn  their  pursu 
ers  to  some  distance  away  from  the  main 
body  of  the  Homan  army,  than  wheeling  sud 
denly  round  under  concealment  of  a  cloud 
of  dust,  they  caught  them  completely  oft 
their  guard.  Cutting  off  their  retreat,  and 
hemming  them  in  on  all  sides,  they  brought 
them  to  bay  upon  a  small  eminence,  and 
showered  in  arrows  upon  tl.em  till  not  a  man 
was  left.  Then  they  returned  with  re 
doubled  valor,  and  with  loud  shouts  of  vic 
tory,  to  renew  their  onslaught  upon  tho  main 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


115 


body  of  the  invading  army.  Their  heavy 
cavalry  drove  in  and  compressed  the  enemy's 
square  with  their  pikes,  as  their  light  cavalry 
tliinned  it  with  their  arrows.  The  approach 
of  darkness  alone  put  a  stop  to  their  destruc 
tive  attacks.  As  the  diminished  numbers  of 
the  Romans  encamped  that  night  among 
their  dead,  they  were  in  great  perplexity 
about  their  impending  fate.  Crassus  lay 
prostrate  upon  the  earth  in  the  stupor  of  de 
spair,  and  could  take  no  measures  for  the 
common  safety.  It  became  the  duty  of  the 
qucestor  Cassius  and  the  lieutenant  Octavius 
to  call  a  council  of  war.  The  resolution  was 
adopted  of  escaping  immediately  while  the 
the  enemy  was  at  a  distance  passing  the 
night.  Leaving  the  wounded  behind  to  be 
wail  their  fate,  they  hastened  away  with  all 
possible  speed,  and  arrived  at  Carhre  (the 
Ilaran  of  the  Bible)  before  they  could  be 
overtaken.  The  ill-fated  Romans,  however, 
were  still  within  the  toils  of  their  artful 
enemy.  "When  they  would  have  tarried 
within  the  town  for  reinforcements  from  Ar 
menia,  they  found  their  Parthian  pursuers 
encamped  before  the  walls,  and  ready  to  com 
mence  an  assault.  "When  they  determined 
to  depart  from  the  city  by  night,  and  continue 
their  retreat,  a  citizen  named  Andromachus 
plotted  their  destruction.  He  first  informed 
Surenas  of  their  intention.  Then  undertak 
ing  to  guide  them  in  their  flight,  he  retarded 
their  escape  by  leading  them  in  a  zig-zag 
course,  and  completed  their  bewilderment 
by  landing  them  in  a  morass.  Cassius,  in 
deed,  disentangled  himself  from  this  snare, 
and,  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  horse,  found 
his  way  to  Syria.  But  day  came  and  show 
ed  Crassus  with  four  cohorts  still  floundering 
in  the  swamp,  and  the  Parthians  close  at 
hand.  He  had  only  time  to  get  out  of  the 
marshes,  and  to  station  his  troops  on  a  height, 
when  the  enemy  came  up.  Surenas  now  saw 
reason  for  changing  his  tactics.  A  range  of 
mountains  was  near  ;  the  least  delay  might 
allow  the  Romans  to  escape  thither,  and 
there  they  would  be  secure  from  the  onset 
of  the  Parthian  cavalry.  He  resolved  to  try 


stratagem.  Advancing  from  among  his  men 
to  the  foot  of  the  height,  with  bow  unbent 
and  hand  outstretched,  he  invited  the  Ro 
man  general  to  a  peaceful  conference.  In 
obedience  to  the  clamorous  demand  of  his 
troops,  Crassus  went  down  the  hill  with  a 
few  attendants.  "  What !  "  exclaimed  tho 
wily  barbarian  ;  "  a  Roman  general  on  foot ! 
Let  a  horse  be  brought."  A  richly-capari 
soned  steed  was  led  up.  A  significant  glance 
from  Surenas  informed  the  Parthian  attend 
ants  what  they  were  to  do.  They  lifted 
Crassus  roughly  on  to  the  saddle,  and  began 
to  hurry  him  away.  The  Romans  who  had 
come  along  with  him  interfered  ;  a  scuffle  en 
sued  ;  and  the  unfortunate  triumvir  was  slain. 
The  triumph  of  the  Parthians  was  now  easily 
completed.  A  part  of  the  Romans  surren 
dered  ;  those  who  attempted  to  escape  were 
pursued  and  cut  to  pieces ;  and  King  Orodea 
celebrated  the  victory  by  ordering  molten 
gold  to  be  poured  into  the  mouth  of  Crassus, 
in  mockery  of  tlie  avarice  of  the  deceased. 

But  Surenas  did  not  long  enjoy  the  pleas 
ure  of  his  victory ;  for  Orodes,  jealous  of  his 
power  and  authority  amongst  the  Parthians, 
soon  afterwards  caused  him  to  be  put  to 
death.  Pacorus,  the  king's  favorite  son,  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  army,  and  agreeably 
to  his  father's  directions,  invaded  Syria ;  but 
he  was  driven  back  with  great  loss  by  Cicero 
and  by  Cassius,  the  only  general  who  had 
survived  the  defeat  of  Crassus.  After  this 
no  mention  is  made  of  the  Parthians  till  the 
time  of  the  civil  war  between  Cresar  and 
Pompey,  when  the  latter  sent  ambassadors 
to  solicit  succor  against  his  rivals.  This 
Orodes  was  willing  to  grant,  upon  condition 
that  Syria  should  be  delivered  up  to  him ; 
but  as  Pompey  would  not  consent  to  such  a 
proposal,  the  succors  were  denied. 

Caesar  is  said  to  have  meditated  a  war 
against  the  Parthians,  which  in  all  probability 
would  have  proved  fatal  to  them.  His  death 
delivered  them  from  this  danger.  But  not 
long  afterwards  the  eastern  provinces  of  the 
Roman  empire  being  grievously  oppressed 
by  Mark  Antony,  rose  in  arms,  and  invited 


11G 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  Partitions  to  join  them.  The  latter 
rendily  accepted  the  invitation;  and  in  40 
B.  c.  crossed  the  Euphrates  under  the  com 
mand  of  Pacorus  and  Labienus,  a  Roman 
general  of  Porupey's  party.  At  first  they  met 
with  great  success,  and  overran  all  Asia 
Minor,  reducing  the  countries  as  far  as  the 
Hellespont  and  the  JEgean  Sea,  and  likewise 
subduing  Phoenicia,  Syria,  and  even  Judea. 
They  did  not,  however,  long  enjoy  their  new 
conquest;  for,  being  elated  with  their  vic 
tories,  and  despising  the  enemy,  they  engag 
ed  Yentidius,  Antony's  lieutenant,  before 
they  had  effected  a  junction  with  the  forces 
under  Labienus,  and  sustained  a  complete 
defeat.  This  so  disheartened  Labienus  that 
he  abandoned  his  men  by  night,  and  left  them 
to  be  cut  to  pieces.  Ventidius,  pursuing  his 
advantage,  gained  several  other  victories,  and 
at  last  entirely  defeated  the  Parthian  army 
under  Pacorus,  slaughtering  almost  the 

7  O  O 

whole  of  them,  and  the  prince  himself  among 
the  rest.  He  did  not,  however,  pursue  this 
victory  as  he  might  have  done,  being  afraid 
of  giving  umbrage  to  Antony,  who  had  al 
ready  become  jealous  of  the  great  honor 
gained  by  his  lieutenant.  He  therefore  con 
tended  himself  with  reducing  those  places  in 
Syria  and  Phoenicia  which  the  Parthians  had 
taken  in  the  beginning  of  the  war,  until  An 
tony  arrived  to  take  the  command  of  the  army 
upon  himself. 

Orodes  was  almost  distracted  with  grief  on 
receiving  the  dreadful  news  of  the  loss  of  his 
army,  and  the  death  of  his  favorite  son. 
When  time  had  restored  the  use  of  his  facul 
ties,  ho  appointed  Phraates,  the  eldest  but 
the  most  wicked  of  all  his  children,  to  be  liis 
colleague  and  successor.  Phraates  commenc 
ed  his  reign  by  murdering  his  father,  lus 
thirty  brothers,  and  all  the  rest  of  the 
royal  family.  He  did  not  even  spare  his 
own  eldest  son,  lest  the  discontented  Parthians 
should  place  him,  as  he  was  already  of  age, 
upon  the  throne.  Many  of  the  chief  lords  of 
Parthia,  intimidated  by  the  cruelty  of  the 
new  king,  retired  into  foreign  countries. 
One  of  these,  Monceses,  a  person  of  great  dis 


tinction,  having  fled  to  Antony,  arrived  in 
time  to  aid  the  Roman  general  in  planning 
an  expedition  against  the  Parthians.  Ac 
cordingly  Antony  set  out  on  his  march  to 
wards  the  Euphrates  in  36  B.  c.,  at  the  head 
of  an  army  of  100,000.  On  his  arrival  at  the 
river,  he  found  all  the  defiles  so  well  guarded 
that  he  deemed  it  expedient  to  enter  Media, 
with  a  design  first  to  reduce  that  country,  and 
then  to  penetrate  into  Parthia.  Leaving  hia 
battering-engines  to  follow  in  the  rear  under 
the  protection  of  two  legions,  he  advanced 
by  forced  marches  to  the  Median  city  of 
Praaspa  or  Phraata,  and  immediately  invest 
ed  it.  But  a  long  series  of  disasters  now 
began  to  thwart  the  object  of  his  enterprise. 
The  convoy  in  charge  of  his  storming-ma- 
chines  was  attacked  and  cut  to  pieces  before  it 
could  reach  the  place  of  its  destination.  His 
beleaguering  forces  continued  to  blockade  the 
town  without  any  success,  until  the  growing 
desolation  of  the  surrounding  country,  and 
the  coming  severity  of  winter,  warned  them 
to  repair  to  some  more  hospitable  clime.  He 
then  exchanged  the  toils  of  an  unsuccessful 
siege  only  for  the  disasters  of  an  inglorious 
retreat.  During  his  inarch  homewards,  the 
redoubted  Parthian  cavalry  hovered  round 
the  army,  laying  waste  the  country  in  front, 
harassing  the  rear,  and  intercepting  supplies. 
Several  defeats  which  he  gave  them  did  not 
check  their  pertinacity.  They  continued 
their  flying  attacks  until  he  reached  the  bor 
ders  of  Armenia,  and  had  lost  more  than 
20,000  men,  the  flower  of  the  Roman  army. 

Antony  was  no  sooner  gone  than  the  kings 
of  Media  and  Parthia  quarrelled  about  the 
booty  which  they  had  taken ;  and,  after  vari 
ous  contests,  Phraates  reduced  all  Media  and 
Armenia.  Elated  with  his  conquests,  he  then 
oppressed  his  subjects  in  such  a  cruel  and  ty 
rannical  manner  that  a  civil  war  broke  ont, 
in  which  the  competitors  for  the  crown  were 
alternately  driven  out  and  restored,  until  the 
middle  of  the  first  century,  when  one  "Volo- 
geses,  the  son  of  a  former  king,  became  the 
peaceable  possessor  of  the  throne.  He  car 
ried  on  some  wars  against  the  Romans,  but 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


117 


with  indifferent  success,  and  at  last  gladly 
consented  to  a  renewal  of  the  ancient  treaties 
with  that  powerful  people. 

From  this  time  the  Parthian  history  pre 
sents  nothing  remarkable  until  the  reign  of 
the  Emperor  Trajan,  when  the  Parthian  king 
by  name  Chosroes,  displeased  the  Romans  by 
driving  out  the  king  of  Armenia.  Upon  this, 
Trajan,  glad  of  any  pretence  to  quarrel  with 
the  Parthian?,  immediately  hastened  into 
Armenia.  His  arrival  there  was  so  unex 
pected  that  he  reduced  almost  the  whole 
country  without  opposition,  and  took  prison 
er  and  put  to  death  Parthamasiris,  the  king 
who  had  been  set  up  by  the  Parthians.  After 
this,  he  entered  ]\Iesopotomia,  took  the  city 
of  JSTisibis,  and  reduced  to  a  Roman  province 
the  whole  of  that  wealthy  country. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  the  following  year, 
Trajan,  who  had  withdrawn  to  winter  quar 
ters  in  Antioch.,  again  took  the  field  against 
the  Parthians.  Having  crossed  the  Euphrates 
in  the  face  of  a  continued  shower  of  arrows 
from  the  enemy  on  the  opposite  bank,  he  ad 
vanced  boldly  into  Assyria,  and  made  him 
self  master  of  Arbela.  Thence  he  pursued 
his  march,  subduing  with  incredible  rapidity 
countries  where  the  Roman  standard  had 
never  before  been  displayed.  Babylonia 
voluntarily  submitted  to  him,  and  Babylon 
itself  was,  after  a  vigorous  resistance,  taken 
by  storm ;  so  that  he  became  master  of  all 
Chaldoea  and  Assyria,  the  two  richest  provin 
ces  of  the  Parthian  empire.  From  Babylon 
he  marched  to  Ctesiphon,  the  metropolis  of 
the  Parthian  monarchy,  which  he  besieged, 
and  at  last  reduced.  But  whilst  Trajan  was 
thus  making  war  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy's 
country,  Chosroes,  having  recruited  his  army, 
set  out  to  recover  Mesopotamia.  On  his  ar 
rival  in  that  province,  the  inhabitants  flocked 
to  him  from  all  parts  ;  and  most  of  the  cities 
having  driven  out  the  garrisons  left  by  Tra 
jan,  opened  their  gates  to  him.  The  empe 
ror,  however,  detached  Lucius  and  Maximus 
into  Mesopotamia  to  check  the  revolt.  Maxi 
mus  was  met  by  Chosroes,  and  defeated  and 
slain  ;  but  Lucius  gained  considerable  advan 


tages  over  the  enemy,  and  retook  Nisibis. 
Selucia,  and  other  cities.  Trajan  then  re 
paired  to  Ctesiphon,  and  having  assembled 
the  chief  men  of  the  nation,  he  crowned  one 
of  the  royal  family,  by  name  Parthamaspates 
king  of  Parthia,  obliging  all  those  who  were 
present  to  engage  to  pay  him  allegiance. 
Thus  Parthia  was  at  last  subdued  and  made 
tributary  to  Rome. 

But  the  Parthians  did  not  long  continue 
in  this  state  of  subjection.  For  no  sooner  had 
they  heard  of  Trajan's  death,  which  happen 
ed  shortly  afterwards,  than  they  drove  Par 
thamaspates  from  the  throne,  ard  recalling 
Chosroes,  openly  revolted  agiinst  Rome. 
Hadrian,  who  was  then  cormnander-m-ehiei 
of  all  the  forces  in  the  East,  and  who  was 
soon  afterwards  acknowledged  as  emperor, 
did  not  wish  to  engage  in  any  new  war  with 
such  a  formidable  enemy.  He  therefore 
abandoned  those  provinces  which  Trajan  had 
conquered,  withdrew  the  Roman  garrisons 
from  Mesopotamia,  and  fixed  the  Euphrates 
as  the  boundary  of  the  empire  in  those  parts. 

Chosroes  died  after  a  long  reign,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  eldest  son  Vologeses.  In 
the  reign  of  the  latter,  the  Alani,  a  barbar 
ous  horde,  broke  into  Media,  and  could  only 
be  induced  by  large  presents  to  return  home 
His  successor,  also  called  Yologeses,  having 
no  enemy  to  contend  with  at  home,  fell  un 
expectedly  upon  Armenia,  cut  the  legions  ii 
pieces,  entered  Syria,  defeated  Corneliamtb 
governor  of  that  province,  and  advanced 
without  opposition  to  the  neighborhood  f>t 
Antioch,  putting  everywhere  the  Romans, 
and  those  who  favored  them,  to  the  sword. 
The  Emperor  Yerus  by  the  advice  of  his  col 
league,  Antoninus  the  Philosopher,  hasten  ed 
into  Syria,  and  having  driven  the  Parthians 
out  of  that  province,  ordered  Statius  Prisons 
to  invade  Armenia,  and  Cassius  to  carry  the 
war  into  the  enemy's  own  country.  Prisons 
made  himself  master  of  Artaxata,  and  in  one 
campaign  drove  the  Parthians  out  of  Arme 
nia.  Cassius,  on  the  other  hand,  reduced  all 
those  provinces  which  had  formerly  submitted 
to  Trajan,  sacked  Seleucia  and  Ctesiplion, 


118 


HISTOEY    OF   THE  WORLD. 


and  struck  terror  into  the  most  remote  prov 
inces  of  that  empire.  Not  long  afterward.-, 
Antoninus  the  Philosopher,  repairing  to  Syria 
to  settle  the  affairs  of  that  province,  was  met 
by  ambassadors  from  Yologeses.  That  prince 
having  by  this  time  recovered  most  of  the 
provinces  subdued  by  Cassius,  promised  to 
hold  them  of  the  Roman  emperor.  To  these 
terms  Antoninus  readily  agreed ;  and  a  peace 
\vas  accordigly  concluded  between  the  two 
empires. 

Upon  the  death  of  Yologeses,  his  nephew, 
who  bore  the  same  name,  was  raised  to  the 
throne.  He  sent  troops  to  the  assistance  of 
Pescennius  Niger  in  his  contest  for  the  im 
perial  crown.  Accordingly,  no  sooner  had 
Severus,  the  successful  competitor,  establish 
ed  his  authority  at  home,  than  he  advanced 
to  punish  the  Parthians,  and  laid  siege  to 
their  capital,  Otesiphon.  The  city  was  at 
length  taken  by  assault,  and  the  king's  treas 
ures,  with  his  wives  and  children,  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  conquerors.  Severus,  how 
ever,  had  no  sooner  crossed  the  Euphrates 
than  Yologeses  recovered  all  the  provinces 
which  he  had  reduced,  except  Mesopotamia. 
On  the  death  of  this  monarch,  a  contest  for 
the  crown  ensued  between  his  sons.  Yolo 
geses  was  at  first  successful ;  but  Artabanus 
ultimately  succeeded  in  establishing  himself 
on  the  throne.  He  had  scarcely  settled  the 
affairs  of  his  kingdom  when  the  Emperor 
Caracalla,  desirous  to  signalize  himself  by 
some  memorable  exploit  against  the  Par 
thians,  sent  a  solemn  embassy  to  their  king, 
desiring  his  daughter  in  marriage.  Artaba 
nus  complied  with  his  request,  and  went  to 
meet  him,  attended  with  his  principal  nobil 
ity  and  his  best  troops,  all  unarmed.  But 
"hit  peaceable  train  no  sooner  approached 


the  Roman  army  than  it  was  attacked  and 
mercilessly  butchered  by  the  soldiers,  the  king 
himself  escaping  with  very  great  difficulty. 

This  inhuman  treachery  Artabanus  re 
solved  to  revenge.  Accordingly,  having 
raised  the  most  numerous  army  that  had 
ever  been  known  in  Parthia,  he  crossed  the 
Euphrates,  and  ravaged  Syria  with  fire  and 
sword.  But  Caracalla  being  murdered  before 
this  invasion,  Macrinus,  who  had  meanwhile 
succeeded  to  the  purple,  met  him  at  the  head 
of  a  mighty  army  composed  of  many  legions 
and  all  the  auxiliaries  of  the  states  of  Asia. 
The  battle  lasted  two  days,  both  nations 
fighting  so  obstinately  that  night  only  parted 
them,  without  any  apparent  advantage  on 
either  side.  On  the  third  day  the  Roman 
emperor  sent  a  herald  to  Artabanu?,  ac 
quainting  him  with  the  death  of  Caracalla,  and 
proposing  an  alliance  between  the  two  em 
pires.  The  king,  understanding  that  his 
great  enemy  was  dead,  readily  embraced  the 
proposal,  upon  condition  that  all  the  prison 
ers  who  had  been  so  perfidiously  taken  by 
Caracalla  should  be  immediately  restored, 
and  a  large  sum  of  money  paid  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  the  war. 

As  Artabanus  on  this  occasion  had  lost  the 
flower  of  his  army,  the  Persians,  under  the 
command  of  Artaxerxes,  a  man  of  mean  de 
scent,  but  of  great  courage  and  experience 
in  war,  revolted  against  the  Parthians. 
They  were  successful  in  two  battles,  and 
in  a  third  they  annihilated  the  army  of 
their  enemies,  and  took  the  king  prisoner. 
Artabanus  was  soon  afterwards  put  to  death 
by  order  of  Artaxerxes ;  and  the  Parthians 
were  forced  to  become  the  vassals  of  a  nation 
which  had  been  subject  to  them  for  the  space 
of  475  years. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


119 


PERSIA 


E  early  history  of  Persia  is  lost  in  re- 
JL    mote  antiquity,  and  for  authentic  ac 
counts,  the  uncertain  gleanings  of  oral  tra- 

J  O  O 

dition,  or  the  fiction  of  poets,  have  been  sub 
stituted.  The  Shdndmah  of  Firdausi,  the 
Homer  of  Persia,  a  legendary  history  of  the 
Persian  kings,  composed  of  such  materials, 
comprises  all  the  information  possessed  by 
the  Asiatic  writers  prior  to  the  Mohamme 
dan  conquest.  From  this  poem,  and  similar 
authorities,  Sir  J.  Malcolm  has  compiled  the 
early  annals  of  Persia,  and  to  it  we  refer  our 
readers  for  some  account  of  that  dim  era. 

From  the  evidence  of  the  cuneiform  in 
scriptions,  and  other  monuments,  the  true 
history  of  the  rise  of  the  Persian  power  ap 
pears  to  be  as  follows : — At  a  very  remote 
period,  during  the  existence  of  a  powerful 
Assyrian  monarchy,  there  took  place  a  great 
migration  of  the  Arian  nation  westward 

O 

from  beyond  the  Indus  towards  Persia  and 
Media.  In  880  B.C.,  the  migration  being 
still  incomplete,  that  part  of  the  Arian  na 
tion  which  was  subsequently  called  the  Medes 
encountered  a  great  Assyrian  king  named 
Shal-Manuhara,  whose  history  is  recorded  in 
the  cuneiform  character  on  a  black  obelisk, 
and  has  been  deciphered.  From  this  period 
a  struggle  continued  between  the  Medes  and 
Assyrians  till  B.C.  710,  when  Sargon,  the 
third  king  of  the  Lower  Assyrian  empire, 
completely  aubdued  the  newly-arrived  tribe, 
and  planted  a  number  of  cities  in  their  terri 
tory,  some  of  which  were  filled  with  Israel 
ites,  whom  Sargon  had  carried  off  from  Sa 


maria.  The  Medes,  however,  constantly  en 
deavorcd  to  assert  their  independence; ;  and 
in  B.C.  G33  Cyaxares  shook  off  the  Assyrian 
yoke,  and,  having  taken  Xineveh  in  B.C.  625 , 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  Arian  empire, 
which,  sixty-seven  years  afterwards,  was 
fully  established  by  Cyrus. 

Arbaces,  according  to  Prideaux,  who 
makes  this  prince  the  Tiglath-Pileser  of 
Scripture,  was  the  first  sovereign  of  Media 
He  flourished  B.C.  747,  and  conspired  with 
Belesis,  governor  of  Babylon>  and  other  no 
bles,  against  Sardanapalus,  with  whose  death 
terminated  the  Assyrian  monarchy.  Cyrus, 
according  to  the  Greek  historians,  was  the 
chief  of  a  pastoral  horde,  who,  quitting  their 
own  comparatively  barren  and  unproductive 
country,  subdued  the  territories  of  their 
wealthy  and  luxurious  neighbors.  He  was 
the  conqueror  of  Babylon,  and  on  the  ruins 
of  that  great  kingdom  founded  that  of  Per 
sia,  which  was  gradually  extended  by  con 
quest  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Indus 
and  the  Oxus.  Cyrus  was  succeeded,  in  the 
year  529  B.C.,  by  Cambyses,  the  Ahasuerus 
of  the  Scriptures,  who  gave  himself  up  to 
sensuality  and  cruelty.  Still  he  extended  his 
empire,  having  reduced  Egypt  to  the  state 
of  a  colony,  and  also  conquered  a  great  part 
of  Northern  Africa.  Pseudo-Smerdis,  feign 
ing  himself  to  be  the  brother  of  Cambyses 
who  had  been  murdered,  was  by  a  faction  of 
the  Magi  raised  to  the  throne  B.C.  522. 
Otanes,  a  Persian  nobleman,  finding  out  the 
deceit,  conspired  with  six  other  chiefs,  who 


120 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


agreed  to  assassinate  him,  which  they  effect 
ed,  after  he  had  reigned  eight  months. 
Along  with  him  they  put  to  death  a  number 
of  the  Magi ;  and  having  decided  on  a  mon 
archical  form  of  government,  they  resolved 
to  assemble  next  morning  at  sunrise  without 
the  city,  on  horseback;  and  it  was  agreed 
that  he  whose  horse  should  neigh  first  should 
be  chosen  king.  The  well-known  trick  of 
zE  bares,  the  groom  of  Darius  Hystaspes,  se 
cured  the  throne  to  his  master,  521.  lie 
brought  his  master's  horse  the  evening  be 
fore,  with  a  mare,  to  the  appointed  spot ;  and 
the  horse,  as  soon  as  he  arrived  next  morn 
ing,  recollecting  the  mare,  neighed,  and  he 
was  immediately  saluted  king.  The  Greek 
character  and  fabrication  of  these  tales  is 
self-evident.  Darius  Hystaspes  reigned  over 
Persia  thirty-six  years,  and  was  distinguished 
as  a  legislator  as  well  as  a  conqueror.  lie 
divided  the  country  into  nineteen  satrapies 
or  provinces,  each  liable  for  the  payment  of 
a  fixed  tribute.  Over  these  provinces  satraps 
were  sent  to  preside,  with  the  delegated  au 
thority  of  the  king.  Their  duties  were,  to 
collect  the  revenue,  to  improve  agriculture, 
and  to  perform  all  the  royal  commands. 
They  were  afterwards  invested  with  military 
commands  ;  and  securities  were  devised 
against  their  usurpation  of  independent  au 
thority.  An  establishment  of  couriers  was 
at  the  same  time  instituted,  for  expediting 
orders  through  every  part  of  the  empire.  A 
regular  and  efficient  military  force  was  also 
organized  by  this  monarch,  and  maintained 
at  the  expense  of  the  different  provinces.  In 
process  of  time,  Grecian  mercenaries  were 
taken  into  pay ;  and,  when  the  country  was 
engaged  in  tva**,  the  army  was  recruited  from 
the  people. 

The  reign  of  Darius  was  distinguished  by 
several  important  warlike  expeditions.  Cross 
ing  the  Thracian  Bosphorus,  he  invaded  Eu 
rope  with  730,000  troops.  But  the  Scythian 
tribes  between  the  Danube  and  the  Don  suc 
cessfully  resisted  his  attack,  and  forced  him 
to  retreat  with  loss.  He  then  overran  the 
territories  of  Thrace  and  Macedonia,  and 


left  Megabyzus  to  complete  the  subjection  of 
those  provinces.  He  next  invaded  the  coun. 
tries  to  the  east  of  Persia  with  a  powerful 
army,  and  conquered  some  of  the  countries 
bordering  on  the  Indus,  which  he  formed 
into  a  twentieth  satrapy,  under  the  name  of 
India ;  and  his  vast  armies  were  also  sent  to 
overwhelm  the  rising  communities  of  Greece. 
But  his  troops,  though  they  far  outnumbered 
their  enemies,  were  completely  overthrown 
on  the  plains  of  Marathon  by  the  forces  of 
the  Greeks.  Amidst  these  disasters  the  reign 
of  this  monarch  terminated ;  and  he  was  suc 
ceeded  by  his  son  Xerxes,  B.  c.  4SG. 

Xerxes  carried  on  a  successful  war  against 
the  Egyptians,  whom  he  gave  over  to  tho 
vengeance  of  his  brother  Achrcmenes ;  and 
he  resolved  to  avenge  himself  on  the  Greeks. 
With  this  view,  he  fitted  out  a  mighty  arma 
ment,  in  which  he  embarked  an  army 
amounting  to  3,000,000  of  troops,  or,  with 
all  the  camp  followers,  to  above  5,000,000; 
and  with  this  vast  force  he  resolved  to  anni 
hilate  the  independence  and  liberties  of 
Greece  at  a  single  blow.  But  he  was  met 
by  the  devoted  bands  of  Grecian  patriots, 
and  experienced  a  severe  check  at  the  cele 
brated  pass  of  Thermopylre,  which  was  de 
fended  by  300  Spartans  against  his  whole 
army,  and  which  he  only  carried  by  an  im 
mense  sacrifice  of  men;  and  his  fleet  and 
anny  were  finally  overthrown  at  Salamis, 
Platrca,  and  Mycale,  he  himself  escaping 
from  the  scene  of  action  in  a  miserable  fish 
ing-boat.  He  was  assassinated,  after  a  reign 
of  twenty-one  years. 

He  was  succeeded,  in  4G4,  by  his  grand 
son,  Artaxerxes  Longi maims,  the  Ardishir 
Dirazdast,  or  Longhands  of  the  Persian  his 
torians.  He  is  celebrated  for  the  internal 
regulation  of  his  empire,  and  for  the  intelli 
gence  which  he  acquired  relative  to  all  the 
concerns  of  the  kingdom,  by  means  of  the 
agents  whom  he  employed.  He  is  repre 
sented  by  some  as  the  Ahasuerus  of  the 
Scriptures,  because  he  is  said  to  have  treated 
the  Jews  with  lenity  and  kindness,  and  to 
have  married  one  of  that  nation.  The  two 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


121 


succeeding  sovereigns  were  Xerxes  II.  and 
Darius  II.,  whose  reigns  were  short.  The 
latter  was  succeeded  in  605  by  Artaxerxes 
MnemoUj  his  eldest  son,  who  had  to  contend 
for  the  crown  with  his  younger  brother  Cyrus. 
ft  was  in  his  reign  that  the  famous  retreat 
of  the  Ten  Thousand  took  place  under  Xen- 
ophon,  who  has  given  a  narrative  of  the  ex 
pedition.  His  reign,  which  continued  twen 
ty  years,  was  a  scene  of  intrigue,  in  which 
favorites  bore  the  chief  sway,  and  during 
which  those  symptoms  of  decay  became  vis 
ible  which  terminated  at  last  in  the  over 
throw  of  the  kingdom.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Darius  or  Dara  I.,  who  reigned  only 
twelve  years.  In  the  year  336,  B.C.,  Darius 
Codomanus,  or  Dara  II.  of  the  Persian  his 
torians,  assumed  the  sceptre.  It  was  in  his 
reign  that  Alexander  of  Macedonia,  having 
subdued  the  different  principalities  of  Greece, 
and  consolidated  their  power  into  one,  invad 
ed  Persia.  He  crossed  the  Hellespont  in 
the  year  334  B.C.,  with  a  well-disciplined  and 
veteran  force  of  35,000  men,  and  encounter 
ed  and  defeated  the  Persian  host  on  the 
banks  of  the  Granicus.  The  hasty  levies  of 
Persia  were  again  routed  in  the  fatal  battle 
of  Issus,  in  which  100,000  were  slain ;  and 
the  family  of  Darius  fell  into  the  victor's 
hands.  The  battle  of  Arbela,  which  suc 
ceeded,  completed  the  triumph  of  Alexander. 
The  Persian  armies  were  routed  and  dis 
persed,  and  the  unfortunate  Darius,  flying 
from  the  field  of  battle,  was  seized  by  his 
nobles,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  Bessus, 
who  bound  him  in  golden  chains,  and  were 
cam-ing  him  to  Bactriana  in  a  car  covered 
with  skins ;  but  being  overtaken  by  the  con 
queror,  they  stabbed  their  victim  to  the 
heart,  and  left  him  in  the  chariot  weltering 
in  his  blood.  With  Darius  terminated  the 
dynasty  of  Oyrus,  which  had  subsisted  206 
vears,  according  to  the  Greek  writers. 

After  the  death  of  Alexander,  Asia  con 
tinued  for  a  long  period  a  scene  of  war  and 
commotion,  owing  to  the  contests  which 
arose  amongst  his  successors  for  the  dominion 
of  the  country  But  about  the  year  307  B.C., 
16 


Seleucus  Nicator  by  his  success  had  acquired 
the  dominion  of  all  the  countries  •«  hich  lie 
between  the  Euphrates,  the  Indus,  and  the 
Oxus,  and  had  even  carried  his  victorious 
arms  to  the  Ganges,  and  established  a  friend 
ly  alliance  with  Sandrocottus,  or  Chandra 
Gupta,  King  of  Pataliputra,  who  reigned  on 
the  Ganges,  near  Allahabad.  In  B.C.  279 
Seleucus  was  succeeded  by  Antiochus  Soter, 
who  again  in  261,  was  succeeded  by  Antio 
chus  Theus.  In  the  eleventh  year  of  liia 
reign,  or,  in  255,  the  Parthians  revolted  un 
der  Arsaces,  who  founded  the  third  Persian 
dynasty,  the  Arsacidse  or  Ashkanians — Ashk 
being  the  name  given  to  Arsaces  by  the  Per 
sians.  Arsaces,  enraged  at  an  affront  ^ffered 
to  Tiridates  his  brother,  put  the  governor  of 
Parthia,  Agathocles,  to  death,  and  declared 
himself  independent. 

Little  is  known  of  the  authentic  history 
of  the  Ashkanian  kings.  Persian  historians 
omit  the  majority  of  these  princes  altogether. 
They  are  also  silent  as  to  the  wars  between 
this  dynasty  and  the  Romans.  We  learn, 
however,  from  the  historians  of  the  West, 
that  Pacorus,  the  twenty-sixth  king,  sent  an 
embassy  to  Sylla,  in  A.IX,  90 ;  and,  that  in 
A.D.  53,  Crassus,  having  passed  the  Euphrates 
a  second  time  to  carry  on  a  war  he  had  com 
menced  against  the  Parthians,  was  defeated 
and  slain,  with  20,000  of  his  men,  and  10,000 
were  made  prisoners.  ISText  year  Cassius,  hia 
qusestor,  who  had  carried  off  the  remains 
of  the  army,  repelled  from  Syria  an  in 
vading  Parthian  army ;  and,  in  51,  on  their 
returning  and  besieging  Antioch,  he  defeat 
ed  them  again  with  great  slaughter.  In 
the  years  41  and  40,  however,  they  returned 
and  conquered  all  Syria,  and  took  Jeru 
salem,  slew  Phasael,  made  Hyrcanns  pris 
oner,  and  settled  Antigonus  on  the  throne  of 
Judea.  In  39,  Yentidius  defeated  the  Par 
thians  in  a  great  battle,  and  drove  them  out 
of  Syria ;  and,  in  36,  Antony  having  invaded 
Parthia,  was  repulsed  with  the  loss  of  the 
larger  portion  of  his  army.  In  20  B.C.,  the 
Parthian  king  sent  an  embassy  to  Augustus 
to  seek  his  friendship,  and  restored  the  stand- 


122 


HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD. 


ards  taken  from  Crassus  and  Antony,  and  all 
the  surviving  prisoners. 

In  165  A.  D.  the  generals  of  the  emperor 
Marcus  took  Seleucia,  which  had  become  the 
Parthian  capital,  and  put  300,000  of  the  in 
habitants  to  death.  They,  at  the  same  time, 
pillaged  and  destroyed  Ctesiphon ;  but,  this 
latter  city,  in  193,  had  become  so  populous 
and  strong,  that  it  maintained  an  obstinate 
defence  against  the  Emperor  Severas,  and, 
when  stormed,  supplied  him  with  100.000 
captives.  Even  after  this,  Ctesiphon  recov 
ered,  and  became  the  winter  residence  of  the 
Parthian  monarchs.  About  the  year  21T, 
the  Emperor  Macrinus  purchased  a  disgrace 
ful  peace  for  Parthia,  by  the  payment  of  a 
sum  equivalent  to  three  million  pounds. 
This  is  all  that  is  known  of  a  period,  the 
most  obscure  in  Persian  history. 

The  Sassanian  dynasty  of  kings  forms  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  Persia.  These 
monarchs  were  engaged  in  long  and  bloody 
wars  with  the  Roman  emperors  ;  and,  hence 
\ve  are  enabled  to  correct  the  imperfect  re 
cords  of  the  East,  by  the  authentic  narrative 
of  the  Roman  historians.  The  first  of  these, 
Artaxerxes,  or  Ardishir,  as  he  is  called  by 
the  Persian  liistorians,  began  his  reign,  A.D. 
226,  and  having  pacified  the  province  of 
Furs,  made  himself  master  of  'Irak.  Having 
defeated  and  slain  Arravan  or  Artabanus, 
who  ruled  over  the  mountainous  country 
about  Ilamadan  and  Karmanshah,  he  was 
hailed  in  the  field  with  the  title  of  Skahan- 
shah,  or  "  King  of  Kings  " — a  name  which 
has  ever  since  been  assumed  by  the  sover 
eigns  of  Persia.  In  the  course  of  his  reign 
he  extended  and  consolidated  his  newly-ac 
quired  dominions,  and  waged  with  various 
success,  a  war  with  the  Roman  emperor  Al 
exander.  He  labored  to  restore  the  religion 
of  Zoroaster,  and  the  authority  of  the  Magi, 
which  he  enforced  by  the  most  sanguinary 
decrees.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Shuh- 
pur  or  Sapor,  A.D.  238,  who  carried  on  a  suc 
cessful  war  against  the  Romans,  whose  em 
peror,  Valerian,  in  an  attempt  to  relieve 
Edcssa,  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner. 


Shahpur  gained  many  victories  over  the  Ro 
man  armies  ;  but  towards  the  latter  part  of 
his  reign  he  suffered  reverses.  His  army  was 
attacked  by  Odenathus,  prince  of  Palmyra ; 
and  his  country  was  afterwards  invaded  by 
Aurelian,  the  warlike  Emperor  of  Rome. 
Hurmuzd,  his  son,  the  Honnisdas  of  Greek 
authors,  reigned  only  one  year,  and  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Bahrain,  or  Yaranes  I,  in  271,  who 
evinced  his  zeal  for  the  ancient  religion  of 
Persia  by  the  execution  of  Mani,  founder  of 
the  sect  of  Manicheans.  lie  reigned  three 
years  and  three  months,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Bahrain  or  Yaranes  II,  a  weak  prince.  lie 
engaged  in  a  war  with  the  Emperor  Gurus, 
who  conquered  Mesopotamia,  carried  his  arms 
across  the  Tigris,  and  made  himself  master 
of  Ctesiphon.  Bahrain  or  Yaranes  III, 
reigned  only  three  months.  His  brother 
N&rsi,(the  Parses  of  the  Greeks,)  reigned  nine 
years,  and  abdicated  in  favor  of  his  son,  llur- 
muzd  or  Hornaisdas  II.  He  subdued  Arme 
nia,  and  signally  defeated  the  Emperor  Gal- 
erius  on  the  same  fetal  field  on  which  Crassua 
had  been  slain.  The  Romans  invaded  Persia 
next  year,  and  defeated  Narses,  who  fled, 
leaving  his  tents  and  family  in  possession  of 
the  conquerors.  An  inglorious  peace  follow 
ed,  by  which  Mesopotamia  and  five  districts 
to  the  eastward  of  the  Tigris  were  ceded  to 
the  Romans.  ISTo  events  of  any  consequence 
occurred  during  the  succeeding  reign  of  Hur 
muzd  II.  He  was  succeeded,  in  308,  by 
Shahpur  or  Sapor  II,  who  was  crowned  king 
from  his  birth,  and  during  a  reign  of  seven 
ty-one  years  maintained  the  integrity  of  his 
kingdom.  His  first  operations  were  directed 
against  the  Arab  tribes,  on  whom  he  took  a 
severe  vengeance  for  having  invaded  his  ter 
ritories.  He  was  involved  in  bloody  wars 
with  the  Roman?,  in  the  course  of  wliich  he 
experienced  serious  reverses.  Constantino 
advanced  into  Persia  with  a  formidable  ar 
my,  and  was  joined  by  the  Arab  forces.  A 
dreadful  conflict  took  place,  in  which  the 
Persian  army  was  routed  with  great  slaugh 
ter  ;  and  the  king  himself  narrowly  escaped 
with  a  few  followers,  from  the  field.  But 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


123 


haying  recruited  his  army,  he  again  took  the 
field ;  and.  in  a  night  attack,  he  recovered 
gome  of  the  advantages  which  he  had  lost. 
He  was,  also,  successful  in  repelling  the  inva 
sion  of  Julian,  who  was  killed  by  an  arrow ; 
and  his  successor,  Jovian,  was  fain  to  pur 
chase  a  peace  by  the  loss  of  all  the  provinces 
east  of  the  Tigris,  which  had  been  ceded  in 
the  former  reign.  He  was  succeeded  by  Ar- 
dishir  or  Artaxerxes  II,  who  was  deposed  by 
Shilhpur,  the  son  of  the  late  monarch,  after 
a  reign  of  four  years.  He  reigned  only  five 
years,  when  he  was  killed  by  the  fall  of  a 
tent,  which  was  blown  down  by  one  of  those 
whirlwinds  wliich  sometimes  occur  in  Persia. 
Bahrain  or  Yaranes  the  IY,  who  succeeded, 
reigned  eleven  years,  and,  was  at  length  kill 
ed  in  399  by  an  arrow,  in  endeavoring  to 
to  quell  a  tumult  in  his  army.  The  throne 
of  Persia  was  next  filled  by  Yezdijird,  the 
Greek  Isdegerde.  He  is  very  differently  re 
presented  by  the  Persians  and  Greeks  ;  by 
the  former  as  cruel  and  abandoned  to  lux 
ury,  and  by  the  latter  as  wise  and  virtu 
ous.  He  was  killed  by  a  kick  of  his  horse, 
after  a  reign  of  twenty  years.  Bahrain  Gur 
or  Yaranes  Y,  succeeded,  and  became  cele 
brated  for  his  munificence  and  generosity. 
His  dominions  were  invaded  and  partly  over 
run  by  the  Tatars,  who,  being  flushed  with 
their  conquest,  gave  themselves  over  to  a 
false  security,  and  were  one  night  surprised 
and  defeated  with  great  slaughter  by  Bah 
rain.  The  only  fruit  which  he  sought  from 
this  victory  was  peace  with  all  his  neighbors, 
after  which  he  returned  to  his  capital.  He 
was  engaged  in  wars  with  the  Romans  under 
Theodosius,  in  which  neither  party  Lad  any 
cause  to  boast.  His  ruling  passion  was  the 
chase,  and  he  was  fond  of  hunting  the  wild 
ass ;  and  it  was  in  pursuit  of  one  of  these  an 
imals  that  he  lost  his  life,  in  a  deep  pool 
near  Ausepas,  about  three  marches  from 
Sliiraz  on  the  road  to  Isfahan.  According  to 
the  Shahnamah,  however,  and  other  authori 
ties,  he  died  a  natural  death.  He  was  suc 
ceeded  in  440  by  his  son,  Yezdijird  II,  who 
followed  his  father's  footsteps,  and  during  his 


reign  of  eighteen  years  was  only  once  engag 
ed  in  war  with  the  Romans.  The  succession 
to  the  throne  was  now  disputed  between  Ilur 
muzd  or  Hormisdas  III,  the  younger  son  of 
Yezdijird,  who  was  appointed  heir  by  his  fa 
ther,  and  Firuz  or  Peroze  the  Elder,  who 
being  supported  by  an  army  of  Tatars,  to 
whose  king  he  fled  for  support,  and  by  the 
chief  nobles,  succeeded  in  wresting  the  sceptre 
from  his  brother's  hand,  and  in  putting  him 
to  death,  after  reigning  a  year.  lie  lost  hia 
life  in  an  expedition  which  he  undertook 
against  the  Tatar  prince,  by  whom  he  had 
been  treated  with  so  much  generosity.  Bal- 
las  or  Palash,  the  son  of  Firuz,  now  ascended 
the  throne  (485),  and  was  succeeded  by  Ivubad 
or  Cavades,  who,  though  he  was  dethroned 
by  his  discontented  subjects,  re-conquered  his 
lost  dignity.  He  carried  on  a  successful  war 
with  Anastasius,  the  Roman  emperor,  and 
died  after  a  long  and  troublous  reign,  in  531. 
His  son  and  successor,  Khusrau  Nushirvan, 
or  Choeroes,  is  celebrated  by  the  Persian  his 
torians  as  a  model  of  justice,  generosity,  and 
sound  policy.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the 
fruit  of  a  casual  amour  of  Kabad,  who,  flying 
from  his  brother  Firuz,  then  established  on 
the  throne,  halted  for  a  night  with  a  beauti 
ful  girl  at  Xaishapur.  Four  years  afterwards, 
on  his  return  to  that  city,  his  fair  mistress 
presented  him  with  a  boy,  who  was  one  day 
to  reign  so  gloriously  on  the  Persian  throne. 
His  first  care  after  his  accession  to  sovereign 
ty  was  to  extirpate  the  pernicious  sect  of 
Mazdak  encouraged  by  his  father, one  of  whose 
leading  tenets  was  a  community  of  property 
and  of  women.  The  founder  of  the  sect  and 
many  of  his  followers  were  put  to  death ;  and 
the  women  and  property  which  they  had  ap 
propriated  were  restored  to  those  to  whom 
they  belonged.  He  was  indefatigable  in  pro 
moting  the  prosperity  of  his  dominions,  in 
building  and  repairing  bridges,  in  restoring 
and  re-peopling  decayed  towns  and  villages, 
in  founding  schools  and  colleges,  and  in  giv 
ing  every  degree  of  encouragement  to  learned 
men,  and  even  to  the  Greek  philosophers  who 
resorted  to  his  court.  His  empire  was  divi- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


ded  into  four  great  governments.  A  well-di 
gested  system  of  provincial  government  was 
introduced  into  those  provinces,  and  every 
check  adopted  that  could  prevent  the  abuse 
of  power.  He  imposed  a  fixed  and  moder 
ate  land-tax  all  over  his  dominions,  and  a 
capitation-tax  on  the  Jews  and  Christians ; 
and  the  strictest  regulation  were  adopted  for 
preserving  the  discipline  of  his  army.  The 
reign  of  Nushirvan  was  illustrated  as  well  by 
his  conquests  abroad  as  by  his  wise  policy  at 
home.  He  compelled  Justinian  to  conclude 
a  disgraceful  peace  at  the  price  of  30,000 
pieces  of  gold ;  and  the  reduction  of  Syria, 
the  capture  of  Antioch,  and  the  advance  of 
the  Persian  armies  to  the  shores  of  the  Med 
iterranean,  attest  his  triumphant  reign. 
Though  he  was  checked  iu  his  career  of  con 
quest  towards  the  west,  yet  his  sway  was  fi 
nally  extended  over  the  countries  beyond  the 
Oxus,  some  provinces  of  India,  and  the  finest 
districts  of  Arabia.  He  reached  the  ad 
vanced  age  of  more  than  eighty  years. 

Hurmuzd  or  Hormisdas  IT,  the  son  of 
Nushirvan,  ascended  the  throne  in  579.  His 
administration  was  wise  and  prosperous  for  a 
time,  whilst  he  acted  under  the  advice  of  his 
preceptor ;  but,  on  the  death  of  the  latter, 
he  fell  into  every  excess,  and,  after  a  short 
and  disastrous  reign,  was  dethroned  and  put 
to  death  by  one  of  his  generals,  Bahram 
Chubin,  who  usurped  the  supreme  authority. 
But  Khusrau  Parvis,  or  Chosroes  II,  the  son 
of  the  late  king,  flying  to  the  Roman  empe 
ror  Maurice,  his  adopted  father, was,  by  his 
assistance,  reinstated  in  the  throne  (591),  and 
Bahram  was  forced  to  seek  refuge  among  the 
Tatars,  whose  armies  he  had  formerly  defeat 
ed,  and  amongst  whom  he  died.  The  new 
monarch  showed  his  gratitude  to  the  Roman 
emperor  by  scrupulously  filling  all  the  engage 
ments  he  had  contracted  with  him.  He  sur 
rendered  Ddra  and  several  other  strong  places 
on  the  frontier,  and,  besides,  sent  him  costly 
presents.  But,  no  sooner  did  he  hear  of  the 
death  of  Maurice,  than  he  invaded  the  Ro 
man  territories  with  a  large  army  ;  pillaged 
and  destroyed  Dara,  Mardin,  Edessa,  and 


Amida ;  laid  waste  Syria ;  took  the  holy 
of  Jerusalem ;  and  set  on  fire  the  magnificent 
churches  of  St.  Helena  and  Constantino. 
The  true  cross,  which  had  been  inclosed  in  a 
golden  case,  and  buried  deep  in  the  earth, 
was  discovered  and  borne  in  triumph  to  Per 
sia  ;  and  a  crowd  of  captive  priests  and  bish 
ops  swelled  the  train  of  the  conqueror.  Egypt 
was  added  to  his  other  conquests ;  his  troops 
entered  Alexandria  in  triumph;  and,  after 
carrying  his  victorious  arms  westward  to  Car 
thage  and  Tripoli,  and,  finally  extirpating 
the  Greek  colonies  of  Gyrene,  he  returned  in 
triumph  through  the  sands  of  the  Libyan 
desert.  In  the  same  campaign  another  army 
advanced  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Thracian 
Bosphorus  ;  and,  after  taking  Chalcedon,  his 
victorious  troops  remained  encamped  for 
twelve  years  in  the  vicinity  of  Constantino 
ple.  But,  whilst  his  generals  and  his  armies 
were  thus  gaining  laurels  in  the  field,  Khus 
rau  was  indulging  at  home  in  the  most  un 
heard-of  luxury.  Every  season  a  splendid 
palace  was  raised ;  and  his  thrones  were 
made  of  the  most  exquisite  materials,  one 
being  formed  to  represent  the  twelve  signs 
of  the  zodiac  and  the  hours  of  the  day.  Ilia 
treasures;  his  wives,  amounting  to  12,000, 
besides  the  incomparable  Shirin,  or  Irene 
the  daughter  of  Maurice  ;  his  horses,  amount 
ing  to  50,000 ;  his  Arabian  charger  of  sur 
passing  fleetness ;  and  his  musician,  Barbud; 
— furnish  inexhaustible  topics  for  the  pen  of 
the  historian,  and  for  the  hyperbolical  praises 
of  his  countrymen.  But  his  reign,  hitherto 
glorious  was,  towards  its  termination,  closed 
with  misfortunes.  Ilerodius,  the  Roman 
emperor,  alike  remarkable  for  luxury  and  in 
dulgence  in  the  palace,  and  for  valor  and 
military  skill  in  the  field,  was  roused  to  a 
sense  of  the  public  danger,  by  the  victories 
of  Khusrau,  and  with  a  powerful  army  sud 
denly  invaded  Persia.  In  the  course  of  six 
years  he  succeeded  in  stripping  the  Persian 
king  of  all  his  foreign  conquests  ;  be  defeat 
ed  his  armies  in  every  encounter ;  marched 
without  opposition  into  the  heart  of  his  coun 
try;  destroyed  his  splendid  palaces,  and 


HISTOEY    OF    THE    WOULD. 


125 


plundered  his  hoarded  treasures.  His  sub 
jects,  headed  by  his  own  son,  at  last  rebelled 
against  him,  and  put  him  to  death,  after  a 
reign  of  thirty-eight  years.  Persia,  after  the 
death  of  this  prince  until  the  accession  of 
Yezdijird  III,  in  632,  was  a  scene  of  confu 
sion  and  misery,  from  the  combined  evils  of 
famine,  the  contentions  of  the  nobles,  a  suc 
cession  of  weak  sovereigns,  and  from  the 
Jircatened  attack  of  the  Arabian  tribes,  who 
nnder  the  standard  of  the  Mohammedan 
faith,  had  now  become  very  formidable  to  all 
surrounding  states.  In  their  first  attacks  on 
the  Persians,  the  Muslim  armies  were  re 
pulsed,  and  their  leader,  Abu  Obaid  was 
slain.  The  Arabs,  reinforced,  were  again  de 
feated  by  Mehram,  the  Persian  general. 
But,  in  another  action  the  Persians  were  de 
feated,  and  their  general  slain.  Yezdijird, 
who  was  now  elevated  to  the  throne,  was  the 
last  hope  of  the  sinking  state.  An  ambassa 
dor  was  sent  to  him  from  the  Arabian  tribes, 
proffering  peace  on  condition  that  he  should 
accept  of  their  religion,  and  pay  the  taxes 
winch  all  believers  are  bound  to  pay.  These 
terms  were  rejected  with  disdain.  Great 
armies  were  now  assembled  on  both  sides ; 
they  met  on  the  plains  of  ISTahavand,  A.  D. 
G-il,  where  the  Mohammedans  gained  a  re 
markable  victory  that  forever  decided  the 
fate  of  Persia.  The  Persians  brought  150,000 
men  into  the  field,  of  whom  30,000  perished 
on  the  field,  and  many  more  were  drowned 
in  a  deep  trench  which  surrounded  the  camp. 
Persia,  from  this  date,  fell  under  the  domin 
ion  of  the  Arabian  khalifs.  Yezdijird,  the 
last  monarch  of  the  Sassanian  line,  fled  from 
the  field  of  battle  to  Sistan,  to  Khurasan,  and 
lastly  to  Marv,  from  which  being  also  forced 
to  fly,  he  concealed  himself  in  a  mill  eight 
miles  distant.  But  the  miller,  tempted  by 
his  rich  robes  and  armor,  murdered  him 
whilst  he  slept,  and  thus  ended,  A.D.,  651,  the 
dynasty  of  the  Sassanides,  and  the  Magian 
religion,  which  had  existed  in  Persia  for  1,200 
years. 

After   the  flight  of  Yezdijird,  the  armies 
Df  Persia,  scattered  and  discouraged,  were 


able  to  oppose  only  a  feeble  resistance  to  the 
hardy  children  of  the  desert,  skillfully  com 
manded,  and,  besides,  inflamed  by  a  fanatic 
enthusiasm  :  and  in  a  short  time,  accordingly, 
they  overran  and  laid  waste  the  whole  country 
with  a  bigoted  fury  that  had  no  parallel,  spar 
ing  neither  sex  nor  age,  and  subverting  in  one 
common  ruin  the  laws,  manners,  and  most 
sacred  institutions  of  the  country.  Many 
were  contented  to  purchase  life  by  embracing 
the  new  faith  ;  and  others  fled  to  the  moun 
tains  and  fastnesses  of  the  country,  or  to  a 
distant  land.  The  conquest  of  the  country 
being  completed,  it  was  divided  into  different 
provinces,  over  which  lieutenants  were  ap 
pointed  ;  and  it  was  thus  held  for  more  than 
two  centuries  under  the  dominion  of  the 
khalifs.  Towards  the  year  868  A.D.,  the  do 
minion  of  the  khalifs  began  to  totter  to  its 
fall.  In  that  year  an  adventurer  expelled  the 
governor  of  the  khalifs  from  Persia.  He 
was  Yakub-bin-Lais  (or  Suffar,  whence  this 
dynasty  was  called  the  Suffarides),  the  son  of 
a  pewterer  of  the  name  of  Lais,  in  Sistan. 
He  worked,  when  young,  at  his  father's  trade ; 
but  he  was  prodigal  of  his  money;  and 
tempted  by  necessities,  he  became  the  leader 
of  a  desperate  band,  which  gradually  in 
creased  with  the  success  of  his  enterprises. 
He  soon  attained  power  and  consideration  ; 
and  his  aid  was  solicited  by  Salahibu-i-lSTasir, 
the  ruler  of  Sistan,  against  his  fellow-ruler  of 
Khurasan.  He  was  afterwards  raised  to  be 
Commander  of  Salah's  army ;  and  the  first 
use  he  made  of  his  power  was  to  seize  on  the 
chief  who  had  conferred  it  on  him,  and  to 
send  him  to  Baghdad, — a  service  for  which 
he  claimed  and  received  the  government  of 
his  native  province,  as  the  servant  and  lieu 
tenant  of  the  Faithful.  He  afterwards  took 
the  important  fortress  of  Hirat,  reduced  the 
province  of  Karman,  marched  thence  to 
Shiraz,  and  finally  made  himself  master  of 
the  greater  part  of  Persia.  The  khalil,  se 
cretly  dreading  his  power,  sent  him  a  formal 
investiture  of  certain  territories  as  governor, 
which  he  rejected  with  disdain.  In  A.D.  873, 
the  Khalif  Mohammed  declared  Yakub  a 


126 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


rebel,  upon  which  that  ambitious  chief 
marched  against  Baghdad,  but  was  obliged 
to  retire  with  the  loss  of  the  greater  part  of 
his  army.  In  877,  he  marched  again  to  the 
attack,  but  was  overtaken  by  disease  and 
died,  leaving  almost  the  whole  kingdom  of 
Persia  to  his  brother  'Amru,  who  reigned 
twenty-three  years,  but  was  defeated  and 
taken  prisoner  by  Isma-il-bin- Ahmad,  a  Tar 
tar  chief  with  whom  he  was  at  war,  and  be- 
ins:  sent  to  Baghdad,  was  there  executed. 

O  O  ' 

With  Amru  fell  the  fortunes  of  liis  family ; 
and,  though  two  more  princes  maintained  a 
precarious  authority,  the  empire  of  Persia 
was  divided  between  two  families,  Samani 
and  Dilami. 

Of  the  Sumanian  dynasty,  Ism'ail  was  the 
most  celebrated.  His  grandfather  was  a 
Tatar  chief  named  Saman,  who  claimed  de 
scent  from  Bahrain  Chubm,  the  Sassanian. 
He  extended  his  conquests  both  eastward 
and  westward,  and  died  in  907,  at  the  age  of 
sixty.  In  the  reign  of  Amir  Nuh,  the  fifth 
Samanian  king,  Alptagin,  his  viceroy  in 
Khurasan,  purchased  a  Turkish  slave  named 
Sabuktigm,  and,  finding  him  to  possess  great 
qualities,  gave  him  the  highest  offices,  and 
at  last  bequeathed  to  him  all  his  estate.  Sa 
buktigm  was  thereupon  chosen  to  succeed  to 
the  viceroyalty  of  Khurasan ;  and  in  A.D. 
967  made  war  upon  Hindustan  with  such 
success  that  Niih  recognized  him  as  an  inde 
pendent  prince,  and,  as  such,  called  him  to 
his  succor  against  the  King  of  Turkistan. 
Sabuktigm  died  in  A.D.  987,  and  left  his  son 
Mahmud  to  succeed  him.  This  prince  was 
the  celebrated  Mahmud  of  Ghazni,  whose  In 
dian  wars  are  so  celebrated.  He  died  in 
1208  ;  and  his  successor  Masa'ud  was  defeat 
ed  by  the  Seljuk  Turks ;  and  in  the  next 
reign  the  House  of  Ghazni  lost  the  whole  of 
their  Persian  possessions.  These  Tatar  tribes 
were  numerous  and  powerful ;  they  were  a 
nation  of  shepherds,  inured  to  fatigue,  to 
long  marches,  and  to  every  kind  of  hardy  ex 
ercise,  and  trained  from  their  infancy  to  the 
use  of  arms.  Their  numbers  and  discipline 
enabled  them  to  overpower  the  civilized  in 


habitants  of  more  fertile  countries..  Accord 
ingly,  in  the  year  10-i2,  the  Tatar  tribes  sub 
dued  Khurasan  ;  and  their  sovereign,  Togial 
Beg,  chief  of  the  tribe  of  Seljuk,  assumed 
the  state  of  a  sovereign  at  Naishapur,  In 
the  succeeding  twenty  years  Togral  overran 
all  Persia,  made  himself  master  of  Baghdad, 
and  took  prisoner  the  sovereign  pontiff,  the 
commander  of  the  Faithful.  lie  approached 
him,  however,  with  every  outward  mark  of 
reverence,  and  was  constituted  the  temporal 
lieutenant  of  the  eastern  and  western  divi 
sions  of  the  empire.  This  alliance  was  fur 
ther  cemented  by  a  marriage  with  the  daugh 
ter  of  the  khalif.  But  Togral  Beg,  who  had 
by  this  time  attained  to  his  seventieth  year, 
died  a  few  months  after  the  marriage.  He 
was  succeeded  in  IOCS  by  his  nephew  Alp- 
Arslan,  the  "  Yaliant  Lion,"  who  has  been 
praised  by  all  historians  for  his  justice,  valor, 
and  generosity.  He  successfully  defended 
his  dominions  against  an  invasion  by  the  Ro 
mans,  defeated  their  armies,  and,  having 
made  their  emperor  prisoner,  generously  eet 
him  at  liberty  for  a  fair  ransom.  He  was 
killed  by  a  rebellious  chieftain  whom  he  had 
ordered  to  be  put  to  death,  but  who,  having 
shaken  off  his  guards,  assailed  him  on  the 
throne  with  all  the  fury  of  despair.  Alp- 
Arslan,  an  unerring  archer,  seized  his  bow, 
and  commanded  his  guards  to  stand  aloof ; 
but  for  the  first  time  his  arrow  missed  its 
mark,  and  he  fell  under  the  assassin's  stroke. 
The  celebrated  Malik  Shah,  his  son,  suc 
ceeded  to  the  throne  in  1072  ;  and  his  reign 
rivalled,  and  even  surpassed,  in  glory  that  of 
his  father.  Syria  and  Egypt  were  subdued 
by  his  victorious  generals  ;  Bukhara,  Samar 
kand,  and  Kharazm  yielded  to  his  sway ;  and 
he  received  homage  and  tribute  from  the 
tribes  beyond  the  Jaxartes,  and  from  the  dis 
tant  country  of  Kashgar.  Including  the 
territories  of  all  those  princes  whom  he  had 
conquered,  and  obliged  to  do  him  homage 
and  to  pay  tribute,  his  dominion  extended 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  wall  of  China, 
The  country  was  greatly  improved  during 
lu's  reign ,  many  colleges  and  mosques  were 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


built ;  and  agriculture  was  promoted  by  the 
construction  of  canals  and  water-courses. 
Learning  was  also  encouraged  ;  and  an  as 
sembly  of  astronomers  from  every  part  of 
Malik  Shah's  wide  dominions  were  employ 
ed  for  several  years  in  reforming  the  calen 
dar  ;  and  their  labois,  which  established  the 
Jalalean,  or  "  Glorious  Era,"  is  a  proof  of 
the  attention  which  was  given  at  this  period 
to  the  noblest  of  all  sciences.  For  thirty 
years  after  the  death  of  Malik  Shah,  Persia 
was  distracted  by  the  wars  of  his  four  sons, 
who  contended  for  the  supreme  power ;  but 
Sanjar  having  at  length  triumphed  over  his 
competitors,  was  elevated  to  the  throne.  His 
reign  was  for  a  time  successful  and  prosper 
ous.  He  resided  in  Khurasan ;  and  from 
this  spot,  as  from  a  centre,  his  dominion  ex 
tended  in  one  direction  beyond  the  Indus, 
and  in  another  to  the  Jaxartes.  Towards 
the  latter  end  of  his  reign,  he  experienced 
the  most  sisnoal  reverses  of  fortune.  Ad- 

o 

rancing  into  Tiitary,  he  was  completely  de 
feated  by  the  monarch  of  Kara  Kathai,  his 
family  were  made  prisoners,  and  all  his  bag 
gage  was  plundered.  lie  afterwards  marched 
against  the  Turkaman  tribe  of  Ghaz,  who 
had  refused  their  royal  tribute,  and  in  a  de 
cisive  action  which  ensued  he  was  defeated 
and  taken  prisoner.  After  being  long  de 
tained  and  cruelly  treated,  he  made  his  es 
cape,  and  returned  to  his  own  country,  where 
the  spectacle  of  his  wasted  dominions,  ravag 
ed  and  destroyed  by  barbarous  invaders,  so 
preyed  upon  his  spirits,  that  he  died  of  me 
lancholy  in  1175,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three. 
After  his  death,  Persia  continued  during 
forty  years  distracted  by  the  wars  between 
different  branches  of  the  Seljukian  dynasty. 
The  last  who  exercised  sovereign  power  was 
Togral  III.,  who  was  stain  by  the  monarch 
of  Kharazm,  as  he  went  into  battle  flushed 
with  wine. 

From  the  decline  of  this  dynasty  to  the 
conquest  of  Persia  by  HulakuKahn,  son  of  the 
great  conqueror  Jengiz  or  Genghis,  the  coun 
try  was  distracted  by  the  contests  of  these 
rival  chiefs,  who  are  known  under  the  name 


of  Atabaks.  They  were  petty  princes,  who, 
taking  advantage  of  the  weakness  and  an 
archy  which  prevailed,  extended  their  au 
thority  over  some  of  the  finest  provinces  of 
the  country.  A  detailed  account  of  the  pro 
gress  and  decay  of  these  various  dynasties 
would  exceed  our  limits ;  nor  would  it  con 
tain  either  amusement  or  instruction.  Bat 
there  is  one  chief  who  requires  to  be  noticed, 
who,  by  means  of  assassins  devoted  to  his 
purposes,  caused  the  most  powerful  sover 
eigns  to  tremble,  and  spread  far  and  wide  the 
terror  of  his  mysterious  power.  His  follow 
ers  were  reckoned  at  50,000  ;  they  were  call 
ed  mysterious  and  devoted ;  and  each  was 
bound,  under  the  most  dreadful  sanctions, 
to  sacrifice  at  the  command  of  their  chief, 
either  his  own  life  or  that  of  another.  Hasan 
Sabuh  was  the  first  of  these  chiefs.  He  had 
been  mace-bearer  of  Alp-Arslan ;  but  being 
displeased  with  his  minister,  Nizamu-'l-Mulk 
he  retired  to  Rhe,  and  afterwards  to  Syria, 
where  he  entered  into  the  service  of  a  chief 
of  the  family  of  Ism'ail,  and  adopted  their 
views  concerning  the  right  of  the  descend 
ants  of  Ism'ail  to  the  holy  dignity  of  Iman, 
instead  of  the  younger  brother  of  Ism'ail. 
He  afterwards  returned  to  Rhe,  his  native 
place,  where,  leaguing  himself  with  other 
malcontents,  he  succeeded  in  gaining  posses 
sion  of  the  mountain  fort  of  Allahamaut, 
whence  he  commenced  a  series  of  depreda 
tions  on  the  eurrounding  country.  Malik 
Shah  Seljuki  sent  a  force  against  him,  which 
was  repulsed.  He  was  soon  afterwards  ex 
posed  to  a  more  serious  attack  from  the  Sul 
tan  Sanjar,  who  resolved  to  extirpate  a  race 
whose  murders  and  depredations  spread  ter 
ror  over  his  kingdom.  But  he  was  warned 
to  desist  from  his  fatal  project  by  secret 
threats  of  assassination.  He  had  made  some 
marches  in  the  direction  of  Allahamaut, 
when  one  morning  as  he  awoke  he  discover 
ed  a  poniard  stuck  in  the  ground  close  to  his 
bed-side,  and  read  with  surprise,  written  on 
the  handle,  "  Sultan  Sanjar,  beware.  Had 
not  thy  character  been  respected,  the  hand 
that  stuck  this  dagger  into  the  hard  ground 


128 


HISTOKY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


could  with  more  ease  Lave  plunged  it  into 
thy  soft  bosom."  The  warrior  who  had  often 
faced  death  in  the  field  of  battle  trembled 
at  this  mysterious  threat ;  and  it  is  certain 
that  he  desisted  from  his  meditated  attack. 
Hasan  Sabah  brought  several  other  hill-forts 
under  his  eway ;  and  was  styled  Shaikhu'l- 
JabaJ,  "  Chief  of  the  Mountain,"  or,  as  his 
Arabic  title  has  been  erroneously  translated, 
"  The  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain,"  the  name 
by  which  he  and  his  descendants  are  distin 
guished  in  the  European  histories.  Khalifs, 
princes,  and  nobles  fell  under  the  blows  of 
these  assassins  ;  and  the  power  and  dominions 
of  Hasan  Sabah  were  handed  down  through 

O 

a  series  of  sovereigns  who  ruled  for  170 
years,  the  terror  and  disgrace  of  Asia,  and 
who,  in  1256,  were  finally  extirpated  by  the 
overwhelming  and  victorious  armies  of  Hu- 
laku  Khan,  who  rivalled  his  sire  in  the  rapid 
ity  of  his  conquests.  His  first  design  was  to 
turn  his  arms  against  the  declining  empire 
the  Greeks ;  but  he  was  diverted  from  this 
object  by  an  astrologer,  who  directed  his 
hostility  against  Baghdad,  the  seat  of  the 
khalif  s  authority.  This  place  was  speedily 
stormed  by  the  Tatar  armies,  and  its  inhabi 
tants  were  put  to  the  sword ;  the  Khalif 
Mustasim,  with  his  only  surviving  son,  was 
slain;  and  thus  was  for  ever  extinguished 
the  celebrated  empire  of  the  Arabian  kha- 
h'fs.  The  conquest  of  Persia,  Mesopotamia, 
and  all  Syria,  was  achieved  by  Iluljiku  in 
the  same  year,  who  meditated  other  ambi 
tious  schemes  of  conquest  in  the  East.  But 
the  defeat  of  his  army  in  Syria  by  the  prince 
of  the  Mamelukes  in  Egypt  compelled  him 
to  abandon  his  design  ;  and  having  restored 
his  affairs  in  Syria,  he  fixed  his  residence  at 
Manigha,  a  beautiful  town  of  Azarbijan, 
u-here  he  spent  his  declining  years  in  the 
cultivation  of  letters  and  philosophy.  He 
built  an  observatory  on  the  summit  of  a 
mountain,  the  foundation  of  which  still  re 
mains.  He  was  succeeded  by  Abaka  Khan 
in  the  year  12  64-,  who  was  anxious,  by  culti 
vating  the  arts  of  peace,  to  repair  the  ravages 
of  war,  and  to  heal  the  still  bleeding  wounds 


of  his  wasted  empire.  He  was  assailed  from 
the  East  by  the  powerful  armies  of  the  Tatar 
chiefs ;  but  he  succeeded  in  repelling  all 
their  attacks,  and  in  maintaining  the  mteg  • 
rity  of  his  empire.  He  died,  it  is  supposed 
by  poison,  in  the  year  1281.  The  Mughul 
lords,  having  held  a  council,  raised  to  the 
throne  his  brother  Nikudar  Oglan,  seventh 
son  of  Hulaku,  who,  though  he  was.  baptized 
in  his  youth,  afterwards  renounced  the  Chris 
tian  faith,  which  he  persecuted  with  all  the 
violence  of  a  renegade,  and  assumed  the 
name  of  Ahmad  Khan.  But  his  persecution 
of  the  Christians  was  so  obnoxious  to  his  own 
subjects,  that  they  conspired  against  him, 
and  deprived  him  both  of  his  crown  and  of 
his  life.  Arghun,  son  of  Abaka,  whom  he 
had  thrown  into  prison,  was  raised  to  the 
throne  by  the  Mughul  nobles,  but  did  not  as 
sume  the  name  until  he  received  the  investi 
ture  from  the  emperor  of  Ttitary,  by  whom 
he  was  hailed  as  sovereign  of  Persia,  Arabia, 
and  Syria.  His  reign  was  marked  by  no 
event  of  any  consequence  ;  and  on  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  J291,  his  brother  Kai 
Khatu  was  raised  to  the  throne  by  the  ma 
jority  of  the  amirs.  The  latter  was  indolent, 
sensual,  and  extravagant ;'  and  his  short  and 
inglorious  reign  would  hardly  merit  notice, 
were  it  not  for  an  attempt  by  an  officer  of 
the  revenue  department,  of  known  talent,  to 
introduce  a  paper-currency,  in  order  to  sup 
ply  the  means  of  royal  extravagance.  But 
credit,  the  foundation  of  paper-currency,  can 
not  exist  under  a  despotism  which  affords  no 
security  either  for  life  or  for  property.  The 
scheme  was  therefore  altogether  vain,  and 
appears  to  have  been  the  device  of  a  tyrant 
for  cheating  or  plundering  his  defenceless 
subjects.  From  this  period  until  the  con 
quest  of  the  country  by  Timur  Lang  or  Ta 
merlane  ("  Timur  the  Lame  "),  the  history  of 
Persia  presents  one  continued  scene  of  intes 
tine  commotion.  Timur  was  descended  from 
Korachar  ISTevian,  who  had  been  vizir  to 
Chaghtai  the  son  of  Jengiz,  and  also  claimed 
kindred  with  that  great  conqueror.  He  wag 
counsellor  and  general  to  the  Tiitiir  prince, 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


129 


Ouleaus  Khajah,  who  ruled  over  the  terri 
tories  between  the  Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes. 
But  having  soon  thrown  off  his  allegiance  to 
this  prince,  he  led  a  wandering  life,  with  only 
a  few  faithful  followers,  enduring  great  hard 
ships  and  peril.  lie  had  formed  a  close  al 
liance  with  Amir  Ilusain,  one  of  the  most 
powerful  nobles  of  Transoxiana.  Their  joint 
object  was,  to  expel  the  enemies  of  their 
country ;  and  Ouleaus,  though  he  had  con 
quered  iu  the  field,  having  been  forced  to  re 
tire  with  disgrace  from  the  siege  of  Samar- 
cand,  the  countries  between  the  Jaxartes 
and  the  Oxus  were  freed  from  the  foreign 
enemy.  A  war  for  the  possession  of  Trans 
oxiana  now  ensued  between  Timur  and 
Ilusain,  and  was  only  interrupted  by  a  short 
and  hollow  peace,  which  terminated  in  the 
overthrow  of  Ilusain,  who  was  taken  prisoner, 
and,  as  is  generally  believed,  put  to  death, 
with  the  secret  sanction  or  by  the  orders  of 
his  rival.  Eleven  years  elapsed  before  Timur 
had  fully  reduced  to  tranquillity  his  newly 
acquired  dominions,  and  had  extended  his 
power  over  Kashgar  and  Kharazm ;  after 
which  his  own  reign  was  one  unvaried  course 
of  the  most  triumphant  success.  He  subdued 
Khurasan,  Kandahar,  and  Kabul,  and  laid 
the  two  latter  cities  under  heavy  contribu 
tions,  lie  invaded  Persia,  which,  being  now 
ruled  by  the  degenerate  descendants  of  Ilu- 
laku,  was  entirely  barren  and  wasted.  He 
extended  the  limits  of  his  empire  to  the  far 
thest  bounds  of  Tatary  ;  and  whilst  one  body 
of  his  troops  spread  dismay  to  the  wall  of 
China,  another  army  penetrated  to  the  banks 
of  the  Irtisch,  and  a  third  to  the  Volga. 
Timur  next  marched  against  Baghdad,  which 

o  o  > 

he  stormed,  and  also  took  the  remarkably 
strong  fortress  of  Takrit ;  after  which  his 
vast  armies  were  dispersed  over  Asia  Minor, 
Mesopotamia,  Kurdistan,  and  Georgia.  He 
afterwards  invaded  Russia,  and,  advancing 
to  Moscow,  took  and  plundered  that  city. 
Returning  to  his  own  country,  he  prepared 
for  the  invasion  of  India.  His  war  with 
Baiazid  or  Bajazet,  and  his  defeat  and  cap 
ture  of  that  warlike  chief,  were  amongst  the 
17 


latest  exploits  of  his  active  reign  ;  and  he 
had  embarked  on  the  arduous  enterprise  of 
the  conquest  of  China,  when  he  was  arrested 
by  an  enemy  which  he  could  not  conquer. 
He  was  seized  with  a  violent  illness  at  tlie 
city  of  Otrar,  where  he  expired  in  1405,  de 
claring  Pir  Mohammed  Jahangir  his  suc 
cessor.  The  latter,  however,  had  a  competi 
tor  for  the  crown  in  Khalfl  Sultan,  his  cousin, 
by  whom  he  was  deposed  and  murdered  ; 
and,  in  his  turn,  KhaliJ,  infatuated  by  his  at 
tachment  to  the  beautiful  Shadu  1'Mulk,  on 
whom  he  squandered  the  vast  treasures  of 
Timur,  was  deposed  by  the  nobles.  He  was 
attached  to  the  arts  of  peace,  a  philosopher, 
a  man  of  science,  and  a  poet ;  and  his  whole 
care  was  to  heal  the  wounds  iiif!5cfed  on  lil« 
country  by  the  wars  of  the  former  reign.  He 
rebuilt  Hirat  and  Marv,  and  drew  around 
him  from  all  quarters  men  of  literature  and 
science.  Sultan  Shah  Rukb,  uncle  of  Khalfl 
Sultan,  hearing  of  the  misfortunes  of  his 
nephew,  marched  from  Khurasan,  and  his 
authority  was  acknowledged  over  all  Trans 
oxiana.  Kalfl  Sultan  was  succeeded  by 
Ulugh  Beg,  who  also  followed  the  arts  of 
peace,  and  neglected  those  of  war.  He  was 
deposed  and  put  to  death  in  the  year  1449, 
by  his  son  'Abdu'l  Latif,  who  was  slain  b\ 
his  own  soldiers  within  the  short  period  of 
six  months.  The  Mughul  dynasty  in  Persia 
was  now  fast  verging  to  decay,  and  its  final 
extinction  was  preceded  as  usual  by  scenes 
of  confusion  and  civil  war.  The  kingdom 
was  at  length  divided  amongst  three  sover 
eigns, — Sultan  Husain  Mirza.  a  descendant 
of  Timur,  who  kept  a  splendid  court  at  Hi- 
rat,  and  governed  Khurasan ;  Kara  Yusuf, 
the  Turkaman  chief  of  the  Black  Sheep  (the 
tribes  of  the  Black  and  "White  Sheep  being 
so  called  from  their  carrying  the  figures  of 
those  animals  on  their  respective  standards), 
ruled  over  Azarbijan,  'Irak,  Fars,  and  Kar- 
man  ;  and  Azan  Hasoun,  chief  of  the  Turka- 
nuins  of  the  White  Sheep,  who  finally  ac 
quired  possession  of  all  Western  Persia,  and 
attacked  the  Emperor  Mohammed  II ,  from 
whom  he  sustained  a  severe  defeat.  After 


130 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


his  death  the  country  was  distracted  by  the 
contentions  of  his  sons,  grandsons,  and 
nephews,  for  the  supreme  authority :  and 
their  dissensions,  whilst  they  accelerated 
their  own  ruin,  prepared  the  way  for  a  native 
dynasty,  which  was  gladly  hailed  by  the  peo 
ple  as  the  auspicious  omen  of  domestic 
peace. 

Shah  Ism' ail  was  the  first  monarch  of  the 
SaiVivean  line.  He  traced  his  descent  from 
Mnsa  Kiizim,  the  seventh  imam.  The  first 
of  the  family  who  attained  to  any  celebrity 
was  Shaikh  Safiu-'l-Dm,  who  resided  in  the 
town  of  Ardebfl,  and  from  whom  the  dynasty 
takes  it  name  of  Safavean.  His  son  Sadru- 
'd-Din  inherited  all  the  sanctity  of  his  sire. 
The  great  conquerer  Timur  even  condescend 
ed  to  visit  him  in  his  cell,  that  he  might  re 
ceive  his  blessing  ;  and  on  his  asking  whether 
he,  Timiir,  could  do  aught  for  his  comfort, 
"  Give  up,"  replied  the  saint,  "  those  Turks 
\vhom  thou  hast  carried  off  as  captives." 
The  disinterested  request  was  granted,  the 
saint  was  dismissed  with  presents,  and  the 
descendants  of  these  captives  ever  afterwards 
acknowledged  thei"  gratitude  by  their  ar 
dent  support  of  the  Safaveai:  dynasty.  The 
immediate  descendants  of  Sadru-'d-Dm, 
Ivhwujah'Ali,  Junaid,  and  Ilaidar,  acquired 
also  a  great  reputation  for  sanctity.  The 
first,  after  making  the  pilgrimage  to  Makka, 
visited  Jerusalem,  where  he  died.  His 
grandson  Junaid  assumed  the  sacred  mantle 
or  patched  garment  worn  by  the  Sufi  teach 
ers,  after  his  father's  death ;  and  so  numer 
ous  were  his  disciples,  that  Kara  Koinlu, 
who  at  that  time  ruled  in  Azarbijan,  took 
the  alarm,  and  banished  him  from  Ardebil. 
He  returned  to  Shirwan,  where  he  was  killed 
by  an  arrow  in  a  conflict  with  the  troops  of 
that  province.  He  was  married  to  a  sister 
of  Azan  Hosoun,  chief  of  the  Tiirkamans  of 
the  White  Sheep  ;  and  this  lady  was  the 
mother  of  Sultan  Haidar,  who  succeeded 
him,  and  became  a  warrior  as  well  as  a  saint. 
His  uncle  Azan  Hasoun  gave  him  his 
daughter  in  marriage,  by  whom  he  had  three 
SOPS,  Sultan  'Ali,  Ibrahim  Mirzii,  and  Sultan 


Shah  Isnfail.  Haidar  was  defeated  and 
slain  in  an  attack  which  he  made  on  the  pro 
vince  of  Shirwan  in  order  to  revenge  hia 
father's  death.  Sultan  'All  succeeded;  bul 
he  and  his  brothers  were  seized  at  ArdebiJ, 
by  Yukiib,  one  of  the  descendants  of  then 
grandfather  Azan  Ilasoun,  who  had  become 
jealous  of  their  influence,  and  confined  in  a 
fort,  where  they  remained  prisoners  for  four 
years.  They  afterwards  made  their  escape, 
and  were  soon  joined  by  numerous  adher 
ents.  But  in  the  meantime  they  were  at 
tacked,  Sultan  'Ali  was  slain,  and  his  brothers 
fled  in  disgrace  to  Gilan,  where  Ibrahim 
Mirza  died.  These  events  occurred  during 
the  infancy  of  Ism'afl,  the  third  son  of  Hai 
dar,  of  whom  we  know  little  till  he  attained 
the  age  of  fourteen,  when  he  collected  his 
adherents,  and  marched  against  the  great 
enemy  of  his  family,  the  ruler  of  Shirwan, 
whom  he  defeated.  Alwand-Beg,  a  prince 
of  the  dynasty  of  the  White  Sheep,  hasten 
ing  with  his  troops  to  crush  the  young  war 
rior,  shared  the  same  fate ;  and  the  trium 
pliant  prince  having  made  himself  master  of 
the  province  of  Azarbijan,  fixed  his  residence 
at  Tabriz.  ISText  year  he  vanquished  Sultan 
Murad,  one  of  the  military  competitors  for 
supreme  dominion  in  Persia ;  and  in  less 
than  four  years  from  his  leaving  Gilan  he 
was  acknowledged  the  sovereign  of  Persia. 

Shah  Ism'ail,  not  being  born  the  chief  of 
a  tribe,  had  no  hereditary  feuds  to  avenge ; 
his  family  were  objects  of  hostility  to  no  one  ; 
and  he  united  in  his  person  the  reverence  and 
affection  of  all  his  subjects.  He  was  a  firm 
adherent  of  the  Shf  all/*.  The  Turkish  tribea 
to  whom  he  owed  his  elevation  were  highly 
honored.  They  were  distinguished  by  a  red 
cap,  from  which  they  received  the  name  of 
Kazilbash,  or,  "red  heads,"  which  has  de 
scended  to  their  posterity.  Persia,  Khura 
san,  Baghdad,  and  Balkh,  submitted  to  his 
arms.  His  territories  were  afterwards  in 
vaded  by  Sultan  Salim  about  the  year  1514, 
with  a  numerous  and  well-disciplined  army. 
In  the  action  which  took  place,  the  Persian 
monarch,  after  performing  prodigies  of  valor. 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WOELD. 


131 


was  entirely  defeated,  which  affected  him  so 
deeply  that  he  was  never  afterwards  seen  to 
smile.  After  the  death  of  Salim  he  crossed 
the  Araxes,  wrested  Georgia  from  the  pos 
session  of  Turkey,  and  died  at  Ardebil  in  the 
year  1523.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Tamasp,  who  ascended  the  throne  when  he 
was  only  ten  years  of  age.  His  reign,  which 
continued  fifty-three  years,  proved  prosper 
ous.  He  repelled  the  invasions  of  the  Uz- 
baks  on  the  east,  and  of  the  Turks  on  the 
west.  It  was  from  him  that  Humayun,  em 
peror  of  India,  when  he  fled  from  his  rebel 
lious  subjects,  received  the  aid  which  enabled 
him  to  retrain  his  throne.  It  was  to  him  also 

O 

that  Elizabeth  sent  her  envoy,  Anthony  Jen- 
kinson.  But  the  intolerance  of  the  Moham 
medan  monarch  could  not  brook  the  presence 
of  a  Christian.  His  family  was  numerous ; 
and  after  several  years  of  disputed  succession, 
and  of  brief  and  troubled  reigns,  'Abbas,  his 
grando^n,  was  proclaimed  king  in  1582, 
when  a  minor.  During  the  earlier  years  of 
this  monarch's  reign,  the  country  was  alter 
nately  alarmed  by  internal  disturbance  and 
foreign  aggression,  each  party  in  their  turn 
using  the  name  of  the  sovereign.  But  as  he 
advanced  to  manhood  he  vindicated  his 
rights ;  and  in  the  course  of  three  years  lie 
reigned  the  undisputed  sovereign  of  the  coun 
try.  His  reign,  which  lasted  forty-three 
years,  was  highly  successful  and  glorious. 
He  was  engaged  in  wars  with  the  Turks  and 
with  the  Uzbaks,  whose  armies  he  defeated 
in  several  actions;  and  it  was  during  his 
time  that  an  amicable  intercourse  -com 
menced  between  Persia  and  Europe. 

Sir  Anthony  Shirley,  a  gentleman  of  fam 
ily,  was  persuaded  by  the  Earl  of  Essex  to 
repair  to  the  court  of  Persia ;  and,  with 
twenty-six  followers,  gallantly  mounted  and 
richly  attired,  he  presented  himself  to  the 
king,  who  received  him  with  every  mark  of 
distinction.  The  military  skill  of  these  for 
eigners  enabled  him  to  discipline  his  army 
and  to  improve  his  artillery,  so  that  with  an 
army  of  60,000  warriors,  he  obtained  a  de 
cisive  victory  over  100,000  Turks.  In  this 


battle,  which  was  fought  on  the  24th  of  Au 
gust,  1605,  Sir  Anthony  Shirley  was  thrice 
wounded.  This  victory  gave  a  decided 
check  to  the  Turks,  who  were  driven  from 
Azarbijan,  Georgia,  Kurdistan,  Baghdad, 
Mosul,  and  Diarbekir,  all  of  which  were  re- 
annexed  to  the  Persian  empire.  This  mon 
arch  also  entered  into  an  alliance  with  the 
English  for  the  destruction  of  the  flourishing 
Portuguese  settlement  of  Hurmaz,  which 
unhappily  proved  but  too  successful ;  and 
this  place,  long  renowned  as  the  seat  of 
wealth  and  a  great  commercial  emporium, 
wras  plundered  and  left  to  decay. 

Abbas  expended  his  revenues  in  the  im 
provement  of  his  dominions,  and  erecting 
caravanserais,  bridges,  aqueducts,  bazars, 
mosques,  and  colleges  ;  he  embellished  Isfa 
han  hi*  capital,  built  splendid  palaces,  the 
ruins  of  which  still  attest  his  taste  and  mag 
nificence.  He  was,  also,  distinguished  by  his 
toleration,  especially  to  Christians ;  and  he 
was  liberal  in  his  foreign  policy.  To  his 
family  he  was  a  sanguinary  tyrant.  He  had 
four  sons  whom  he  caressed  whilst  in  infan 
cy  with  parental  fondness,  but  who,  as  they 
arrived  at  manhood,  were  viewed  with  jeal 
ousy  and  hatred.  The  oldest  son  was  assas 
sinated,  and  the  eyes  of  the  other  children 
were  put  out  by  his  orders.  One  of  these, 
Khudabandah,  had  a  daughter  Fatima,  inno 
cent  and  lovely,  and  the  delight  of  her  grand 
father,  who  could  not  endure  that  she  should 
be  out  of  his  sight.  The  prince  learning  the 
fondness  of  his  father  for  this  his  child, 
seized  her  one  day  with  all  the  fury  of  a  ma 
niac,  and  deprived  her  of  life.  The  rage  and 
despair  into  which  Abbas  was  thrown  by  the 
death  of  his  grand- daughter  gave  a  moment 
ary  joy  to  the  son,  who  concluded  this 
bloody  tragedy  by  swallowing  poison.  Ab 
bas  died  soon  afterwards,  in  1628,  at  the  ago 
of  seventy,  worn  out  with  affliction  of  the 
mind. 

By  the  desire  of  the  expiring  prince,  Sam 
Mirza,  one  of  the  sons  of  Safti  who  had  been 
murdered,  was  placed  on  the  throne,  which 
he  occupied  fourteen  years.  His  son,  'Abbaa 


132 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


II.  succeeded  him  at  the  age  of  ten,  and 
reigned  prosperously  twenty-live  y  ears,t  hough 
his  habits  were  licentious  and  intemperate. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son,  Abbas, 
in  the  year  1641,  who,  under  the  title  of 
Shah  Sulairnan,  reigned  twenty-nine  years. 
Flo  was,  like  his  father,  the  slave  of  dissolute 
habits;  and  his  drunken  orgies  were  often 
stained  with  blood.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Ilusain  Mirza,  a  weak  prince  who  was 
ruled  by  eunuchs  and  priests,  and  whose 
measures  tended  to  destroy  the  little  spirit 
which  yet  lingered  among  the  nobles  and 
chiefs.  The  first  twenty  years  of  his  reign 
passed  over  in  tranquillity,  but  it  was  only  the 
prelude  to  a  political  storm.  The  Afghan 
tribes  who  inhabit  the  mountainous  tract  be 
tween  Khurasan  and  the  Indus  had  long  been 
subject  to  Persia,  and  having  often  suffered 
great  oppression,  at  length  broke  out  into  re 
bellion,  irritated  by  the  tyranny  of  Gurjin 
Khan.  The  insurgents  were  headed  by  Mir 
Vaiz,  an  Afghan  chief.  They  invited  the 
obnoxious  governor  Gurjin  Khan,  to  a  feast, 
where  he  was  suddenly  attacked  and  put  to 
death ;  and  Mir  Vaiz,  collecting  his  follow 
ers,  surprised  and  stormed  the  fortress  of  Kan- 
dahar.  He  then  proceeded  to  strengthen 
himself  in  his  newly-usurped  power.  Whilst 
the  weak  monarch  endeavored  by  negotiation 
to  pacify  this  formidable  insurgent,  Mir  Vaiz 
imprisoned  his  ambassador,  and  set  his  power 
at  defiance ;  and  a  second  ambassador  met 
with  no  better  treatment.  The  court  of  Per 
sia  now  assembled  an  army  under  the  com 
mand  of  Khusrau  Khan,  who  advanced 
against  Mir  Vaiz,  defeated  his  army,  and 
laid  siege  to  Kandahar.  The  insurgent  chief 
having  assembled  another  army,  compelled 
the  Persian  general  to  raise  the  siecre  of  that 

C7  O 

place,  and  afterwards  defeated  him  in  a  de 
cisive  action,  in  which  he  was  slain.  In  the 
midst  of  his  successes  Mir  Vaiz  died,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  Mir  Abdu'llah 
who  was  assassinated  by  Mahmud,  son  of  Mir 
Vaiz.  The  troubles  which  now  afflicted  Per- 
eia  on  ev:ery  side  gave  ample  leisure  to  Mah- 
raud  to  mature  his  plans,  and  to  consolidate  , 


his  power.  The  Uzbaks  wero  ravaging 
Khurasan  ;  the  tribes  of  Kurdistan  were  al 
most  at  the  gates  of  Isfahan ;  The  Abdali 
Afghans  had  taken  Hirat,  and  afterwards 
Mashhad;  the  islands  in  the  Persian  Gulf 
had  been  subdued  by  the  Arabian  governor 
of  Maskat ;  and  the  rude  tribes  of  Georgia 
had  attacked  Shirwan.  A  prediction  by  an 
astrologer  of  the  total  destruction  of  the  city 
by  an  earthquake,  completed  the  public  dis 
may,  when  intelligence  was  received  that 
Mahmud  Ghilzy  had  entered  the  country  at 
the  head  of  25,000  Afghans.  He  was  met 
by  the  royal  army  of  50,000  troops ;  and  an 
action  took  place  which  ended  entirely  in 
favor  of  the  Afghans.  The  consequence  was 
the  siege  or  blockade  of  Isfahan  which,  after 
enduring  all  the  miseries  of  famine,  surren 
dered  on  the  21st  of  October,  1722,  after  a 
siege  of  seven  mouths.  The  following  day, 
the  fallen  monarch  of  Persia,  Husain,  took  a 
solemn  leave  of  his  subjects,  and  signed  a 
capitulation,  by  which  he  resigned  the  crown 
to  Mahmud.  Husain  with  his  nobles,  after 
doing  homage  to  the  Afghan  sovereign,  waa 
confined  for  seven  years  in  a  small  palace, 
when  his  enemies,  threatened  with  a  reverse 
of  fortune,  caused  him  to  be  assassinated ; 
and  in  his  person  may  be  said  to  have  ter 
minated  the  Safavean  dynasty,  as  his  Bon, 
Tamasp,  though  he  assumed  the  title  of  king, 
never  possessed  any  real  power,  and  only 
struggled  a  few  years  against  his  inevitable 
fate. 

Mahmud  having  thus  succeeded  in  acquir 
ing  the  sovereignty  of  Persia,  now  endeavored 
to  conciliate  the  people  whom  he  had  sub 
dued.  But  the  Persians  hated  the  Afghan 
yoke ;  and,  as  they  recovered  from  their  first 
dismay,  they  began  to  attack  and  cut  off 
scattered  parties  of  the  invaders.  At  the 
same  time,  Persia  was  invaded  both  by  Rus 
sian  and  Turkish  armies.  The  Russian  army 
advanced  into  the  country  and  took  posses 
sion  of  Darband,  and  the  Turkish  army  was 
already  on  its  march  to  Hamadan,  when  the 
inhabitants  of  Kazvin  rose  in  insurrection, 
and  expelled  the  Afghan  garrison  from  the 


HISTOKY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


13S 


place.  Mahmud  was  now  seriously  alarmed. 
The  probable  revolt  of  the  capital  seemed  to 
be  the  most  immediate  danger ;  and  his 
gloomy  mind,  alarmed  and  enraged  by  those 
signs  of  vengeance,  conceived  the  horrible 
iesign  of  exterminating  the  conquered  peo 
ple.  He  commenced  with  the  massacre  of 
three  hundred  nobles  and  their  children,  who 
were  treacherously  invited  to  a  feast.  He 
afterwards  put  to  death  three  thousand  of  the 
late  king's  guards  whom  he  had  taken  into 
his  pay;  and,  at  length,  every  person  who 
had  been  in  the  service  of  Shah  Husain  was 
included  in  one  bloody  proscription,  and  put 
to  death  without  mercy. 

After  this,  Mahmud,  being  aided  by  the 
Kurdish  tribes,  succeeded  in  making  himself 
master  of  some  of  the  principal  cities  of 
'Irak  and  Fars.  .But  his  affairs  appeared  to 
be  on  the  decline ;  his  kingdom  was  threat 
ened  from  various  points,  and  his  mind 
proved  at  last  unequal  to  the  difficulties  with 
which  he  was  assailed.  In  this  extremity  he 
resorted  for  relief  to  the  most  abject  and  de- 
gi  ading  superstitions ;  he  shut  himself  up 
in  a  vault  for  fourteen  days  and  nights,  fast 
ing  and  enduring  the  severest  penances ;  and, 
under  the  influence  of  this  gloomy  fanati 
cism,  he  lost  his  reason  and  fell  into  the  most 
furious  paroxysms  of  madness.  In  this  mel 
ancholy  situation  liis  mother,  out  of  compas 
sion  to  him,  directed  him  to  be  smothered. 
But  this  event  did  not  take  place  till  under 
his  fatal  orders,  thirty-nine  princes  of  the 
Safavean  blood  had  suffered  an  untimely 
death.  He  was  succeeded  by  Ashraf,  the  son 
of  Mir  Abdu'llah,  and  nephew  of  Mir  Vaiz. 
The  first  period  of  Ashraf  s  reign  was  suc 
cessful.  He  gained  repeated  victories  over 
the  Turkish  armies,  who  were  compelled  to 
retire ;  and  he  concluded  the  war  by  compel 
ling  the  Turkish  court  to  acknowledge  his 
title  to  the  throne.  But  he  was  now  assailed 
from  another  quarter  by  more  serious  dan 
gers.  Tamasp,  the  son  of  Shah  Husain,  and 
the  representative  of  the  Safavean  princes, 
was  in  Mazandarun,  where  he  was  joined  by 
a  distinguished  chief,  Nadir  Tvuli,  a  well- 


known  warrior,  who  now  declared  his  resolu 
tion  to  expel  every  Afghan  from  the  soil  of 
Persia.  Tamasp,  from  the  day  of  his  fa 
ther's  abdication,  had  assumed  royal  state, 
and  now  that  he  was  supported  by  Nadir  and 
the  nobles  of  Khurasan  and  the  Mazandarun, 
he  found  himself  in  a  condition  to  exercise 
the  authority  of  a  sovereign.  Nadir  being 
invested  with  the  sole  command,  soon  suc 
ceeded  in  reducing  Mashad  and  Hirat,  and, 
at  length  all  Khurasan,  under  the  authority 
of  Tamasp.  Ashraf  now  prepared  for  the 
defence  of  his  sovereign  authoritv  :  and,  hav- 

O  «/      7 

ing  raised  an  army,  he  advanced  into  Khur 
asan  against  his  enemy,  wThose  followers  he 
knew  were  daily  increasing.     The  Afghans 
were  defeated  in  a  series  of  sanguinary  ac 
tions,  and  pursued  first  to  Tehran,  and  fi 
nally  to  the  gates  of  Isfahan.     It  was  at  first 
proclaimed  in  the  city  that  the  Afghans  had 
obtained  the  victory ;  but  the  loud  wailings 
of  the  women  from  the  citadel  soon  disclosed 
the  result  of  the  battle.     The  night  was  pass 
ed  in  preparations  for  flight.     The  old  men, 
women,  and    children,   were    mounted    on 
mules  and  camels,  and  having  packed  up  ali 
the  treasure  and  spoil  which  they  could  car 
ry  away,  they  took  the  route  to  Shiraz  by 
break  of  day ;  the  tyrant  Ashraf  having  in 
the  meantime  cruelly  murdered  Shah  Hu 
sain,  who   was  Btill    detained    a    prisoner, 
the  pressure  of  circumstances  only  prevent 
ing  a  general  massacre,  which  was  fully  in 
tended.     Nadir  lost  no  time  in  pursuing  the 
discouraged  and  flying  Afghans.     They  were 
overtaken    at  Persepolis,  and   immediately 
fled  towards  Shiraz,  where,  though  they  were 
still  20,000  strong,  they  were   deserted  by 
their  leader,  who  fled  homewards  with  only 
two  hundred  followers.     The  army  was  dis 
persed   in    wandering    bands,   which    werft 
closely  pursued  and  cut  down  by  their  exas 
perated  foes,    and  Ashraf   himself,  whilst 
wandering  in   Sistan,  was  recognised   and 
slain  by  Abdullah  Khan,  a  soldier  of  Belu- 
chistan,  who  sent  his  head  with  a  large  dia 
mond  which  he  found  on  his  person  to.  Shali 
Tamasp.     Tho  Afghan  invasion  was  one  of 


134 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  most  cruel  calamities  which  ever  befel 
the  Persians.  Within  the  short  period  of 
seven  years  they  had  massacred  nearly  a 
million  of  the  inhabitants,  laid  waste  the 
finest  provinces  of  the  country,  and  levelled 
the  proudest  edifices  with  the  dust. 

Nadir  Kuli,  afterwards  known  as  Nadir 
Bhah,  was  born  in  the  provinces  of  Khuras 
an,  on  the  llth  of  November,  1G88.  His  fa 
ther  was  in  a  low  condition,  earning  a  liveli 
hood  by  making  coats  and  caps  of  sheep 
skins.  He  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Uz- 
backs  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  but  made  his 
escape  from  them  after  a  captivity  of  four 
years.  lie  was  for  a  considerable  period  the 
chief  of  a  band  of  robbers;  and  being  a 
plunderer  of  known  valor  and  resolution,  had 
collected  3000  followers,  by  whose  aid  he 
laid  under  contribution  the  extensive  province 
of  Khurasan.  His  friendship  was  now  court 
ed  by  his  uncle,  who  was  the  chief  of  Kelat. 
Xadir  pretended  to  listen  to  his  overtures, 
but  treacherously  slew  him  with  his  own 
hands,  and  proceeded  to  employ  the  power 
which  he  had  thus  acquired  against  the  Af 
ghans,  the  enemies  of  his  country.  And  so 
well  did  he  succeed  in  this  popular  and  pa 
triotic  enterprise,  that  the  Afghans  were  en 
tirely  expelled  from  the  country  ;  whilst  for 
his  services  he  received  from  his  sovereign, 
Tamasp,  the  provinces  of  Khurasan,  Mazand- 
arun,  Sistan,  and  Karman.  He  then  pro 
ceeded  to  attack  the  Turks,  who  still  occupied 
the  western  provinces  of  Irak  and  Azarbi- 
ian,  and  having  defeated  them  in  various  ac 
tions,  took  possession  of  Tabriz,  Ardcbil,  and 
all  the  principal  cities.  He  returned  to  quell 
an  alarming  insurrection  of  the  Afghans,  who 
were  unable  to  withstand  his  victorious  ar 
mies  ;  and,  in  the  meantime,  the  imbecile 
Tamasp  commenced  a  war  with  the  Turks, 
which  ended  in  a  disgraceful  peace.  He  had 
for  some  time  been  a  mere  pageant  in  the 
hands  of  Nadir,  and  this  unfortunate  war 
with  other  complaints  against  him,  furnished 
a  plausible  pretence  for  his  dethronement, 
\vhicli  took  place  on  the  IGth  of  August, 
1732.  He  retired  to  Khurasan,  where  he 


was  afterwards  put  to  death  by  Eiza  Kuli. 
the  son  of  Nadir,  with  the  knowledge  if  not 
by  the  secret  orders  of  the  father.  His  son, 
an  infant  eight  months  old,  was  seated  on  the 
throne;  but  Nadir  was  now  in  substance 
what  he  was  to  be  in  form  —the  real  sover 
eign.  In  1736,  the  death  of  this  infant  re 
moved  the  only  obstacle  to  his  ambition ;  and. 
in  a  vast  assembly  of  his  nobles  and  troops, 
he  was,  after  much  pretended  reluctance,  pre 
vailed  on  to  accept  of  the  crown.  This  high 
dignity  served  only  to  give  a  fresh  stimulus 
to  his  active  and  enterprising  habits.  In  the 
course  of  a  new  war  with  the  Turks,  after 
having  regained  the  provinces  which  had 
been  wrested  from  the  imbecile  Tamasp,  and 
concluded  a  peace,  he  turned  his  anns  east 
ward.  Kandahar  and  Balkh  were  besieged 
and  taken  by  his  son,  Riza  Kuli,  who  passed 
the  Oxus  and  defeated  the  ruler  of  Bukhara 
and  the  Uzbaks.  Afghanistan  was  after 
wards  subdued ;  and  Nadir  finally  completed 
his  military  glory  by  the  conquest  of  Delhi. 
A  single  battle  was  sufficient  to  disperse  the 
Mughulhost ;  and  Nadir,  with  his  triumphant 
legions  entered  the  capital,  which  made  no 
resistance.  Its  treasures  were  plundered ; 
and  its  inhabitants  who  rose  on  the  Persian 
soldiery,  were  in  revenge  given  over  to  an 
indiscriminate  massacre,  in  which  neither 
age  nor  sex  was  spared.  Nadir  returned  in 
triumph,  loaded  with  the  spoils  of  one  of  the 
richest  capitals  of  the  East.  He  continued 
to  prosecute  his  conquests  on  every  side,  and 
restored  the  ancient  glory  of  the  Persian  em 
pire,  when  it  extended  from  the  chain  of  the 
Caucasus  eastward  to  the  Indus. 

But  the  glory  of  foreign  conquest  was  tar 
nished  by  domestic  tyranny.  In  an  expedi 
tion  against  the  Lesghis,  a  mountain  tribe  up 
on  the  western  frontier,  Nadir  was  wounded 
by  an  assassin  who  fired  on  him  from  a  wood. 
His  suspicion  fell  on  his  son,  Riza  Kuli,  or 
had  been  instilled  into  his  mind  by  artful  in 
triguers.  Under  this  impression  he  com 
manded  his  son  into  his  presence,  and  imme 
diately  caused  him  to  be  deprived  of  his  eye 
sight.  But  so  struck  was  he  with  remorse 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


135 


aftei  th«*  lesd  had  been  done,  that  he  vented 
his  f  ury  jpon  all  around  him  ;  and  fifty  no 
blemen  were  put  to  death  by  his  orders,  be 
cause  tiny  had  riot  come  forward  to  sacrifice 
their  lives  for  the  young  prince,  the  hope  of 
his  country.  "It  is  not  my  eyes,"  says  the 
prince,  "  that  you  put  out,  but  those  of  Per 
sia."  The  mind  of  Nadir  was  deeply  affect 
ed  ;  he  became  gloomy  and  ferocious  ;  all  his 
future  actions  were  deeds  of  horror ;  and  he 
exceeded  in  barbarity  all  that  has  ever  been 
recorded  of  the  most  bloody  tyrants.  The 
country  languished  under  his  extortions;  and 
when  he  at  last  raised  the  people  to  insurrec 
tion,  his  fury  knew  no  bounds,  and  he  not 
only  murdered  individuals,  but  gave  up  whole 
cities  to  the  destroying  sword.  Several  of 
the  principal  officers  of  his  court  learning 
that  their  names  were  in  a  proscribed  list,  re 
solved  to  anticipate  the  vengeance  of  the  ty 
rant.  The  execution  of  the  plot  was  committed 
to  four  chiefs  who  were  employed  about  the 
palace,  and  who,  on  the  pretext  of  business, 
rushed  past  the  guards  in  the  inner  tent  and 
found  the  tyrant  asleep.  He  was  awakened 
by  the  noise  and  had  slain  two  of  the  con 
spirators,  when  he  was  deprived  of  life  by  a 
blow  from  Salah  Reg,  the  captain  of  the 
guards. 

o 

The  sudden  death  of  Nadir  Shah  involved 
the  country  in  the  greatest  distraction.  He 
was  succeeded  by  his  nephew  'All,  who  took 
the  name  of  Adil  Shah.  But  his  reign  was 
short  and  inglorious.  He  was  taken  prisoner 
by  his  brother,  Ibrahim  Khan,  and  put  to 
death  at  Mashhad,  as  his  captor  himself  also 
was,  being  slain  by  the  officer  who  guarded 
him.  Shah  Rukh,  the  grandson  of  Nadir, 
succeeded ;  but  the  throne  was  ere  long 
usurped  by  Mirza  Saiyid  Muhammed,  by 
whom  Shah  Rukh  was  taken  prisoner  and 
deprived  of  sight.  The  usurper  being  de 
feated  and  taken  prisoner  by  Yusuf  'All,  the 
principal  general  of  Shah  Rukh's  army,  was 
immediately  put  to  death.  The  blind  Shah 
Rukh  was  again  raised  to  the  throne ;  but 
the  measures  of  his  general,  Yusuf  'Ali,  were 
opposed  by  two  chiefs,  the  respective  heads 


of  a  Kurdish  and  an  Arabian  tribe,  and,  by 
their  joint  efforts,  the  faithful  general  of 
Shah  Rukh  was  defeated  and  slain,  and  he 
himself  again  sent  from  a  throne  to  a  prison. 
The  two  chiefs,  however,  soon  quarrelled ; 
and  Mir  Alam.  the  Arabian,  triumphed,  but 
only  to  fall  before  the  rising  power  of  the 
Afghans,  under  Ahmad  Khan  'Abdali.  This 
leader  might,  at  the  time,  have  easily  accom 
plished  the  reduction  of  Persia.  But  judg 
ing  more  wisely,  he  assembled  the  principal 
chiefs,  and  proposed  to  them  that  the  prov 
ince  which  gave  birth  to  Nadir  should  be 
given  as  a  principality  to  his  grandson.  To 
this  all  the  chiefs  agreed,  and  Shah  Rukh 
was  again  established  in  the  undisturbed 
possession  of  Khurasan.  At  this  period 
Persia  was  in  a  complete  state  of  distraction, 
from  the  contentions  of  rival  chiefs.  Mu 
hammed  Husain  Khan,  chief  of  the  tribe  of 
Kajars,  had  established  himself  at  Astara- 
bad,  and  had  brought  under  his  authority 
the  whole  province  of  Manzandarun.  The 
province  of  Azarbijan  was  under  the  rule  of 
Azad  Khan,  an  Afghan  leader,  who  had 
been  one  of  the  generals  of  Nadir  Shah 
Gilan  was  independent,  under  one  of  its  own 
chiefs,  Hidayat  Khan.  At  this  time,  'Ali 
Mardan  Khan,  a  chief  of  the  tribe  Bakhti- 
yari,  took  possession  of  Isfahan,  and,  resolv 
ing  to  elevate  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Safi 
to  the  throne,  he  invited  the  nobles  to  join 
his  standard.  The  principal  of  those  chiefs 
was  Karim  Khan,  of  the  tribe  of  Zand,  a 
man  distinguished  by  his  sagacity  and  cour 
age,  and  between  whom  and  'Ali  Mardan 
Klian  a  rivalship  for  power  soon  took  place. 
Karim  Khan,  dreading  the  enmity  of  'Ali 
Mardan,  took  the  field  against  him.  But 
his  assassination  soon  afterwards  left  Karim 
undisputed  master  of  the  south  of  Persia. 
He  was  joined  by  most  of  the  tribes  from 
that  country,  and  being  at  war  with  Azad 
Khan,  he  was  entirely  defeated  by  him  in  a 
general  action,  and  so  discouraged  by  the 
unpromising  state  of  his  affairs  that  he  medi 
tated  a  retreat  into  India.  But  he  was  dis 
suaded  from  so  unworthy  a  course  by  the  10- 


136 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


morstrances  of  his  general,  Rustam  Sultan, 
the  chief  of  Khisht,  who  attacked  the  enemy 
in  a  narrow  pass,  and  obtaining  a  complete 
victory,  re-established  the  power  of  Karim 
Khan,  who  again  occupied  the  city  of  Shiraz, 
where  he  employed  his  utmost  efforts  to  re 
cruit  his  army.  Azad  Khan,  throwing  him 
self  on  the  clemency  of  his  conqueror,  was 
received  into  his  service,  and  became  one  of 
his  most  attached  followers.  The  most  pow 
erful  enemy  of  Karim  Khan  was  Muham- 
med  Ilusain  Khan,  the  chief  of  the  Kajars, 
who  ruled  in  Mazandarun.  lie  advanced 
against  Shiraz  with  a  powerful  force ;  but  the 
city  being  bravely  defended,  he  was  compel 
led  to  raise  the  siege,  and  to  retreat  to  Isfa 
han,  lie  afterwards  engaged  Karim  in  a 
general  action,  in  which,  being  deserted  by 
part  of  his  troops,  he  was  defeated  and  slain. 
The  whole  province  of  Mazandarun  then 
submitted  to  the  conqueror,  and  this  was  fol 
lowed  by  the  submission  of  Gilan  and  the 
greater  part  of  Azarbijan.  Khurasan  was 
the  only  province  which  he  did  not  subdue ; 
and  his  forbearance  is  ascribed  to  compassion 
for  the  blind  Shah  Rukh,  who  still  retained 
this  remnant  of  his  extensive  dominions. 

Karim  Khan  was  distinguished  by  a  love 
of  justice  and  a  moderation  not  usual 
amongst  eastern  princes.  He  died  in  the 
year  1779,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age, 
after  a  reign  of  twenty-six  years. 

After  the  death  of  Karim  Khan,  the  suc 
cession  to  the  crown  was,  as  usual,  disputed, 
and  in  the  course  of  these  contests  his  four 
sons  either  perished  under  the  daggers  of  as 
sassins,  or  were  sacrificed  in  the  intrigues  of 

'  O 

ambitious  chiefs  contending  for  the  crown. 
Zaki  Khan,  the  moment  his  father  died,  as- 
fiumed  the  reins  of  government ;  whilst  Sa- 
tlak  Khan  at  the  same  time  evacuated  Bas- 
ran,  and  advanced  towards  Shiraz.  But  he 
was  unable  to  contend  against  Zaki,  and  was 
soor.  forced  to  retire.  In  the  meantime, 
Agha  Mohammed  Khan  Kajar,  who  had 
been  detained  prisoner  at  Shiraz,  and  who 
was  duly  apprised  by  his  sister,  an  inmate  of 
the  royal  harem,  of  the  progress  of  Karim 


Khan's  illness,  and  at  last  of  his  death,  con 
trived  to  escape  to  Manzandarun,  where  he 
proclaimed  himself  a  competitor  for  the 
throne.  The  cruelties  of  Zaki,  who  had 
treacherously  murdered  a  number  of  his  re 
bellious  nobles,  after  pledging  his  faith  for 
their  safety,  soon  provoked  revenge,  and  he 
himself  was  put  to  death  at  Yezdikhast. 
Abul  Fath  Khan  was  proclaimed  king  of 
Persia  the  moment  Zaki  Khan  was  put  to 
death.  Sadak  Khan  hastened  from  Karman 
to  Shiraz  when  he  heard  of  the  assassination 
of  Zaki,  and  proclaimed  himself  king,  ar 
resting  the  person  of  Abul  Fath  Khan,  and 
causing  his  eyes  to  be  put  out.  He  was  be 
sieged  in  his  capital  by  his  nephew  'Ali  Mu- 
rad  Khan,  his  most  formidable  enemy,  and, 
being  obliged  to  surrender,  he  was  put  to 
death,  with  most  of  his  sons.  'Ali  Murad 
was,  in  his  turn,  put  down  by  another  rival ; 
and  Jafir  Khan,  nephew  of  Karim,  and 
Agha  Muhammed,  were  at  length  the  only 
rivals  left  to  contend  for  the  crown.  The 
former  having  disgusted  one  of  his  chief 
supporters,  Haji  'Ali  Kuli,  he  engaged  in  a 
conspiracy  against  him ;  and  having  put 
poison  in  his  victuals,  he  and  others  rushed 
into  his  chamber  when  he  was  writhing  un 
der  its  effects,  and  put  a  period  to  his  exist 
ence.  He  was  succeeded  by  Lutf  'Ali  Khan, 
who  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  charac 
ters  recorded  in  the  Persian  annals.  His  ap 
pearance  was  greatly  in  his  favor;  his  fine 
countenance  full  of  animated  expression ; 
his  form  tall  and  graceful,  and,  though  slen 
der,  active  and  strong.  He  was  at  Karman 
when  he  heard  of  his  father's  murder,  which 
took  place  in  the  year  17S9 ;  and  though 
Saiyid  Murad  Khan  was  at  first  proclaimed 
king  by  the  conspirators,  yet,  by  the  aid  of 
llaji  Ibrahim,  appointed  by  his  father  the 
first  magistrate  of  the  province  of  Fars,  he 
was  soon  enabled  to  assert  his  claim  to  the 
crown.  He  was  bold  in  council  and  fearless 
in  action,  and  maintained  a  long  and  well- 
sustained  struggle  for  the  sovereignty,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  performed  prodigies  of 
valor.  But  he  wanted  prudence  and  temper 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WOKLD. 


137 


and  had  no  control  over  his  passions.  Un 
bending  in  his  pride,  and  harsh  and  uncon- 
ciliating  in  his  manners,  he  employed  terror 
as  the  chief  source  of  his  influence.  His 
great  error  was  in  quarrelling  with  and  dis 
gusting  his  faithful  minister,  Haji  Ibrahim, 
a  statesman  of  consummate  prudence  and 
talents,  who  abandoned  his  service  for  that 
of  his  rival  and  enemy,  Agha  Muhammed 
Khan,  and  was  ever  afterwards  his  most 
formidable  enemy.  Lutf  'AH  maintained 
the  contest  for  six  years;  but  he  was  at 
length  overwhelmed  by  the  superior  forces 
of  his  enemy.  Flying  from  Persia,  he 
was  treacherously  seized,  after  a  brave  re 
sistance,  in  which  he  was  seriously  wounded, 
and  being  delivered  into  the  hands  of  Agha 
Muhammed  Khan,  was  treated  with  a  bru 
tality  of  insult  which  is  too  shocking  to  be 
described,  and  which,  Sir  John  Malcolm 
adds,  disgraced  human  nature.  His  eyes 
were  torn  out,  and  he  was  sent  to  languish 
out  a  miserable  existence  in  Tehran,  where 
an  order  was  soon  afterwards  sent  for  his  ex 
ecution.  Lutf  'Ali  terminated  his  extraordi 
nary  career  in  1795,  in  the  twenty -fifth  year 
of  his  age.  Nor  was  Agha  Muhammed's 
cruel  treatment  of  the  inhabitants  of  Kar- 
man  less  shocking.  This  place  was  the  last 
stronghold  of  Luft  'Ali.  It  was  defended 
by  him  with  his  usual  bravery,  and  being  at 
length  taken  by  treachery,  became  the  scene 
of  the  most  dreadful  atrocities.  The  place 
was  almost  depopulated.  Many  women  and 
children,  to  the  number  of  20,000,  were  car 
ried  into  slavery.  The  men  were  murdered, 
and  numbers  were  deprived  of  sight,  many 
of  whom  were  afterwards  seen  by  Sir  John 
Malcolm  begging  their  bread.  Luft  'Ali 
was  the  last  of  the  Zand  family  of  princes, 
who  had  ruled  over  Persia  for  nearly  half  a 
century. 

Agha  Muhammed  Khan  having  now  firm 
ly  established  himself  upon  the  throne  of 
Persia,  his  first  care  was  to  restore  order 
throughout  his  dominions,  and  to  repel  for 
eign  aggression.  Having  tranquillized  the 
southern  and  central  provinces,  he  invaded 
18 


Armenia  and  Karabag,  and,  marching 
straight  to  Teflis,  he  defeated  Ileraclius, 
prince  of  Georgia;  and  having  taken  the 
city,  he  sacked  it,  and  made  a  dreadful 
slaughter  of  the  inhabitants,  carrying  into 
slavery  20,000  women  and  children.  He 
then  turned  his  arms  eastward,  subdued 
Khurasan,  and  repressed  the  incursions  of 
the  pillaging  Turkamans  in  the  vicinity  of 
Astarabad,  as  well  as  of  the  Uzbaks  in 
Bukharia.  But,  however  rigorous  his  admin 
istration,  and  however  active  in  the  field,  all 
his  exploits  were  stained  with  cruelties.  His 
avarice  was  unbounded ;  and  he  scrupled  at 
no  atrocity  to  gratify  it.  He  had  long 
thirsted  after  the  jewels  of  which  Nadir  Shah 
had  despoiled  India,  and  these  he  wrested 
without  remorse  from  their  unfortunate  pos 
sessors.  From  the  aged  and  blind  Shah 
Rukh  he  extorted,  by  the  severest  tortures, 
several  of  those  which  were  the  most  pre 
cious,  particularly  a  ruby  which  had  belong 
ed  to  Aurangzib,  and  which  was  of  extraor 
dinary  size  and  value.  This  precious  jewel 
was  retained  to  the  last,  until  boiling  lead 
had  been  poured  upon  the  head  of  the  un 
happy  prince,  when,  in  his  intolerable  agony, 
he  declared  where  it  was  hidden.  He  was 
afterwards  conveyed  to  Damghan,  in  Khura 
san,  where  he  died  in  a  few  days,  in  the 
sixty-third  year  of  his  age,  in  consequence 
of  the  tortures  to  which  he  had  been  sub 
jected. 

Agha  Muhammed  Khan  succeeded  in 
tranquillizing  the  country,  partly  by  policy, 
and  still  more  by  terror.  He  often  spared 
his  enemies,  and  conciliated  them,  not  how 
ever,  from  any  feelings  of  humanity,  but 
from  a  sense  of  his  own  interest ;  for  his  dis 
position  was  stern,  cruel,  and  vindictive,  and 
his  reign  presents  a  series  of  atrocities  scarce 
ly  equalled  in  the  bloody  annals  of  the  East. 

5 Ali  Khan,  a  chief  of  the  Afshar  tribe, 
had  opposed  Agha  Muhammed  in  the  field. 
He  was  decoyed  into  his  power  by  the  deep 
est  treachery,  and  being  arrested  amidst 
fawning  and  caresses,  his  eyes  were  put  out. 
The  brave  and  generous  Jnfar  Kuli,  his  own 


138 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


brother,  was  in  like  manner  seduced,  by  the 
kindest  assurances,  to  visit  the  court  of  Teh 
ran,  where,  after  beinj*  welcomed  with  every 

o  •/ 

appearance  of  cordiality,  he  was  cruelly  as- 
Bassinated.  This  act  stamps  upon  Agha 
Mohammed  the  character  §of  a  remorseless 
tyrant.  In  truth,  a  temper  naturally  cruel 
bad  been  still  more  soured  by  cruelties  he 
had  himself  undergone  in  his  youth. 

Agin  Mohammed  being  apprised  of  the 
invasion  of  Persia  by  Russia,  sent  his  army 
to  descend  the  frontier ;  but  the  death  of  the 
Empress  Catharine  relieved  Persia  from  the 
serious  danger  with  which  it  was  threatened. 
Agha  Muhammed  then  determined  to  move 
towards  Georgia ;  and  having  received  a 
friendly  deputation  from  the  inhabitants  of 
Shishah,  he  proceeded  with  some  light  troops, 
and  took  possession  of  this  important  for 
tress.  Three  days  afterwards,  a  dispute  hav 
ing  occurred  between  a  Georgian  slave,  a 
personal  attendant  on  the  monarch,  and  an 
other  servant,  respecting  some  money  that 
was  missing,  the  king,  enraged  at  the  noise 
which  they  made,  directed  that  they  should 
both  be  put  to  death.  Saadak  Khan  Shekaki, 
a  nobleman  of  the  highest  rank,  solicited  their 
pardon,  which  was  refused ;  but  as  it  was 
the  night  of  Friday,  sacred  to  prayer,  their 
lives  were  spared  till  next  morning,  and, 
with  a  singular  infatuation,  the  despot  per 
mitted  them  to  perform  their  usual  services 
about  his  person.  Despair  gave  them  cour 
age  ;  end  whilst  the  monarch  was  asleep, 
they  entered  his  tent,  accompanied  by  an 
associate,  and  stabbed  him  with  their  pon 
iards.  He  was  then  in  the  sixty-third  year 
of  his  age,  and  had  ruled  for  upwards  of 
twenty  years,  though  he  had  enjoyed  the 
undisputed  sovereignty  of  the  country  for 
only  a  small  portion  of  that  time. 

By  the  influence  and  wise  management  ot 
Haji  Ibrahim,  the  crown  was  secured  to  the 
nephew  of  the  deceased  monarch,  who  as 
sumed  the  sovereignty  under  the  title  of 
Fath  'AH  Shah.  Saadak  Khan  made  a  fee 
ble  effort  to  oppose  him,  but  was  attacked 
and  defeated.  Two  other  attempts  to  usurp 


the  crown,  the  one  made  by  the  king  B  bro 
ther,  Husain  Kuli  Khan,  and  the  other  by 
Muhammed  Khan,  a  prince  of  the  Zand 
family,  were  subdued  ;  and  since  this  period 
the  internal  tranquillity  of  the  country  haa 
not  been  disturbed.  The  most  important 
events  in  the  reign  of  Fath  'AH  were  con- 

o 

nected  with  the  wars  which  he  entered  into 
with  Russia,  and  which  generally  proved  un 
favorable  to  Persia.  In  1800  Georgia  finally 
submitted  to  the  dominion  of  Russia;  and 
in  1803  Mingrelia  was  subdued.  Gunjah 
was  taken ;  and  although  the  invaders  were 
forced  to  raise  the  siege  of  Erivan,  they  over 
ran  Daghistan  and  Shirwan;  and  in  1S05 
Karabag  yielded  to  their  victorious  arms. 
The  interference  of  Great  Britain  arrested 
the  progress  of  Russian  conquest ;  and  Per 
sia  was  saved  from  further  inroads  by  the 
treaty  of  Gulistan,  concluded  in  October, 
1813,  which  fixed  the  relative  boundaries  so 
indefinitely,  as,  after  much  tedious  negotia 
tion,  to  give  rise  to  a  new  war.  In  this  war, 
which  commenced  in  the  month  of  July, 
1826,  Abbas  Mirza,  the  prince  royal  of  Per 
sia,  took  the  field,  with  40,000  men,  12,000 
of  whom  wrere  regulars  ;  and  at  the  outset  he 
gained  several  important  advantages.  But 
the  superior  discipline  of  the  Russian  armies, 
trained  in  the  wars  of  Europe,  triumphed  in 
the  end ;  and  in  1828,  seeing  no  prospect  of 
maintaining  the  war  with  success,  peace  was 
again  sought  for  through  the  mediation  of 
Great  Britain.  It  was  concluded  on  the  21st 
of  February,  at  Turkamanchai.  Besides 
large  cessions  of  territory — namely,  the 
^Nakhshivan,  and  the  greater  part  of  Talish, 
including  all  the  islands  which  fall  within 
its  direction — Persia  agreed  to  pay  5,000,000 
of  tumans,  as  an  indemnification  for  the  ex 
penses  of  the  war.  Since  this  treaty  the 
peace  of  the  two  countries  has  not  been  dis 
turbed  ;  and  the  prince  royal,  turning  liia 
attention  to  the  internal  concerns  of  hia 
kingdom,  has  succeeded  in  reducing  the  re- 
bellious  chiefs  of  Khurasan.  By  the  aid  of 
a  Polish  refugee,  equally  skillful  and  brave, 
he  acquired  possession  of  Yeza,  took  Tursh- 


HISTOKY  OF  THE   WORLD. 


ish  and  Khabushan  by  storm,  and  reduced 
to  obedience  all  the  other  chiefs  in  that  quar 
ter. 

Fath  ?Ali  Shah  was  about  forty  years  old 
when  he  succeeded  his  uncle,  Agha  Muham- 
med  on  the  throne.  He  reigned  nearly 
thirty-eight  years,  and  died  in  October,  1834. 
"With  the  exception  of  his  wars  with  Eussia, 
the  tranquillity  of  his  long  reign  was  almost 
undisturbed.  By  the  treaty  of  Turkaman 
Chai,  in  1828,  the  Eussian  frontier  had  been 
advanced  to  Mount  Ararat,  and  thence  to 
the  left  bank  of  the  Aras.  This  acquisition 
was  regarded  by  Eussia  as  only  a  step  to 
further  advances ;  and  as  soon  as  Muham- 
med  Shah,  the  eldest  son  of  Abbas  Miza, 
had  been  securely  settled  on  the  throne  of 
his  grandfather,  Fath  'Ali,  the  Eussian  min 
ister,  at  Tehran,  commenced  a  series  of  in 
trigues  to  induce  the  new  shah  to  advance 
against  Hirat.  As  the  shah  had  been  placed 
on  the  throne  by  the  aid  of  English  arms  and 
influence,  in  opposition  to  the  efforts  of  his 
numerous  uncles  and  nephews,  this  move 
ment,  so  contrary  to  the  interests  of  the 
British,  was  a  piece  of  base  ingratitude. 
The  shah  was  fully  aware  how  displeasing 
any  attempt  upon  Hirat  would  be  to  the 
English  government ;  for  in  1832  Fath  'All 
had  been  induced  by  the  English  envoy  to 
abandon  an  expedition  against  that  city,  in 
spite  of  the  encouragement  of  the  Eussians, 
who  even  sent  Baron  Ache,  an  officer  of  en 
gineers,  to  accompany  it.  In  the  winter  of 
1835,  however,  Muhammed  Shah  announced 
his  intention  to  march  against  Hirat  in  the 
spring ;  and  Mr.  Ellis,  the  English  ambassa 
dor,  used  every  effort  to  persuade  him,  and 
to  compose  the  differences  between  the  shah 
and  the  rulor  of  Hirat,  Prince  Kamran. 
Nevertheless,  the  shah  persevered  in  his  in 
tention,  and  marched,  accompanied  by  the 
Eussian  minister,  in  August,  1836  ;  but  hav 
ing  attacked  the  Turkarnans  on  his  way,  his 
army  was  so  much  harassed  by  them  as  to  be 
obliged  to  return  towards  Persia  in  October 
of  the  same  year.  About  this  time  Sir  John 
M'Neill  had  replaced  Mr.  Ellis  at  the  court 


of  Tehran,  and  continued  to  remonstrate 
with  the  shah  on  the  subject  of  Hirat.  On 
the  23d  of  July,  1837,  however,  the  shah 
marched  again  against  Hirat ;  and  on  the 
10th  of  October,  Captain  Yicovich,  a  secret 
agent  of  the  Czar,  joined  the  Persian  camp, 
aud  proceeded  thence  to  Kandahar  and  Ka 
bul,  announcing  that  a  Eussian  force  had  ar 
rived  at  Asterabad  to  co-operate  with  the 
shah.  This  report  had  such  effect  upon  the 
Afghans,  that  it  was  thought  requisite  to  re 
call  the  British  agents,  Major  Leech  from 
Kandahar,  and  Captain  A.  Burnes  from  Ka 
bul.  Kohandil  Khan,  the  ruler  of  Kanda 
har,  now  bound  himself  by  treaty  to  become 
the  subject  of  Persia,  and  the  Eussian  min 
ister,  Count  Simonich,  took  the  command  of 
the  Persian  troops  in  the  trenches  before 
Hirat,  and  a  regiment  of  Eussian  deserters 
were  allowed  to  take  part  in  the  assault. 
The  siege  of  Hirat  lasted  ten  months,  and 
and  the  defence  was  one  of  the  most  mem 
orable  in  history.  The  sufferings  of  the  in 
habitants  were  dreadful ;  and  the  population 
was  reduced  from  700,000  to  about  one-tenth 
of  that  number.  But  every  assault  was  re 
pulsed,  chiefly  through  the  courage  and  skill 
of  Lieutenant  Eldred  Pottinger,  an  officer  of 
the  East  India  Company's  artillery.  At  the 
same  time,  the  Anglo-Indian  government,  to 
counteract  the  designs  of  Persia,  dispatched 
an  armament  to  occupy  the  island  of  Kharg 
in  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  concluded  a  treaty 
with  Shah  Shuja'a  and  Eanjit  Singh  to  de  • 
pose  the  Barakzy  chiefs,  Kohandil  and  Dost 
Muhammed,  and  place  Shah  Shuja'a,  the 
ally  of  the  British,  on  the  throne  of  Kabul, 
This  treaty  was  signed  on  the  26th  of  June, 
1838  ;  and  the  whole  of  Afghanistan  was 
shortly  after  occupied  by  British  troops. 
These  operations,  and  the  determined  de 
fence  of  Hirat  completely  overthrew  the  am 
bitious  designs  of  the  shah.  He  returned  to 
Tehran,  and  the  Eussian  government  has 
tened  to  disavow  all  intentions  hostile  to  the 
British.  In  1839,  a  Eussian  army  of  15,000 
men  marched  from  Orenburg,  under  General 
Peroffski,  against  Khiva.  It  had  been  col 


140 


HISTOEY   OF   THE  WORLD 


lected  in  anticipation  of  the  shah's  success 
at  Hirat,  but  it  failed  against  Khiva  no  less 
signally  than  the  shah  had  done  in  the  other 
direction ;  and  the  greater  part  of  the  troops 
perished  in  the  snow.  In  1841,  immediately 
after  the  destruction  of  the  English  army  at 
Kabul  \vas  known,  the  Russians  again  com 
menced  their  ambitious  movements  on  the 
side  of  Persia.  They  established  a  naval 
station  at  Ashurada,  an  island  in  the  Gulf  of 
Astarabad,  about  twelve  miles  from  the  coast, 
and  established  a  complete  supremacy  in  the 
Caspian,  in  which  sea  they  have  maintained, 
it  is  said,  four  or  five  steamers,  and  several 
brigs  and  schooners  of  war. 

Mohammed  Shah  died  in  August,  1848,  at 
Tehran,  and  was  succeeded  on  the  throne 
by  his  eldest  son,  Nasiru'd-din.  Colonel 
Farrant,  an  English  officer  serving  in  Persia, 
was  the  main  instrument  in  securing  the 
quiet  accession  of  the  new  king,  and  held 
the  capital  for  him  till  he  arrived  at  Azarbi- 
jan,  of  which  province  he  was  governor. 
Friendly  relations  had  been  renewed  between 
the  English  and  Persian  governments ;  but 
the  subject  of  Ilirat  had  not  been  lost  sight 
of  by  the  court  of  Tehran.  Shah  Kamran 
had  been  murdered  by  his  vizir,  Yar  Mu- 
liammcd  Khan,  and  this  wily  chief  had  long 
before  engrossed  the  chief  power  in  that 
principality.  His  policy  was  to  maintain  in 
dependence,  while  he  soothed  the  shah  by 
courtesies  which  cost  him  little.  But  in  1851 
Yar  Mohammed  died ;  and  his  son,  Saiyid 
Mohammed,  less  confident  of  his  position, 
sent  envoys  to  Tehran,  offering  to  become 
the  subject  of  Persia.  In  response  to  these 
offers,  a  Persian  force  was  prepared  under 
Sultan  Murad  Mirza,  the  governor  of  Khu 
rasan,  nominally  against  the  Turkamans,  but 
in  reality  for  the  occupation  of  Ilirat.  Col 
on  el  Sheil,  the  British  envoy,  at  once  remon 
strated  against  this  expedition  ;  and  on  Au 
gust  7th,  1851,  distinctly  announced  to  the 
Amir  Nizam,  or  prime  minister,  that  a  per 
severance  in  the  proposed  course  would 
bring  on  a  rupture  with  Great  Britain.  Af 
ter  a  long  correspondence,  the  Persian  gov 


ernment,  on  the  25th  of  January,  1853 
signed  an  agreement  not  to  send  troops  t<j 
Hirat  until  that  place  should  be  attacked  b^ 
a  foreign  force.  New  difficulties,  however, 
soon  arose.  In  1854  Mr.  Thomson,  in  charge 

»  O 

of  British  affairs,  appointed  Mirza  Hashem 
to  be  first  Persian  secretary  of  the  mission, 
an  appointment  so  obnoxious  to  the  shah  that 
the  Persian  government  declined  to  receive 
the  mirza,  and  on  his  destination  being 
changed  to  Shiraz,  notified  Mr.  Murray, 
who  was  now  the  British  minister,  that 
should  the  mirza  set  out  for  his  post,  ho 
would  be  seized  and  forcibly  detained.  This 
notice  was  given  on  the  6th  of  November. 
1855,  and  immediately  afterwards  the  mirza's 
wife  was  seized  by  order  of  the  Persian  min 
ister.  On  the  17th,  Mr.  Murray  officially 
intimated,  that  unless  the  lady  was  released, 
the  flag  of  the  mission  would  be  hauled  down, 
and  friendly  relations  would  cease ;  and  afi 
this  menace  produced  no  effect,  the  flag  waa 
struck  on  the  20th  of  November,  arid  on  tho 
5th  of  December  the  mission  withdrew  from 
Tehran.  The  Persian  government  then  pub 
lished  a  justification  of  its  conduct,  wliich 
set  forth  that  Mr.  Murray  was  carrying  oil 
an  intrigue  with  the  wife  of  Mirza  Ilashem  ; 
and  in  an  autograph  note  to  his  prime  minis 
ter,  the  shah  indulged  in  the  most  intemper 
ate  language  against  Mr.  Murray,  charging 
him  with  insolence,  and  speaking  of  him  as 
"stupid,  ignorant,  and  insane."  In  the 
same  month  of  December,  Prince  Sultan 
Murad  Mirza  put  himself  at  the  head  of 
9,000  men  intended  to  act  against  Ilirat.  It 
must  be  admitted  that  there  was  some  color 
for  this  expedition,  as  a  tribute  had  been 
guaranteed  to  the  shah  from  the  city,  and, 
further,  Prince  Muhammed  Yusuf,  the  son 
of  Kamran,  who,  after  putting  Saiyid  Mu^ 
hammed  to  death,  had  recovered  his  heritage, 
had  applied  to  Persia  for  aid,  alleging  that 
he  was  threatened  with  an  attack  by  Dost 
Muhammed  of  Kabul.  On  the  27th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1856,  the  Persian  government,  doubt 
less  encouraged  bv  the  Russian  successes  at 

O  v 

Kars,  in  November  of  the  preceding  year, 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


141 


published  their  reasons  for  this  offensive 
movement.  After  futile  negotiations  be 
tween  the  Persian  envoy  at  Constantinople 
ai:d  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  instructions 
were  sent,  out  by  the  mail  of  the  20th  of 
September,  185G,  by  Lord  Clarendon  to  the 
governor-general  of  India,  to  prepare  a  force 
at  Bombay  for  the  occupation  of  Kharg.  In 
the  meantime,  tne  Persian  army  under  Sul 
tan  Murad  had  defeated  the  Hirat  forces 
near  Ghorian,  taking  their  general,  Ahmad 
Khan,  and  several  hundred  men,  prisoners ; 
and  having  captured  and  garrisoned  Ghor 
ian,  after  a  twenty  days'  siege,  were  closely 
besieging  Hirat  itself.  On  the  29th  of  April, 
1850,  Prince  Muhammed  Yusuf  was  sent  in 
as  a  prisoner  into  the  Persian  camp  by  his 
vizir,  'Isa  Khan.  On  the  2Gth  of  April, 
1856,  Hirat  was  surrendered  to  the  Persians, 
and  its  occupation  was  publicly  notified  at 
Tehran  on  the  6th  of  Xovember.  On  the 
1st  of  the  same  month  the  governor-general 
of  India  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  war 
against  Persia.  On  the  llth  several  ships 
sailed  with  troops  from  Bombay  for  the  Per 
sian  Gulf;  and  on  the  13th  Sir  H.  Leeke, 
commanding  the  naval  forces,  embarked  for 
the  same  destination.  On  the  26th  the 
whole  fleet,  consisting  of  thirty-four  sail,  as 
sembled  at  Kishm;  and  on  the  third  of 
December  the  island  of  Kharg  was  re-occu 
pied  ;  and  on  the  7th,  the  army,  consisting 
of  two  brigades,  disembarked  at  Halila  Bay, 
twelve  miles  southeast  of  Abushahr.  On  the 
9th  the  troops  advanced  to  dislodge  the 
enemy  from  their  position  near  the  fort  of 
Rashahr.  A  body  of  Arabs  made  a  most 
determined  resistance  at  an  earthwork,  and 
the  action  was  not  gained  without  loss.  On 
the  10th,  after  a  sharp  cannonade  of  three 
hours,  Abushahr  surrendered,  and  the  Brit 
ish  flag  was  hoisted  on  the  walls  at  5  P.M.  of 
that  day.  Fifty-eight  guns  were  taken,  and 
eeveral  Persian  officers  of  high  rank  were 
made  prisoners.  In  the  meantime,  a  reserve 
force  had  been  assembled  at  Bombay  under 
General  Outram,  to  whom  the  command  of 
the  whole  army  was  given.  The  general  and 


his  staff  sailed  from  Bombay  on  the  morning 
of  the  16th  of  January,  1857;  and  the  army 
was  now  formed  into  two  divisions,  of  which 
General  Stalker  commanded  the  first,  and 
Brigadier  Havelock  the  second.  The  reserve 
reached  Abushahr  in  the  end  of  January ; 
and  on  the  3d  of  February  General  Outram, 
marched  to  dislodge  the  enemy  from  an  in 
trenched  camp  at  Burazjun,  48  miles  from 
Abushahr.  On  the  5th  this  position  was  oc 
cupied,  after  a  slight  outpost  affair,  in  which 
Cornet  Spens,  of  the  cavalry,  and  a  few 
troopers,  were  wounded.  A  vast  quantity 
of  stores  and  ammunition  were  taken  in  the 
camp.  On  the  night  of  the  7th,  General 
Outram  commenced  his  return,  after  having 

7  c? 

first  exploded  36,000  pounds  of  the  enemy's 
powder,  to  ignite  which  the  rifles,  with  shell 
bullets  invented  by  General  Jacobs,  were 
used.  During  the  darkness  of  the  night  the 
enemy  made  a  sharp  attack  on  the  English 
column  while  on  the  march,  in  which  Captain 
Madder  and  Lieutenant  Greentree  of  the 
64th  were  wounded ;  and  a  few  men  killed 
and  wounded.  General  Outram  met  with  a 
severe  accident,  his  horse  falling  with  him, 
and  rolling  over  him.  At  daylight  on  the 
morning  of  the  8th,  the  enemy  were  seen 
drawn  up  in  order  of  battle,  with  their  right 
resting  on  the  village  of  Khush-ab,  number 
ing  6,000  infantry  and  2,000  cavalry,  with 
about  15  guns,  under  Shuja'aul-Mulk,  re 
puted  the  best  officer  in  the  Persian  array. 
After  a  short  but  sharp  action,  this  force  was 
completely  routed,  and  fled,  leaving  700  men 
dead  on  the  field,  and  two  guns  in  the  hands 
of  the  English.  A  regiment  of  Persian  in 
fantry  was  ridden  over  and  cut  to  pieces  by 
the  3d  Bombay  cavalry,  whose  commanding 
officer,  Captain  Forbes,  was  severely  wound 
ed.  The  English  loss  was  altogether  one 
officer  and  eighteen  men  killed,  and  four  offi 
cers  and  sixty  men  wounded.  General  Out 
ram  regained  his  quarters  at  Abushahr  by 
midnight  on  the  9th.  On  the  26th  of  March, 
the  general  having  organized  a  force  for  the 
capture  of  Muhammarah,  a  town  at  the  con- 
fluence  of  the  Karun  with  the  Shatul  'Arab, 


142 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


where  the  Persians  had  thrown  up  strong 
batteries,  and  had  stationed  an  army  of  15,- 
000  men,  attacked  the  place,  and  captured 
it,  with  the  loss  of  but  ten  men  killed,  and 
one  officer  and  thirty  men  wounded.  The 
loss  of  the  enemy  was  very  severe.  On  the 
29th  of  March,  General  Outram  dispatched 
a  light  force  to  pursue  the  enemy  to  Awaz, 
a  town  about  100  miles  distant  up  the  Ivarun. 
This  force  proceeded  in  the  Comet,  Planet, 
and  Assyrian  steamers,  under  Commander 
liennie.  On  the  1st  of  April,  the  expedition 
came  within  sight  of  the  Persian  army  near 
Awaz,  but  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river, 
the  town  being  on  the  left.  Although  the 
Persians  amounted  to  at  least  10,000  men, 
and  the  English  troops  did  not  exceed  300, 
such  was  the  terror  General  Outram's  victo 
ries  had  inspired,  that  the  instant  the  Eng 
lish  advanced  on  Awaz  the  Persians  deserted 
the  place,  and  not  long  after,  a  shell  falling 
near  their  general's  tent,  the  whole  army 
likewise  took  to  flight.  The  vast  stores  of 
the  Persians  were  destroyed  or  thrown  open 


to  the  plundering  Arabs ;  and  the  retreating 
enemy  suffered  dreadful  distress  ere  they 
reached  Shustar,  100  miles  distant,  where 
was  their  nearest  depot.  On  the  4th  of 
April  the  expedition  returned  to  Muhamma- 
rah ;  and  on  the  same  day  General  Outrain 
received  the  news  of  the  treaty  which  had 
been  concluded  at  Paris  on  the  4th  of  March 
preceding,  between  the  English  government 
and  the  Persian,  as  represented  by  Farrukh 
Khan,  ambassador  of  the  shah. 

Thus  eaded  the  Persian  war ;  and  so  se 
vere  was  the  lesson  taught  during  General 
Outram's  brief  campaign,  that  not  even  the 
disasters  of  the  Indian  revolt  could  induce 
the  shah  to  venture  once  more  on  a  rupture 
with  the  English  government.  It  is  possible 
that  a  movement  might  have  again  taken 
place  in  the  direction  of  Ilirat ;  but  in  May, 
1858,  the  shahzadah  commanding  in  that 
quarter  suifered  a  severe  defeat  from  the 
Turkaman  hordes,  the  greater  part  of  his 
army  being  destroyed,  and  several  of  his 
guns  taken. 


HISTOBY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


143 


ARABIA, 


AEABIA  has  been    peopled  from    the 
earliest  times,  but  its  ancient  history 
seems  to  have  been  lost  or  corrupted  in  a 
lono-  course  of  oral  tradition.     The  narratives 

O 

of  the  Arabian  historians  are  absurd  and  fab 
ulous,  resting  on  no  evidence  ;  nor  have  later 
writers  succeeded  in  withdrawing  the  veil  of 
oblivion  from  the  history  of  those  early  ages. 
The  common  notion  among  the  Arabs  is,  that 
they  are  descended  from  Joktan  the  son  of 
Eber,  as  well  as  from  Ishmael  the  son  of 
Abraham  by  Hagar  ;  and  the  posterity  of  the 
former  are  denominated  pure  Arabs,  while 
those  of  the  latter  are  called  naturalized  or 
engrafted  Arabs.  Joktan  had  thirteen,  or 
according  to  the  Arabian  traditions,  thirty-one 
sons,  who,  after  the  confusion  of  languages 
at  Babel,  are  said  to  have  settled  in  the  south 
eastern  parts  of  Arabia,  and  to  have  gone 
afterwards  to  India,,  with  the  exception  of 
two,  namely  Tarhab  and  Jorham,  the  former 
of  whom  gave  name  to  the  country.  Yarhab 
settled  in  Yemen  while  Jorham  founded  the 
kingdom  of  the  Hedjaz,  where  his  posterity 
reigned.  Ishmael  being  dismissed  by  Abra 
ham,  retired  to  the  wilderness  of  Paran, 
where  he  married  an  Egyptian,  by  whom  he 
had  twelve  children,  who  were  the  heads  of 
as  many  potent  tribes  of  the  Scenite  or  wild 
Arabs.  He  afterwards,  according  to  tradi 
tion,  married  the  daughter  of  Modad,  the 
king  of  the  Hedjaz,  lineally  descended  from 
Jorham ;  and  is  thus  considered  by  the*Ara- 
bians  the  father  of  the  greater  body  of  their 
nation.  By  these  tribes  Arabia  was  ruled 


in  ancient  times,  and  a  genealogical  list  is 
preserved  of  a  long  line  of  kings  in  Yemen 
and  other  provinces,  of  whom  nothing  further 
is  known  than  their  names.  The  ancient 
tribes  who  inhabited  Arabia  maintained 
flocks  and  herds.  They  were  addicted  to 
commerce  and  rapine,  and  frequently  by 
their  inroads  molested  the  neighboring  states. 
They  were  invaded  in  their  turn  by  the  As 
syrians,  the  Egyptians,  the  Medes,  and  the 
Persians ;  but  whatever  ancient  historians 
may  relate  concerning  the  victories  of  Sesos- 
tris,  it  does  not  appear  that  either  the  Assyr 
ians,  the  Egyptians,  or  the  Persians,  ever  ob 
tained  any  permanent  footing  in  the  country. 
Ptolemy  was  the  first  writer  who  divided 
Arabia  into  three  parts  ;  namely  x\rabia 
Petraea,  Arabia  Deserta,  and  Arabia  Felix ; 
which  division,  agreeing  with  the  natural 
features  of  the  country,  is  still  recognized. 
Ptolemy  and  also  Pliny  give  a  long  list  of 
towns,  and  of  the  various  tribes  which 
ranged  over  the  country.  The  site  of  Petra, 
that  splendid  capital  of  Arabia  Petrsea,  was 
discovered  by  Burckhardt,  a  silent  necropolis 
in  a  deep  inaccessible  wadi.  The  nations 
who  inhabited  tliis  tract  were  the  Ishmaelites, 
the  Nabatheans,  the  Cedrei  or  Kedareni, 
and  the  Hagareni,  all  which  appelations  have 
in  later  times  been  lost  in  that  of  the  Sara 
cens,  so  celebrated  for  several  centuries  all 
over  the  East.  Arabia  Felix  was  the  chiel 
seat  of  population  and  wealth.  It  was  in 
habited  by  many  different  tribes  of  whose 
history  nothing  is  now  known. 


144 


HISTOKY  OF    THE  WORLD. 


The  frequent  incursions  of  the  Arabs  into 
the  neighboring  regions  exposed  them  to  re 
taliation  from  hostile  armies;  but  the  aridity 
of  the  country  was  ever  found  to  be  its  true 
defence.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  invader 
vanquished  the  Arabs  in  the  field ;  they  fled 
from  his  pursuit  on  their  horses  and  camels, 
and  quickly  disappeared  in  the  burning 
desert,  whither  no  army  ever  dared  to  follow 
them.  The  northern  provinces  bordering 
on  Syria  were  invaded  by  Antigonus,  and 
afterwards  by  Pompey,  though  they  never 
succeeded  in  acquiring  possession  of  Petra, 
the  great  stronghold  of  the  country.  But 
the  most  important  expedition  of  the  Romans 
was  that  of  ^Elius  Gallus,  in  the  reign  of  Au 
gustus,  who,  with  a  force  of  10,000  troops,  of 
whom  500  were  Jews  and  1000  Kabatheans, 
natives  of  the  country,  landed  at  Leucocome, 
about  seventy  miles  north-west  from  Medina, 
and  in  the  following  spring,  his  troops  hav 
ing  been  till  that  time  disabled  by  disease, 
lie  advanced  southward,  crossed  a  desert  of 
thirty  days'  journey,  and  in  fifty  days  more 
arrived  in  a  pleasant  and  fruitful  region, 
where  he  took  by  assault  a  city  called  Naj- 
ran.  He  continued  his  march  southward  for 
other  sixty  days  ;  and  being  finally  compelled 
to  retreat  by  fatigue  and  disease,  he  crossed 
the  Red  Sea,  and,  landing  his  troops  at  Myos 
Ilormos,  on  the  Egyptian  shore,  brought 
back  the  poor  remains  of  his  army  to  Alex 
andria,  after  an  absence  of  two  years.  The 
situation  of  the  towns  in  his  route  being  en 
tirely  unknown,  we  cannot  trace  his  course, 
though  it  must  have  been  in  the  direction  of 
Medina  and  Mecca.  The  great  historian  of 
the  Decline  and  Fall  of  Rome  places  the 
march  of  JElius  Gallus  between  Mareb  or 
Mecca  and  the  sea.  But  this  is  a  desert 
tract,  in  no  respect  resembling  the  character 
given  of  the  country  into  which  he  penetra 
ted,  which  may  therefore  probably  be  the 
elevated  tract  on  the  Hedjaz  ridge  of  moun 
tains,  extending  north  and  south  parallel 
with  the  Red  Sea.  Northern  Arabia  was 
also  invaded  by  the  Emperors  Trajan  and 
Severus,  but  they  effected  no  settlement  in 


the  country  ;  and  though  the  cities  of  Bozrn 
and  Petra  were  at  one  time  reduced  by  a 
lieutenant  of  Trajan,  yet  the  Romans  v.ever 
seem  to  have  extended  their  power  over 
Arabia  Petrsea.  On  the  decline  of  the  empire 
Syria  was  invaded  by  the  Arabian  freeboot 
ers,  who  sometimes  drew  on  themschci* 
severe  retaliation.  The  doubtful  frontier  or 
the  respective  territories  was  thus  a  constant 
scene  of  hostility,  until  the  Arab  tribes,  in 
spired  by  the  genius  of  Mohammed,  advanced 
to  permanent  conquests. 

Jews  were  numerous  in  the  Arabian  sea 
ports  ever  since  the  remote  period  when  they 
monopolized  the  trade  with  Ophir  and  the 
spice  countries  on  the  Red  Sea.  After  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  whole  tribes  of  Is 
raelites  found  an  asylum  in  Arabia,  where 
they  became  so  powerful  that  Dunaan,  a 
Jewish  chief,  succeeded  in  defeating  and  kill 
ing  Er  Riad,  commonly  called  Aretha,  the 
Christian  (Arian)  king  of  Ilimyar,  in  which 
country  he  assumed  the  royal  power.  But 
this  Jewish  kingdom  did  not  continue  rr.any 
years,  as  it  was  conquered  by  Eleesbam,  the 
Christian  king  of  Abyssinia,  who  killed  Du 
naan.  In  the  age  of  Mohammed,  the  Jews 
were  very  numerous  and  powerful  in  Arabia 
and  in  spite  of  the  persecutions  which  they 
had  to  suffer  from  him  and  his  successors, 
there  are  even  in  our  days  great  numbers  ol 
settled  Israelites  natives  of  Arabia,  to  be 
found  in  the  seaports  and  wherever  the  fan 
aticism  of  the  Arabs  suffers  them  to  dwell. 
In  the  interior  Jewish  tribes  are  met  with 
leading  a  wandering  life  like  Bedouins. 

Such  are  some  of  the  early  traditions  and 
imperfect  sketches  of  Arabian  history.  We 
now  approach  a  new  era,  not  only  of  greater 
certainty,  but  containing  events  of  far  deeper 
interest,  and  of  lasting  importance.  The 
rise  and  progress  of  Mohammed,  the  prophet 
of  the  East,  and  the  rapid  propagation  of  his 
faith,  which  has  changed  the  moral  and  po 
litical  aspect  of  the  eastern  world,  forms  a 
most  singular  chapter  in  the  history  of  human 
affairs. 

Mohammed,  son  of  Abdallah  and  Amina 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WORLD. 


145 


and  grandson  of  Abdelraottalib,  was  born  at 
Mecca  in  August  570  A.  D.  Gibbon  inclines 
to  a  year  earlier,  but  liigli  authorities  are 
against  him.  He  was  of  the  noble  family  of 
Hashem,  of  the  tribe  of  the  Koreish,  confess 
edly  the  first  and  most  honorable  in  Arabia. 
As  liis  father  Abdallah  died  shortly  before 
the  birth,  the  grandfather  Abdelmottalib  re 
joiced  greatly  over  the  event,  and  at  a  feast 
held  seven  days  after  bestowed  on  his  infant 
heir  the  name  of  Mohammed,  or  The  Glori 
fied.  Later  traditions  told  how,  when  the 
infant  was  born,  the  palace  of  the  King  of 
Persia  was  shaken  by  an  earthquake,  and  the 
sacred  fire  of  the  Magi  extinguished.  Mo 
hammed  was  nursed  by  a  woman  named 
Halima,  and  then  by  a  black  slave  called 
Ouimn-Ayrnan.  Towards  both,  and  especially 
towards  the  latter,  he  always  displayed  much 
gratitude  and  attachment. 

At  the  age  of  six  he  lost  his  mother  Amina. 
She  was  unable  to  leave  him  any  property 
beyond  five  camels  and  the  slave  Oumm- 
Ayman,  His  grandfather  Abdelmottalib  took 
him  under  his  protection  for  three  years, 
when  he  also  died ;  and  the  lad,  now  nine 
years  old,  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  pater 
nal  uncles,  one  of  whom,  Abu  Taleb,  acted 
as  his  friend  and  guardian.  Mohammed  is 
believed  to  have  been  present  at  two  battles 
fought  between  the  tribe  of  the  Ilawazin  and 
the  Koreish  in  585  and  586,  in  both  of  which 
the  Koreish  were  defeated,  though  they  sub 
sequently  regained  the  advantage.  About 
this  time  Abu  Taleb  took  his  nephew  in  his 
company  on  a  mercantile  expedition  into 
Syria.  The  youth  had  attained  his  thirteenth 
year,  and  is  said  to  have  begun  to  attract  at 
tention,  and  give  promise  of  future  eminence. 
As  in  the  case  of  many  other  famous  men, 
however,  it  is  difficult  to  decide  how  far  such 
traditions  result  from  the  reflected  glory  of 
after  life.  Although  endowed  with  a  native 
penetration  such  as  Thucydides  in  a  famous 
passage  ascribes  to  Themistocles,  Mohammed 
was  deficient  in  the  elements  of  education  : 
it  is  doubtful  whether  he  could  even  read  or 
write.  So  ignorant  wat  he  of  the  Arab  rules 


of  versification,  that  he  seldom  quoted  a  verse 
without  some  misarrangement  of  its  words. 
In  apparent  allusion  to  these  circumstances 
we  find  him  in  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
chapters  of  the  Koran  declaring,  "  We  have 
not  taught  Mohammed  the  art  of  poetry,  nor 
is  it  expedient  for  him  to  be  a  poet  "  ;  as  in 
a  previous  chapter,  the  seventh,  he  entitles 
himself  "  the  illiterate  prophet."  There  ap 
pears,  however  no  reason  to  doubt  that  by 
the  age  of  twenty-five  he  had  acquired  a 
most  honorable  reputation  among  his  fellow- 
countrymen.  His  readiness,  his  nobleness  of 
conduct  according  to  the  Arabian  standard, 
his  good  faith  and  aversion  to  anything  dis 
honorable,  won  for  him  at  this  period  the 
surname  of  Il'l-Amin,  the  trustworthy. 

An  important  epoch  in  his  life  now  ar-  i 
rived.  His  reputation  for  honesty  and  abil 
ity  induced  a  wealthy  and  highborn  widow 
named  Kadijah,  to  employ  him  as  her  mer 
cantile  agent.  His  great  success  led  to  the 
offer  on  Kadijah's  part  of  her  hand.  Although 
between  thirty  and  forty  years  of  age,  she 
had  still  several  suitors.  This  match  placed 
Mohammed  in  a  position  conformable  to  his 
origin.  The  change  did  not,  however,  un 
duly  elate  him.  He  showed  delicacy  in  the 
employment  of  her  property ;  and  during  her 
lifetime  had  no  other  wife.  Of  the  six  chil 
dren  of  this  union  two  sons  died  in  infancy ; 
the  daughters  lived  to  embrace  their  father's 
creed,  and  were  married  to  disciples.  Ono 
only,  however,  Fatima,  outlived  him,  and 
became  by  her  marriage  with  the  famous 
Ali  the  ancestress  of  an  illustrious  family. 
The  burst  of  feeling  attributed  to  Moham 
med,  years  after  Kadijah's  death,  is  well 
known.  When  a  later  wife,  Ayesha,  was 
claiming  superiority  on  the  score  of  youth, 
he  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  There  never 
can  be  a  better  !  She  believed  in  me  when 
men  despised  me ;  she  relieved  my  wants 
when  I  was  poor  and  persecuted  by  the 
world." 

Mohammed  was  twenty-five  years  old  when 
he  espoused  Kadijah.  We  pass  over  his  ar- 
bitrati^n  of  a  contest  between  rival  branches 


146 


HISTORY    OF   THE  WORLD. 


of  the  Koreish.  as  to  the  honor  of  moving 
the  famous  black  stone  in  the  national  tem 
ple  at  Mecca,  which  this  tribe,  as  its  guard 
ians,  were  reconstructing.  His  office  on  this 
occasion,  however  honorable,  appears  to  have 
been  accidental.  But  in  the  following  year 
Mohammed,  now  thirty-six  years  of  age,  had 
the  satisfaction  of  being  able  in  some  degree 
to  repay  the  kindness  of  his  uncle  Abu  Taleb, 
by  taking  charge  of  a  young  cousin  Ali,  al 
ready  alluded  to  as  one  of  the  most  zealous 
and  famous  of  his  future  disciples.  He  like 
wise  tried  to  console  himself  for  the  loss  of 
his  sons  by  Kadijah,  by  the  adoption  into  his 
family  of  a  young  man  named  Zayd,  son  of 
Ilaritha. 

Mohammed's  want  of  anything  like  regu 
lar  education  has  been  noticed,  lie  appears, 
however,  to  have  gained  much  information 
while  on  his  travels  as  a  merchant,  and  prob 
ably  still  more  from  intercourse  with  his 
wife's  cousin  Waraca,  son  of  Kaufal,  the 
most  learned  Arab  of  his  day.  We  incline 
to  agree  withllallam;  Taylor,  Dollinger,  and 
others,  who  think  that  Mohammed  had  no 
real  f-cquairitancc  with  the  New  Testament; 
but  he  gained  a  knowledge,  though  a  vague 
and  imperfect  one,  of  the  principal  Jewish 
and  Christian  dogmas,  of  the  Scripture  his 
tory,  of  the  contents  of  some  of  the  apocry 
phal  gospels,  and  of  the  Talmud.  He  was 
naturally  well  versed  in  the  traditions  and 
legends  of  his  own  country  ;  and  added  to  a 
resolute  will  and  considerable  strength  of 
imagination  a  wonderful  power  of  expression. 
His  love  of  solitude  was  very  great.  He 
would  wander,  it  is  said,  in  the  gorges  and 
valleys  around  Mecca,  and  every  year  re 
tired  during  the  month  of  Kamazan  to  a 
neighboring  hill,  Mount  Ilira.  There  he 

O  O  7 

spent  his  time  in  prayer,  and  fed  any  poor 
who  asked  of  him  an  alms. 

We  now  come  to  the  date  (A.  D.  611)  when 
Mohammed,  being  in  his  forty-first  year,  as- 
Berts  that  he  received  his  mission.  About 
this  time  Britain  is  witnessing  the  founda 
tion  of  a  Christian  church  in  London,  now 
known  as  Westminster  Abbey ;  Boniface 


IV.  is  pope  at  Rome ;  and  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
Jutes,  and  many  more  tribes  in  northern 
Germany,  are  adopting  the  faitli  of  Christi 
anity.  The  Greek  empire  is  being  ravaged 
by  Persians  and  Avars ;  but  Heraclius  is 
preparing  for  resistance,  and  in  the  very  year 
of  the  Hegira  (A.  D.  622)  will  start  upon  his 
glorious  and  successful  expedition  against 
Persia,  and  gain  a  signal  victory  for  the 
cross. 

The  first  passage  said  to  be  revealed  is 
that  which  now  stands  as  the  commence 
ment  of  the  ninety-sixth  chapter  of  the  Ko 
ran.  "  Read,  in  the  name  of  thy  Lord  who 
hath  created  all  things ;  who  hath  created 
man  of  congealed  blood.  Read,  by  thy 
most  beneficent  Lord ;  who  hath  taught  the 
use  of  the  pen ;  who  teacheth  man  that 
which  he  knoweth  not."  He  told  Kadijah 
that  the  angel  Gabriel  had  taught  him  these 
words,  and  she  at  once  accepted  him  as  the 
prophet  of  the  nation.  Her  cousin  Waraca, 
now  aged,  and  who  died  shortly  afterwards, 
received  the  information  in  such  a  way  as  to 
confirm  Kadijah  in  her  belief.  Ali,  then 
eleven  years  of  age,  was  the  second  convert. 
The  new  religion  was  termed  by  Mohammed 
Iman  (belief),  and  Islam  (resignation  to  the 
will  of  God) ;  whence  the  adjective  Moslem 
believer,  and  the  corrupt  form  Mussulman. 
He  shortly  after  made  a  new  and  valuable 
proselyte  in  Abu-Bekr,  a  man  of  high  con 
sideration  and  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of 
his  person.  But  a  check  followed  ;  at  a  re 
union  of  his  cousins  the  announcement  of 
his  mission  was  received  with  coldness  and 
incredulity ;  and  when,  not  satisfied  with 
teaching  the  unity  of  the  Godhead  and  his 
own  apostleship,  he  declared  his  intention  of 
overthrowing  idolatry  and  bringing  his  coun 
trymen  back  to  the  religion  of  Abraham,  in 
dication  burst  forth  on  all  sides.  It  was 

O 

proposed  to  silence  him ;  and  none  were 
more  vehement  in  their  opposition  than  the 
other  families  of  his  own  tribe,  the  Koreish. 
Abu-Taleb,  though  not  a  convert,  continued 
to  protect  his  nephew. 

For  the  next  few  years  Mohpramed's  life 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WOKLD. 


141 


was  passed  in  a  state  of  persecution  and  in 
sult  which  extended  itself  to  his  few  disciples. 
Once,  indeed,  his  adversaries  made  offers  of 
wealth  or  leadership  if  he  would  cease  from 
his  endeavors ;  but  he  replied  by  the  recita 
tion  of  that  chapter  of  the  Koran  which  now 
stands  as  the  forty-first ;  a  really  sublime  ef 
fusion,  in  which  he  reminds  his  hearers  of 
the  destruction  of  the  city  and  tribe  of  Ad 
for  idolatry;  a  legend  known  to  English 
readers  by  the  first  book  of  Southey's  Tha- 
lalja.  The  reply  to  this  appeal  was  the  very 
natural  request  that  Mohammed  would  work 
miracles  as  a  proof  of  his  divine  mission. 
This  embarrassing  demand  is  more  than  once 

O 

alluded  to  in  the  Koran.  His  answer  was, 
that  he  Was  sent  to  preach  truth,  not  to  work 
miracles  ;  and  that  his  opponents  would  not 
be  convinced  even  if  miracles  were  vouch 
safed.  Nevertheless,  as  if  conscious  of  his 
weakness  on  this  side,  he  in  time  proclaimed 
his  famous  night  journey  to  heaven,  known 
as  Jsra,  when  the  angel  Gabriel  took  him 
on  the  animal  Borac  to  enjoy  an  interview 
with  patriarchs,  prophets,  and  the  Almighty 
himself.  This  brought  on  him  a  storm  of 
ridicule,  and  some  of  his  disciples  abjured 
his  teaching.  Abu-Bekr  stopped  others 
from  departure  by  professing  his  own  entire 
belief  in  Mohammed's  narrative. 

In  the  eleventh  year  of  his  mission  some 
new  converts  took  oaths  of  fidelity,  known 
as  the  oaths  of  Acaba,  the  hill  on  which  they 
were  taken.  But  fresh  plots  among  the 
Koreish  alarmed  him ;  and  in  A.  D.  622  he 
took  the  step  of  flying  from  Mecca  to  Med 
ina,  then  known  as  Yathrib.  This  flight, 
known  as  the  Hidjra,  and  in  Europe  as  the 
Hegira,  was  seventeen  years  later  fixed  as 
the  great  Moslem  epoch  by  the  Caliph  Omar. 
Here  he  took  up  arms  against  the  Koreish, 
and  within  two  years  (on  the  13th  of  Janu 
ary,  62-i)  won  the  famous  victory  of  Bedr. 
In  the  Koran,  he  maintains  that  angelic  aid 
was  granted  in  this  battle.  Mohammed 
behaved  generously  to  his  prisoners,  but 
made  some  of  them  teach  his  converts  how  to 
road  and  write.  In  the  same  year  he  was 


defeated  at  Ohod;  but  as  this  battle  was 
lost  by  disobedience  to  his  orders,  Moham 
med's  reputation  did  not  suffer.  He  resolved 
henceforth  to  give  no  quarter  to  the  idola 
ters.  About  this  time  he  had  dealings  with 
the  Jews.  A  few  accepted  him  as  a  proph 
et;  but  his  claims  of  descent  from  Ish 
mael,  and  his  partial  admission  of  the  claims 
of  Jesus,  repelled  the  majority.  They  be 
came  bitter  enemies,  and  Mohammed  caused 
one  of  their  chief  men,  Khalkl,  to  be  assas 
sinated. 

In  the  meantime  Mohammed  had  largely 
increased  the  number  of  his  wives  :  he  had 
in  all  fifteen,  besides  Kadijah.  It  was  pro 
bably  in  the  year  626  that  he  married  Zey- 
nab,  daughter  of  Djahch.  This  was  contrary 
to  Arab  usage,  for  she  was  the  wife  of  his 
adopted  son  Zayd ;  and  no  willingness  on  the 
part  of  the  husband,  who  at  once  divorced 
Zeynab,  nor  on  the  lady's  own  part,  could 
annul  this  difficulty.  But  a  resource  was  at 
hand.  In  the  thirty-third  chapter  of  the 
Koran  was  given  a 'permission  to  the  Moslem 
to  marry  the  wives  of  their  adopted  sons, 
these  sons  being  in  future  called  by  the 
names  of  their  actual  fathers. 

In  A.  D.  628,  the  5th  year  of  the  Hegira, 
he  began  to  send  letters  to  sovereign  princes, 
not  only  in  Arabia,  but  beyond  its  limits. 
They  were  sealed  with  a  silver  signet  con 
taining  in  three  lines  the  words,  MOHAM 
MED— APOSTLE— OF  GOD.  Persia, 
Abyssinia,  and  Egypt  were  the  first  recip 
ients.  This  is  a  new  and  marked  feature  in 
the  history  of  Islamism. 

In  the  following  year  he  made  some  of  his 
most  distinguished  converts, — Othman,  Amr, 
and  Khaled  ;  but  essaying  his  power  against 
the  Eastern  Roman  empire,  his  troops  were 
defeated  by  Theodore,  lieutenant  of  Hera- 
clius.  He  was  not  present  at  this  battTe. 
Soon  after,  he  gave  great  offence  to  liis 
wives  by  continuing  to  cohabit  with  a  Cop 
tic  slave,  Maria,  whom  he  had  freed  on  the 
birth  of  a  son.  Afresh  chapter  of  the  Ko 
ran  righted  this  matter  also,  but  not  witliout 
difficultv 


148 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WORLD. 


Eight  years  after  his  flight  he  was  strong 

enough  to  srain  possession  of  Mecca.    Mount- 
is  o         I 

ed  on  his  camel,  he  rode  seven  times  round 
the  Kaaba,  then  having  on  its  roof  three 
hundred  and  sixty  idols.  He  had  every 
one  of  these  destroyed  before  his  face,  say 
ing  the  while,  from  the  Koran,  "  The  truth 
is  come /  let  falsehood  disappear"  That 
day  was  perhaps  the  grandest  of  Mohammed's 
life. 

But  by  this  time  he  had  fully  adopted  the 
principle  of  enforcing  his  creed  by  arms,  in 
stead  of  mere  persuasion.  We  have  not 
space  to  dwell  on  his  victory  over  the  Hawu- 
zin  at  Honayn.  In  632  his  health  began  to 
decline.  He  had  always  been  subject  to  fits 
of  epilepsy.  This  was  long  supposed  to  be  a 
Christian  calumny,  and  is  so  treated  by  Gib 
bon  and  others  ;  but  the  researches  of  Weil 
have  proved  its  truth.  On  the  7th  of  June, 
632,  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age,  Moham 
med  died  of  fever,  his  favorite  wife,  Ayesha, 
supporting  his  head. 

In  person  Mohammed  was  of  middle  stat 
ure,  with  dark  eyes,  a  ruddy  complexion, 
and  a  fair  and  graceful  neck.  He  wore  a 
thick  beard.  His  life  was  most  simple: 
dates  and  water  often  his  only  food,  and  his 
house  sometimes  without  fire  for  a  month 
together.  His  manner,  as  well  as  his  appear 
ance,  was  fascinating,  his  conversation  lively 
and  not  destitute  of  "  that  taste  for  humor 
which  (as  Dr.  Arnold  remarks)  great  men 
are  seldom  without."  He  was  fond  of  setting 
off  the  beauty  of  his  person  to  the  best  ad 
vantage. 

The  death  of  Mohammed  exposed  the  new 
state  to  the  dangers  of  a  disputed  succession. 
The  right  to  the  throne,  on  which  subject 
Mohammed  was  silent  when  he  died,  was 
respectively  claimed  by  two  powerful  tribes, 
namely,  those  who  fled  to  Medina  with  the 
prophet,  or  the  fugitives,  and  those  who 
aided  him  on  his  arrival,  or  the  auxiliaries. 
To  terminate  this  dangerous  dispute,  Omar, 
renouncing  his  own  pretensions,  held  out  his 
hand  to  Abu-Bekr  as  his  future  sovereign ; 
and  his  authority  was  recognised  in  all  the 


provinces.  T^e  Hashemites,  under  Ali  their 
chief,  though  averse  to  the  new  monarch 
acknowledged  him  after  some  time  as  com 
mander  of  the  faithful.  After  a  reign  of  two 
years  he  was  succeeded  by  Omar,  who  was 
assassinated  in  the  twelfth  year  of  his  reign, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Othman  ;  and  it  was 
not  till  his  death  that  Ali  ascended  the 
throne.  This  contest  for  the  dignity  of 
caliph  has  ever  since  divided  the  Mohamme 
dans  into  the  two  hostile  parties  of  the  Shiites 
or  sectaries,  who  reprobate  as  usurpers  Abu- 
Bekr,  Omar,  and  Othman  ;  and  the  Sonnites, 
who  revere  them  along  with  Ali  as  the  legit 
imate  successors  of  the  prophet.  This 
schism  is  the  source  of  the  hatred  which  still 
exists  between  the  Persians  and  Turks. 

Arabia,  during  the  reign  of  these  several 
princes,  was  filled  with  distraction  at  home, 
while  the  most  splendid  conquests  were 
achieved  abroad.  To  give  a  detail  of  these 
events,  which  relate  besides  to  other  countries 
as  much  as  to  Arabia,  would  exceed  our 
limits.  We  may  therefore  briefly  observe, 
that  during  the  short  reign  of  Abu  Bekr,  the 
Syrian  territories  of  the  Greek  emperor  were 
overrun  by  the  victorious  Moslems  under 
Abu  Obeidah,  and  afterwards  under  Khaled, 
surnamed  from  his  valor  and  fanaticism  the 
Sword  of  God ;  that  the  Greek  armies  were 
overthrown  in  several  decisive  battles ;  and 
that  the  rich  and  populous  cities  of  the  coun 
try,  including  Bosra  and  Damascus,  were 
stormed  by  the  barbarian  invaders.  A  new 
army,  raised  by  the  Greek  emperor,  the  last  } 
hope  of  the  falling  empire,  was  scattered  be 
fore  the  barbarian  host  in  the  decisive  battle 
of  Yarmuk.  Palestine  was  now  subdued, 
and  Jerusalem,  which  was  reputed  a  holy 
city  by  its  ferocious  conquerors,  and  was 
visited  by  the  Caliph  Omar.  Here  he  di 
rected  Amrou  to  invade  Egypt,  which  was 
rapidly  overrun ;  and  his  other  lieutenants 
to  complete  the  conquest  of  Syria.  His 
orders  were  punctually  obeyed,  and  Aleppo, 
Antioch,  Tyre,  Caesarea,  and  all  the  other 
cities  and  fortresses  in  the  province,  were 
successively  taken. 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


149 


On  the  east  the  empire  of  the  Arabs  was 
rapidly  extended.  "  They  advanced,"  says 
the  eloquent  historian  of  the  Decline  arid 
Fall  of  Home,  "  to  the  banks  and  sources  of 
the  Euphrates  and  Tigris ;  the  long-disputed 
barrier  of  Home  and  Persia  was  for  ever 
confounded  ;  the  walls  of  Edessa  and  Amida, 
of  Dara  and  Nisibis,  which  had  resisted  the 
arms  and  engines  of  Sapor  or  Nashirvan, 
were  levelled  in  the  dust."  The  fate  of  Per 
sia  was  decided  in  the  great  battle  of  Cadesia. 
The  victorious  Arabs  poured  like  a  flood  over 
the  country,  and  acquired  prodigious  spoil : 
nor  did  they  halt  in  their  victorious  career 
till  they  had  reached  the  banks  of  the  Oxus. 
and  had  added  to  their  empire  Herat,  Merou, 
Balk,  Saniarcand,  and  other  rich  and  trading 
cities  in  the  East. 

The  short  reign  of  Ali,  from  the  year  655 
to  661,  was  disturbed  by  domestic  dissen 
sion  and  the  rival  claims  of  Moawiyah,  the 
son  of  Abu  Sophian,  well  known  for  his 
tardy  and  reluctant  obedience  to  the  sword, 
as  was  alleged,  rather  than  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  prophet.  The  death  of  Ali  by  an  as 
sassin  was  the  signal  for  new  contests.  Mo- 
awiyah  reigned  at  Damascus,  which  was  the 
new  capital  of  the  caliphs  of  the  house  of 
Ommiyah,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Yezid  A.  D.  680,  whose  title  was  disputed  by 
the  surviving  family  of  Ali,  Hozein  and  Ab- 
dallah  Ebn  Zobeir,  his  two  sons.  They  lied 
from  Medina  to  Mecca ;  and  Hozein  was 
proceeding  to  Cufa  on  assurances  of  aid  from 
the  inhabitants,  when  he  was  surrounded 
and  barbarously  murdered,  with  all  his  fol 
lowers,  by  Obeidallah  the  governor.  Abdal- 
lah,  the  sole  representative  of  the  house  of  j 
Hashem,  was  now  proclaimed  caliph  at  Me 
dina,  from,  which  city  he  expelled  all  the  ad 
herents  and  dependents  of  the  house  of  Om 
miyah,  to  the  number  of  8000.  Yezid  dis 
patched  a  large  force  to  their  aid,  by  which 
Medina  was  taken,  after  a  vigorous  defence, 
and  abandoned  to  pillage.  Mecca,  besieged 
by  the  army  of  Yezid,  was  on  the  point  of 
sharing  the  same  fate,  when  intelligence  was 
received  of  Yezid's  death.  His  son.  Moawi- 


yah  II.,  succeeded  him,  and,  after  a  reign  of 
six  weeks,  died  without  naming  a  successor. 
Serious  commotions  now  ensued.  Merwan, 
of  the  house  of  Omrniyab,  was  proclaimed 
caliph  at  Damascus,  while  Abdallah  reigned 
at  Mecca.  The  former  was  succeeded  by  hia 
son  Abdalmalac,  during  whose  reign  the  con 
test  for  the  throne  was  terminated  by  tho 
death  of  Abdallah,  who,  in  a  desperate  sally 
from  Mecca,  where  he  was  besieged  by  tho 
troops  of  the  rival  caliph,  was  overpowered 
and  slain.  Bv  his  death  the  sovereig-ntv  was 

»-  O          t/ 

firmly  established  in  the  line  of  the  Ommi- 
ades,  who  reigned  in  Damascus  above  seven  • 
ty  years. 

But  the  title  of  this  dynasty  not  being 
founded  on  any  clear  principle  of  religion  or 
of  law,  was  never  recognised  by  the  great 
body  of  the  Moslems.  They  regarded  with 
veneration  the  lineal  descendants  of  tho 
prophet,  who  on  their  pail  still  cherished  the 
hope  of  reigning  over  the  Moslem  empire. 
Numerous  partisans  of  the  line  of  Abbas 
were  dispersed  throughout  the  provinces,  and 
secret  plots  for  their  restoration  were  grad 
ually  matured  into  rebellion.  The  last  caliph 
of  the  line  of  the  Omrniades  was  met  on  the 
fieM  by  a  powerful  army  commanded  by  Ab 
dallah,  the  uncle  of  his  rival;  and  after  an 
irretrievable  defeat  he  escaped  to  Mosul,  and 
finally  to  Egypt,  where  he  was  defeated  and 
slain,  and  the  last  remains  of  his  party  ex 
tinguished.  Amid  the  ruin  and  massacre  of 
his  family  by  the  conqueror,  a  royal  youth, 
Abdalrahman,  alone  escaped,  and  making 
his  way  into  Spain,  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
new  dynasty  of  the  Ommiades,  who  reigned 
in  Cordova  with  great  splendor  for  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pyrenees.  In  Egypt  and  Africa  the 
Fatimite  caliphs,  the  progeny  of  Ah',  were 
invested  with  royal  authority ;  and  the  new 
line  of  the  Abassides  transferring  the  seat 
of  government  from  Damascus  to  the  banks 
of  the  Euphrates,  laid  the  foundation  of 
Bagdad,  the  seat  of  their  empire,  and  of 
wealth,  literature,  and  science,  for  five  hun 
dred  years. 


150 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


In  the  course  of  these  various  revolutions 
and  splendid  conquests,  Arabia,  the  original 
seat  of  the  Mohamme'dans,  had  dwindled  into 
an  inconsiderable  province  of  their  vast  em 
pire,  and  the  rude  inhabitant  of  the  desert 
retained  his  solitary  independence,  heedless 
alike  of  distant  victories  as  of  domestic 
changes.  The  Iledjaz,  the  mountainous  dis 
trict  of  Arabia,  and  the  chief  seat  of  its 
commerce  and  its  towns,  was  governed  by 
the  lieutenants  of  the  caliphs,  or  sherifs  as 
they  are  called,  who  are  chosen  from  the 
tribe  of  the  Ivoreish,  and  who  have  always 
acted  as  the  resident  sovereigns  of  the  coun 
try.  But  their  power  was  unknown  in  the 
desert,  where  the  sheiks  still  continued  to 
rule.  In  the  disorders  attending  the  decay 
of  the  Mohammedan  power,  Arabia  was  oc 
casionally  invaded  by  hostile  tribes ;  but  it 
was  chiefly  the  outskirts  of  the  country  that 
were  scathed  by  the  flame  of  war,  which 
never  penetrated  to  the  interior.  It  appears 
from  the  incidental  and  scattered  notices 
which  we  possess,  that  about  the  year  1173 
Sultan  Saladin  subdued  a  king  who  reigned 
in  Yemen,  and  who  had  revolted  against  the 
authority  of  the  caliphs  of  the  line  of  Abas- 
sides.  Having  reduced  the  country,  he  com 
mitted  the  government  to  two  deputies,  who 
afterwards  claiming  independent  power,  were 
in  their  turn  reduced  by  the  troops  of  Sala 
din.  In  1517,  when  Selim  I.  conquered 
Egypt,  and  extinguished  the  last  surviving 
representative  of  the  second  dynasty  of  the 
Abassides,  the  sherif  of  Mecca  brought  to 
him  the  keys  of  the  city ;  and  the  Arabian 
tribes  professed  their  allegiance,  and  gave 
hostages  as  a  pledge  of  their  fidelity.  The 
country  continued  under  subjection  for  fifty 
years,  when  Muttahir,  sherif  of  the  kingdom, 
impatient  of  the  Turkish  yoke,  attacked  and 
routed  the  armj-  of  Murad  Pacha,  and  freed 
the  country  for  a  time  from  its  oppressors. 
A  powerful  army,  commanded  by  the  gov 
ernor  of  Egypt,  was  dispatched  by  Selim  II. 
to  Yemen ;  the  Arabian  force  was  defeated 
and  dispersed,  and  the  authority  of  the  sultan 
was  re-established  in  Yemen,  and  extended 


backwards  to  the  highlands.  The  country; 
thus  reduced,  was  governed  as  a  Turkish 
province  by  pachas  sent  from  Constantinople. 
But  in  the  interior  the  independent  princes 
and  sheiks  still  retained  their  authority,  and 
continued  to  harass  the  Turks,  and  to  drive 
them  back  to  the  coasts.  They  were  expel 
led  from  the  province  of  Yemen  about  the 
middle  of  the  17th  century :  and  since  this 
period  until  the  invasion  of  the  country  by 
Mohammed  AH  they  have  only  possessed  a 
precarious  and  nominal  authority  in  the 
towms  of  Djidda  and  Mecca. 

The  rise  of  the  sect  of  the  "Wahabys,  and 
the  rapid  extension  of  their  dominion  and 
doctrines,  forms  a  most  important  epoch  in 
the  more  recent  history  of  Arabia.  These 
sectaries  were  the  reformers  of  religion  in 
the  East.  They  were  zealous  followers  of 
Mohammed,  who  were  scandalized  by  the  de 
parture  of  modern  believers  from  the  simpli 
city  of  the  faith ;  by  their  worship  at  the 
tombs  of  saints  ;  by  the  luxurious  ostentation 
of  their  dress;  their  remiss  attendance  at 
public  prayers ;  the  immorality  of  their 
lives  ;  the  scandalous  indecencies  which  they 
practised  in  the  holy  temple  of  Mecca ;  and 
finally,  in  opposition  to  the  strict  prohibitions 
of  the  Koran,  by  their  free  use  of  tobacco 
and  other  intoxicating  drugs.  Such  were 
the  chief  articles  of  the  new  creed,  which, 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  faith  itself,  was 
propagated  by  fire  and  sword.  Its  founder 
was  Mohammod-Ebn-Abd-el  "Wahab,  the  son 
of  a  sheik  in  an  obscure  village,  born  in  the 
year  1691,  whose  history  and  success  for 
nearly  a  century  seemed  to  presage  the  final 
triumph  of  his  doctrines  and  his  arms.  It  is 
remarkable  that  the  only  two  great  revolu 
tions  which  have  ever  taken  place  in  Arabia 
have  had  their  origin  in  religion.  It  was  in 
both  cases  for  religion  that  the  sword  was  os 
tensibly  drawn.  The  subjection  or  extinc 
tion  of  infidel  tribes  was  a  step  in  the  pro 
gress  of  the  pious  work;  and  these  objects- 
being  accomplished,  the  original  design,  how 
ever  spiritual  in  its  nature,  necessarily  termi 
nated  in  conquest  and  political  dominion, 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


151 


The  young  apostle  of  the  new  faith  was 
trained  in  the  strict  principles  of  Mohammed 
anism.  He  was  sent  to  finish  his  studies  in 
the  university  of  Bassora  ;  and  on  liis  return 
to  liis  native  village,  commencing  reformer 
of  religion  and  of  manners,  he  was  banished 
oy  the  governor.  He  took  refuge  in  Derayeh, 
the  capital  of  Xedjed,  where  he  was  protect 
ed  by  the  sheik  Mohammed-Ebn-Saouhoud, 
a  zealous  disciple,  from  political  views,  as 
was  insinuated,  of  the  reformed  faith.  Here 
the  new  tenets  were  embraced  by  crowds  of 
proselytes,  eager  to  draw  their  swords  in  the 
cause  of  truth  ;  and  so  well  did  the  Wahaby 
chief  Saoud  profit  by  their  new-born  zeal, 
that  before  his  death  in  1765  he  had  extend 
ed  his  faith  and  his  dominion  over  the  whole 
province  of  l^edjed.  His  son  Abd-el-Azyz 
enlarged  by  new  conquests  the  power  of  the 
Wahabys.  He  subdued  and  rendered  tribu 
tary  the  surrounding  tribes,  threatened  the 
holy  cities,  and  finally  spread  the  terror  of 
his  arms  over  all  the  northern  parts  of 
Arabia,  from  Mecca  and  Medina  to  Damas 
cus,  Bagdad,  and  Bassora.  Mohammed-Ebn- 
Abd-el  "Wahab,  the  founder  of  the  Wahaby 
sect,  died  in  1787,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-five.  But  this  event  no  way  damped 
the  zeal  of  his  followers.  Their  expeditions 
were  dreaded  all  along  the  banks  of  the  Eu 
phrates,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bassora, 
which  they  invaded  every  year,  committing 
great  excesses,  and  massacring  the  Arab  set 
tlers  who  were  the  subjects  of  the  Bagdad 
government.  In  1797  the  pacha  of  Bagdad 
undertook  an  expedition  against  Derayeh, 
the  capital  of  the  Wahabys.  He  was  re 
pulsed  by  Saoud,  the  son  of  the  reigning 
chief,  who  continued  his  inroads  into  the 
Turkish  territories  on  the  Euphrates.  In 
]801  he  stormed  the  town  of  Imam  Hosseyn, 
where,  according  to  the  intolerant  maxims  of 
the  new  sect,  five  thousand  persons  were 
massacred. 

Ghaleb,  the  sherif  of  Mecca,  was  alarmed 
by  the  conquests  of  the  Wahabys,  and  since 
the  year  1792  had  been  vainly  contending 
against  their  rising  power.  In  1801  the  sec 


taries  invaded  his  dominions  in  great  force. 
In  1802  they  stormed  the  town  of  Tayf; 
which  they  gave  up  to  a  general  massacre, 
in  which  neither  men,  women,  nor  children 
were  spared.  In  1803  the  holy  city,  not 
withstanding  the  brave  resistance  of  Sherif 
Ghaleb,  surrendered  at  discretion  to  the  vic 
torious  Wahabys.  On  entering  it,  the  strict 
est  discipline  was  preserved  by  Saoud  the 
chief,  and  not  the  slightest  excess  was  com 
mitted.  The  inhabitants  were,  however, 
compelled  to  a  more  punctual  attendance  at 
prayers ;  to  conceal  their  silk  dresses ;  all 
their  finely  ornamented  Persian  pipes  were 
collected  before  Saoud's  house,  and  there 
committed  to  the  flames  ;  and  the  sale  of  to 
bacco  was  forbidden.  Mecca  was  afterwards 
given  up  to  the  government  of  Sherif  Ghaleb, 
on  the  usual  condition  of  his  conversion  to 
the  Wahaby  faith.  This  conquest  was  fol 
lowed  by  the  reduction  of  the  neighboring 
tribes,  and  in  180-i  Medina  surrendered  to 
the  Wahaby  arms.  Here  they  rigorously 
enforced  tbe  duty  of  public  worship ;  the 
absent  were  punished;  and  a  respectable 
woman,  accused  of  smoking  the  Persian 
pipe,  was  placed  upon  a  jack-ass,  and  parad 
ed  through  the  town  with  the  pipe  suspend 
ed  round  her  neck.  Saoud  soon  after  visited 
Medina,  a,nd  carried  away  from  the  tomb  of 
Mohammed  all  the  valuable  articles,  namely, 
jewels  and  pearls,  and  Cufic  manuscripts  of 
the  Koran,  which  it  contained  ;  and  ordered 
his  troops,  according  to  the  approved  max 
ims  of  his  sect,  who  reprobate  the  wrorship 
of  saints,  to  destroy  the  cupola  over  the 
tomb  ;  but  it  was  so  strong  that  with  all 
their  efforts  they  could  not  deface  this  curi 
ous  relic  of  antiquity. 

The  Hedjaz  continued  to  enjoy  tranquil 
lity  during  the  years  1806,1807,  and  1808,  un 
der  the  divided  rule  of  the  sherif  of  Mecca 
and  the  Wahabys,  the  power  of  the  former 
gradually  declining,  while  Saoud  was  ac 
knowledged  rs  pontiff  and  king  over  the 
greater  part  of  Arabia.  The  Wahaby  hordes 
extended  their  inroads  southward  into  the 
mountains  of  Yemen,  whence  they  descend- 


152 


HI.STOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


ed  to  the  coasts  and  plundered  the  towns  of 
Loheia  and  Hodeida.  On  the  north  they 
advanced  into  the  Syrian  desert,  and  alarm 
ed  the  Bedouins  in  the  vicinity  of  Aleppo, 
as  well  as  the  inhabitants  of  Damascus,  who 
had  begun  to  send  away  their  valuable  prop 
erty  to  the  mountains  of  Libanus.  The  Me- 
sopotaraian  tribes  near  Bagdad  were  attack 
ed  and  pillaged;  and  in  1810  Saoud  at 
the  head  of  20,000  troops,  stormed  the  Per 
sian  town  of  Kerbeleh,  putting  all  the  male 
inhabitants  to  the  sword.  The  regular  inter 
course  of  the  great  pilgrim  caravans  from 
Syria,  Egypt,  Persia,  and  Yemen,  had  been 
interrupted  since  the  year  1803,  and  the  few 
scattered  pilgrims  that  reached  the  holy  cities 
from  the  north  and  west  generally  came 
across  the  Red  Sea  from  Cosseir  to  Djidda. 

The  surrender  of  Mecca  and  Medina  to 
the  sectaries,  and  the  interruption  of  the 
pilgrimages,  excited  the  shame  and  indigna 
tion  of  all  pious  Mohammedans.  Mohammed 
Ali.  vho  in  1804  was  appointed  pacha  of 
Egypt,  received  instructions  from  the  Porte 
to  undertake  the  re-conquest  of  the  Holy 
Land.  He  accordingly  determined  on  the 
invasion  of  Arabia,  and  prepared  an  expedi 
tion,  which  he  committed  to  his  son  Tou- 
Boun  Bey,  and  Ahmed  Aga  his  treasurer. 
The  infantry,  amounting  to  2000  troops, 
landed  at  Yembo  from  Suez  in  October 
1811,  and  took  the  town  after  a  slight  resist 
ance.  In  January,  1812,  Tousoun  advanced 
against  Medina ;  but  he  was  assailed  in  the 
mountain  passes,  through  which  his  route 
lay,  by  a  powerful  army  of  Wahabys,  and 
utterly  routed,  with  the  loss  of  his  baggage 
and  artillery.  Being  in  the  course  of  the 
summer  largely  reinforced  from  Egypt,  he 
again  advanced  to  Medina  in  November ; 
and  having  sprung  a  mine  and  overthrown 
part  of  the  wall,  he  carried  the  town  by  as 
sault,  massacring  about  1000  of  the  garrison 
in  the  streets.  The  remainder,  to  the  num 
ber  of  1500,  retired  to  the  castle  which  they 
afterwards  surrendered  on  condition  of  re 
ceiving  a  safe  conduct  for  themselves  and 
baggage;  in  defiance  of  which  they  were, 


I  on  quitting  the  town,  treacherously  massa 
cred  by  the  Turkish  troops.  Sherif  Ghaleb, 
intimidated  by  the  capture  of  Medina,  now 
intimated  his  desire  of  surrendering  the 

O 

holy  city  to  the  Turkish  commander.  Mec 
ca,  with  Djidda,  its  port,  was  accordingly 
taken  possesssion  of  in  January,  1813,  with 
out  any  opposition ;  and  in  a  fortnight  the 
town  of  Tayf,  which  had  been  held  by  the 
"Wahabys  for  sixteen  years,  surrendered  after 
a  feeble  resistance.  In  1813  Mohammed 
Ali  landed  at  Djidda ;  and  on  his  arrival  at 
Mecca,  suspecting  the  hostile  intrigues  01 
Sherif  Ghaleb  with  the  Arab  tribes,  he  caus 
ed  him  to  be  arrested  and  sent  under  a  guard 
to  Egypt.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  govern 
ment  of  Mecca  by  Yahya,  also  of  the  sherif 
family,  the  humble  tool  of  Mohammed  Ali. 
In  the  mean  time  the  Turkish  army,  weaken 
ed  by  its  losses,  remained  at  Mecca  and  Tayf; 
and  with  the  exception  of  an  unsuccessful 
expedition  against  Toraba,  the  chief  town  of 
the  southern  Wahabys,  and  the  capture  oi 
Gonfode,  a  port  seven  days'  journey  south 
of  Djidda,  which  was  soon  after  recaptured, 
no  enterprise  of  any  importance  had  been 
undertaken  since  the  surrender  of  Mecca  and 
Tayf.  But  Mohammed  Ali  was  not  idle. 
He  employed  the  time  in  reinforcing  his  wast 
ed  army,  in  collecting  magazines  and  stores, 
in  purchasing  camels,  and  in  strengthening 
his  influence  among  the  Arab  chiefs,  many 
of  whom  he  succeeded  iu  detaching  from  the 
Wahabys  by  the  influence  of  presents  and 
money. 

Saoud,  the  successful  chief  of  the  Waha 
bys,  died  at  Nedjed  in  1814,  and  his  son 
Abdallah,  who  succeeded  him,  though  he  was 
brave,  was  inferior  to  his  father  in  all  the 
qualities  of  a  political  chief.  The  pacha 
having  completed  his  preparations,  now  re 
solved  to  strike  a  decisive  blow.  In  January, 
1815,  he  began  his  march  southward  in  tho 
direction  of  Toraba.  The  Wahabys  to  the 
number  of  25,000  occupied  a  strong  position 
on  the  mountains  near  Byssell,  from  which, 
after  some  unsuccessful  attempts  to  dislodge 
!  them,  he  contrived,  by  a  feigned  retreat,  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


153 


draw  them  into  the  plain.  Here  their  dis 
orderly  host  was  borne  down  by  the  steady 
attack  of  the  pacha's  disciplined  force,  and 
flying  in  confusion,  they  were  cut  down 
without  mercy  by  the  Turkish  cavalry  A 
reward  of  six  dollars  being  offered  for  the 
head  of  every  "Waliaby,  5000  of  these  bloody 
trophies  were  in  a  few  hours  piled  up  before 
the  pacha's  tent.  Of  300  prisoners  who  were 
taken,  fifty  were,  according  to  the  cruel 
maxims  of  the  East,  impaled  alive  before  the 
gates  of  Mecca,  and  the  rest  at  other  parts. 
Mohammed  Ali  hastened  to  profit  by  his  vic 
tory.  He  arrived  in  four  days  before  Toraba, 
which  capitulated  ;  and  advancing  southward 
lie  encountered  the  wreck  of  the  Wahaby 
army  in  the  mountains  near  the  town  of 
Beishe.  Here,  after  a  brave  resistance  under 
Tamy,  their  chief,  who  was  seen  riding  in 
front,  animating  the  troops  by  his  war  song?, 
they  gave  way  before  the  Turkish  artillery. 
Tamy,  who  was  betrayed  into  the  hands  of 
his  enemies  by  an  Arab  chief,  and  by  his 
gallant  bearing  gained  the  esteem  of  the 
whole  army,  was  sent  to  Constantinople, 
where  he  was  instantly  beheaded.  Another 
chief,  Bakhroudj,  was  tortured  to  death  in 
presence  of  the  pacha.  The  Turkish  army 
continued  the  pursuit  of  the  "Wahabys,  and 
subdued  most  of  the  southern  tribes.  Mo 
hammed  Ali  was  intent  on  carrying  the  war 
into  Yemen,  whose  rich  cities  he  hoped  to 
plunder ;  but  the  wasted  state  of  the  army 
forced  him  to  an  immediate  retreat.  He 
himself  accordingly  proceeded  to  Gonfode 
on  the  sea-shore,  and  arrived  at  Mecca  on 
the  21st  of  March,  after  an  absence  of  fifteen 
days.  Of  his  army,  consisting  of  4000  Turks, 
he  brought  back  only  1500  ;  and  of  10,000 
camels,  only  300  survived  the  fatigues  of  the 
campaign. 

The  war  againt  the  northern  "Wahabys  was 
prosecuted  with  vigor  by  Tousoun  Pacha,  who 
had  advanced  eastward  from  Medina  to 
Ivhabar'a,  about  three  hundred  miles  into  the 
interior  of  the  country.  Abdallah  had  fixed 
bis  head-quarters  at  Shenana,  only  five  hours' 
march  from  the  Turkish  army.  Tousoun  was 
20 


here  seriously  embarrassed  by  the  want  of 
supplies.  His  treasurer  Ibrahim  Aga,  with 
a  detachment,  had  been  some  time  before 
surrounded  on  the  road  and  cut  to  pieces, 
after  a  gallant  resistance,  and  his  remaining 
troops  were  averse  to  a  battle.  From  these 
difficulties  he  was  extricated  by  a  peace, 
which  Abdallah  weakly  concluded  with  him, 
and  by  which  he  agreed  to  renounce  the 
possession  of  the  holy  cities,  to  be  ranked 
among  the  faithful  subjects  of  the  sultan,  to 
pray  for  him  in  the  mosques,  and  to  submit 
to  his  authority  as  his  sovereign.  But  thia 
treaty,  however  disgraceful  to  the  Wahabys, 
was  far  from  satisfying-  the  views  of  Moham- 

t/        o 

med  Ali,  who,  with  his  usual  contempt  of 
all  engagements  refused  to  ratify  it;  and 
conscious  of  his  strength,  would  enter  into 

O         • 

no  overtures  from  Abdallah,  however  humble, 
having  determined  either  to  reduce  or  exter 
minate  the  rebellious  sectaries  of  Arabia  of 
which  he  was  the  head.  Both  parties  ac 
cordingly  prepared  for  war.  In  September, 
1815,  Ibrahim  Pacha,  son  of  Mohammed 
Ali,  landed  at  Yembo  with  2000  Turkish 
troops,  besides  2000  peasants  pressed  into  hia 
service  at  Siout  on  the  Kile,  amid  the  out 
cries  of  their  wives  and  children.  He  had 
also  a  corps  of  500  Moggrebins  from  Bar- 
bary.  Having  spent  some  time  at  Medina 
in  reducing  the  surrounding  tribes,  and  visit 
ing  the  holy  sepulchre,  he  directed  all  the 
troops  which  could  be  spared  from  the  differ 
ent  garrisons  to  march  on  llanakye,  or 
Henakyeh,  about  100  miles  eastward  of 
Medina,  where,  early  in  December  his  whole 
force  was  concentrated.  Here  he  remained 
till  the  end  of  April,  1817;  and  though  his 
troops  suffered  severely  under  fever  and 
dysentery,  the  diseases  of  the  climate,  he 
succeeded,  by  several  bold  and  well-concerted 
expeditions,  in  impressing  on  the  Arab  tribes 
the  terror  of  his  arms.  He  extended  hig 
alliances  among  them,  and  by  his  policy  as 
well  as  by  his  arms,  he  silently  prepared  the 
ruin  of  the  Wrahaby  state.  In  the  conduct 
of  the  war, '  Ibrahim  combined,  with  the 
cruelty  of  a  Turkish  conqueror,  undaunted 


154 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


coin-age  and  skill,  a  rare  perseverance  under 
difficulties,  and  a  fertility  of  resource  which 
seldom  failed  him.  The  discipline  of  his 
troops  secured  his  superiority  in  thelield; 
and  the  Wahaby  host,  avoiding  the  risk  of  a 
battle,  reh'ed  on  their  fortresses,  the  naked 
ness  of  the  land,  and  the 'noxious  climate.  The 
issue  of  the  war  was  thus  reduced  to  a  mere 
arithmetical  question  of  the  number  of  men 
that  would  be  required  to  carry  it  on.  These 
being  provided,  the  conquest  of  the  country 
was  certain,  and  Mohammed  Ali  was  too  well 
versed  in  war  not  to  see  the  advantages 
which  he  possessed,  and  tco  deeply  interested 
to  grudge  the  necessary  supplies.  He  was 
willing  to  pay  the  fair  price  of  his  success. 
The  army  of  Ibrahim,  notwithstanding  its 
losses,  was  accordingly  maintained  at  its  full 
complement  by  recruits  from  Egypt ;  and  he 
now  hastened  to  complete  the  conquest  of 
the  country  by  reducing  its  strongholds,  and 
especially  Derayeh,  its  capital.  He  had  gone 
to  the  village  of  Maouyeh,  where  he  was 
joined  by  a  powerful  chief;  and  having  as 
sembled  all  his  forces,  consisting  of  4000 
infantry  and  1200  horse,  besides  his  Arab 
auxiliaries,  he  advanced  in  July  to  the  for 
tress  of  Kass.  In  three  several  assaults, 
conducted  with  desperate  valor,  but  without 
skill,  the  assailants  were  overwhelmed,  and 
finally  repulsed  with  severe  loss,  by  the  well- 
directed  fire  of  the  garrison ;  and  Ibrahim, 
after  vainly  contending  for  three  months  and 
seventeen  days  against  the  obstinate  valor  of 
the  inhabitants,  and  incurring  a  loss  of  3400 
men,  was  forced  to  raise  the  seige  of  an  ill- 
fortified  place,  which,  with  the  aid  of  engi 
neers,  he  might  have  reduced  in  two  days. 
But  this  wras  the  only  disaster  that  befoll  the 
Turkish  arms.  The  sequel  of  the  campaign 
was  one  continued  course  of  conquest.  Kha- 
bra,  Aneyzey  and  its  castle,  and  Bannejdeh, 
successively  fell  after  a  slight  resistance. 
At  the  latter  place  the  Turkish  army  re 
mained  for  two  months.  Having  received 
large  reinforcements,  it  commenced  its 
march,  accompanied  by  a  train  of  10,000 
camels  and  other  beasts  of  burden,  across 


frightful  deserts  of  sands,  and  in  January 
1818  encamped  at  Chakra,  which  was  taken 
after  a  siege  of  seven  days.  The  town  of 
Dorama  was  stormed  and  taken  after  a  brave 
resistance,  and  abandoned  to  pillage  and  the 
sword ;  and  on  the  22nd  of  March,  Ibrahim 
directed  his  victorious  march  to  Derayeh, 
the  capital,  and  last  stronghold  of  the  Wa 
haby  state.  This  place,  which  consists  of 
five  small  towns,  each  surrounded  with  a 
wall  protected  by  bastions  at  small  distances, 
was  now  closely  besieged  by  the  Turkish 
army,  which,  including  infantry  and  cavalry, 
amounted  to  5500  troops.  The  siege  was 
long  and  obstinate,  but  the  Turkish  troops 
still  maintained  their  superiority.  The  differ 
ent  divisions'  of  the  town  were  successively 
stormed;  and  the  unfortunate  Abdallali, 
thus  driven  to  his  last  retreat,  was  reduced 
to  ask  a  suspension  of  arms  and  a  conference. 
His  interview  with  Ibrahim  presented  a 
touching  spectacle  of  fallen  dignity.  He  de 
manded  peace :  the  conqueror  granted  his 
request,  but  added  that  he  was  not  author 
ized,  to  leave  him  at  Derayeh — the  positive 
order  of  his  father  was  that  he  should  repair 
to  Egypt.  Abdallah,  after  twenty -four  hours 
of  deliberation,  intimated  his  assent  to  the 
proposed  terms,  and  only  conditioned  for  his 
life.  Ibrahim  would  not  answer  for  the  de 
cision  either  of  his  father  or  the  sultan, 
farther  than  that  lie  thought  them  both  too 
generous  to  take  his  life.  Abdallah,  having 
bidden  a  last  adieu  to  his  afflicted  family, 
repaired  to  the  tent  of  Ibrahim,  from  which 
he  set  out  on  his  journey  across  the  desert, 
and  arrived  at  Cairo.  He  was  Bent  to  Con 
stantinople,  where,  notwithstanding  the  in 
tercession  of  Mohammed  Ali,  he  was  behead 
ed  along  with  his  companions  in  misfortune, 
in  the  square  of  St.  Sophia,  after  being  ex 
hibited  in  every  part  of  the  city  for  three 
days. 

With  the  death  of  Abdallah  terminated  the 
dominion  of  the  Wahabys,  which,  under  a 
succession  of  vigorous  and  politic  princes, 
had  in  the  course  of  a  century  been  extended 
over  the  whole  peninsula  of  Aral ia.  But 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


15G 


their  empire,  loosely  held  together  by  the 
tenure  of  recent  conquest,  was  overthrown 
by  the  first  attack  to  which  it  was  ex 
posed.  The  chiefs  who  yielded  to  the 
terror  of  the  "Wahaby  arms,  deserted  on 
the  first  appearance  of  a  hostile  army; 
others  were  seduced  by  the  influence  of 
gold,  which  was  liberally  distributed ;  and 
domestic  dissension  coming  in  aid  of  foreign 
war,  dissolved  the  union  of  the  tribes,  and 
completed  the  ruin  of  the  country.  Accord 
ing  to  M.  Mengin,  whose  information  is 
undoubted,  Arabia  had  ample  means  of  de 
fence  in  the  difficulties  of  the  country,  and 
in  the  numbers,  intrepidity  and  discipline  of 
its  troops;  and  with  an  able  leader,  he  ex 
presses  his  strong,  and  apparently  just  con 
viction,  that  the  Turkish  army,  in  place  of 
conquering  the  country,  would  have  perished 
in  its  burning  deserts. 

The  ruin  of  the  "Wahabys  is  deeply  to  be 
regretted,  as  it  may  throw  back  for  several 
centuries  the  civilization  of  Arabia.  The 
Wahaby  princes  reformed  the  morals  as  well 
as  the  religion  of  their  country.  Under  the 
reign  of  Saoud  the  administration  of  justice 
was  rigid  and  impartial.  The  crimes  of 
rapine,  thieving  and  murder,  so  common 
among  the  Arab  tribes,  were  severely  pun 
ished  ;  an  exact  police  was  established 
throughout  the  country ;  and  caravans  and 
travellers  were  seen  journeying  on  all  the 


roads  in  perfect  security.  The  Turkish  con 
quests  will  restore  the  primitive  barbarity 
of  the  Arabian  manners,  and  anarchy  and 
crime  will  resume  their  wonted  sway.  But 
Arabia  contains  within  itself  the  seeds  of  in 
dependence.  The  distance  of  I^edjed  from 
Cairo,  and  the  expense  and  difficulty  of 
sending  supplies  through  the  interior  deserts, 
will  render  it  extremely  difficult  to  maintain 
a  Turkish  force  in  the  heart  of  the  country ; 
while  the  religious  principles  of  the  tribes, 
their  warlike  character  and  love  of  freedom, 
animating  them  to  new  efforts,  may  yet 
enable  them  to  triumph  over  the  foreign 
tyranny  which  oppresses  them,  and  to  re 
establish  their  freedom  on  a  new  and  more 
secure  basis. 

The  expeditions  of  Mohammed  Ali  against 
the  Wahabys  of  Assyr,  between  182i  and 
1827,  and  again  in  1833  and  1834:,  led  to  no 
lasting  advantage  for  the  Egyptian  power. 
Since  then,  there  have  been  frequent  gather 
ings  of  the  Wahabys  in  various  parts  of 
the  peninsula ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
that  should  the  decline  of  the  Turkish  empire 
continue,  those  intrepid  and  persevering  re 
formers  of  a  decrepit  religion  will  ere  long 
recover  their  former  power.  Only  a  few 
years  ago,  in  1850,  they  made  a  successful 
attempt  upon  Mecca  and  Medina,  conquered 
both  cities,  and  occupied  them  a  consider 
able  time. 


156 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


SYRIA. 


TITE  earliest  notices  of  Syrian  history 
are  found  in  the  Bible,  the  most  an 
cient  and  the  most  authentic  of  all  histories. 
In  the  tenth  chapter  of  Genesis  there  is  a 
brief  record  of  the  colonization  of  the  na 
tions  of  the  world  by  the  descendants  of 
Noah.  From  this  it  appears  that  Syria,  by 
the  nature  of  its  first  settlement  was  divided 
into  two  sections  which  remained  distinct  for 
nearly  two  thousand  years.  The  first  section, 
embracing  the  whole  eastern  division  of  the 
country,  was  peopled  by  the  family  of  Aram, 
Damascus  being  the  metropolis,  and  proba 
bly  the  nucleus  of  the  colony.  The  second 
or  western  division  was  colonized  by  the  sons 
of  Canaan — Sidon,  Arka,  and  Arvad — who 
settled  on  the  coast  and  in  the  ridge  of  Le 
banon,  and  Hamath,  who  went  farther  east 
than  his  brethren.  Sidon  founded  the  city 
which  bore  his  name,  the  first  capital  of 
Phoenicia.  Here,  and  in  the  great  mart  of 
Tyre,  the  commerce  of  the  world  was  born. 
Starting  from  their  narrow  limits  on  the 
S}~rian  coast,  the  Phoenician  merchants  pen 
etrated  every  corner  of  the  Mediterranean, 
wherever  they  could  find  an  opening  for  their 
trade,  bringing  back  the  gold  of  Opliir,  and 
the  spices  of  Arabia  and  Indian  ivory  in  ex 
change  for  the  rich  fabrics  of  the  Synan 
looms.  They  planted  colonies  on  every 
shore,  even  passing  beyond  the  Straits  of 
Gibraltar,  into  the  unknown  and  dreaded 
Atlantic,  where  they  founded  the  city  of 
Cadiz,  on  the  coast  of  Spain.  The  next 
event  in  the  history  of  Syria  is  the  advent  of 


Abraham.  A  very  early  tradition  repre 
sents  him  as  settling  for  a  time  at  Damascus ; 
and  it  is  corroborated  by  two  facts  : — his 
steward  was  a  native  of  that  city,  and  not 
far  from  Damascus,  there  is  still  a  sacred 
spot,  called  by  the  name  of  the  Patriarch. 
For  a  period  of  nearly  nine  centuries  we 
have  no  records  of  Syrian  history.  In  the 
time  of  King  David  (B.  c.  1040),  Syria  is 
represented  as  consisting  of  a  certain  number 
of  independent  kingdoms,  as  Zotali,  Damas 
cus,  Maachah,  and  Geshur.  Against  these 
the  Jewish  monarch  waged  war,  and  being 
successful,  placed  garrisons  in  their  principal 
cities.  After  the  death  of  David,  Syria  re 
gained  its  independence.  ISTow,  however, 
the  kingdom  of  Damascus  attained  to  such 
power  as  to  be  the  recognized  head  of  Syria. 
Under  the  warlike  dynasty  of  the  Hadads  it 
became  the  most  influential  kingdom  in 
Western  Asia;  and  by  frequent  incursions 
into  the  Territories  of  Israel  and  Judah,  and 
by  the  pillage  of  many  of  their  cities  and  vil 
lages  it  terribly  revenged  the  victories  of 
David.  The  watchful  care  and  prophetic 
power  of  Elisha  saved  Israel  for  a  time  from 
the  fury  of  its  foe,  and  brought  upon  the 
armies  of  Benhadad  unexpected  calamities. 
About  B.  c.  892,  Damascus  was  honored  by 
a  visit  from  the  prophet.  Benhadad  was 
then  sick,  and  his  sufferings  not  only  made 
him  overlook  his  old  enmity  to  Elisha,  but 
constrained  him  to  consult  him  as  to  his  re 
covery.  The  man  who  was  sent  on  this 
errand  was  TIazael,  whoso  guilty  designs  tb« 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


157 


prophet  detected  and  exposed.  His  reply 
and  subsequent  conduct  were  thoroughly 
characteristic  of  the  wily  and  cruel  eastern, 
"  Is  thy  servant  a  dog  that  he  should  do  this 
thing  ? "  he  exclaimed ;  and  then,  turning 
away,  he  hastened  to  Damascus  and  murder 
ed  his  master !  Thus  terminated  the  dynasty 
jf  Hadad,  after  a  rule  of  more  than  one  hun- 
died  and  sixty  years.  Hazael  succeeded  to 
the  throne,  and  proved  both  a  wise  monarch 
and  able  general.  Under  him  the  armies  of 
Syria  were  victorious  to  the  borders  of  Egypt. 
His  successors  did  not  inherit  his  genius,  and 
the  power  of  Syria  began  to  decline.  About 
B.  c.  760,  Rezin,  the  last  independent  ruler 
of  Syria,  entered  into  an  alliance  with  the 
Kino;  of  Israel,  and  waged  war  against  Judah. 

O  '  o  o 

The  latter  in  his  difficulties,  sought  aid  from 
the  powerful  monarch  of  Assyria,  Tiglath- 
Pileser,  who  was  not  slow  to  give  it.  He 
marched  at  once  across  the  desert,  overran 
Syria,  took  Damascus,  and  carried  the  in 
habitants  captive  to  the  banks  of  the  Kir. 

Syria  now  became  a  mere  dependency  of 
a  more  powerful  empire,  and  was  ruled  by 
foreign  satraps.  It  remained  a  province  of 
Assyria  until,  during  the  struggles  of  the 
Eastern  Monarchs,  it  was  seized  by  Pharaoh- 
Necho,  King  of  Egypt.  A  few  years  after 
ward  it  was  captured  by  Nebuchadnezzar, 
and  for  a  period  of  three  centuries  continued 
subject  to  the  Babylonian  and  Persian  ad 
ministrations. 

Immediately  after  the  great  battle  of  Issus 
(B.  c.  33o),  Syria  passed  into  the  hands  of  a 
different  dynasty  and  a  different  race.  Alex 
ander  the  Great  became  its  ruler.  He  as 
signed  it  to  the  general  Laomedon,  and  Da 
mascus  became  the  seat  of  his  short  sway. 
After  the  death  of  Alexander,  and  the  brief 
but  fierce  struggle  of  his  lieutenants  over  the 
fragments  of  his  gigantic  empire,  the  fortunes 
of  war  threw  Syria  into  the  power  of  Seleu- 
cus  Nicator,  the  founder  of  the  dynasty  of 
the  Seleucidse.  This  prince  built  Antioch, 
and  made  it  the  seat  of  his  government.  He 
and  his  successors  on  the  throne  may  justly 
be  termed  a  race  of  architects.  They  not 


only  adorned  their  capital  with  structures 
which  rivalled  in  splendor  the  noblest 
monuments  of  Greece ;  but  they  founded 
many  other  great  cities  in  various  parts  of 
the  country.  Though  almost  constantly  at 
war,  their  kingdom  was  for  two  hundred 
years  one  of  the  most  prosperous  in  the 
world.  From  the  commencement  of  the 
reign  of  the  Seleucidae,  till  the  year  35.  c. 
114,  Antioch  remained  undisputed  capital. 
At  this  time  the  kingdom  was  rent  by  the 
intrigues  of  Ptolemy  Physcon;  and  Antio- 
chus  Cyzicenus,  brother  of  the  reigning  mon 
arch,  established  a  new  sovereignty  at  Da 
mascus.  Half  a  century  later  the  Roman 
army  under  Pompey  overran  Syria,  abolish 
ed  the  dynasty  of  the  Seleucidae,  and  estab 
lished  their  head-quarters  at  Damascus. 
Syria  was  immediately  annexed  to  the  Ro 
man  empire,  and  placed  under  the  command 
of  Scaurus,  Pompey's  lieutenant.  For  many 
years  after  the  conquest,  the  country  was 
the  scene  of  devastating  wars,  arising  partly 
from  the  feuds  of  petty  princes,  partly  from 
the  rivalries  of  Roman  governors.  After  the 
triumph  of  Augustus,  Messala  Corvinus  was 
appointed  prefect,  and  henceforth  the  seat 
of  government  was  fixed  at  Antioch. 

In  the  year  A.  D.  105,  Cornelius  Palina, 
the  governor  of  Syria  under  the  emperoi 
Trajan,  conquered  the  region  east  of  the  Jor 
dan,  and  the  neighboring  kingdom  of  Aretas. 
From  this  time  the  various  provinces  of 
Syria  began  to  recruit  under  the  secure  and 
fraternal  government  of  Rome.  Temples, 
theatres,  palaces,  and  other  public  monu 
ments  of  great  extent  and  splendor,  were 
erected  not  only  in  the  chief  cities,  but  in 
every  little  provincial  town;  and  their  re 
mains  even  yet,  after  long  centuries  of  des 
olation,  bear  ample  testimony  to  the  genius, 
the  wealth  and  the  taste  of  the  old  Syrians. 
Roads  also  were  constructed,  bridges  were 
built,  and  costly  harbors  formed.  The  coun 
try  remained  under  Roman  and  Byzantine 
rule  till  A.  D.  634.  The  only  circumstan 
ces  that  occurred  previous  to  that  period,  and 
which  are  deserving  of  notice  in  a  brief 


158 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOR..U. 


sketch  like  this,  are  the  establishment  of 
Christianity  under  the  first  Constantine,  and 
the  conquests  of  the  Persians  early  in  the 
seventh  century.  Christianity  had  spread 
widely  over  the  land  before  its  establishment 
as  the  religion  of  the  empire  ;  and  the  num 
bers,  and  the  wealth,  and  the  taste  of  the 
Christians  subsequent  to  that  period  may 
still,  to  some  extent,  be  estimated  by  the 
splendid  ruins  of  sacred  edifices  in  the  cities, 
towns  and  villages  of  Syria. 

The  Arabs,  under  the  generals  Khaled  and 
Abu  Obeidah,  first  invaded  Syria  in  A.  D. 
033 ;  and  only  five  years  afterwards  the  whole 
country  was  conquered,  and  every  city  in  it 
garrisoned  by  their  troops.  In  sixteen  years 
more,  Damascus  became  the  capital  of  the 
vast  Mohammedan  empire.  Syria  was  then 
densely  populated.  Her  cities  scarcely  yielded 
to  any  in  the  world  in  extent,  wealth,  and 
architectural  magnificence ;  but  under  the 
withering  influence  of  Islamism  their  gran 
deur  faded,  and  their  wealth  was  consumed. 

In  A.  D.  750  the  dynasty  of  the  Abbassides 
wa-s  founded,  and  the  khalifite  was  removed 
from  Damascus,  first  to  Cufa  and  then  to 
Baghdad.  Henceforth  Syria  was  a  province 
'of  the  Mohammedan  Empire.  From  this 
time  to  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century  it 
was  subject  to  the  khalifs  of  Baghdad,  but 
it  then  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Fatimite 
dynasty  of  Egypt.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
following  century  the  country  was  invaded 
by  the  Seljukian  Turks,  and  formed  into  a 
division  of  their  empire.  The  cruelties  per 
petrated  by  these  fanatics  on  the  poor  Chris 
tians  that  thronged  yearly  to  Jerusalem 
roused  the  spirit  of  western  Europe,  and 
excited  Christian  nations  to  the  first  Crusade. 
In  a  short  time  the  knights  of  France  and 
England,  headed  by  Godfrey  of  Bouillon, 
were  winding  through  the  valleys  and  march 
ing  over  the  plains  of  Syria.  The  fierce,  un 
disciplined  followers  of  the  prophet  could  not 
withstand  their  steady  valor.  The  country 
was  subdued,  Jerusalem  taken  by  storm,  and 
the  cruelties  perpetrated  0:1  Christian  pil 
grims  fearfully  avenged 


Godfrey  was  elected  first  Christian  king  of 
Jerusalem.  Bohemund  reigned  at  Antioch ; 
and  Baldwin,  Godfrey's  brother,  at  Edessa ; 
and  the  Count  of  Toulouse  at  Tripoli.  Thus 
was  the  country  divided  into  Christian  prin 
cipalities,  and  ruled  by  the  bravest  knights 
of  western  Europe.  Damascus,  however, 
withstood  every  assault  of  the  Crusaders; 
and  it  is  still  the  boast  of  the  Moslem,  that 
its  sacred  precincts  have  never  been  polluted 
by  the  feet  of  an  infidel  since  the  day  the 
Eolclicrs  of  Mohammed  first  entered  it. 

About  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century 
Mor-ed-din,  a  Tartan  chief,  seized  Damascus 
and  some  neighboring  cities.  He  ruled  his 
acquired  territory  with  justice  and  vigor. 
At  the  request  of  the  Fatimite  khalif,  ho 
attacked  and  defeated  the  Crusaders  on  the 
borders  of  Egypt.  His  successor,  Saladin, 
wras  by  far  the  most  formidable  opponent  the 
Crusaders  ever  encountered.  After  gaining 
a  decisive  victory  over  their  united  forces  at 
Hattin,  near  Tiberias,  he  captured  Jerusalem 
(A.  D.  1187),  and  drove  the  Franks  out  of  al 
most  every  town  and  fortress  of  Palestine. 
Soon  afterwards  Syria  was  invaded  by  the 
shepherd  soldiers  of  Tartary,  under  Hologon 
the  grandson  of  Genghis  Khan.  But  after 
the  death  of  this  chief,  Bibars,  better  known 
in  Arabian  history  as  Meleh-edh-Dhaher, 
brought  Syria  under  the  rule  of  Egypt,  and 
pursued  the  Tartars  beyond  the  Euphrates. 
His  victories  were  fatal  to  the  declining 
power  of  the  Crusaders.  Their  remaining 
history  is  one  continued  tale  of  misfortune 
At  length  in  A.  D.  1291,  Acre  was  taken  aiW 
the  Christian  knights  driven  from  the  shora 
of  Syria. 

For  more  than  two  centuries  after  this 
period,  the  country  was  the  theatre  of  fierce 
conquests  bet  ween  the  hordes  of  Tartary  and 
the  Mameluke  rulers  of  Egypt.  Timur,  or 
Tamerlane,  invaded  Syria  in  A.  D.  1401,  and 
committed  the  most  fearful  ravages.  Antioch, 
Emessa,  Baalbek,  and  Damascus  were  re 
duced  to  ashes,  and  their  unfortunate  inhabi 
tants  either  murdered  or  sold  into  slavery. 

In  the  year  1517  Syria  was  conquered  by 


HISTORY  OF  TUB  WOELD. 


159 


the  Sultan  Selim  ]  ,  and  from  that  time  to 
the  present  day  it  has  formed  a  part  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire.  During  this  period,  though 
the  country  has  been  visited  by  few  striking 
vicissitudes,  it  has  steadily  declined  in  power, 
wealth,  and  population.  The  greater  part  of 
the  inhabitants,  oppressed  by  foreign  nilers, 
who  take  no  interest  in  commerce  and  agri 
culture,  have  sunk  into  helpless  and  almost 
hopeless  slavery.  "What  little  energy  and 
spirit  remain  are  exhausted  in  private  quar 
rels  and  party  feuds,  which  are  sedulously 
fostered  by  their  unprincipled  rulers.  In 
1832  Ibrahim  Pasha  conquered  Syria  for  his 
father,  Mohammed  Ali.  The  iron  rule  of 
that  wonderful  man  did  much  to  break  down 
the  fanaticism  which  for  ages  had  been  a 
curse  to  the  people.  He  promoted  industry, 
he  suppressed  the  robber  bands  which  infested 
the  leading  roads,  and  he  drove  the  Arab 
tribes  from  the  eastern  borders  to  the  interior 
of  their  native  deserts,  and  even  there  he 
taught  them  to  fear  and  to  obey  him.  Though 
the  whole  population  groaned  under  his  yoke, 


yet  it  may  be  truly  said  that  he  was  the  only 
real  ruler  S  vria  had  for  centuries.   In  the  year 

«/  «/ 

1841,  through  the  armed  intervention  of  Eng 
land,  the  country  was  restored  to  the  Porte. 
The  long  history  of  Syria  may  thus  be  di 
vided  into  six  periods  ;  and  it  is  remarkable 
that,  during  each  period,  a  distinct  section 
of  the  human  family  has  had  rule  over  it. 
During  the  first  period  of  about  1450  years, 
it  was  independent  under  its  native  princes. 
During  the  second  period,  of  417  years,  the 
Babylonian  and  Persian  monarchs  held  it. 
During  the  third  period  of  268  years,  it  was 
subject  to  the  Greek  dynasty  of  the  Seleu- 
eidae.  During  the  fourth  period  ot  699  years, 
the  Eomans  possessed  it.  During  the  fifth 
period,  of  441  years,  it  was  desolated  rather 
than  governed  by  the  Saracens  or  Arabs. 
It  then  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Tartar  and 
Turkish  tribes,  who  still  retain  it.  But  their 
power  is  rapidly  declining.  The  throne 
founded  by  Ottoman  is  tottering  to  its  fall ; 
and  the  sixth  period  of  Syrian  liistory  is  fast 
drawing  to  a  close. 


160 


HISTOBY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


THE    JEWS. 


singular  people  derive  their  origin 
_1_  from  Abraham,  a  native  of  Chaldea, 
who  flourished  about  2000  years  before  the 
Christian  era.  At  that  period  the  whole 
world  was  sunk  in  idolatry,  and  Abraham 
was  chosen  by  the  Almighty,  that  by  him 
the  knowledge  of  the  essential  principles  of 
pure  religion  might  be  preserved  on  the 
earth,  and  the  way  prepared  for  the  revela 
tion  of  a  more  comprehensive  system  to 
mankind.  Under  the  divine  direction, 
Abraham  at  an  early  period  of  his  life,  with 
drew  from  his  country  and  kindred,  and  from 
the  infectious  influence  of  their  superstitions ; 
taking  up  his  abode  in  the  country  now  known 
by  the  name  of  Palestine,  a  small  strip  of 
land  along  the  Mediterranean,  naturally 
BteriJe  and  rugged,  but  capable  of  extraordi 
nary  fertility  through  attentive  culture,  and 
commanding  advantages  by  its  situation,  for 
securing  an  easy  intercourse  with  the  whole 
habitable  world.  In  the  days  of  Abraham, 
part  of  it  was  altogether  unoccupied,  and  the 
rest  was  inhabited  by  different  small  tribes  of 
the  Canaanites,  who  seem  to  have  migrated 
from  Arabia.  Among  these,  Abraham  lived 
an  Emir,  or  chief  of  a  nomadic  tribe,  mov 
ing  from  place  to  place,  as  the  increase  of  his 
flocks  and  the  condition  of  his  dependents 
required.  The  year  after  liis  arrival  in 
Canaan  a  famine  compelled  him  to  retire  in 
to  Egypt,  "but  he  soon  after  returned,  and 
pitched  his  tents  in  the  valley  of  Marnre 
near  Hebron.  Previous  to  the  appearance  of 
Abraham  in  Palestine,  Cherdolaomer.  who 


is  called  in  the  Bible  king  of  Elam,  or  Elymais, 
a  part  of  Persia,  extended  his  conquests  be 
yond  the  Euphrates,  and  reduced  to  subjec 
tion  five  of  the  petty  kings  or  chiefs  who 
lived  in  the  valley  South  of  the  Dead  Sea 
After  twelve  years  of  submission,  and  about 
eight  years  after  the  coming  of  Abraham, 
these  five  chieftains  rebelled  against  Cherdo 
laomer,  wrho  in  the  next  year  invaded  the 
country  with  three  other  monarchs,  and,  after 
defeating  the  rebels  in  a  pitched  battle,  re 
tired,  carrying  with  him  from  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  large  quantities  of  booty,  and 
many  captives,  among  whom  was  Lot. 
Abraham,  hearing  of  this  disaster,  armed  all 
his  followers  to  the  number  of  318,  and  pur 
sued  the  re  treating  army.  He  overtook  them 
near  the  source  of  the  Jordan,  fell  upon  them 
by  night,  and  totally  defeated  them,  rescu 
ing  his  nephew  and  the  rest,  of  the  captives 
along  with  their  goods. 

The  destruction  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah 
took  place  in  the  year  1807  B.  c.,  when,  on 
account  of  the  wickedness  of  theso  cities, 
God  rained  fire  and  brim*  tone  from  heaven 
upon  them,  by  which  they  were  entirely  des 
troyed.  The  only  persona  who  escaped  from 
this  catastrophe  were  Lot  and  his  two  daugh 
ters.  After  Abraham's  death  Isaac  became 
the  head  of  the  patriarchal  family,  and  he 
seems  to  have  resided  all  his  life  in  the 
promised  land.  The  only  event  of  historical 
importance  that  is  recorded  in  his  days  is  the 
covenant  that  he  made  with  Abinelech,  king 
of  the  Philistines.  In  1759  n.  a.  Isaac's 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WORLD. 


161 


younger  son,  Jacob/ obliged  to  leave  the 
country  on  account  of  the  resentment  of  his 
brother  Esau,  took  refnge  in  Mesopotamia 
with  his  uncle  Laban ;  there  he  remained  for 
twenty  years  in  the  capacity  of  servant,  re 
ceiving  in  marriage  Laban's  two  daughters, 
Leah  and  Rachel,  as  the  price  of  the  first 
fourteen  years,  and  large  flocks  of  sheep  and 
goods,  which  constituted  the  principal  riches 
of  those  days,  for  the  remaining  period  of  his 
service.  At  last,  in  the  year  1739  B.  c., 
Jacob  returned  to  Canaan,  with  his  wives, 
the  eleven  sons  which  had  been  born  to  him 
in  his  exile,  and  his  flocks.  On  his  way  to 
that  country  Jacob  was  reconciled  to  his 
brother  Esau,  who  had  established  himself  as 
a  powerful  prince  in  the  mountains  of  Seir, 
the  country  afterwards  occupied  by  the 
Edomites  his  descendants.  In  1728  B.  c., 
Joseph  the  favorite  son  of  Jacob,  was  sold 
by  his  brethren  to  a  company  of  Ishmaelites 
and  Midianites,  and  carried  down  to  Egypt, 
where  he  was  sold  again  to  Potiphar,  one  of 
the  chief  officers  of  the  king.  On  a  account  of 
a  false  accusation  by  his  mistress  he  was 
thrown  into  prison,  where  he  remained  for 
some  time.  Having,  however,  interpreted 
two  dreams  for  the  king,  and  thereby  fore 
told  seven  years  of  plenty  and  seven  years  of 
famine,  he  was  raised  by  the  king  to  the 
highest  authority.  During  the  seven  plenti 
ful  years  he  stored  up  corn  in  the  granaries, 
so  that  when  the  famine  came  there  was 
still  corn  in  Egypt.  Jacob  sent  down  his 
sons  to  Egypt  for  corn,  but  they  knew  not 
their  brother  Joseph.  On  their  second  visit  he 
made  himself  known  to  them,  and  invited 
Jacob  his  father,  and  all  his  household,  to 
come  into  Egypt.  This  invitation  was  com 
plied  with ;  and  in  1706  B.  c.,  the  whole  pa 
triarchal  family,  to  the  number  of  76,  removed 
to  Egypt,  and  settled  in  the  land  of  Goshen. 
The  Egyptians  at  this  period  were  living 
under  a  regular  form  of  government,  and 
had  made  considerable  advances  in  the  arts 
and  sciences.  Policy  as  well  as  habit  led  them 
to  look  upon  the  nomadic  life  with  an  un 
favorable  eye ;  and  from  this  circumstance, 
21 


as  well  as  from  the  hereditary  character  of 
office  among  the  Egyptians,  the  two  nations 
were  kept  entirely  distinct.  A  separate  dis 
trict  of  the  country  wras  assigned  to  the 
Israelites,  where  they  retained  to  a  consider 
able  extent  the  character  of  a  pastoral  tribe  ; 
the  Egyptian  deserts,  and  the  neighboring 
country  of  Arabia  Petraea,  affording  ample 
opportunities  for  indulging  in  their  primitive 
customs.  The  ordinary  influence,  however, 
of  a  more  civilized  and  powerful  people  upon 
their  dependents  or  allies,  by  degrees  became 
perceptible ;  and  we  find  the  Israelites  be 
ginning  to  practise  some  of  the  arts  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  gradually  falling  into  their 
idolatry.  Gratitude  or  contempt  secured  the 
descendants  of  Jacob  from  the  jealousy  that 
their  increasing  numbers  were  calculated  to 

O 

awaken,  till  the  founder  of  a  new  dynasty 
perceived  the  full  extent  of  the  danger 
to  which  his  dominion  was  exposed,  and  re 
gardless  of  national  obligation,  formed  a  plan 
for  the  extermination  of  his  dangerous  visitors. 
He  reduced  them  to  the  condition  of  slaves, 
and  destroyed  all  their  male  children.  Moses 
the  future  deliverer  of  his  people  alone  was 
saved ;  wrhen  he  could  no  longer  be  concealed 
by  his  mother,  he  was  committed  to  the  Nilo 
in  a  basket  of  bulrushes,  and  was  discovered 
by  one  of  the  king's  daughters,  and  being 
adopted  by  her  was  brought  up  at  the 
Egyptian  court.  But  in  the  year  1531  B.  a, 
Moses,  then  forty  years  old,  espoused  the 
cause  of  his  oppressed  countrymen,  and  was 
compelled  to  leave  Egypt.  He  took  refuge 
among  the  Midianites,  near  the  Eastern  arm 
of  the  Red  Sea,  and  remained  there  as  a 
shepherd  forty  years.  At  the  end  of  that, 
time,  he,  along  with  his  brother  Aaron,  was 
divinely  commissioned  to  deliver  the  Israelites 
out  of  Egypt.  By  means  of  the  Ten  Plagues 
with  which  the  Egyptians  were  afflicted, 
they  were  compelled  at  last  to  let  tho 
Hebrews  go. 

When  they  took  their  departure,  Moses 
was  their  ruler  and  their  guide,  he  led  forth 
his  countrymen  from  the  house  of  their  bond 
age,  delivering  to  them  a  body  of  laws  and 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WOELD. 


institutions,  which  not  only  gave  an  indelible 
stamp  to  the  Jewish  character,  but  exerted 
an  influence  that  combines  to  be  felt  through 
out  the  Mohammedan  and  the  Christian 
\\orld.  lie  appointed  religious  ceremonies 
to  be  mingled  with  political  institutions,  so 
that  these  institutions  should  give  perma 
nency  to  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  a  pure 
theology.  The  burden  of  his  offices  being 
too  great  for  him,  the  judicial  were  divided, 
all  lesser  causes  being  referred  to  the  rulers 
of  thousands  and  hundreds,  of  fifties,  and 
of  tens,  while  those  of  greater  moment  were 
submitted  to  the  chief  judge.  The  plan  en 
tered  upon  by  Moses  for  the  introduction  of 
the  descendants  of  Abraham  into  the  land 
promised  to  their  progenitor  was  carried  out 
by  Joshua,  his  successor  in  the  office  of 
judge.  When  they  obtained  possession  of 
the  land,  after  expelling  the  Canaanites,  it 
was  partitioned  by  lot  among  the  different 
tribes,  and  again  subdivided  among  the 
families  of  the  same  tribe.  The  land  was 
declared  inalienable,  and  the  perpetual  in 
heritance  of  the  families  to  whom  it  was 
originally  assigned,  and  accordingly,  every 
tiftieth  year,  which  was  proclaimed  to  be  a 
year  of  jubilee,  all  debts  and  mortgages  on 
land  were  declared  to  be  cancelled,  and  every 
man  was  to  return  to  his  own  land.  Other  laws 
were  passed  for  enforcing  the  purity  of  divine 
worship  and  of  moral  conduct ;  equity  in  the 
transactions  between  man  and  man;  and 
also  for  the  punishment  of  idolatry  and  other 
iniquities :  for  it  was  the  peculiar  distinction 
of  this  community,  that  the  law  took  cogni 
zance  not  only  of  offences  against  society,  but 
of  every  breach  of  the  divine  commands. 
The  order  of  the  priesthood  was  also  insti 
tuted  in  the  family  of  Levi,  and  the  distinc 
tion  was  laid  down  between  clean  and  un 
clean  animals,  from  the  latter  of  which  the 
people  were  commanded  to  abstain.  An  enu 
meration  was  made  in  the  plains  of  Moab  of 
all  the  males  of  the  children  of  Israel  above 
twenty  years  of  age,  and  the  sum  is  given  at 
601,730.  The  Levites,  who  were  not  men 
tioned  among  the  rest,  amounted  to  23,000  ; 


which  makes  the  sum  of  62i,700  males  above 
twenty  years  of  age.  The  total  population 
must  therefore  have  been  about  2,500.000. 
The  Israelites,  after  their  settlement  in  the 
land  of  Canaan  were  involved  in  wars  with 
the  surrounding  states,  and  were  often  given 
into  their  hands  on  account  of  disobe 
dience.  The  land  was  in  this  manner  fre 
quently  wasted,  and  the  prosperity  of  the 
people  interrupted,  by  the  inroads  of  their 
neighbors.  From  these  enemies  they  were 
saved  by  deliverers  called  judges,  raised  up 
to  them,  and  under  whose  sway  the  land  en 
joyed  long  intervals  of  rest.  But  during 
the  old  age  of  Samuel,  the  lust  of  the 
judges,  in  consequence  of  the  misconduct  of 
his  sons,  and  the  unsettled  state  of  the  coun 
try,  the  people  were  dissatisfied,  and  entreat 
ed,  against  the  solemn  protest  of  this  aged 
prophet,  that  they  might  have  a  king,  like 
the  nations  around  them  ;  and  Samuel  was 
desired  to  listen  to  their  request.  Saul,  $1 
member  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  \vaa  ac 
cordingly  chosen  by  common  sunrnge,  and 
held  the  sway  over  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  for 
about  forty  years.  His  reign  was  far  from 
being  either  prosperous  or  happy ;  and  al 
though  his  bravery  preserved  the  Israelites 
from  external  adversaries,  he  was  deficient 
in  that  political  sagacity  which  was  necessary 
to  consolidate  the  principles  of  the  new 
monarchy.  He  terminated  his  fatal  courso 
in  a  disastrous  defeat  in  the  mountains  of 
Gilboa,  in  which  he  and -his  son  Jonathan 
were  slain.  Upon  his  death,  the  tribes  of 
Judah  and  Benjamin  refused  to  acknowledge 
the  authority  of  his  son  Ishbosheth,  who  suc 
ceeded  him  over  the  other,  and  elected  a 
youth  named  David,  who  had  been  marked 
out  by  the  prophet  Samuel,  as  destined  tc 
princely  honors,  and  whose  adventurous  ex 
ploits,  generous  enthusiasm,  and  princely 
bearing  had  endeared  him  to  his  tribe.  Ilia 
prudence  proved  equal  to  his  valor  and  his 
piety;  and  in  a  short  time  he  succeeded  in 
uniting  all  the  tribes  in  one  kingdom,  fixing 
his  capital  at  Jerusalem.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Solomon,  under  whose  reign  the 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


163 


kingdom  reached  its  highest  degree  of  pros 
perity.  The  descendants  of  Abraham  now 
formed  the  principal  monarchy  in  Western 
Asia. 

From  the  Mediterranean  Sea  to  the  Eu- 
ph  rates,  from  the  river  of  Egypt  to  Beryt us, 
and  towards  the  East  to  the  Hagarenes  on 
the  Persian  Gulf,  all  were  subject  to  the  sway 
of  Solomon,  under  whose  wise  and  peaceful 
rule  trade  flourished,  commerce  was  extend 
ed,  and  the  arts  and  sciences  found  patronage 
and  protection.  It  often  happens,  that  when  a 
prince  like  David  has  settled  a  kingdom  on 
solid  foundations,  his  son  is  induced  to  indulge 
a  taste  for  luxurious  magnificence;  and  to 
this,  as  well  as  to  his  sense  of  religion,  some 
have  ascribed  the  building  of  the  temple,  the 
great  event  of  his  reign. 

Upon  the  death  of  Solomon,  the  kingdom 
fell  asunder  under  the  feeble  and  impolitic 
sway  of  his  son  and  successor  Rehoboam. 
The  causes  of  disunion  lay  deep  in  the  char 
acter  and  situation  of  the  different  tribes ;  and, 
though  counteracted  for  a  time,  they  were 
ever  ready  to  operate  when  occasion  was 
afforded.  The  jealousy  that  subsisted  be 
tween  the  twelve  sons  of  Jacob  seems  to  have 
been  inherited  by  their  descendants  ;  but  it 
was  only  among  the  more  powerful  tribes 
that  such  jealousies  could  lead  to  a  dis 
memberment  of  the  commonwealth.  From 
the  beginning  a  rivalry  may  be  observed 
between  the  tribes  of  Joseph  and  Judah. 
The  former  inherited  a  double  portion  in  the 
allotments  to  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  the 
two  sons  of  Joseph ;  and  their  founder  had 
been  distinguished  from  his  brethren  by  the 
blessings  pronounced  upon  him.  The  tribe 
of  Juda  had  the  right  of  primogeniture, 
and  the  promised  Messias  was  to  spring  from 
them.  In  this  way  the  two  tribes  regarded 
each  other  with  ill-concealed  sentiments  of 
hostility ;  and  Shechem  and  Jerusalem,  their 
respective  capitals,  were  each  the  focus  of  a 
party  ready  to  engage  in  active  warfare. 
The  impolitic  exactions  of  Tiehoboam,  while 
they  gave  dissatisfaction  to  all  his  subjects, 
inflamed  the  Ephraimites  to  open  revolt, 


which,  fomented  as  it  was  by  the  ambition 
of  Jeroboam,  terminated  in  the  establishment 
of  a  separate  kingdom.  This  kingdom  com 
prehended  all  the  tribes,  with  the  exception 
of  the  two  southernmost  (those  of  Judah  and 
Benjamin,)  together  with  ail  the  tributary 
nations  as  far  as  the  Euphrates.  The  royal 
residence  in  the  new  kingdom  was  in  Shechem 
where  the  Mosaic  ritual  was  superseded  by  a 
new  mode  of  worship,  and  the  link  that  bound 
Ephraim  and  Judah  together  finally  severed. 

The  kingdom  of  Israel,  as  distinguished 
from  that  of  Judah,  had  a  distinct  existence 
about  235  years,  when  it  was  invaded  by 
Shalmaneser,  who  carried  away  the  princi 
pal  inhabitants  into  captivity.  From  that 
period  all  traces  of  the  ten  tribes  as  a  distinct 
people  are  in  a  great  measure  lost.  Colon 
ists  from  Babylon  and  other  eastern  cities 
mingled  with  the  Israelites  who  were  left  in 
the  land  of  Palestine,  and  the  mixed  race 
were  afterwards  known  by  the  namo  of 
Samaritans. 

The  kingdom  of  Judah  enjoyed  a  some 
what  longer  existence  than  that  of  Israel, 
At  last,  however,  about  135  years  after  the 
transference  of  the  ten  tribes  to  Media,  the 
king  of  Babylon  carried  away  captive  the 
inhabitants  of  the  land  of  Judah,  which  was 
left  for  a  time  wholly  desert,  or  occupied 
only  by  wandering  tribes. 

During  the  captivity  of  Judah,  the  van 
quished  people  soem  to  have  enjoyed  a 
more  than  usual  share  of  the  favors  of  their 
conquerors,  and  were  considered  more  in  the 
light  of  colonists  than  of  captives.  They 
were  not,  as  they  had  been  in  Egypt,  con 
fined  to  a  separate  territory,  but  mingled 
freely  with  the  Babylonians ;  being  settled 
in  thinly  peopled  districts,  where  by  a 
moderate  degree  of  industry,  they  found  an 
abundant  sustenance.  Upon  the  banks  of 
the  Euphrates  they  met  some  of  the  expatri 
ated  Israelites,  who  attached  themselves  to 
the  tribes  that  had  adhered  to  the  pure  wor« 
ship  of  their  fathers ;  arid  the  name  of  Jews, 
from  the  larger  tribe,  was  applied  from  this 
period  to  all  who  were  recognised  as  the  do- 


LU4 


HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD. 


cendants  of  Jacob.  The  wisdom  of  many 
of  the  institutions  of  Moses  now  appeared, 
as  they  preserved  the  Hebrews  a  distinct 
people,  notwithstanding  the  most  intimate 
intercouree  with  another  race,  and  secured 
their  attachment  to  the  great  principles  of 
monotheism  in  the  midst  of  prevailing  idol 
atry. 

The  captivity  of  the  Jews  continued  till 
the  year  536,  when  Cyrus  ascended  the  Medo- 
Persian  throne.  This  great  prince  had  been 
foretold  by  the  Jewish  prophet  Isaiah,  as  the 
man  from  whom  deliverance  was  to  come  to 
the  captive  people ;  and  in  the  first  year  of 
his  reign  he  proclaimed  a  decree,  permitting, 
or  rather  inviting,  all  the  people  of  the  God 
of  Heaven,  without  exception,  to  return  to 
Judea,  and  rebuild  the  temple  of  Jerusalem. 
About  50,000  availed  themselves  of  this  per 
mission.  They  assembled  at  an  appointed 
place,  according  to  the  usual  mode  of  collect- 

I  -O 

ing  a  caravan,  and  proceeded  under  the  con- 
duet  of  Zerubbribel,  who  was  nominated  leader 
of  the  caravan,  and  governor  of  Judea.  The 
return  lo  Jerusalem  took  place  about  the  close 
of  the  first  year  of  Cyrus,  after  seventy  years 
of  captivity. 

The  building  of  a  temple,  and  the  rebuild 
ing  and  fortifying  the  city,  were  the  two 
national  objects  which  the  restored  captives 
had  most  at  heart ;  and  in  the  second  year 
of  their  return  the  foundation  of  a  new 
temple  was  kid.  The  jealousies  and  enmities, 
however,  of  the  colonists  at  Samaria  presented 
obstacles  to  the  advancement  of  the  work, 
and  for  a  time  it  seems  to  have,  been  aban 
doned.  This  lukewarmness  on  the  part  of 
the  people  called  forth  the  indignant  expos 
tulations  of  the  prophets  Haggai  and  Zech- 
ariah.  which  were  attended  with  such  effect, 
that,  by  the  joint  application  of  Zerubbabel 
Ihe  governor,  and  Jeshua  the  son  of  Josedek 
the  priest,  the  original  decree  of  Cyrus  was 
renewed  by  Darius,  one  of  his  successors,  and 
the  temple  was  finished  without  farther  in 
terruption.  The  obstacles  towards  restoring 
the  city  of  Jerusalem  were  not  so  soon  over 
come.  The  fears  of  the  Persian  government 


were  wrought  upon  by  the  representationc  ot 
the  Samaritans,  us  to  the  danger  of  the  de 
fection  of  the  Jews  if  their  city  were  again 
fortified ;  and  thus,  though  Ezm  was  allowed 
by  Artaxerxes  Longimanus  to  take  with  him 
to  Jerusalem  as  many  of  the  Jews  of  Chaldea 
as  were  disposed  to  return,  his  powers, 
though  considerable,  did  not  extend  to  the 
fortifying  of  the  city.  It  was  not  till  the 
death  of  Zerubbabel,  about  twelve  years  after 
the  return  of  Ezra,  that  Nehemiah  was  ap 
pointed  his  successor  as  governor  of  Judea, 
with  authority  to  repair  the  city  and  rebuild 
the  walls.  This  change  in  the  policy  of  the 
Persians  towards  the  Jews  has  been  ascribed 
to  the  humiliating  conditions  of  the  peace 
which  Artaxerxes  was  obliged  te  make  with 
the  Athenians  after  the  signal  defeat  of  his 
forces  by  Cimon,  by  which  conditions  no 
Persian  army  was  to  approach  within  three 
days'  march  of  the  sea.  Being  thus  excluded 
from  the  line  of  sea-coast,  it  became  an  object 
to  the  Persians  to  have  a  fortified  town  like 
Jerusalem  in  their  interest,  which,  without 
infringing  upon  their  treaty  with  the  Athen 
ians,  might  serve  as  a  pass  for  keeping  open 
the  communication  between  Persia  and 
Egypt,  which  latter  country  had  been  re 
duced  anew  under  the  Persian  yoke.  The 
extraordinary  rapidity  with  which  Kehcmiah 
executed  the  important  trust  committed  to 
him,  the  abuses  which  were  introduced  upon 
his  return  to  Persia,  and  the  steps  which  he 
took  in  consequence  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Mosaic  polity,  and  which  he  completed  in  the 
reign  of  Darius  ISTothus,  are  set  forth  in  the 
book  which  bears  his  name,  which,  with  that 
of  his  contemporary  Malachi,  closes  the  Old 
Testament  canon. 

From  the  time  of  the  return  from  the  Baby 
lonian  captivity,  a  remarkable  change  is  ob 
servable  in  the  character  of  the  Jews,  and  in 
the  features  of  their  policy,  civil  and  ecclesi 
astical.  The  infliction  of  the  judgments 
threatened  in  their  sacred  books  for  their  dis 
obedience,  seems  to  have  impressed  upon 
their  minds  a  deeper  reverence  for  the  insti 
tutes  of  their  Great  Lawgiver ;  while  the  ful- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


filment  of  the  predictions  respecting  their 
restoration  to  their  own  country  led  them  to 
direct  their  views  to  the  prophecies  which 
spoke  of  the  whole  earth  being  brought  to 
acknowledge  the  sovereignty  of  the  God  of 
Jacob.  Of  the  tendency  to  idolatry,  accord 
ingly,  for  which  they  had  hitherto  been  dis- 
tinguislied,  we  find  few  farther  traces ;  and 
it  was  succeeded  by  a  scrupulous  adherence 
to  the  Mosaic  ritual,  on  the  observance  of 
which  they  built  their  hopes  of  the  accom 
plishment  of  the  divine  promises  to  their 
nation  under  the  expected  Messias.  This 
change  was  connected  with  certain  alterations 
in  their  institutions,  which  exercised  a  de 
cided  influence  upon  the  destiny  of  the  Jew 
ish  people  in  succeeding  times.  We  refer  to 
the  establishment  of  the  national  councils 
known  by  the  name  of  Sanhedrims,  and  to 
the  introduction  of  the  synagogue  worship. 
The  precise  period  of  their  <  rigin  cannot  be 
ascertained,  but  it  seems  not  improbable  that 
it  was  almost  as  early  as  the  time  of  the  re 
turn  from  Babylon,  though  a  considerable 
period  intervened  before  either  system  was 
in  full  operation.  It  has  been  conjectured 
that  jSTehemiah,  in  the  conduct  of  his  govern 
ment,  sought  the  assistance  of  a  council  or 
senate,  consisting  of  the  most  influential  in 
dividuals  in  Jerusalem ;  and  that,  in  imita 
tion  of  this  national  council,  smaller  senates 
were  formed  by  degrees  in  each  separate 
district,  conducting  the  affairs  of  the  com 
munity  under  the  authority  of  the  great  San 
hedrim.  These  councils  were  intimately 
connected  with  the  synagogues.  As  the 
Mosaic  law  was  made  to  extend  to  all  the 
actions  of  civil  as  well  as  to  the  duties  of  re 
ligious  life,  the  Scriptures  became  of  constant 
reference  in  each  community.  The  people 
assembled  to  hear  it  read  and  explained  as  a 
religious  exercise ;  and  as  it  was  the  statute- 
book  of  the  magistrate,  its  true  meaning  and 
right  application  to  the  circumstances  which 
occurred  became  a  matter  of  daily  considera 
tion.  This  gave  rise  to  a  class  of  men  quali 
fied  for  the  important  office  of  explaining  the 
law.  Skill  in  this  department  became  the 


great  distinction  to  which  all  paid  reverential 
homage  ;  and  the  direction  of  the  worship  of 
the  synagogue,  and  the  conduct  of  the  courts 
of  law,  fell  under  the  authority  of  the  learned 
doctors  or  scribes,  in  whom  were  united  the 
professions  of  law  and  of  divinity.  This  was 
followed  by  a  loss  of  power  on  the  part  of 
the  priests,  who  became  little  more  than  the 
ministers  of  the  sanctuary,  without  any 
authority  as  leaders  of  the  people.  Such  was 
the  great  change  effected  in  the  course  of  a 
few  centuries  after  the  return  from  the  cap 
tivity.  The  power  of  the  priests  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  rabbis ;  and  instead  of  the 
schools  of  the  prophets,  and  worship  on  high 
places,  we  have  the  Sanhedrims  and  the  syna 
gogues.  The  Jews  who  remained  between 
the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates,  and  those  also 
who  from  this  period  began  to  scatter  them  • 
selves  throughout  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Asia 
Minor,  and  at  a  later  period,  over  Greece  and 
Italy,  and  the  other  parts  of  the  western 
world,  adopted  or  carried  along  with  them 
the  synagogue  service.  While  their  personal 
interests  prompted  them  to  wander  over  dif 
ferent  lands,  a  common  feeling  united  them 
all  to  the  country  promised  to  their  fathers, 
and  to  the  hopes  connected  with  its  possession. 
These  expatriated  Jews  conformed  them 
selves  to  the  regulations  prescribed  from  time 
to  time  by  the  learned  doctors  of  Judea; 
they  contributed  to  the  support  of  the  services 
of  the  temple  so  long  as  it  remained;  and  by 
these  means,  and  by  avoiding  all  intercourse 
by  marriage  with  other  nations,  the  Jews 
were  distinguished  as  a  separate  people  over 
all  the  world,  and  the  spirit  was  confirmed 
which  has  preserved  them  from  being  con 
founded  with  others  even  to  the  present  time. 
After  the  death  of  ISTehemiah,  Judea  was 
annexed  to  the  prefecture  of  Syria,  the  ad 
ministration  of  Jewish  affairs  being  left  to 
the  high  priests,  subject  to  the  control,  how 
ever,  of  the  provincial  rulers.  In  this  con 
dition  the  Jews  continued  till  the  overthrow 
of  the  Persian  empire  by  Alexander  the 
Great,  when  Jerusalem  became  subject  to 
the  power  of  that  mighty  conqueror. 


160 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Upon  the  death  of  Alexander,  the  peace 
and  security  which  the  Jews  had  enjoyed 
under  the  Persian  dynasty  were  changed  for 
scenes  of  bloodshed  and  devastation.  In  the 
wars  which  took  place  amongst  the  successors 
of  Alexander,  Judea,  from  its  situation  be 
tween  Syria  and  Egypt,  became  alternately 
the  prey  of  each.  In  the  words  of  Josephus, 
the  Jews  resembled  a  ship  tossed  by  a  hurri 
cane,  and  buffeted  on  both  sides  by  the  waves, 
while  they  lived  in  the  midst  of  contending 
seas.  At  first  their  country  was  allotted  to 
Laomedon,  along  with  Coele-Syria  and  Phoe 
nicia.  But  the  ambitious  views  of  Ptolemy 
Lagus,  king  of  Egypt,  being  directed  to  the 
whole  of  Syria,  he  entered  Judea,  and 
choosing  the  Sabbath  day  for  the  assault  on 
Jerusalem,  he  met  with  no  resistance  from 
the  inhabitants,  100,000  of  whom  he  carried 
off  as  captives,  settling  them  in  Gyrene  and 
Alexandria ;  thus  laying  the  foundation  of 
the  Jewish  colony  in  Alexandria,  which  for 
iOO  years  held  a  conspicuous  place  in  the 
Jewish  annals.  "With  the  exception  of  the 
period  when  Judea  was  overrun  by  Antigo- 
nus,  it  continued  under  the  power  of  Ptolemy 
whose  policy  towards  the  Jews  was  wise  and 
liberal.  During  the  reign  of  this  prince, 
Simon  tlie  Just  was  high  priest,  who,  accord 
ing  to  Jewish  tradition,  was  the  last  member 
of  the  great  synagogue,  and  in  this  character 
completed  the  sacred  canon.  Ptolemy  Lagus 
was  succeeded  by  Ptolemy  Philadelphia  as 
king  of  Egppt.  Under  his  reign  the  trans 
lation  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  into  the 
Greek  (named  the  Septuagint,  from  an  idle 
legend  as  to  the  number  of  individuals  em 
ployed  in  the  work)  was  probably  begun, 
though  not  completed  till  a  later  period. 
During  the  wars  of  Antiochus  the  Great  with 
the  Ptolemies,  the  inhabitants  of  Judea  were 
subjected  to  severe  suffering.  Their  country 
was  laid  waste,  and  to  which  side  soever 
victory  inclined,  they  were  equally  exposed 
to  injury.  Though  they  had  received  many 
&vors  under  the  sway  of  the  Ptolemies,  the 
Jews  espoused  the  cause  of  Antiochus,  who 
«howr.ed  his  gratitude  by  lightening  their 


burdens,  by  gifts  towards  defraying  the  ex 
penses  of  their  sacrifices,  and  by  securing 
them  in  the  peaceable  observance  of  the  rites 
of  their  religion. 

A  very  different  policy  was  pursued  by 
Antiochus  Epiphanes,  who,  in  all  his  dealings 
with  the  Jewish  people,  was  influenced 
only  by  his  rapacity,  and  bigotry,  and  cruelty 
The  first  act  of  his  reign  was  to  depose  the 
high  priest  Onias,  that  the  vacated  oflice 
might  be  conferred  upon  Joshua,  brother  of 
Onias,  who  had  bribed  the  king  to  this  in 
justice  by  the  promise  of  a  large  tribute,  to 
enable  to  pay  which,  certain  privileges  were 
conferred  on  him,  to  be  employed  in  intro 
ducing  Grecian  customs  among  his  country 
men,  and  in  weaning  them  from  their  national 
peculiarities.  The  new  high  priest  assumed 
the  Grecian  name  of  Jason,  allowed  the  ser 
vices  of  the  temple  to  fall  into  disuse,  and 
established  a  gymnasium,  where,  under  the 
pretext  of  practising  athletic  exercises,  the 
Jews  were  won  over  to  heathenism.  Jason 
was  soon  supplanted  in  his  turn  by  his  brother 
Menelaus,  who,  in  like  manner,  made  it  his 
aim  to  substitute  Grecian  for  Jewish  customs. 
In  the  meantime,  the  attention  of  Antiochus 
was  attracted  towards  Egypt,  which  he  in 
vaded  with  a  powerful  army  that  was  every 
where  victorious.  While  there,  exaggerated 
reports  reached  him  of  a  revolt  of  the  Jewish 
people,  and  his  arms  were  immediately  di 
rected  against  Judea.  Jerusalem  was  taken, 
80,000  of  the  inhabitants  were  sold  as  slaves 
or  put  to  the  sword ;  and,  while  he  plundered 
the  temple  of  all  its  treasures,  he  showed  his 
enmity  against  the  Jewish  religion  by  dese 
crating  with  every  abomination  all  that  the 
Jews  esteemed  most  holy.  After  this,  he 
anew  directed  his  attempts  against  Egypt. 
For  a  time  success  seemed  doubtfnl ;  but  the 
weaker  party  made  an  appeal  to  Rome,  and 
the  firmness  of  Popilius  Lenas  compelled 
Antiochus  to  submission  and  retreat. 

Disappointed  in  his  designs  against  Egypt 
Antiochus  returned  to  his  capital,  where  he 
issued  a  decree  commanding  all  the  inhabi 
tants  of  his  empire  to  worship  the  gods  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  king  and  to  acknowledge  no  religion  but 
his.  It  may  be  doubtful  whether  in  this 
ndict  the  sovereign  consulted  most  his  ra 
pacity  or  bigotry.  At  that  time  the  temples 
were  not  only  enriched  by  the  offerings  of  the 
.  otaries,  but  from  the  security  afforded  by 
the  character  of  their  sai^otity,  were  the  great 
banks  of  deposit ;  and  Antiochus  seems  to 
tiave  laid  the  plan  for  plundering  the  temples 
throughout  his  dominions,  after  suppressing 
their  worship.  Among  his  heathen  subjects, 
the  decree  met  with  ready  obedience.  The 
compliance  in  Judea,  however,  was  not  uni 
versal,  and  the  partial  opposition  which  was 
made  led  to  those  measures  of  frantic  severi 
ty  on  the  part  of  Antiochus  that  awakened 
into  life  the  spirit  of  the  Maccabees,  whom 
God  raised  up  among  their  degenerate 
countrymen  to  defend  his  cause,  and  give  an 
example  to  mankind. 

A  Grecian  named  Athenaius,  well  acquaint 
ed  with  all  the  forms  of  heathen  worship, 
\vas  sent  to  Jerusalem  to  instruct  the  Jews 
in  the  religion  they  were  henceforth  to  ob 
serve,  with  full  powers  to  enforce  compliance. 
He  dedicated  the  temple  to  Jupiter  Olym 
pus  ;  the  statue  of  Jupiter  (the  abomination 
of  desolation  spoken  of  by  tbe  prophet 
Daniel)  was  set  up  on  the  altar  of  Jehovah ; 
and  throughout  all  Judea  idol  altars  were 
erected,  upon  which,  under  penalty  of  the 
most  barbarous  tortures,  the  Jews  were  com 
pelled  to  offer  sacrifice.  Circumcision,  the 
keeping  of  the  Sabbath,  and  other  observan 
ces  of  the  ceremonial  law,  were  made  capital 
offences,  and  all  the  copies  of  the  sacred 
books  that  could  be  found  were  destroyed. 
Groves  were  planted  and  idolatrous  altars 
erected  in  every  city ;  and  at  fixed  periods 
the  citizens  were  required  to  offer  sacrifice, 
and  to  join  in  the  religious  processions  ;  and 
officers  were  sent  into  all  the  towns,  attend 
ed  by  a  military  force,  to  command  obedi 
ence  to  the  royal  edict.  At  first  they  met 
with  no  opposition  ;  but  the  hour  of  resist-  ! 
ance  was  approaching.  We  learn  from  the 
first  book  of  the  Maccabees,  that  when  the 
officers  of  King  Antiochus.  in  traversing  Ju- 


167 

dea,  came  to  the  city  of  Mod  in  to  make  the 
people  sacrifice,  they  commanded  Mattathias 
a  priest  of  tha  sons  of  Joarib,  to  come  fir  si 
and  fulfill  the  king's  commandment.  "  Mat- 
tathias  answered  with  a  loud  voice,  God  frir 
bid  that  we  should  forsake  the  law  and  the 
ordinances :  We  will  not  hearken  to  the 
king's  voice  to  go  from  our  religion,  either 
to  the  right  or  to  the  left.  Xow,  when  he 
had  left  speaking  these  words,  there  came 
one  of  the  Jews,  in  the  sight  of  all,  to  sacri 
fice  on  the  alter  which  was  at  Modin,  accord 
ing  to  the  king's  commandment.  Which 
thing,  when  Mattathias  saw,  he  was  inflamed 
with  zeal,  and  his  reins  trembled,  neither 
could  he  forbear  to  show  his  anger  according 
to  judgment;  wherefore  ho  ra:i  and  s'k'-.v  hi::i 
upon  the  altar.  Also  the  king's  commission 
er,  who  compelled  men  to  sacrifice,  he  killed 
at  that  time,  and  the  altar  he  pulled  down. 
Thus  dealt  he  zealously  for  the  law  of  God, 
as  Phineas  did  unto  Zambri  the  son  of  Salom 
And  Mattathias  cried  throughout  the  city 
with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  whosoever  is  zeal 
ous  of  the  law,  and  mantaineth  the  covenant, 
let  him  folllow  me.  So  he  and  his  sons  fled 
unto  the  mountains,  and  left  all  that  they 
ever  had  in  the  city." 

Such  was  the  commencement  of  that  noble 
stand  which  Mattathias  and  his  sons  made 
for  the  religion  and  liberties  of  their  country. 
Mattathias  was  the  son  of  John,  the  son  of 
Simeon,  the  son  of  Asmoneus,  from  whom 
the  family  had  the  name  of  Asmonean. 
Different  accounts  have  been  given  of  the 
name  of  Jfaccabee,  by  which  they  are  more 
generally  known.  The  common  explanation 
is,  that  it  was  from  the  four  initial  letters  of 
the  words  which  were  displayed  on  their 
banner  (Mi  Chamoka  Baalim  Jaholi,  who  ie 
like  unto  thee  among  the  gods,  O  Lord). 
Others  conceive  that  it  was  the  surname, 
given  by  Mattathias  to  one  of  his  sons,  on 
account  of  his  valiant  exploits, — tie  llavi 
merer. 

Having  fled  to  the  mountains,  Mattathiaa 
was  soon  joined  by  associates  from  all  parts 
of  the  country,  who  needed  only  a  leader  to 


168 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WORLD. 


animate  them  to  resistance.  Mattathias  lived 
but  a  short  time  to  direct  the  energies  of  this 
devoted  band  ;  but  upon  his  death  he  left  fit 
successors  in  his  valiant  sons,  who,  during  a 
period  of  twenty-six  years,  maintained  a  war 
with  five  successive  kings  of  Syria,  which 
terminated  in  the  establishment  of  the  inde 
pendence  of  their  country.  Judas  Macca 
beus,  the  third  son  of  Mattathias,  was  the 
first  who  undertook  the  management  of 
affairs.  His  successes  wore  for  a  time  un 
interrupted..  From  a  petty  revolt,  the  con 
test  soon  assumed  the  character  of  a  mighty 
war  ;  the  chosen  generals  of  Antiochus  were 
defeated  at  the  head  of  assembled  hosts  ;  in 
less  than  three  years  Jerusalem  was  once 
more  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews,  its  altars  re 
paired,  its  temple  purified,  and  the  sacred 
services  restored ;  and,  soon  after  the  death 
of  Antiochus,  the  Syrians  were  compelled  to 
conclude  a  peace  with  the  Maccabee. 

Had  the  Jews  been  united  among  them 
selves,  they  might  no\v  have  defied  the  pow 
er  of  their  enemies.  But  there  were  many 
elements  of  disunion  in  this  ill-fated  nation. 
The  zealous  attachment  to  their  ceremonial 
and  traditionary  law,  which  animated  the 
greater  part  of  the  followers  of  Judas,  and 
which  was  one  great  cause  of  their  success, 
was  offensive  to  the  party  which  had  arisen 
with  less  rigid  views,  and  who  were  after 
wards  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Saddu- 
cees ;  and  there  was  a  numerous  party,  who, 
having  conformed  to  the  Grecian  worship, 
were  wholly  in  the  interest  of  the  Syrians. 
The  Syrians  were  not  slow  in  availing  them 
selves  of  these  internal  differences,  and  war 
again  began  to  rage.  Though  deserted  by 
many  of  his  followers,  success  still  attended 
the  arms  of  Judas,  till  he  was  slain  in  a  furi 
ous  conflict  with  the  flower  of  the  army  of 
Demetrius,  which  with  desperate  resolution 
he  had  attacked  near  Azotus  with  only  eight 
hundred  men. 

Judas  was  succeeded  in  command  by  his 
brother  Jonathan.  lie  fought  at  first  with 
various  fortune  ;  but  the  prudence  and  enter 
prising  valor  of  which  he  partook  in  com 


mon  with  the  whole  family  were  crowned  at 
last  with  success.  In  the  contests  for  the 
crown  of  Syria  between  Demetrius  and  Alex 
ander  Balas,  the  alliance  of  Jonathan  was, 
courted  by  the  rival  parties ;  and  he  was 
thus  enabled  to  make  terms  most  favorable 
for  Judea.  But  in  the  Avars  that  succeeded 
the  death  of  Balas,  he  was  treacherously  slain 
by  Trypho,  who,  under  professions  of  friend 
ship,  had  tempted  him  to  enter  Ptolemais 
without  a  sufficient  force  for  his  protec 
tion. 

Simon  was  now  the  only  brother  who  sur 
vived  of  the  house  of  Mattathias ;  but  the 
fate  of  his  family  did  not  daunt  him,  and  ho 
at  once  accepted  of  the  hazardous  pre-emi 
nence  to  which  the  suffrages  of  his  country 
men  called  him.  "  Since  all  my  brethren," 
said  he,  "  are  slain  for  Israel's  sake,  and  I  am 
left  alone,  far  be  it  from  me  to  spare  my  own 
life  in  any  time  of  trouble,  for  I  am  no  bet 
ter  than  my  brethren ;  doubtless,  I  will 
avenge  my  nation  and  the  sanctuary,  and  our 
wives  and  children."  The  pledge  thus  given 
he  soon  fulfilled.  "With  characteristic  energy, 
lie  put  the  whole  country  in  a  posture  of  de 
fence  :  and  entering  into  a  league  with  De 
metrius,  the  rival  of  the  perfidious  Trypho, 
he  secured  such  privileges  for  the  Jews,  that 
from  this  period,  u.  c.  143.  they  date  their 
freedom  from  the  Syrian  yoke.  At  this  time 
the  Jews  elected  Simon  ethnarch  or  prince, 
as  well  as  high  priest ;  the  office  to  be  heredi 
tary  in  his  family.  The  government  of 
Simon  was  marked  by  vigor  and  wisdom. 
But,  like  the  rest  of  his  family,  he  was  doom 
ed  to  a  violent  death,  being  assassinated  at 
an  entertainment  by  his  own  son-in-law,  who 
had  entered  into  a  plot  with  Antiochus  king 
of  Syria,  for  the  extirpation  of  the  Maccabean 
race.  Two  of  his  sons  were  murdered  with 
him ;  but  a  third  escaped  to  Jerusalem, 
where  he  succeeded  to  his  father's  govern 
ment.  This  was  John  Hyrcanus,  whose  sur 
name  was  derived  from  his  valiant  exploits 
in  Ilyrcania,  with  Demetrius  king  of  Syria. 
The  reign  of  Hyrcanus  lasted  thirty  years, 
and  was  eminently  prosperous  The  king- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


1G9 


dom  of  Judea  was  extended  on  every  side. 
Samaria  was  reduced,  and  the  temple  on 
Mount  Gerizim  destroyed.  The  Idumeans 
were  subdued,  and  became  proselytes  to  the 
Jewish  religion.  A  league  with  the  Romans, 
which  had  first  been  sought  by  Judas  Macca 
beus,  and  was  renewed  by  Simon,  was  now 
confirmed  on  terms  most  advantageous  to 
the  Jews  in  their  relations  with  surrounding 
states  ;  and  the  glory  of  the  Asmonean  prin 
ces  was  raised  to  its  height. 

About  the  time  of  Hyrcanus  we  first  find 
mention  made  of  the  Sanhedrim  or  Great 
Council,  which  for  a  considerable  period 
exercised  a  power,  partly  legislative  and 
partly  judicial,  among  the  Jews.  It  consist 
ed  of  seventy  individuals,  priests  and  men 
learned  in  the  law.  Some  have  conjectured 
that  it  owed  its  origin  to  the  policy  of  Hyrca- 
nus,  who  wished  to  avoid  the  appearance  of 
exercising  an  unlimited  authority,  by  an 
institution  which  might  protect,  while  it 
seemed  to  limit,  the  new  monarchy. 

The  sons  of  Hyrcanus  were  unworthy  of 
the  Suoek  from  which  they  sprung.  The 
short  reign  of  his  eldest  son  Aristobulus, 
vvhich  lasted  only  a  year,  was  darkened  by 
monstrous  crimes.  By  his  orders  his  own 
mother  was  imprisoned  and  starved  to  death, 
and  his  brother  Antigonus  was  assassinated. 
An  agony  of  superstitious  horror  at  the  enor 
mity  of  his  guilt,  terminated  his  miserable 
existence.  His  brother  Alexander  Jannoeus, 
who  succeeded  him  in  the  government,  was 
a  man  of  enterprising  valor,  but  cruel,  deceit 
ful,  and  tyrannical.  The  greater  part  of  his 
reign  was  occupied  in  quelling  revolts  among 
his  subjects,  occasioned  partly  by  the  turbu 
lent  spirit  of  the  Pharisees,  but  chiefly  by 
the  oppressiveness  of  his  own  sway.  Im 
mediately  before  his  death,  which  was  has 
tened  by  intemperance,  he  urged  his  queen 
Alexandra  to  unite  herself  to  the  Pharisaic 
party,  as  the  only  means  to  preserve  the  king 
dom.  The  policy  was  wise  for  the  house  of 
the  Asmoneans,  and  was  scrupulously  follow 
ed  by  Alexandra.  Her  reign,  which  continu 
ed  nine  years,  was  conducted  with  prudence 
22 


and  vigor,  and  her  kingdom  preserved  in 
tranquillity. 

Upon  the  death  of  Alexandra  her  two  sons 
Hyrcanus  and  Aristobulus,  were  both  com 
petitors  for  the  vacant  throne.  Hyrcanus 
wa3  deficient  in  all  the  qualities  that  were 
necessary  for  command,  and  would  have 
yielded  to  his  brother  without  opposition, 
had  he  not  been  urged  by  Antipater  or  An- 
tipas  (father  of  Herod  the  Great)  to  maintain 
his  cause.  According  to  Josephus,  Antipas 
was  of  a  noble  family  of  Idumeans  who  had 
adopted  the  Jewish  religion.  His  father  had 
been  governor  of  Idumea  during  the  reigns 
of  Alexander  Janna3us  and  Alexandra.  An 
tipas  himself  was  educated  in  the  Jewish 
court,  where  he  attached  himself  to  the  in 
terests  of  the  eldest  son,  whom  he  looked 
upon  as  the  successor  to  the  throne.  The 
arts  of  Aristobulus,  who,  in  the  prospect  of 
his  mother's  death,  had  made  himself  master 
of  several  of  the  strongest  fortresses  of  Ju- 

o 

dea,  presented  an  unexpected  obstacle  to  the 
hopes  of  the  friends  of  Hyrcanus.  The  prize 
however,  was  too  important  to  be  lost  with 
out  a  struggle  ;  and  Hyrcanus,  under  the  in 
fluence  of  Antipas,  engaged  in  a  contest  for 
the  throne.  It  was  continued  for  a  consid 
erable  time  with  doubtful  issue.  At  last  the 
brothers  submitted  their  claims  to  the  de 
cision  of  Pompey,  now  crowned  with  all  the 
glories  of  the  Mithridatic  war.  Pompey, 
delayed  from  time  to  time  pronouncing  in 
favor  of  either  party,  till  at  last  Aristobulus, 
disappointed  in  his  hopes  of  the  support  of 
the  Roman,  took  up  his  ground  in  Jerusalem 
and  prepared  for  war.  Upon  this  Pompey 
marched  against  the  Jewish  capital,  which, 
after  a  siege  of  three  months,  wa*  taken  by 
assault.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  religious 
scruples  of  the  Jews  as  to  making  resistance 
to  the  progress  of  the  works  of  the  enemy 
on  the  Sabbath,  the  fortress  might  have  prov 
ed  impregnable.  The  attachment  of  the 
Jews  to  their  sacred  ceremonies  wa?  striking 
ly  evinced  at  this  period  in  another  respect. 
At  the  moment  when  the  temple  was  taken, 
tho  priests  were  engaged  in  the  daily  sacri- 


170 


fices  ;  and  amidst  all  the  horrors  which  sur 
rounded  them,  they  proceeded  in  their  sol 
emn  services  unmoved,  thinking  it  better, 
says  Josephus,  to  suffer  whatever  came  upon 
chein  at  their  very  altars,  than  to  omit  any 
thing  that  their  law  required  of  them.  The 
curiosity  of  Pompey  led  him  to  visit  the 
whole  of  the  sacred  edifice,  and  he  entered 
vnto  the  holy  of  holies.  The  sacred  utensils 
•>£  the  temple  he  left  untouched,  and  even 
the  treasures,  which  amounted  to  two  thous 
and  talents  of  gold.  He  also  gave  orders 
for  the  purifying  the  temple,  and  for  the  con 
tinuance  of  the  divine  service  as  before. 
He  appointed  Ilyrcanus  to  the  office  of 
high  priest,  giving  him  at  the  same  time  the 
government  of  Judea,  tributary  to  the  Ro 
mans,  but  without  the  title  or  ensigns  of  roy 
alty.  The  cities  of  Phoenicia  and  Ccele-Sy- 
ria,  which  the  Jews  had  conquered,  were 
separated  from  Judca  and  joined  to  Syria, 
which  was  now  made  a  province  of  the  Ro 
man  empire,  Judea  being  reduced  to  a  sub 
ordinate  principality.  B.  c.  63. 

Aristobulus,  his  sons  Alexander  and  Anti- 
gonus,  and  his  two  daughters,  were  carried 
away  by  Pompey  as  prisoners  to  grace  his 
triumph,  Ilyrcanus  being  left  as  governor  of 
Judca.  This  feeble  prince  was  wholly  under 
the  influence  of  Antipater  the  Idumean,  by 
by  whose  instigation  he  had  made  the  effort 
which  gave  him  his  present  supremacy.  Unfit 
himself  to  hold  the  reins  of  state,  he  intrusted 
every  thing  to  this  crafty  and  ambitious  favor 
ite,  who  appointed  his  own  sons,  Phasaelis 
and  Herod,  the  one  governor  of  Jerusalem 
the  other  of  Galilee,  though  both  nominally 
under  the  control  of  Ilyrcanus.  Herod,  at 
this  time  only  twenty-five  years  old,  com 
menced  his  government  with  a  vigor  and  se 
verity  that  bespoke  the  future  tyrant.  A 
band  of  robbers  who  infested  his  province 
were  made  the  first  victims  of  his  cruelty  ; 
and  when  summoned  before  the  Sanhedrim, 
who  were  jealous  of  the  rising  powers  of 
Antipater  and  his  sons,  to  answer  for  his 
stretch  of  authority,  he  entered  the  council 
in  80  menacing  a  form,  that  all  with  the 


exception  of  one  individual,  were  awed  into 
silence.  The  attack  which  the  discontented 
Jews  were  afraid  to  oommonce  openly,  they 
soon  after  attempted  in  secret,  and  the  lead 
ing  men  among  them  entered  into  a  plot  for 
the  destruction  of  the  family  of  Antipas. 
The  father  was  poisoned  at  an  entertainment 
given  by  the  high  priest;  and  when  Herod 
and  Phasaelis  escaped  the  snare  which  was 
laid  for  them,  means  were  used  to  alienate 
from  them  the  affections  of  Ilyrcanus.  These 
arts,  however,  were  baffled  by  Herod,  wlio 
contrived  to  increase  his  influence  with  the 
prince  by  marrying  his  grand-daughter  Miri 
am  or  Mariamne.  The  enemies  of  Herod 
now  openly  espoused  the  cause  of  Antigorius 
son  of  Aristobulus,  who  had  lately  effected 
his  escape  from  Rome,  and  who  had  found 
a  supporter  of  his  pretensions  to  the  Jewish 
throne  in  Pacorus,  the  Parthian  leader.  In 
the  war  which  ensued,  Ilyrcanus,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  sons  of  Antipas,  was  gen 
erally  successful.  But  under  the  pretence  oi 
coming  to  an  amicable  arrangement,  Ilyrca 
nus  and  Phasaelis  were  entrapped  into  the 
enemy's  camp,  where  Phasaelis  was  put  to 
death,  and  the  barbarous  punishment  of  cut 
ting  off  the  ears  was  inflicted  upon  the  aged 
governor  by  his  unfeeling  nephew  Antigo 
mis. 

The  discovery  of  this  treachery  aroused 
the  energies  of  the  surviving  brother  to  the 
uttermost.  Having  placed  his  family,  and 
whatever  of  value  he  could  collect,  in  Mas- 
sada,  a  fortress  on  a  mountain  near  the  Dead 
Sea,  he  sailed  to  Italy  to  implore  the  assist 
ance  of  the  Romans.  In  all  the  changes 
which  had  taken  place  at  Rome,  it  had  been 
the  policy  of  Herod  to  ingratiate  himself 
with  the  successful  party,  and  it  is  a  suffi 
cient  proof  of  the  arts  and  talents  of  this  ex 
traordinary  man,  that  he  enjoyed  the  favor 
of  Julius  Csesar,  and  Cassius,  and  Mark  An 
tony,  and  that  he  was  ranked  as  one  of  the 
friends  of  Augustus  and  Agrippa  At  the 
present  time  Antony  was  in  power  at  Rome. 
And  when  Herod  asked  merely  that  the  bro 
ther  of  Mariamne  should  be  placed  on  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


173 


throne  of  Judea,  as  uniting  by  his  descent 
the  claims  both  of  Hyrcanus  and  Aristobulus, 
Antony  named  Herod  himself  the  king. 
Before  the  end  of  the  year  Herod  was  again 
in  Judea,  raised  a  large  body  of  soldiers,  re 
lieved  his  friends  at  Massada,  and  was  in 
readiness  to  take  the  field  against  Antigonns. 
The  war  continued  about  three  years,  in  the 
course  of  which  Jerusalem  again  stood  a 
long  siege.  When  it  was  at  last  taken,  the 
Romans,  exasperated  at  the  obstinacy  with 
which  it  had  been  defended,  would  have 
made  a  general  massacre,  and  reduced  the 
city  to  ashes,  had  they  not  been  restrained 
by  Herod,  who  complained  that  "  they  were 
going  to  make  him  king  of  a  desert."  The 
pusillanimity  of  Antigonus  upon  his  surren 
der  subjected  him  to  the  scorn  of  the  Roman 
general,  who  sent  him  in  chains  to  Antony, 
under  the  contemptuous  name  of  Antigona, 
as  if  he  were  unworthy  to  bear  that  of  a 
man.  Antony,  at  the  cruel  but  perhaps  poli 
tic  solicitation  of  Herod,  gave  order  for  his 
execution  as  a  common  malefactor,  by  the 
rods  and  axe  of  the  lictors.  With  Antigonus 
ended  the  Asmoner.n  dynasty,  after  it  had 
subsisted  12G  years.  Josephus  expatiates 
with  a  natural  pride  upon  the  merits  of  this 
illustrious  house,  as  distinguished  by  their 
descent,  by  the  dignity  of  the  pontificate, 
and  by  the  great  exploits  of  their  ancestors. 
Upon  the  accession  of  Herod  to  the  Jewish 
throne,  his  character  began  more  fully  to  de 
velop  itself.  By  one  of  the  first  acts  of  his 
reign,  the  whole  of  the  members  of  the  San 
hedrim  were  put  to  death,  with  only  two  ex 
ceptions.  One  exception  was  in  favor  of 
Sameas,  the  individual  formerly  referred  to 
as  standing  alone  in  arraigning  Herod  to  his 
face.  If  there  was  any  generosity  in  the 
conduct  of  Herod  towards  Sameas,  he  forfeits 
the  admiration  it  might  have  excited,  by  his 
unworthy  jealousy  of  Aristobulus,  the  bro 
ther  of  his  wife  Marianme.  When  the  po 
pular  feeling  was  manifested  in  their  admira 
tion  of  the  rightful  heir  of  the  Asmoneans, 
Herod  saw  in  him  a  dangerous  rival  to  hie 
power,  and  by  his  order  the  youthful  high 


priest  was  put  to  death.  The  mother  of 
Aristobulus  appealed  to  the  justice  of  An 
tony  to  avenge  the  murder  of  her  son. 
Herod  saw  his  danger,  and  secured  his  safety 
by  the  homage  of  a  personal  interview.  The 
battle  of  Actium  put  an  end  to  his  farther 
hopes  from  Antony,  and  his  crown  and  even 
his  life  were'  exposed  to  a  new  jeopardy. 
He  resolved  therefore  once  more  to  have  re 
course  to  the  expedient  of  a  personal  inter 
view ;  he  presented  himself  before  Augustus 
upon  his  arrival  in  Egypt;  and  the  arts 
which  had  formerly  prevailed  with  Horn  an 
generals  were  still  successful.  But  the  quali 
ties  by  which  he  was  able  to  attach  to  himself 
many  illustrious  friends,  and  the  munificent 
acts  and  proud  and  princely  undertakings 
which  shed  a  barbaric  splendor  over  his 
reign,  formed  no  atonement  for  the  many 
deeds  of  blood  by  which  he  had  arrived  at 
his  guilty  pre-eminence.  His  crimes,  how 
ever,  were  not  allowed  to  pass  unpunished 
He  regarded  not  how  much  misery  might  be 
endured  by  others,  that  his  own  passions 
might  be  indulged:  and  in  those  passions 
his  guilt  found  its  avengers. 

When  he  left  Judea  to  plead  his  cause  be 
fore  Antony,  he  gave  the  extraordinary  in 
junction,  that  if  he  were  condemned,  Man- 
amne  should  be  put  to  death,  to  prevent  the 
possibility  of  her  ever  being  the  wife  of 
another.  And  during  his  absence  at  the 
time  he  paid  his  court  to  Augustus,  he  gave 
the  same  instructions ;  his  love  being  such, 
that  he  could  not  think  of  Mariamne  but  as 
his  own ;  if  the  name  of  love  can  be  applied 
to  that  combination  of  tyranny,  and  pride, 
and  selfishness,  and  lust,  which  filled  his 
guilty  bosom.  The  fatal  secret  had  been 
communicated  to  the  queen  during  his  first 
absence,  and  upon  his  return  she  upbraided 
him  with  his  barbarous  cruelty.  The  jealousy 
of  the  tyrant  was  awakened  in  a  moment, 
and,  wild  with  rage,  he  rushed  upon  her  with 
his  sword,  asking  if  such  a  secret  could  have 
been  revealed  except  by  a  lover.  But  the 
paroxysm  passed  away,  and  his  suspicions 
were  forgotten  in  his  efforts  to  soothe  the 


172 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


resentment  of  his  injured  queen.  Upon  his 
second  return  he  found  that  his  secret  had 
again  been  disclosed ;  and,  goaded  on  by  the 
enemies  of  Alariamne,  he  issued  orders  for 
her  execution.  Remorse  and  despair  now 
took  possession  of  his  mind.  lie  fled  from 
all  society,  and,  under  a  complication  of 
mental  and  corporal  suffering,  he  sunk  into  a 
state  of  insanity.  The  derangement  was 
temporary,  though  traces  of  it  were  discov 
erable  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

As  the  sons  of  Herod  by  Mariamne  grew 
np  to  manhood,  attempts  were  made  to 
poison  the  mind  of  their  father  against  them ; 
and  the  obvious  interest  with  which  they 
were  viewed  by  the  Hebrew  nation  awaken 
ed  his  jealousy.  After  a  succession  of  scenes, 
in  which  the  tyrant  and  the  father  strove  for 
the  mastery  within  him,  he  appeared  as  the 
accuser  of  his  own  sons,  first  before  Augus 
tus,  and  then  before  the  deputies  Saturninus 
and  Yolumnias ;  and  the  sanction  of  the  Ro 
man  authority  being  obtained,  the  unhappy 
brothers  were  strangled  by  the  orders  of  the 
unhappier  father.  Macrobius  has  preserved 
a  saying  of  Augustus  upon  hearing  of  the 
unnatural  conduct  of  Herod,  in  allusion  to 
the  Jewish  faith,  "  that  he  would  rather  be 
Herod's  sow  than  his  son"  Antipater,  his 
son  by  a  former  marriage,  who  had  instiga 
ted  the  proceeding  against  his  brothers,  was 
himself  found  guilty  of  a  plot  to  poison 
Herod.  Sentence  of  death  was  immediately 
pronounced  against  him,  but  the  tyrant's 
own  death  prevented  it  from  being  earned 
into  effect. 

Amidst  the  dark  shades  of  the  character 
of  this  extraordinary  man,  the  splendid  acts 
of  his  administration  are  not  to  be  forgotten  ; 
the  fortresses  by  which  he  sought  to  give  se 
curity  to  his  kingdom ;  the  harbors  he  con 
structed;  the  cities  he  built ;  the  magnificent 
palace  he  reared  for  tl.e  royal  residence  ;  and 
the  temple  which  he  restored  to  almost  its 
original  greatness.  The  rebuilding  of  the 
eity  of  Samaria,  the  building  of  the  city 
and  harbor  of  Cocsarea,  with  the  rebuild 
ing  of  the  temple,  must  be  allowed  to  be 


monuments  of  a  princely  and  patriotic  mind. 
Upon  the  death  of  Herod,  Palestine  was 
divided  amongst  his  three  aurviving  sons, 
Archelaus,  Antipas,  and  Philip.  Archelaus 
was  appointed  ethnarch  or  governor  of  Judea, 
Idumea,  and  Samaria,  which  formed  the 
largest  part  of  the  province.  Antipas  was 
named  tetrarch  of  Galilee,  and  Philip  to- 
trarch  of  Trachonitis.  Archelaus  followed 
in  the  footsteps  of  his  father,  and  being  with 
out  his  talents  or  his  arts,  he  was  deposed  by 
Augustus  in  the  tenth  year  of  his  reign,  in 
consequence  of  repeated  complaints  from  hia 
subjects,  and  banished  to  Vienne  in  Gaul. 
The  part  of  Palestine  which  had  been  under 
Archelaus  was  now  reduced  into  the  form  of 
a  Roman  province,  being  placed  under  the 
superintendence  of  a  Roman  governor,  sub 
ordinate  to  the  prefect  of  Syria.  Ko  fewer 
than  three  of  these  subordinate  governors 
were  appointed  in  succession  towards  the 
close  of  the  reign  of  Augustus.  During  the 
reign  of  Tiberius  there  were  only  two,  Vale 
rius  Gratus,  A.D.  16,  and  Pontius  Pilate, 
A.  D.  27.  Pilate  seems  to  have  been  the  first 
who  took  up  his  residence  at  Jerusalem, 
those  who  preceded  him  having  dwelt  at 
Caesarea.  The  condition  of  the  Jews  under 
the  Roman  governors  was  miserable  in  the 
extreme.  The  extortions  of  the  publicans, 
whose  office  it  was  to  collect  the  re  venue, 
were  excessive  ;  and  the  whole  of  their  pro 
ceeding  was  vexatious  and  oppressive.  It 
was  vain  to  hope  for  redress  from  the  gover 
nors,  whose  avarice  and  injustice  were  pro 
verbially  great.  The  very  fact  of  paying 
tribute  to  a  heathen  government  was  felt  to 
be  an  intolerable  grievance.  And  the  Ro 
man  soldiers  quartered  over  the  whole  coun 
try,  though  they  prevented  a  general  insur 
rection,  yet,  by  their  very  presence,  and  by 
the  ensigns  of  their  authority,  exasperated 
the  minds  of  the  Jewish  people,  and  led  to 
many  tumults,  and  seditions,  and  murders, 
A  numerous  party  existed  in  Judea,  whoso 
religious  prejudices  were  opposed  to  the  idea 
of  paying  taxes  to  a  foreign  power,  and  who 
cherished  the  vain  hope  of  restoring  the  Jew- 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


173 


ish  kingdom  Attempts  were  made  by  dif 
ferent  individuals,  and  particularly  by  Judas 
the  Gaulonite,  to  instigate  the  Jews  to  a 
general  revolt,  which  were  repressed  as  they 
arose.  But  the  fanatical  principles  were 
widely  spread,  and  led  to  excesses,  to  which, 
in  no  small  degree,  may  be  ascribed  the  final 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  The  party  was 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  Zealots. 

The  removal  of  Archelaus  was  not  con 
nected  with  any  act  on  the  part  of  the  Ro 
mans  towards  his  brothers.  Trachonitis  con 
tinued  under  Philip  till  the  time  of  his  death, 
when  it  was  annexed  to  the  province  of 
Syria.  Herod  Antipas  continued  tetrarch 
of  Galilee  till  after  the  accession  of  Caligula, 
who,  upon  the  discovery  that  he  had  enter 
tained  treasonous  designs,  deprived  him  of 
his  tetrarchate,  and  banished  him  to  Lyons, 
in  Gaul. 

The  period  at  which  we  are  now  arrived 
is  by  far  the  most  important  in  the  Jewish 
annals,  or  rather  in  the  annals  of  the  world. 
A  short  time  before  the  death  of  Herod  the 
Great,  Jesus  Christ,  the  promised  Messias, 
was  born  at  Bethlehem,  one  of  the  cities  of 
Benjamin.  He  commenced  his  public  min 
istry  about  the  30th  year  of  his  age,  and  was 
put  to  death  by  the  sentence  of  the  Roman 
governor,  Pontius  Pilate.  The  circumstances 
connected  with  his  life  and  death  and  resur 
rection  belong  to  Christian  rather  than  to 
Jewish  history. 

Agrippa,  a  grandson  of  Herod  the  Great, 
having  ingratiated  himself  with  the  Emperor 
Caligula,  was  appointed  tetrarch  of  Trachoni 
tis,  upon  the  death  of  his  uncle  Philip ;  and 
upon  the  banishment  of  Herod  Antipas,  the 
tetrarchy  of  Galilee  was  added  to  the  domin 
ion  of  Herod,  and  ultimately  he  was  named 
king  of  the  whole  territory  that  had  belong 
ed  to  his  grandfather.  This  prince,  upon  his 
death,  left  a  son,  also  named  Agrippa.  He 
was  represented  to  Claudius  as  too  young  to 
be  appointed  to  such  a  kingdom,  and  Pales 
tine  was  again  placed  under  a  Roman  gov 
ernor.  A  considerable  extent  of  territory, 
however,  was  ultimately  given  to  young 


Agrippa ;  but  Judea  and  Samaria  were  re 
served  as  a  Roman  province. 

The  policy  of  the  Romans  led  them  to 
give  toleration  to  their  subject  provinces  in 
all  matters  connected  with  their  national 
worship ;  and,  from  Pompey  to  Tiberius 
countenance  was  given  to  the  celebration  of 
the  Mosaic  ritual.  It  was  otherwise  with 
Caligula,  under  whose  reign  was  laid  the 
foundation  of  those  dissensions  between  the 
Jews  and  Romans  which  led  to  the  utter 
destruction  of  the  Jewish  polity.  The  in 
sane  vanity  of  Caligula  prompted  him  to  en 
force  divine  honors  from  all  his  subjects, 
which  threatened  the  worst  consequences  to 
the  Jewish  people  in  every  part  of  the  em 
pire.  The  Jews  of  Alexandria  were  the 
first  who  suffered.  By  their  refusal  to  com 
ply  with  the  imperial  edict,  a  pretext  was 
afforded  to  the  Grecian  party  in  the  city  to 
commence  a  prosecution  against  them.  The 
miserable  Jews  resolved  upon  sending  a  de 
putation  to  Rome  to  implore  the  clemency 
of  the  emperor.  This  deputation  was  head 
ed  by  Philo,  the  greatest  of  all  the  uninspii 
ed  Jewish  writers,  who  has  left  an  account  of 
his  interview  with  Caligula,  and  of  the  un- 

o  * 

certain  respite  which  was  granted  to  his  fel 
low-citizens.  The  governor  of  Syria  received 
orders  to  place  the  statue  of  the  emperor  in 
the  temple  of  Jerusalem ;  but  he  was  in 
duced,  by  the  spirit  of  calm  but  determined 
resistance  threatened  by  the  whole  nation, 
to  delay  the  execution  of  the  order  till  he 
received  farther  instructions  from  the  em 
peror.  There  is  a  difference  in  the  account 
of  the  manner  in  which  Caligula  acted  upon 
this  occasion,  by  Philo  and  Josephus ;  it  is 
certain,  however,  that  the  Jewish  nation  re 
mained  in  a  state  of  suspense  and  fear  till 
the  death  of  the  tyrant. 

The  worst  evils,  however,  endured  by  the 
Jews  at  this  period  were  not  directly  from 
the  emperors  themselves,  but  from  their  pro 
vincial  governors,  who,  without  exception, 
seem  to  have  been  men  insensible  to  the 
claims  of  justice,  and  actuated  solely  by  a 
spirit  of  violence  and  rapacity.  Gessiua 


174 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Florus  is  represented  by  Josephus  as  spoiling 
whole  cities,  and  ruining  entire  bodies  of 
men  ;  as  giving  security  to  robbers  and  law 
less  men  when  made  a  sharer  in  their  depre 
dations  ;  and  finally,  as  aggravating  the  op 
pressions  of  the  people,  to  instigate  them  to 
open  rebellion,  that  he  might  escape  the 
danger  of  a  representation  of  his  crimes 
being  made  to  the  emperor.  It  was  natural 
for  the  Jewish  historian  to  represent  the  re 
volt  which  terminated  in  the  destruction  of 
his  country,  as  originating  in  the  injustice  of 
their  enemies ;  and  it  must  be  allowed,  when 
we  contemplate  the  proceedings  of  the  Ro- 
mans,  that  if  ever  there  was  a  case  in  which 
revolt  was  justifiable,  it  was  in  that  of  the 
Jews.  It  may  be  doubted,  however,  whether 
they  can  be  looked  upon  with  that  generous 
sympathy  which  is  always  awakened  by  the 
history  of  a  people  nobly  uniting  in  the  as 
sertion  of  their  rights  and  liberties.  Judea, 
at  this  period,  was  torn  by  factions,  a  spirit 
of  insubordination  and  fanaticism,  chiefly 
Connected  with  views  of  their  p^mised  Mes- 
sias,  pervaded  the  great  body  of  the  people ; 
and  njiserable  as  was  their  condition  under 
the  oppressions  of  the  procurators,  it  is  im 
possible  not  to  perceive,  in  perusing  the 
works  of  their  own  historian,  that  their 
greatest  sufferings  were  occasioned  by  the 
unsettled  and  violent  spirit  that  reigned 
amonsr  themselves. 

o 

The  commencement  of  the  war  was  con 
nected  with  circumstances  which  took  place 
in  Cccsarea.  The  Syrian  party  in  that  city  had 
been  favored  by  the  Roman  emperor,  and 
they  abused  the  advantage  which  this  circum 
stance  gave  them,  in  provoking  and  harass 
ing  the  Jews,  till  at  last  there  was  a  violent 
collision,  and  the  Jews  were  driven  out  of  the  j 
city.     The  leading  men  among  them  appeal-  • 
ed  to  Florus,  who  instead  of  affording  them  j 
redress,  cast  them  into  prison.     The  news  of 
this  indignity  kindled  a  flame  in  the  Jewish  i 
capital;  and  the  excitement  among  the  peo- j 
pie  was  such  as  to  give  Florus  the  pretext ! 
which  he  had  long  desired,  of  letting  loose  ! 

o  /  O 

the  soldiery  upon  the  citizens.     Great  cruel-  i 


ties  were  inflicted,  and  no  distinction  was 
made  between  the  innocent  and  the  guilty. 
The  influence  of  Berenice,  sister  of  Agrippa, 
who  was  in  Jerusalem  at  the  time,  and  the 
arrival  of  Agrippa  himself  from  Egypt  soon 
after,  promised  to  restore  tranquillity.  They 
both  seem  to  have  been  sincere  in  their  efforts 
towards  a  pacification,  and  for  a  time  happy 
results  followed  the  soothing  counsels  of 
Agrippa.  It  was,  however,  but  for  a  time.  All 
over  Judea  there  were  spirits  determined  not 
to  allow  so  favorable  a  pretext  for  war  as  had 
been  afforded  by  Florus,  to  pass  away ;  and 
Agrippa,  soon  seeing  that  his  attempts  at 
mediation  were  to  be  in  vain,  withdrew  to 
his  own  kingdom,  and  left  Jerusalem  to  its 
fate.  This  was  in  the  year  GO.  Hitherto  the 
people  professed  that  it  was  against  Florus, 
and  not  against  the  Romans,  that  they  had 
taken  up  arms.  The  distinction  would  not 
have  been  acknowledged  at  Rome,  and  the 
Jews  did  not  allow  the  question  to  be 
tried.  Eleazar,  the  son  of  Ananias  the 
high  priest,  persuaded  the  people  to  reject 
the  offerings  which  were  made  by  the  em 
peror  to  the  temple,  and  which  had  been  re 
ceived  since  the  time  of  Julius  Coesar ;  and 
about  the  same  time  the  fortress  of  Massada, 
near  the  Dead  Sea,  was  taken,  and  the 
Roman  garrison  put  to  the  sword.  Allegiance 
to  the  Romans  was  now  in  effect  renounced, 
and  from  this  period  we  may  date  the  com 
mencement  of  the  war. 

Eleazar  took  possession  of  Acra  and  the 
temple;  and  receiving  numerous  reinforce 
ments  of  Zealots  or  Sicarii  from  different 
parts  of  the  country,  he  not  only  resisted  the 
assaults  of  the  Romans  and  of  the  soldiers  of 
Agrippa,  but  soon  sallied  out  and  made  him 
self  master  of  the  whole  city.  lie  granted  a 
safe  passage  to  the  Jewish  soldiers  who  were 
against  him,  and  to  the  troops  of  Agrippa ; 
but  a  different  fate  awaited  the  Roman 
garrison.  They  had  capitulated  on  condition 
that  their  lives  were  to  be  spared.  But  the 
moment  they  yielded  up  their  arms,  the  fol 
lowers  of  Eleazar  commenced  an  attack,  and, 
the  exception  of  their  leader,  they  were 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


17? 


all  put  to  the  sword.  This  monstrous  breach 
of  treaty  was  on  a  Sabbath  day  ;  and  the 
minds  of  all  those  who  had  not  as  yet  joined 
in  the  revolt  were  filled  with  gloomy  fore 
bodings  of  the  evils  which  were  now  inevita 
ble.  But  the  Jews  were  not  the  only  guilty 
parties  in  the  deeds  which  darken  the  annals  of 
these  dreadful  times.  On  the  same  day  of  the 
massacre  of  the  Roman  garrison,  the  Jewish 
inhabitants  of  Caesarea,  amounting  to  20,000, 
were  put  to  the  sword.  Upon  this  the  fire 
spread  at  once  over  all  Judea,  and  an  attack 
was  simultaneously  made  upon  the  neighbor 
ing  territory  of  Syria.  Cestins  Gallus,  the  pre 
fect  of  Syria,  took  immediate  measures  for 
chastising  this  presumption.  He  ordered  the 
twelfth  legion  into  Galilee,  and  soon  after 
wards  he  himself  entered  Judea  with  an  army 
of  about  10,000  men.  He  advanced  without 
opposition  to  Jerusalem,  and,  from  the  state 
of  parties  in  the  city,  there  seems  little  doubt, 
that  if  he  had  shown  common  prudence,  or 
common  bravery,  it  would  soon  have  been  in 
his  power.  But  a  severer  doom  was  in 
reserve  for  it.  Cestius,  to  the  surprise  of  all, 
in  a  few  days  raised  the  siege,  withdrew  his 
troops,  and  commenced  a  retreat,  which  the 
pursuit  of  the  Jews  soon  changed  into  a 
general  flight,  in  the  course  of  which  he  lost 
more  than  half  his  army.  The  Jews  only  lost 
a  few  men. 

The  news  of  this  defeat  was  received  by 
Xero  with  such  alarm,  that  he  immediately 
appointed  Vespasian,  who  was  considered  as 
the  most  experienced  general  in  the  empire, 
to  quell  the  insurrection.  Without  the  loss  of 
an  hour  after  his  appointment,  Vespasian 
dispatched  his  son  Titus  to  Alexandria, 
whence  with  the  sixth  and  tenth  legions,  he 
was  to  proceed  to  Judea.  Vespasian  him 
self  advanced  to  Syria. 

Upon  the  retreat  of  Cestius,  many  Jews 
departed  from  Judea,  as  from  a  foundering 
bark,  that  was  soon  to  go  down  in  darkness 
and  death.  The  Christians,  we  are  informed 
about  this  time,  also  remembering  the  pro 
phecies  of  our  Lord,  retired  to  the  town  of 
Pel!a  to  avoid  the  approaching  calamities 


The  Jews  who  remained  in  their  own  land 
were  diligent  in  putting  all  their  strong  places 
in  a  state  of  defence. 

Vespasian  opened  his  first  campaign  in 
Galilee  in  the  spring  of  67.  His  army  con 
sisted  of  about  60,000  men,  horse  and  foot, 
including  auxiliaries.  On  the  first  assault  he 
took  and  burned  Gadara.  He  then  present 
ed  himself  before  Jotapata,  which  was  com 
manded  by  Josephus,  who  afterwards  wrote 
the  history  of  the  war.  After  a  siege  of 
forty  days,  the  town  was  taken  and  destroy 
ed.  Above  40,000  men  were  killed  during 
this  siege.  Josephus  surrendered  at  discre 
tion,  and  continued  during  the  remainder  of 
the  war  a  prisoner  at  large  among  the  Ro 
mans.  In  his  history,  accordingly,  of  this 
miserable  period,  we  have  the  account  of  an 
eye-witness.  The  fact  that  the  capture  of 
Jotapata  was  the  chief  event  of  the  first 
season,  proves  that  the  Roman  had  met  no 
unworthy  foe. 

In  the  spring  of  the  following  year, 
Vespasian  commenced  by  reducing  the  whole 
of  Pera?a,  it  not  being  his  policy  to  march 
directly  upon  Jerusalem.  He  then  advanced 
from  Cffisarea  towards  the  south,  laid  waste 
Judea  and  Idumea,  secured  Samaria,  and 
then  drew  back  to  Caesarea,  to  be  in  readi 
ness  to  march  with  all  his  forces  against  the 
capital  itself. 

Vespasian  had  now  made  all  his  prepara 
tions  ;  he  had  occupied  two  seasons  in  clear 
ing  the  whole  territory  round  and  round, 
that  nothing  might  interpose  to  break  his  on 
set  ;  Jerusalem  itself  stood  like  an  isolated 
tower,  against  which  all  the  engines. of  des 
truction  were  arrayed ;  the  force  of  Rome 
was  drawn  back  to  Csesarea,  that  it  mi^ht  be 

*  O 

sent  off  with  an  irresistible  shock ;  but  at  that 
critical  moment  the  moving  power  of  this 
machinery  of  desolation  took  another  direc 
tion,  and  a  period  was  given  to  the  Jewish 
people  to  repent, — or  to  fill  up  the  measure 
of  their  iniquities.  Upon  arriving  at  Cresarea, 
Vespasian  received  intelligence  which  fixed 
his  whole  attention  upon  Rome.  Xero  waa 
dead,  and  the  fate  of  the  empire  was  in 


176 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


balance.  A  more  important  prize  than 
Jerusalem  was  now  presented  to  his  view, 
and,  called  to  the  purple  by  the  voice  of  his 
soldiers,  he  set  sail  for  Italy,  leaving  his  son 
Titus  to  conclude  the  war. 

Throughout  the  protracted  period  during 
which  Vespasian  had  been  devastating  Jndea, 
Jerusalem,  instead  of  making  preparations 
to  withstand  the  approaching  attack,  was,  the 
scene  of  contentions  so  ferocious,  that  the  ad 
vance  of  the  Romans  was  longed  for  by  the 
great  proportion  of  the  inhabitants,  as  the 
only  earthly  means  for  their  deliverance 
from  the  terrible  evils  under  which  they 
wpro  suffering.  There  were  three  factions 
within  the  walls,  animated  against  each  other 
with  sentiments  of  the  deadliest  hate,  and 
often  engaging  in  actual  conflict.  Eluuzar 
had  seized  the  temple,  and  kept  him  self  in 
strength  there  with  2400  men.  John,  the 
rival  of  Joseplms,  had  his  position  in  the 
inner  court  of  the  temple.  lie  had  a  party 
of  6000.  Simon,  the  son  of  Gioras,  called 
Simon  the  assassin,  occupied  the  upper  city. 
His  force  was  the  largest,  consisting  of 
10,000,  and  5000  Idumeana.  Such  was  the 
position  of  the  three  factions  when  Titus 
took  the  command,  and  the  miseries  of  the 
siege  itself  scarcely  exceeded  what  had  been 
endured  amidst  the  daily  encounters  of  the 
Jewish  soldiery.  Death  was  become  so  com 
mon  a  spectacle,  that  it  was  viewed  without 
emotion.  The  feelings  of  kindred  were  dried 
up ;  a  callousness  of  heart  seized  upon  all ;  the 
interest  in  life  itself  seemed  to  be  extinguish 
ed. 

At  last,  about  the  beginning  ^of  April  of 
the  year  70,  the  tide  of  war  took  the  direc 
tion  of  Jerusalem;  and  Titus,  with  the 
Roman  host,  advanced  from  Cresarea  through 
Samaria,  and  encamped  under  the  walls. 
The  contending  chiefs,  when  it  was  too  late, 
entered  into  negotiations  for  uniting  their 
forces  against  the  Romans.  Their  mutual 
hatred,  however,  was  never  laid  aside,  nor 
did  they  repose  confidence  in  each  other, 
though  they  fought  with  the  valor  of  des 
peration  against  the  common  enemy. 


The  city  was  fortified  by  three  walls  of 
prodigious  strength.  The  one  built  by 
Agrippa  was  seventeen  and  a  half  feet  broad, 
the  stone  thirty-five  feet  long,  and  so  com 
pacted  as  not  to  be  easily  shaken  by  the  bat 
tering  rams.  The  walls  were  everywhere 
guarded  by  towers,  at  intervals  of  about  350 
feet,  of  solid  masonary,  and  of  great  height.. 
The  tower  Psephina,  opposite  to  which  Titus 
encamped,  was  122  feet  high;  it  is  suid  to 
have  commanded  a  view  of  the  whole  terri 
tory  of  Judea  to  the  border  of  Arabia  and  to 
the  Red  Sea ;  and  there  were  other  towers 
of  scarcely  less  imposing  appearance,  and  of 
equal  strength.  Above  the  whole  city  stood 
the  temple,  the  walls  of  which  were  in  no 
place  lower  than  500  feet.  It  covered  a 
square  of  a  furlong  each  side,  and  was  of  such 
strength  as  to  be  supposed  impregnable. 
Some  of  the  stones  employed  in  the  work 
were  seventy  feet  square  ; — and  not  one  of 
these  was  to  be  left  upon  another. 

At  first  the  Jews  made  some  sallies,  so 
vigorous  as  to  astonish  the  Romans  them 
selves.  Had  the  parties  within  been  united, 
and  had  the  time  from  the  commencement  of 
the  war  been  employed  in  putting  the  city 
in  a  state  of  complete  defence,  it  might  have 
withstood  the  whole  Roman  power  for  years. 
But  the  day  and  the  hour  of  its  overthrow 
had  been  fixed  in  the  counsel  of  heaven. 

After  strenuous  fighting  for  every  inch  of 
ground,  two  walls  were  successively  abandon 
ed  by  the  Jews.  But  the  heights  of  Zion,  the 
Antonia,  and  the  temple,  still  remained, 
which  might  be  considered  the  strength  of 
Jerusalem ;  and  so  hopeless  did  every  attempt 
seem  to  take  any  of  them  by  storm,  and  so 
paralysing  were  the  desperate  efforts  of  the 
Jews  upon  the  Roman  power,  that  Titus 
found  it  necessary  to  blockade  and  starve 
the  city  and  garrison.  The  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem  now  saw  their  enemies  "  casting  a 
trench  round  about  them,  and  compassing 
them  round  and  keeping  them  in  on  every 
side"  The  wall,  which  was  nearly  five 
miles  in  circumference,  was  completed  in 
three  days.  The  horrors  that  ensued  are  be- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


177 


yond  description.  Even  before  this  time  the 
evils  of  famine  had  begun  to  be  experienced. 
In  the  extremities  of  hunger,  many  ventured 
out  of  the  citv  to  gather  herbs.  Strict  orders 

•J  O 

were  given  by  Titus  that  such  individuals 
should  be  seized  upon,  and  an  example  made 
of  them,  to  the  terror  of  the  besieged.  Those 
who  were  found  with  arms  were  crucified, 
sometimes  to  the  number  of  500  in  a  day ; 
and  the  soldiers  used  to  expose  them  in  mock 
ery  to  those  upon  the  walls,  nailed  in  differ 
ent  postures.  At  last  wood  was  awanting  to 
place  the  bodies  upon,  and  room  on  which  to 
erect  the  crosses.  When  the  wall  was  com 
pleted,  there  was  no  longer  the  possibility, 
at  any  risk,  of  finding  sustenance  from  with 
out,  and  the  ravages  of  hunger  became  in 
conceivably  great.  "Whole  families  perished. 
Houses  were  filled  with  dead  women  and 
children,  the  streets  with  aged  men.  The 
young  had  not  strength  to  bury  the  dead. 
Many  died  in  the  attempt  to  give  burial  to 
others,  and  many  repaired  to  the  tombs  to 
wait  for  death.  There  were  no  more  tears 
Been,  nor  cries  heard.  They  sat  with  dry  eyes, 
and  mouths  drawn  up  into  a  bitter  smile.  A 
deep  silence  was  spread  over  the  city,  form 
ing  a  horrible  kind  of  night.  The  only  noise 
was  from  those  who  were  engaged  in  the 
work  of  plunder,  whose  mirth  it  was  to  try 
their  sword  upon  the  bodies  of  the  dead ;  but 
if  any  one  begged  them  to  put  an  end  to 
their  misery,  they  would  not  kill  them.  The 
dying  turned  their  eyes  to  the  temple,  as  if 
to  complain  to  God  that  these  wicked  men 
were  suffered  to  live.  Everything  was 
eaten;  their  girdles,  the  straps  of  their 
sandals,  the  remains  of  old  hay,  the  refuse  of 
the  dunghill.  Scenes  still  more  horrible  dis 
covered  the  depth  of  dreadful  meaning  in  the 
words  of  our  Saviour :  "  Behold  the  days  are 
coming  in  which  they  shall  say,  blessed  are 
the  barren,  and  the  wombs  that  never  bare, 
and  the  paps  that  never  gave  suck."  And  the 
predictions  of  Moses  were  fulfilled  even  to  the 
letter :  "  The  tender  and  delicate  woman, 
which  would  not  adventure  to  set  the  sole  of 
her  foot  upon  the  ground  for  delicateness  and 
23 


tenderness,  her  eye  shall  be  evil  towards  her 
husband,  and  towards  lier  son,  and  toward* 
her  daughter,  and  towards  her  young  one 
that  cometh  out  from  between  her  feet,  and 
towards  the  children  that  she  shall  bear  •  for 
sJie  shall  eat  them  for  want  of  all  things 
secretly  in  the  siege,  and  straitness  wherewith 
thine  enemies  shall  distress  thee  within  thy 
gates." 

The  cup  was  now  full,  and  for  the  "  elect's 
sake  the  days  were  shortened."  The  fortress 
of  Antonia,  after  many  furious  assaults,  was 
taken  and  destroyed ;  and,  on  the  17th  of 
July,  Titus  advanced  as  far  as  the  temple, 
where  the  perpetual  sacrifice  ceased  for  want 
of  a  sufficient  number  to  offer  it.  Still  the 
Jews  refused  to  surrender,  and  the  works  of 
the  Romans  proceeded.  On  the  8th  of 
August,  Titus  attacked  the  second  court  of 
the  temple.  The  walls  could  not  be  beat 
down,  from  the  size  of  the  stones,  and  the  de 
fence  of  the  Jews  prevented  the  scaling  of 
the  galleries.  Fire  was  therefore  set  to  the 
doors,  which  soon  spread  into  the  temple  it- 
self,  and  reduced  the  splendid  edifice  into  a 
heap  of  ruins.  Still  the  upper  city  held  out. 
But  at  last  a  breach  was  effected,  and  on  the 
8th  of  September  the  whole  of  Jerusalem  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  and  orders  were 
given  by  Titus  for  demolishing  the  city  and 
temple. 

Three  forts  in  Judea  still  held  out  against 

O 

the  Romans,  Herodion,  Massada,  and  Mach- 
aeras.  Two  of  these  made  a  long  and  vigor 
ous  defence,  but  before  the  end  of  the  year 
72  Judea  was  in  a  state  of  entire  subjugation. 
Contrary  to  the  usual  policy  of  the  Romans, 
the  territory  was  not  shared  among  military 
colonists.  Ah1  the  lands  were  exposed  to  sale. 
In  the  northern  districts  the  chief  purchasers 
were  Syrians.  Individuals  among  the  Jews 
themselves  bought  considerable  properties  in 
the  south;  the  proceeds  were  reserved  for 
the  imperial  treasury ;  and  a  capitation  tax 
was  imposed  upon  the  Jewish  people  through 
out  the  empire,  and  exacted  with  the  most 
galling  severity,  for  restoring  and  adorning 
the  Roman  capitol,  which  had  been  destroyed 


178 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


in  the  civil  wars  some  time  before  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem. 

From  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  Jeru 
salem  by  Titus,  there  is  no  longer  any  con 
necting  tie  in  the  history  of  the  Jewish  people, 
except  their  imperishable  love  to  the  religion 
of  their  fathers.  Scattered  abroad  in  almost 
every  country  of  the  world,  in  every  variety 
of  outward  condition,  their  late  presents  mat 
ter  for  a  subordinate  chapter  in  the  history 
of  other  nations,  rather  than  a  separate  sub 
ject  of  history.  We  are  presented  with  a 
mass  of  materials,  to  which  the  ordinary  rules 
of  historical  arrangement,  by  epochs  and  by 
countries,  do  not  apply.  The  condition  of  the 
Jews  from  this  date  varies  in  different  king 
doms,  and  even  in  different  parts  of  the  same 
kingdom  at  the  same  period,  and  is  so  inti 
mately  connected  with  the  varieties  of  na 
tional  policy,  and  with  local  and  temporary 
causes,  that  it  cannot  perhaps  be  fully  under 
stood  in  all  its  parts,  except  when  viewed  as 
incorporated  with  universal  history.  There 
arc.  however,  a  few  general  heads,  under 
u  hich  the  more  important  particulars  con 
nected  with  their  destiny  may  be  classed ; 
the  classification  must  indeed  be  imperfect, 
from  the  discordant  and  impracticable  nature 
of  the  materials  with  which  we  are  presented  ; 
still,  however,  there  is  one  principle  which 
gives  a  unity  to  them  all.  And  in  the  absence 
of  the  definite  lines  which  limit  historical 
narrative  in  other  instances,  we  must  be  more 
forcibly  struck  with  the  peculiarities  of  this 
singular  race,  among  whom  the  want  of  a 
native  country  has  formed  a  bond  of  connec 
tion  more  powerful  than  all  the  ties  of  country 
to  other  tribes ;  while  the  efforts  made  to  sever 
them  from  their  religion  has  made  them  clinsr 

O  O 

to  it  with  an  energy  that  seems  to  have  incor 
porated  itself  with  the  very  essence  of  their  be 
ing.  The  circumstances  which  preserved  the 
Jews  as  a  separate  people  after  the  termina 
tion  of  the  temple  worship,  were  similar  to 
those  which  operated  during  the  time  of  the 
captivity,  with  the  addition  of  the  rabbinical 
system,  which  wras  now  in  full  operation.  In 
whatever  country  a  few  families  of  Jews 


were  collected  into  one  place,  the  worship  of 
the  synagogue  brought  them  into  religious 
fellowship ;  and  pride  in  their  privileges  as 
God's  peculiar  people,  a  principle  of  honor 
in  not  deserting  a  persecuted  cause,  revenge 
against  a  world  from  which  they  received  so 
much  injustice,  combined  with  never-aban 
doned  hopes  of  blessings  yet  in  store  for  them 
selves  or  their  children,  and  the  magic 
influence  of  associations  connected  with  their 
ancient  ritual,  have  perpetuated  the  Jewish 
name  in  every  country  where  cupidity  has 
allured  or  cruelty  banished  any  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  race. 

There  is  little  that  is  interesting  in  the  his 
tory  of  the  Jews  for  near  forty  years  after  the 
destruction  of  their  city.  The  ruins  of  Je 
rusalem  were  occupied  by  a  Roman  garrison, 
to  prevent  any  attempt  to  rebuild  it ;  and  the 
tax  imposed  by  Vespasian  continued  to  be 
exacted  by  his  immediate  successors,  who  ex 
hibited  considerable  jealousy  of  the  Jews, 
and  often  subjected  individuals  among  them 
to  great  hardships  and  indignities.  Upon 
the  whole,  however,  the  race  seems  to  have 
enjoyed  considerable  security ;  and  though 
forbidden  to  approach  Jerusalem,  large  com 
munities  were  suffered  to  be  formed  in  Pal 
estine. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Trajan. 
a  spirit  of  restlessness  and  sedition  again  be 
gan  to  appear  among  this  unhappy  people  in 
all  quarters  of  the  world.  When  the  em 
peror  was  engaged  in  the  war  with  Parthia, 
the  hereditary  enmity  of  the  Jews  and  Greeks 
in  Egypt  broke  out  in  hostilities,  in  which 
were  shed  oceans  of  blood.  Xo  effective  at 
tempt  seems  to  have  been  made  for  somo 
time  on  the  part  of  the  Romans  to  put  an 
end  to  these  commotions.  At  last,  however, 
Hadrian  interposed  and  inflicted  on  the  mis 
erable  Jews  signal  punishment.  About  the 
same  period,  A.  D.  116,  the  Jews  of  Mesopo 
tamia,  whom  the  victories  of  Trajan  had  sub 
jected  to  the  Roman  instead  of  the  Parthian 
sway,  rose  in  unsuccessful  rebellion  against 
their  new  masters.  In  the  following  year 
Trajan  died,  and  under  his  successor,  Hud- 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


179 


rian,  theMesopotamian  Jews  were  again  left 
to  the  sway  of  their  ancient  monarchs. 

The  accession  of  Hadrian  was  not  likely 
to  prove  advantageous  to  the  Jews  in  gener 
al,  as  it  had  accidentally  been  to  those  of  Me 
sopotamia.  He  had  indicated  his  sentiments 
towards  them  by  his  proceedings  in  Cyprus 
and  Egypt  before  the  death  of  Trajan ;  and 
when  he  succeeded  to  that  prince,  he  issued 
an  edict  forbidding  circumcision,  the  reading 
of  the  law,  and  the  observance  of  the  Sab 
bath  ;  and  he  announced  his  purpose  of  es 
tablishing  a  Roman  colony  on  the  ruins  of 
Jerusalem,  and  erecting  a  temple  to  Jupiter 
on  the  place  where  the  temple  of  Jehovah 
bad  stood.  To  this  new  city  was  to  be  given 
the  name  ^Elia  Capitolina,  from  his  own 
pr£enomen,  and  the  dedication  of  the  capital 
to  Jupiter.  For  a  time  the  Jews  submitted, 
with  ill-concealed  purpose  of  resistance,  to  the 
authority  of  Hadrian.  But  in  the  year  129 
we  find  the  whole  of  Judea  once  more  in  a 
state  of  rebellion.  The  leader  of  this  new 
revolt  w\as  Barchochab,  which,  in  the  Syriac, 
signifies  the  son  of  the  star.  He  assumed 
the  character  of  Messias,  pretending  that  he 
was  the  Star  of  Jacob  foretold  by  Balaam, 
who  was  to  deliver  the  Jews  and  subdue  the 
Gentiles.  Little  is  known  of  his  previous 
history.  According  to  report,  he  had  been  at 
one  time  a  robber;  and  his  conduct  shows 
that  he  must  have  been  a  man  thoroughly 
conversant  with  scenes  of  blood  and  rapine ; 
while  the  devotedness  of  his  followers,  and 
the  vigorous  and  for  a  time  successful  resist 
ance  he  made  to  the  Romans,  evince  him  a 
man  of  talent  and  energy.  The  war  against 
Barchochab  presents  a  repetition  of  the 
scenes  of  that  of  Titus.  Success  at  last  de 
clared  wholly  in  favor  of  the  Romans,  and 
about  the  year  13-1,  Judea  was  again  made 
desolate.  About  half  a  million  fell  by  the 
sword  in  the  course  of  this  war,  besides  those 
who  perished  by  fire,  famine,  and  sickness. 
Those  who  escaped  were  reduced  to  slavery 
by  thousands.  Such  as  could  not  be  thus 
disposed  of  were  transported  into  Egypt,  and 
Palestine  was  almost  wholly  depopulated. 


The  Jews  were  now  forbidden  to  enter  Jeru 
salem,  or  even  to  look  upon  it  from  a  dis 
tance  ;  and  the  city,  under  the  name  of  vElia, 
was  inhabited  by  Gentiles  only,  or  such 
Christians  as  renounced  the  Jewish  ceremo 
nies. 

However  severe  the  Romans  might  be  in 
the  wars  which  they  carried  on  against  the 
Jews,  they  seem  to  have  been  ready  to  lay 
aside  their  resentment  when  the  occasion 
passed  away ;  and  under  Antoninus  Pius  we 
find  the  Jewish  people  again  restored  to  their 
ancient  privileges,  with  a  prohibition  merely 
against  proselytizing.  They  were  still  ex 
cluded  from  Jerusalem,  but  they  were  per 
mitted  to  form  and  to  maintain  considerable 
establishments  both  in  Italy  and  in  the  prov 
inces  ;  and  while  they  were  exempted  from 
many  expensive  and  burdensome  offices,  they 
enjoyed  municipal  honors  in  common  with 
other  citizens.  The  erection  of  new  syna 
gogues  was  permitted  in  the  principal  cities; 
and  the  Jews  were  allowed  to  celebrate  the 
solemnities  of  their  religion  without  moles 
tation. 

At  this  period  we  find  the  eastern  and 
western  Jews  divided  under  two  great  spirit 
ual  monarchies,  viz.  the  patriarchates  of  Tibe 
rias  and  Babylon.  The  origin  of  both  is  in 
volved  in  considerable  obscurity.  In  regard 
to  the  former,  viz.  that  of  Tiberias,  the  tra 
dition  among  the  Jews  themselves  is,  that 
the  Sanhedrim,  after  moving  from  Jerusa 
lem,  settled  in  Jamnia,  and  finally  fixed  their 
abode  upon  the  banks  of  the  Lake  Genesu- 
reth,  where  their  supremacy  was  acknowl 
edged  as  of  divine  appointment,  their  chief 
or  president  exercising  the  authority  of  a 
spiritual  head  over  the  Jews  in  the  provinces 
of  the  Roman  empire.  He  was  acknowledged 
as  their  patriarch  or  pontiff.  An  annual 
contribution  was  raised  for  him  by  the 
dispersed  brethren,  and  his  legates  or  apostles 
visited  every  synagogue,  bearing  his  man 
dates,  and  deciding  in  all  questions  that  were 
brought  before  them.  To  this  new  form  of 
government  a  legal  sanction  was  given  by 
the  Roman  emperors,  and  it  continued  in 


180 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


existence  till  about  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century.  As  the  law  was  still  made  to  ex 
tend  to  every  moment  of  time,  and  to  every 
variety  of  thought  and  action,  with  a  burthen- 
Borne  and  perplexing  minuteness,  and  no 
memory  could  retain  the  multitude  of  statutes 
which  were  prescribed,  and  difficulties  were 
constantly  arising  as  to  the  duty  required  in 
new  combinations  of  circumstances,  the 
Jewish  lawyers  continued  to  possess  an  un 
bounded  power  over  the  consciences  of  the 
people.  And  as  it  was  indispensable  that 
all  the  rabbis  should  agree  in  their  decisions, 
reference  was  constantly  necessary  to  the 
spiritual  patriarch,  so  long  as  the  traditionary 
law  was  not  committed  to  writing,  and  was 
to  be  found  only  in  the  living  decision  of  the 
patriarch  and  his  senate.  The  publication 
of  the  Talmud,  though  it  exalted  the  charac 
ter  of  the  special  patriarchs  by  whom  the 
work  was  undertaken,  was  calculated  to 
diminish  the  influence  of  the  patriarchate. 
It  took  away  the  necessity  of  appeal  from 
the  inferior  courts,  by  affording  the  means  to 
every  rabbi  to  give  a  just  decision.  This 
must  be  considered  as  the  chief  cause  of  the 
fall  of  the  patriarchate  of  Tiberias,  which  took 
place  about  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  cen 
tury  ;  though  other  circumstances  contributed. 
The  exportation  of  the  annual  tribute  from 
Home  was  prohibited  by  the  Emperor  Hon- 
orius  ;  by  a  law  of  Theodosius  the  title  of 
prophet  was  taken  from  the  patriarch  Gama 
liel  ;  and  upon  the  death  of  that  individual, 
though  the  office  was  not  abolished,  its 
authority  being  destroyed,  no  successor  was 
found,  and  the  power  which  had  been  exer 
cised  by  the  patriarchs  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  rabbinical  aristocracy. 

The  power  of  the  patriarch  of  the  "West  was 
)f  a  spiritual  nature ;  but  in  the  East,  the 
office  corresponding  to  the  patriarchate  in- 
7olved  a  mixture  of  temporal  authority.  The 
Babylonian  Jews  are  those  inhabiting  be 
tween  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates.  During 
the  wars  between  the  Jews  and  Hadrian,  this 
colony  was  greatly  increased  by  fugitives 
from  the  West.  In  their  early  history,  and 


till  a  considerable  time  after  the  introductior 
of  rabbinism,  the  Babylonian  Jews  were  less 
distinguished  from  the  people  among  whom 
they  lived  than  their  brethren  in  the  West. 
So  long  as  the  temple  remained,  it  formed  a 
bond  of  union  between  the  two  classes,  as 
they  all  contributed  regularly  to  its  support. 
In  addition  to  this  religious  tax,  they  paid 
another  to  the  kingdom  to  which  they  be 
longed.  A  system  of  taxation  was  organized 
for  this  latter  purpose,  which  was  intrusted 
to  a  chief  person  among  themselves,  named 
the  Resell  Glutha,  that  is,  a  chief  of  the  col 
onists,  or  as  he  is  usually  called,  Prince  of  the 
Captivity.  The  office  of  this  individual  was 
at  first  wholly  of  a  temporal  nature,  and  all 
that  related  to  matters  of  faith  and  worship 
was  regulated  by  the  decisions  of  the  San 
hedrim  at  Jerusalem.  After  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  an  attempt  was  made  to  throw 
off  the  dependence  upon  the  schools  of  Pales 
tine,  which  was  frustrated  for  a  time  by  the 
arts  of  the  patriarch  and  his  senate.  By  de 
grees,  however,  the  inconvenience  of  a  con 
stant  reference  to  a  distant  country,  and  the 
growing  celebrity  of  the  schools  of  Nisibia 
and  Nahardea,  enabled  the  Resell  Glutha  to 
establish  his  independence.  lie  formed  a 
court  after  the  model  of  that  at  Tiberias; 
and,  under  the  prevailing  belief  that  he  was 
the  lineal  descendant  of  David,  he  succeeded 
in  establishing  his  claim  to  a  spiritual,  in 
addition  to  his  temporal  authority.  He  exer 
cised  a  power  almost  despotic  over  the 
Jewish  people ;  and  though  a  vassal  of  the 
king  of  Persia,  he  maintained  an  almost  regal 
state.  The  rabbis  were  in  complete  subjec 
tion  to  him ;  and  from  his  being  able  to 
bring  his  power  as  a  temporal  prince  to  bear 
upon  his  ecclesiastical  mandates,  his  influ 
ence  over  the  Jewish  community  was  greater 
than  that  of  the  Nasi.  From  our  igno 
rance  of  the  state  of  the  East  beyond  Persia, 
the  extent  of  his  dominions  cannot  be  ascer 
tained.  His  subjects  consisted  of  shepherds, 
husbandmen,  artisans,  and  merchants ;  of  the 
latter  many  were  wealthy.  They  do  no1 
seem  to  have  been  subjected  to  persecution. 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


18J 


and,  in  the  enjoyment  of  peace,  the  interests 
of  learning  flourished.  Schools  rose  rapidly 
in  different  parts  of  his  dominions ;  and  to 
one  of  these  we  are  indebted  for  the  Talmud 
of  Jerusalem,  which  has  exercised  such  an 
influence  upon  the  Jewish  people  in  all  suc 
ceeding  times.  The  increasing  number  of 
the  schools,  and  of  the  learned  men  proceeding 
from  them,  gradually  lessened  the  influence 
of  the  Eesch  Glutha,  though  the  office  con 
tinued  in  existence  till  the  middle  of  the 
eleventh  century,  when  it  was  suppressed  by 
the  tyranny  of  one  of  the  caliphs. 

The  establishment  of  Christianity  as  the 
religion  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  irruption 
of  the  northern  nations,  and  the  rise  and 
progress  of  Mohammedanism,  had  all  a  marked 
influence  upon  the  condition  of  the  Jews. 
The  first  Christian  emperors  conducted  them 
selves  towards  the  Jewish  people  with  a 
lenity  and  forbearance  that  was  not  always 
agreeable  to  some  of  their  subjects.  Under 
Constantino  the  right  of  the  Jews  to  the 
privileges  of  Roman  citizenship  was  fully 
recognised,  while  the  rabbis  had  the  same 
exemption  from  civil  and  military  offices  as 
the  Christian  clergy.  Christians,  however, 
were  prohibited  from  becoming  Jews,  while 
converts  from  Judaism  were  protected  from 
the  resentment  of  their  countrymen.  Under 
Constantius  the  Jews  of  Palestine  subjected 
themselves  to  the  severity  of  the  laws  by 
their  interference  in  the  contests  between  the 
Arians  and  Athanasians.  Several  of  their 
cities  were  destroyed,  and  the  law  of  Hadrian 
was  renewed,  by  which  they  were  forbidden 
to  approach  Jerusalem.  The  hatred  of 
Julian  to  the  Christians  disposed  him  to  view 
their  enemies  the  Jews  with  a  favorable  eye. 
he  entered  into  correspondence  with  the  pa 
triarch  of  Tiberias,  and  wrote  a  friendly 
Letter  to  the  Jewish  community,  in  wrhich  he 
promised  to  put  them  again  in  possession  of 
Jerusalem,  and  to  restore  their  temple.  At 
last  an  edict  was  issued  for  the  rebuilding  of 
the  sacred  structure,  and  instructions  were 
given  to  Alypius.  prefect  of  Syria,  to  carry  it 
into  effect.  Jerusalem  was  once  more  filled 


with  Jews,  who  assembled  from  all  sides 
emulous  to  give  their  aid  in  an  undertaking 
which  was  to  prove  a  new  era  in  their  history. 
Materials  for  the  vast  fabric  were  collected, 
and  the  mountain  was  purified  from  the 
abominations  of  idolatry.  But  when  the 
workmen  proceeded  to  dig  for  a  foundation, 
they  were  surprised  by  a  subterraneous  ex 
plosion,  in  which  some  perished,  while  the 
rest  took  flight  in  dismay.  Though  a  differ 
ence  of  opinion  has  existed  as  to  the  character 
of  the  igneous  irruption,  the  evidence  that 
the  work  was  in  fact  suspended  is  of  the 
strongest  nature,  and  the  truth  of  the  predic 
tions  of  Scripture  was  fully  maintained.  The 
death  of  Julian  prevented  the  renewal  of  the 
attempt,  and  put  an  end  to  all  his  schemes 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Jewish  community. 
His  successors  showed  in  general  a  tendency 
to  favor  the  Jews  as  useful  subjects,  and 
frequently  protected  them  from  the  violence 
of  the  people,  though  in  some  instances  the 
bigotry  of  the  more  powerful  prelates  prompt 
ed  to  measures  of  severity.  It  must  be  added, 
that  the  blind  zeal  of  the  Jews  often  rendered 
them  the  just  objects  of  the  popular  indigna 
tion. 

Upon  the  division  of  the  Roman  world, 
the  position  of  the  Jews  in  the  eastern  empire 
became  less  favorable  than  that  of  their 
brethren  in  the  West.  For  a  time,  indeed, 
they  continued  to  enjoy  the  rights  of  Roman 
citizens  according  to  the  law;  but  under 
Justin  I.  they  were  pronounced  as  belonging  to 
the  same  class  with  heretics,  and  consequent 
ly  disqualified  for  civil  and  military  offices. 
The  laws  of  Justinian  were  framed  for  perse 
cuting  them  into  proselytism.  By  the  im 
perial  edicts  the  duties  of  citizens  without 
the  honors  were  rigorously  exacted.  In 
mixed  marriages,  the  education  of  the  children 
was  confined  to  the  Christian  parent ;  if  tho 
children  grew  up  unbelievers,  they  were  de 
prived  of  their  inheritance  ;  and  in  law-suits, 
except  in  cases  where  both  parties  were  Jews 
their  testimony  was  inadmissible.  Anothej 
law  was  passed  by  this  emperor,  in  conse 
quence  of  a  division  among  the  Jews  them 


HISTORY  OF  THE  MTOKLD. 


selves,  which  had  it  been  observed,  might 
have  been  folk  wed  with  serious  consequences 
to  Judaism.  Upon  the  suppression  of  the 
patriarchate,  the  power  which  had  been 
enjoyed  by  that  spiritual  chief  was  divided 
among  the  primates  or  chief  rabbis  of  the 
lujparate  Jewish  communities.  The  power 
of  the  rabbis  arose  principally  from  the  respect 
in  which  the  Talmud  was  held,  aud  from  the 
right  which  they  enjoyed  of  expounding  the 
sacred  volume.  From  policy  or  habit  their 
instructions  were  conveyed  in  ancient  Chal- 
daic  ;  and  as  this  ceased  to  be  understood  by 
many  of  their  hearers,  who  adopted  the  lan 
guage  of  the  country  in  which  they  settled,  a 
very  general  wish  prevailed  for  a  change  in 
tin's  custom,  and  for  a  translation  of  their 
scriptures.  This  alarming  spirit  of  innova 
tion  was  resisted  by  the  rabbis ;  and  the  con 
tending  parties  resorted  to  the  extraordinary 
expedient  of  referring  the  cause  to  the 
Christian  emperor.  The  decision  of  the  em 
peror  was  in  favor  of  the  rights  of  the  peo 
ple.  In  the  edict  which  was  issued,  the 
fullest  license  was  granted  for  reading  the 
scriptures  in  the  vernacular  tongue ;  the 
Mischna  was  declared  to  be  of  human  com 
position  merely,  and  full  of  such  errors  as 
belong  to  all  the  works  of  men  ;  and  the  hope 
of  the  emperor  was  expressed  that  the  perusal 
of  the  Scriptures  in  a  known  language  might 
lead  to  the  conversion  of  many  to  the  Chris 
tian  faith.  It  is  probable  that  this  intima 
tion  awakened  the  suspicions  of  the  people, 
who  do  not  appear  to  have  availed  themselves 
of  the  permission  that  was  given  them. 

In  the  western  empire,  upon  the  irruption 
of  the  barbarous  tribes,  the  Jews  suffered 
less  than  their  Christian  neighbors.  Ready 
to  accommodate  themselves  to  every  change 
of  circumstances  in  the  pursuit  of  gain,  we 
find  them  following  in  the  rear  of  conquer 
ing  armies,  or  retreating  before  advancing 
hosts,  contriving  in  one  form  or  other  to 
make  their  harvest  of  traffic  in  both  cases, 
and  frequently  growing  rich  amidst  the  gen 
eral  ruin.  In  all  the  kingdoms  which  rose 
up  out  of  the  ruins  of  ancient  Rome,  the 


Jewish  people  formed  a  part ;  but  our  infor 
mation  respecting  them  for  a  considerable 
period  is  far  from  being  complete.  In  the 
absence  of  a  literature  of  their  own,  we 
know  of  them  only  by  ecclesiastical  writer?, 
who  take  notice  of  them  chiefly  as  the  ob 
jects  of  the  converting  zeal  of  the  catholic 
church.  The  success  of  the  Christian  priest 
hood  among  their  barbarous  invaders  in 
spired  them  with  hopes  of  gaining  converts 
among  the  Jews.  But  the  circumstances  of 
the  two  classes  were  altogether  different. 
Among  the  heathen,  when  a  prince  or  a  suc 
cessful  warrior  was  converted  to  the  faith,  he 
carried  along  with  him  all  his  subjects,  or  his 
companions  in  wrar.  But  the  Jews  moved 
in  masses  only  in  matters  connected  with 
their  own  religion  ;  in  every  other  respect 
they  \vere  wholly  independent  of  each  other. 
Their  conversion,  therefore,  could  only  be 
the  effect  of  conviction  on  the  part  of  each 
individual.  The  character  of  the  Christian 
clcro-y  did  not  fit  them  for  so  arduous  an  un- 

O*/ 

dertaking.  Their  ignorance  and  frequent 
immorality  placed  them  at  a  disadvantage 
in  regard  to  the  Jews,  who  were  in  posses 
sion  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  and 
had  arguments  at  command  which  their  op 
ponents  could  not  answer.  Besides,  there 
were  no  inducements  of  a  worldly  nature  at 
this  period  to  influence  the  Jews  to  exchange 
their  religion.  They  had  no  wish  for  the 
retreat  of  the  cloister,  nor  did  they  stand  in 
need  of  protection  for  deeds  of  violence  and 
rapine.  Their  habits  were  of  a  description 
altogether  different  from  those  of  the  monk 
or  brigand.  The  attempts  of  the  clergy, 
however,  wrere  unremitted,  and  threats  and 
blandishments  were  alternately  resorted  to, 
and  the  struggle  was  constant  between  Cath 
olicism  and  Judaism.  In  the  political  con 
tests  between  the  Arians  and  the  Catholics, 
the  Jews,  as  they  had  done  in  Asia,  took  ad 
vantage  of  the  divisions,  naturally  ranging 
themselves  on  the  side  of  the  Arians,  and 
they  found  their  advantage  in  this  alliance. 
The  Gothic  tribes,  however,  were  soon 
brought  over  to  the  orthodox  belief,  when 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


183 


the  Jews  stood  opposed  to  the  united  body 
of  Christians,  till  the  appearance  of  a  new 
religion  wrought  a  diversion  in  their  favor. 

The  rise  and  progress  of  Mohammedanism 
proved,  upon  the  whole,  highly  advantageous 
to  the  Jewish  people.  Equally  descendants 
of  Abraham  with  the  followers  of  the  prophet, 
they  had  in  so  far  a  common  cause  against 
idolaters,  and  against  the  defendants  of  the 
Christian  doctrine  ;  and  this  for  a  time  made 
them  forget  the  points  of  difference.  In  the 
new  impulse  given  to  trade  by  the  progress 
of  the  Moslem  arms,  the  Jews,  ever  awake 
to  their  own  interests,  took  their  advantage. 
In  the  wide  extent  of  conquest,  new  wants 
were  created  by  the  advance  of  victorious 
armies,  kingdoms  which  had  long  ceased  to 
hold  intercourse  with  each  other  were 
brought  into  union,  and  new  channels  of 
commercial  intercourse  were  opened  up : 
and,  leaving  the  pursuits  of  agriculture, 
which  were  placed  at  a  disadvantage  by  the 
policy  of  the  caliphs,  the  Jews  became  the 
merchants  by  whom  the  business  between 
the  eastern  and  western  world  was  conduct 
ed.  In  the  court  of  the  caliphs  they  were 
favorably  received ;  and  for  centuries  the 
whole  management  of  the  coinage  was  in 
trusted  to  them,  from  the  superior  accuracy 
and  elegance  with  which  they  could  execute 
it,  and  from  their  opportunities,  by  the  ex 
tent  and  variety  of  their  commercial  rela 
tions,  to  give  it  the  widest  circulation,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  draw  in  the  previous 
issues  of  other  mints.  Nor  did  they  flourish 
only  in  commercial  greatness.  JSTot  a  few  of 
them  distinguished  themselves  in  the  walks 
of  science  and  literature.  They  became 
eminent  in  astronomy,  astrology,  medicine ; 
the  principal  translations  by  which  the 
Arabians  became  acquainted  with  the  disco 
veries  and  theories  of  Grecian  and  Eoman 
authors  were  conducted  by  them,  though 
their  chief  attention  was  directed  to  the  Tal 
mud,  and  to  the  literature  connected  with  it. 

"Wherever  the  Moslem  arms  extended,  we 
Bee  the  Jews  for  a  time  in  a  prosperous  con 
dition,  though  with  various  exceptions,  in 


different  countries  and  under  different 
caliphs.  In  Korth  Africa,  in  Egypt,  in  Per 
sia,  we  find  Judaism  in  a  more  favorable 
state  than  formerly  ;  and  in  Spain,  the  Jews 
rose  to  a  height  almost  as  great  as  that  of 
the  Moors  themselves.  In  that  country  their 
religion  enjoyed  full  toleration,  and  the  A_ra- 
bico-Jewish  literature  forms  an  important 
chapter  in  the  history  of  learning  from  the 
seventh  till  the  twelfth  century. 

There  is  a  tradition,  that  during  this  period 
a  Jewish  kingdom  was  established  on  the 
shores  of  the  Caspian,  named  Khazar.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  territory  consisted  indis 
criminately  of  Jews,  Christians,  and  Mos- 
lemites,  drawn  to  the  spot  by  the  advantages 
which  the  situation  of  the  country  pm-o.itcvl 
for  trade.  A  king  of  the  country  (740)  was 
converted  to  the  Jewish  faith,  and  for  some 
time  the  affairs  of  the  nation  were  conduct 
ed  by  a  Jewish  prince,  with  the  assistance 
of  a  council,  whose  members  were  of  difi'er 
ent  religious  persuasions.  A  period  of  onh 
a  century  and  a  half  is  fixed  for  the  succes 
sion  of  Jewish  princes,  though  at  a  latei 
date  a  considerable  part  of  the  population 
consisted  of  Jews. 

About  the  same  period  a  combination  of 
circumstances  proved  favorable  to  the  con 
dition  of  the  Jews  throughout  Christendom. 
Charlemagne  protected  their  interests.  He 
is  said  to  have  had  a  Jewish  merchant  al 
ways  near  his  person,  and  the  correspondence 
between  that  great  monarch  and  Ilaroun 
Alraschid  was  under  the  care  of  a  Jew.  The 
immediate  successors  of  Charlemagne  follow 
ed  the  same  line  of  policy.  France  numbered 
the  sons  of  Abraham  as  the  richest  of  her 
merchants.  Their  fame  as  physicians  was 
also  widely  spread ;  and  their  intelligence 
and  activity  commended  some  of  them  to 
high  political  offices. 

But  a  time  of  change  was  approaching: 
and  we  have  now  to  trace  a  gradual  decline 
in  the  Jewish  character  and  condition,  till  at 
last  we  find  that  unhappy  people  trampled 
upon,  crushed,  butchered,  proscribed,  in 
almost  every  country  in  Europe.  The  spe- 


184 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


cial  causes  of  the  persecutions  to  which  the 
Jews  were  subjected  were  different  in  differ 
ent  countries,  and  it  would  far  exceed  our 
limits  to  trace  them  minutely.  Throughout 
the  greater  part  of  Europe,  however,  we 
witness  the  advances  of  a  similar  process. 
We  find  the  Jews  abhorred  by  the  supersti 
tious  on  account  of  their  religion,  envied  by 
the  powerful  on  account  of  their  riches ;  and, 
amidst  the  contempt  and  injustice  to  which 
they  were  subjected,  courting,  if  not  merit 
ing  their  fate,  by  crouching  before  and  cozen 
ing  their  hated  oppressors.  In  many  parts 
of  Europe  they  were  not  allowed  to  possess 
land,  and  were  forbidden  to  aspire  to  offices 
of  trust  or  honor.  The  injurious  effects 
of  this  exclusion  were  soon  manifest  in  their 
character  and  habits.  Shut  out  from  all  the 
paths  which  lead  to  distinction,  the  aspiring 
aims  of  honorable  ambition,  and  the  ennob 
ling  feelings  connected  with  the  love  of  coun 
try  became  strangers  to  their  bosoms.  Their 
efforts  were  limited  to  the  accumulation  of 
•wealth;  and  in  the  decay  of  commerce  dur 
ing  the  middle  ages,  their  minds  were  de 
based  by  the  petty  details  of  the  lower 
species  of  traffic,  which  was  all  that  was  now 
open  to  them.  Their  ambition  being  thus 
fixed  upon  one  object,  they  soon  mastered  all 
the  degrading  arts  of  accumulating  gain  ; 
and,  prohibited  from  investing  their  gains  in 
the  purchase  of  land,  they  found  a  more  prof 
itable  employment  of  it  in  lending  it  at 
usurious  interest  to  the  thoughtless  and  ex 
travagant.  The  effect  of  this  was  inevitable. 
At  a  time  when  commercial  pursuits  were 
held  in  contempt,  the  assistance  of  the  Jews 
became  indispensable  to  the  nobles,  whose 
hatred  rose  in  proportion  to  their  obligations ; 
and,  where  there  was  the  power,  the  tempta 
tion  to  cancel  the  debt  by  violence  became 
often  irresistible.  The  Jews  had  no  means 
of  resisting  such  injustice,  and  their  only  re 
venge  was  in  the  exaction  of  more  exorbitant 
terms  when  the  necessitous  again  had  re 
course  to  them.  The  meanness  and  injustice 
of  which  they  were  thus  unquestionably 
guilty  inflamed  the  public  feeling  ar"ainst 


them,  till  every  atrocity  was  considered  aa 
justifiable  when  directed  against  a  Jew. 

In  the  Gennanic  empire  the  rights  Tdiich 
the  Jews  had  enjoyed  under  the  ancient  Ro 
man  law  were  to  a  certain  extent  continued 
to  them  ;  awd  though  they  gradually  became 
the  objects  of  aversion  to  all  classes,  the  im 
perial  protection  and  the  papal  ordinances 
preserved  them  from  general  attack  till  the 
time  of  the  Crusades.  It  was  at  Treves 
that  the  suggestion  was  first  made  to  the  fa 
natical  multitude  proceeding  under  Peter  the 
Pennyless  to  take  possession  of  the  Holy 
Land,  that  they  should  fall  upon  the  enemies 
of  the  cross  living  among  themselves.  The 
choice  of  death  or  of  conversion  was  given  to 
the  miserable  Jews  of  that  city,  and  only  a 
few  escaped  alive  from  the  general  massacre. 
Fathers  presented  their  breast  to  the  sword 
after  putting  their  own  children  to  death, 
that  they  might  be  rescued  from  the  danger 
of  being  trained  up  as  Christians  ;  and  wives 
and  virgins  sought  for  refuge  from  the  bru 
tality  of  the  soldiers  by  throwing  themselves 
into  the  river  with  stones  fastened  to  their 
bodies  (109G).  Similar  scenes  were  repeated 
in  Cologne,  Mentz,  Worms,  and  in  all  the 
cities  on  the  Rhine  ;  and  the  progress  of  tho 
armies  was  marked  by  the  blood  of  the  Jews 
till  they  reached  the  plains  of  Hungary. 
Upon  a  moderate  computation,  not  fewer 
than  17,000  are  supposed  to  have  perished. 
The  minds. of  those  who  escaped  were  filled 
with  consternation  ;  and  their  synagogues  re 
sounded  with  their  appeals  to  the  justice  and 
mercy  of  the  God  of  their  fathers,  who 
seemed  to  have  forsaken  them  who  refused 
to  forsake  Him.  Many  fled  to  Silesia,  Mora 
via,  and  Poland,  where  they  laid  the  founda 
tions  of  great  communities.  A  few,  however, 
still  continued  to  cling  to  the  land  that  had 
given  them  birth ;  and  we  find  them  again 
in  sufficient  numbers  to  excite  the  persecut 
ing  zeal  of  the  second  Crusaders  (1146). 
Upon  this  occasion  the  greater  part  saved 
themselves  by  a  timely  flight.  Forty  yeara 
later,  the  Emperor  Frederick  gave  his  pro 
tection  to  his  Jewish  subjects  till  the  tenij>C8t 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


185 


of  the  third  Crusade  swept  past.  Disastrous 
as  the  period  of  the  Crusades  was  to  many  of 
the  Jews  in  Germany,  there  were  some  of 
them  who  yet  contrived  to  reap  a  golden 
harvest.  A  demand  for  money  was  created 
for  the  support  of  so  numerous  armies. 
Many  chiefs  parted  with  their  estates  to  en 
able  them  to  proceed  with  their  retainers  to 
the  Holy  Land ;  and  in  the  transfer  of  prop 
erty  which  thus  took  place,  as  well  as  in  the 
trade  that  was  occasioned  by  the  fitting  out 
or  march  of  numerous  hosts,  many  Jews  ac 
cumulated  great  wealth. 

From  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  the  condi 
tion  of  the  Jews  in  Germany  continued  un 
settled  and  degraded.  History  is  full  of  in 
stances  of  the  injustice  which  they  suffered 
from  the  rapacity  of  princes,  and  from  the 
tumultuous  assaults  of  the  people.  From 
certain  states  and  cities  they  were  interdict 
ed  altogether.  In  others,  however,  they  had 
a  right  of  residence,  and  a  particular  quarter 
of  the  city  was  assigned  to  them.  But  the 
privileges  conferred  upon  them  often  proved 
che  occasion  of  new  injuries.  They  were 
frequently  expelled  from  the  streets  to  which 
they  had  a  legal  right,  in  order  that  a  sum  of 
money  might  be  extorted  from  them  for  per 
mission  to  return  to  their  own  dwellings ;  the 
popular  fury  was  ever  ready  to  break  out 
against  them ;  and  needy  princes  held  out 
the  threat,  that  nnless  their  coffers  were  re 
plenished  by  contributions  from  the  Jews,  an 
incensed  populace  would  be  let  loose  upon 
them.  Upon  other  occasions,  the  necessity 
of  their  conversion  was  insisted  upon,  and 
they  were  compelled  to  pay  large  sums  to 
avoid  the  misery  of  being  forcibly  baptized. 
Reports  were  continually  circulated  to  their 
disadvantage.  Stories  were  told  of  Christian 
children  having  been  found  murdered  in  the 
house  of  a  Jew,  or  of  their  own  children 
beirg  prevented  by  cruel  threats  from  adopt 
ing  the  Christian  faith,  or  of  their  stealing 

O  '  O 

the  consecrated  host  to  crucify  afresh  the  Son 
of  God.  And  such  fabrications  had  the 
effect  of  subjecting  the  Jews  to  the  cruelty 
of  lawless  mobs,  of  circumscribing  their 
24 


rights,  and  of  placing  their  lives  and  fortunes 
at  a  miserable  uncertainty.  Enthusiasts  arose, 
who  considered  themselves  commissioned  by 
Heaven  to  proclaim  war  against  the  unhappy 
people.  A  nobleman  named  Rhinfleish,  in 
the  thirteenth  century,  proceeded  through 
many  of  the  most  populous  towns  in  Ger 
many,  followed  by  a  multitude,  who  destroy 
ed  whole  communities.  A  peasant  named 
Armleder  followed  a  similar  course  (1337)> 
till  his  atrocities  awakened  the  tardy  justice 
of  the  emperor,  by  whom  he  was  put  to  death. 
In  13-iG,  the  Flagellants  came  into  a  collision 
with  the  Jews  of  Frankfort,  which  terminat 
ed  in  a  battle  between  the  other  citizens  and 
their  Jewish  neighbors.  A  few  years  later, 
the  whole  of  Europe  being  desolated  by  a 
plague,  in  Germany  it  was  believed  that  the 
Jews  had  thrown  poison  into  the  public  wells. 
The  result  was  terrible.  At  Basle  the  Jews 
were  brought  into  a  vessel  on  the  Rhine, 
which  was  set  on  fire,  their  children  being 
spared  that  they  might  be  educated  as  Chris 
tians.  It  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  the 
various  forms  in  which  the  Jews  met  their 
death  in  other  cities.  But  from  Switzerland 
to  Silesia  the  land  was  drenched  with  inno 
cent  blood,  and  even  the  interference  of  the 
emperor  and  the  pope,  proved  long  insuffi 
cient  to  put  an  end  to  the  atrocities  that 
were  perpetrated. 

Feelings  of  humanity,  as  well  as  the  in 
terests  of  his  kingdom,  led  the  Emperor 
Charles  IV.  to  grant  to  certain  states  and 
cities  privileges  which  they  had  long  in  vain 
petitioned  for ;  and  in  the  Golden  Bull  the 
condition  of  the  Jews  was  determined  in  such 
a  way  as  preserve  them  from  the  hazard  of 
the  massacre  of  whole  communities,  though 
it  left  them  still  exposed  to  the  evils  of  indi 
vidual  oppression  and  injustice. 

Though  thus  subjected  to  every  variety  of 
inhumanity  and  injustice  in  the  German  em 
pire,  they  were  still  permitted  to  remain  in 
the  country;  and  in  some  states  and  cities 
considerable  immunities  were  possessed  by 
them.  It  was  otherwise  in  France,  Spain, 
and  Britain,  from  which  countries,  after  be- 


186 


HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD. 


ing  subjected  to  the  most  galling  persecution, 
they  were  ultimately  driven  into  banishment. 
In  France  the  conditiDn  of  the  Jews  had  al 
ways  been  more  precarious  than  in  Germany  ; 
and  from  the  tenth  century  we  see  them 
gradually  and  rapidly  declining  from  a 
learned,  and  influential,  and  powerful  class 
of  the  community,  to  miserable  outcasts ;  the 
common  prey  of  clergy,  and  nobles,  and 
burghers;  and  existing  in  a  state  worse  than 
slavery  itself.  Even  in  this  wretched  situa 
tion,  though  deprived  of  every  thing  else, 
and  denied  the  common  rights  of  humanity, 
they  were  still  possessed  of  gold.  This  was 
at  once  their  strength  and  their  weakness ; 
though  hated  by  all,  all  were  dependent  upon 
them ;  and,  possessed  of  a  large  proportion 
of  the  wealth  of  the  kingdom,  they  had  ar 
ticles  of  value  in  pawn  from  all  classes  of  the 
community.  They  suffered  here,  as  in  Ger 
many,  by  popular  violence ;  and  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  princes  were  if  possible  more 
arbitrary  and  tyrannical.  The  archives  of 
the  kingdom,  however,  contain  evidence  of 
usurious  extortion  so  monstrous  as  loudly  to 
call  for  legal  interference,  though  not  cer 
tainly  in  the  way  in  which  it  was  actually 
made.  The  edicts  which  terminated  in  their 
final  expulsion  from  the  kingdom  began  with 
Philip  Augustus.  He  issued  an  ordinance 
for  the  relief  of  those  who  were  indebted  to 
the  Jews.  According  to  it,  all  the  pledges 
in  their  hands  were  to  be  restored.  Among 
these  a  golden  crucifix  and  a  Gospel  being 
found,  the  popular  suspicion  was  awakened, 
and  all  the  Jews  of  Paris  were  sent  into 
banishment.  The  necessities,  or  cruelty,  or 
superstition  of  succeeding  kings  varied  the 
modes  of  Jewish  persecution.  Louis  VIII. 
annulled  ail  interest  on  debts  due  to  the  Jews. 
Under  Louis  IX.  an  edict  was  promulgated 
for  the  destruction  of  the  Talmud.  By  other 
laws,  Jews  were  forbidden  to  hold  social  in 
tercourse  with  Christians ;  and  no  punish 
ment  was  to  be  inflicted  upon  a  Christian 
who  killed  a  Jew.  .As  in  Germany,  mon 
strous  tales  were  spread  abroad,  and  believed, 
of  their  sacrilege  and  cruelty.  They  were 


accused  of  throwing  poison  into  rivers,  ol 
practising  magic,  of  holding  correspondence 
with  infidel  kings.  They  were  proscribed, 
hunted  down,  burnt  to  death.  .  Yet  still 
they  sought  to  live  in  the  country  that  op 
pressed  them,  paid  a  price  to  live  in  it, — and 
their  revenge  upon  their  oppressors  was  to 
drain  them  of  their  gold.  At  last,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Charles  VI.  (loOl), 
they  were  commanded  to  quit  the  kingdom. 
This  sentence  was  rigidly  put  into  execution ; 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  exiles  withdrew 
to  Germany,  Italy,  and  Poland. 

The  time  of  the  introduction  of  the  Jews 
into  England  is  unknown.  Traces  of  them 
are  discoverable  before  the  Gorman  invasion  ; 
after  which  event  a  considerable  addition  was 
made  to  their  numbers.  William  II.  found 
in  his  Jewish  subjects  so  great  a  source  of 
profit,  that  he  refused  to  allow  them  to  be 
come  converts  to  Christianity.  The  Jews 
flourished  accordingly  under  his  reign  ;  they 
increased  in  numbers  and  in  opulence  in 
various  cities  throughout  the  kingdom,  and 
the  greater  part  of  Oxford  is  said  to  have  be 
longed  to  them.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable, 
however,  that  their  only  burial-place  was  in 
London,  and  it  was  not  till  the  time  of  Henry 
II.  that  they  were  allowed  the  privilege  of 
interring  their  dead  elsewhere.  Though  fa 
vored  for  a  time  by  the  English  monarchs, 
from  the  advantages  they  derived  from  them 
the  Jews-  became  the  objects  of  popular  ha 
tred,  partly  from  motives  of  superstition,  and 
partly  from  the  odium  that  at  that  time  was 
generally  attached  to  the  practice  of  lending 
money  upon  interest,  as  well  as  from  the  rigor 
with  which  this  practice  was  exercised  by 
them.  The  first  general  display  of  the  pub 
lic  hatred  was  in  the  reign  of  Richard  I. 
On  the  day  of  the  coronation  of  this  prince, 
some  Jews,  contrary  to  an  express  prohibi 
tion,  were  discovered  as  epectators  of  the 
ceremony.  An  attack  was  made  upon  these 
individuals,  which  terminated  in  a  general 
assault  upon  the  Jews.  Their  houses  were 
plundered,  and  in  many  instances  committed 
to  the  flames.  Richard  in  vain  attempted  to 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


187 


repress  the  tumult,  which  continued  to  rage 
two  days.  Similar  outrages  ensued  in  Nor 
wich,  Stamford,  and  in  several  other  towns. 
Knights  who  were  proceeding  to  the  Holy 
Land,considered  themselves  justified  in  rob 
bing  the  rich  Jews,  to  aid  them  in  their  pil 
grimage.  And,  in  many  cases,  those  who 
had  borrowed  money  from  their  Jewish 
neighbors  stirred  up  the  people  to  a  tumul 
tuous  onset,  as  the  easiest  way  of  cancelling 
their  debts.  In  York  the  Jews  took  refuge 
in  the  castle,  and  made  a  vigorous  resistance  ; 
hut  finding  their  situation  hopeless,  they  de 
voted  themselves  to  a  voluntary  destruction. 
They  first  destroyed  everything  of  value  that 
belonged  to  them.  After  this  their  chief  with 
his  own  hands  murdered  Ins  wife  and  five 
children,  and  then  submitted  to  death  him 
self.  Their  dead  bodies  were  thrown  over 
the  ramparts.  The  example  was  followed  by 
five  hundred  others.  In  the  mean  time,  those 
who  were  indebted  to  the  Jews  proceeded  to 
the  cathedral,  where  the  bonds  were  kept,  and 
committed  them  to  the  flames.  During  the 

O 

two  following  reigns,  the  history  of  England 
abounds  in  instances  of  the  oppressions  to 
which  the  Jews  were  subjected,  and  of  the 
vast  sums  extorted  from  them  by  the  neces 
sities  of  the  monarchs;  though  privileges 
were  occasionally  conceded  to  them,  in  such 
forms  as  insured  a  profitable  return.  The 
tyrannical  proceedings  of  King  John  in  refer 
ence  to  the  unhappy  race  are  well  known, 
and  in  particular  the  anecdote  of  his  ordering 
that  a  rich  Jew  of  Bristol  should  lose  a  tooth 
daily  until  he  paid  10,000  merks.  The  Jew 
lost  seven  teeth  before  he  yielded.  Their 
situation  was  in  no  degree  improved  under 
Henry  III.  Though  various  decrees  were 
issued  in  their  favor,  the  superstitions  of  the 
clergy  and  the  people,  and  the  necessities  of 
the  government,  subjected  them  to  every 
varied  form  of  contumely  and  wrong.  After 
the  king  had  repeated  his  extortions  so  fre 
quently  that  the  Jews  made  the  vain  threat 
of  leaving  the  kingdom,  he  sold  to  his  brother 
all  the  Jews  in  his  realm  for  5000  merks, 
with  full  power  over  their  persons  and  pro 


perty.  At  last,  in  the  succeeding  reign,  of 
Edward  I.,  an  edict  was  issued  (1290),  without 
any  known  pretext  afforded  by  their  conduct, 
for  their  expulsion  from  the  country  alto 
gether  ;  and,  after  having  been  deprived  01 
all  their  possessions,  the  wretched  race,  amidst 
the  mockery  and  triumph  of  the  common 
people,  proceeded  to  the  shore,  and  finally 
left  the  island.  The  exiles  amounted  to 
15,000,  or,  according  to  others,  to  upwards 
of  16,000. 

The  history  of  the  Jews  in  the  Spanish 
peninsula  forms  one  of  the  most  interesting 
and  affecting  chapters  in  the  strange  vicissi 
tudes  of  that  ill-fated  race.  During  many 
centuries  their  situation,  both  in  Spain  and 
Portugal,  wTas  more  favorable  than  in  any 
other  European  country.  The  political  in 
fluence  which  they  enjoyed  with  the  Moslems 
commanded  for  them  the  respect  of  the  Chris 
tians,  if  it  increased  their  hatred;  and  after 
the  decay  of  the  Mohammedan  power,  theii 
superior  education,  their  talents  for  affairs, 
their  wealth  and  their  industry,  in  a  country 
where  the  lower  orders  were  sunk  in  the 
deepest  degradation,  while  the  nobles  were 
engaged  almost  wholly  in  war,  rendered  them 
too  important  a  class  of  the  community  to 
allow  their  rights  to  be  rashly  interfered  with. 
The  protection  which  they  enjoj^ed  arose  in 
no  small  degree  from  the  policy  of  the  sov 
ereigns,  who  found  their  Jewish  subjects  in- 
valuable,not  only  to  themselves  individually 
in  various  departments,  as  physicians  or  min 
isters  of  finance,  but  also  to  the  country  gener 
ally,  from  the  life  which  their  industry  gave  to 
trade,  and  from  the  unfailing  certainty  with 
which  recourse  might  always  be  had  to  them 
upon  every  occasion  when  money  was  re 
quired.  The  nobles,  and  even  the  priesthood, 
were  by  no  means  insensible  to  the  latter  of 
these  advantages ;  and  when,  in  some  instan 
ces,  the  sovereigns,  forgetting  their  true  inter 
ests,  prepared  to  make  the  Jews  the  subjects  of 
their  extortion,  we  find  the  clergy  overcom 
ing  their  superstitious  feelings,  and  interfer 
ing  in  their  behalf. 

The  political  or  rather  legal  position  of 


188 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  Jews  in  Spain  varied  in  different  periods, 
and  even  at  the  same  time  in  different  parts 
of  the  country.  In  the  most  favorable  cir 
cumstances,  they  were  considered  as  belong 
ing  to  the  king  directly,  and  indirectly  to  his 
greater  vassals ;  and  thus  they  enjoyed  the 
right  of  self-defence,  and  could  claim  the 
protection  of  their  liege  lords  when  unjustly 
attacked.  In  all  their  greater  communities 
they  had  their  own  courts  of  law,  which  en 
joyed  a  certain  jurisdiction  both  in  civil  and 
criminal  affairs.  They  could  possess  landed 
property,  though  many  efforts  were  made 
to  restrict  this  right,  which  induced  them 
here,  as  in  other  countries,  to  engage  in  the 
practice  of  lending  money  upon  interest.  The 
rate  of  interest  was  fixed  by  law ;  and  we  do 
not  find  charges  of  chicanery  and  extortion 
brought  against  them  similar  to  those  made 
against  their  countrymen  in  France,  or  Eng 
land,  or  Germany.  Among  their  other  privi 
leges,  they  could  not  be  imprisoned  on  ac 
count  of  debt,  and,  with  certain  limitations, 
their  evidence  was  received  in  courts  of 
justice.  In  Portugal  they  enjoyed  similar 
privileges  as  in  Spain. 

The  superior  character  of  the  peninsular 
Jews  proved  that  these  advantages  were  not  un 
worthily  conferred.  They  held  a  much  higher 
rank  than  in  the  other  parts  of  Christendom. 
Not  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  arts  that 
sunk  thjsrn.  in  their  own  esteem,  they  main 
tained  a  generous  rivalry  in  the  liberal  use 
they  made  of  the  wealth  which  they  acquired 
in  the  walks  of  honest  industry.  Their 
literature  betokens  no  ordinary  progress  in 
civilization.  Their  acquaintance  with  Arabic 
put  them  in  possession  of  all  the  treasures  of 
that  language.  Their  poets,  grammarians, 
mathematicians,  naturalists,  are  of  no  mean 
reputation.  And  their  astronomers  were  in 
so  great  renown,  that  some  of  them  were  em 
ployed  by  Alphonso  the  Wise  in  the  construc 
tion  of  his  celebrated  Tables.  The  study  of 
mental  science,  was  also  controlled  with  no 
ordinary  care,  though  the  pursuits  of 
science  whether  natural  or  metaphysical, 
orere  ever  more  or  less  connected  with 


their  theology.  Three  epochs  have  been 
marked  in  the  progress  of  the  philosophy  of  the 
Jews  of  Spain.  In  the  first,  we  have  the 
endeavor  to  connect  the  discoveries  of 
science  with  the  doctrines  contained  in  the 
Talmud,  and  to  present  the  peculiarities  of 
Judaism  in  a  philosophic  form.  In  the  sec 
ond,  we  find  the  spirit  of  rabbinism  lording 
it  over  the  efforts  of  philosophic  genius.  In 
the  third,  a  contest  was  carried  on,  sometimes 
under  the  forms  of  philosophy,  between  the 
advocates  of  Judaism,  and  those  who  endeav 
ored  by  the  force  of  argument  to  gain  con 
verts  to  the  Christian  faith. 

The  point  at  which  the  star  of  the  fortunes 
of  the  Spanish  Jews  might  be  said  to  culmin 
ate,  was  in  the  thirteenth  century,  during  the 
reign  of  Alphonso  X.  From  that  period  the 
superstitions  of  the  people  were  more  bitterly 
directed  against  the  unfortunate  race,  and  in 
the  succeeding  reigns  constant  attempts  were 
made  to  diminish  their  privileges,  while  local 
outbreakings  of  popular  dislike  subjected  in 
dividuals  and  whole  communities  to  severe 
suffering.  Alphonso  XI.  though  himself  fa 
vorably  disposed  towards  them,  was  com 
pelled  (1325)  to  yield  in  various  particulars 
to  the  feeling  that  began  to  be  expressed 
against  them.  In  this  reign  they  were  en 
joined  to  confine  themselves  to  particular 
streets,  at  the  greatest  distance  from  the 
churches;  and  thenceforth  particular  district-} 
were  known  in  every  city  where  a  community 
existed  as  the  Jews'  Quarter.  The  greatesl 
misery,  however,  to  which  they  were  subject 
ed  arose  from  attempts  for  their  conversion. 
A  proselytizing  spirit  had  manifested  itself  in 
various  forms  from  an  early  period.  An  in 
stitution  was  erected  in  Aragon  in  1250,  for 
the  express  purpose  of  training  men  to  enter 
into  controversy  with  the  Jews;  but,  not 
trusting  to  the  mere  force  of  argument,  the 
rabbinical  writings  were  frequently  subjected 
to  a  censorship,  by  which  whatever  was  sup. 
posed  to  be  injurious  to  the  interests  or  hurt 
ful  to  the  feelings  of  churchmen  was  cancel 
ed.  Snail  instances  of  intolerance,  however, 
afforded  but  feeble  presage  of  the  fearful 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


18S 


and  widely  destructive  hurricane  that  at  last 
arose. 

The  attack  commenced  in  Seville  in  1391, 
where  the  minds  of  the  citizens  were  inflam 
ed  by  a  sermon  which  an  archbishop  deliver 
ed  in  tlie  cathedral.  Individuals  among  the 
Jews  were  insulted  and  plundered.  The  at 
tempts  made  by  the  civil  authorities  to  re 
strain  the  popular  fury  increased  its  violence, 
till  at  last  a  general  attack  was  made  upon 
the  Jews'  Quarter,  and  of  7000  families  up 
wards  of  one  half  were  put  to  death,  wrhile 
the  remainder  sought  for  safety  by  a  pre 
tended  conversion  to  Christianity.  The  ex 
ample  was  followed  in  Cordova,  Toledo, 
Valencia,  and  in  all  the  cities  where  the 
greatest  communities  of  the  Jews  were  to  be 
found.  Many  thousands  were  butchered; 
not  a  few  left  the  kingdom,  seeking  for 
refuge  in  Italy,  Turkey,  and  the  states  of 
Barbary;  and  it  is  calculated  that  200,000 
were  forced  into  a  profession  of  Christianity. 
The  condition  of  these  converts,  or  pretended 
converts,  was  truly  deplorable.  Subjected  to 
the  suspicions  of  the  Christians,  and  to  the 
hatred  of  those  of  their  countrymen  who  con 
tinued  steadfast  to  their  ancient  creed,  many 
of  them  found  their  situation  altogether  in 
supportable,  and  became  voluntary  exiles. 
Not  a  few  returned  to  the  profession  of 
Judaism  choosing  rather  to  brave  all  the 
the  horrors  of  persecution  than  to  submit  to 
the  odium  of  a  suspicious  apostasy. 

The  government  showed  its  disposition  to 
protect  those  who  did  not  depart  from  the 
Jewish  religion  ;  several  of  the  princes  were 
opposed  to  extreme  measures ;  and  aifairs 
began  to  wear  a  more  favorable  aspect.  But 
the  calm  was  only  temporary.  The  sincerity 
of  the  whole  of  the  Jewish  converts,  or,  as 
they  were  called,  the  New  Christians,  began 
to  be  questioned.  The  honor  of  the  church 
was  considered  as  at  stake ;  and,  by  the  in 
fluence  of  Alphonso  of  Godeja,  a  bull  was 
obtained  from  Pope  Sixtus  IV.  for  the  in 
stitution  of  the  inquisition,  effectually  to  pre 
vent  a  return  to  Judaism.  The  queen,  the 
Jews,  even  the  Cortes,  resisted  the  introduc 


tion  of  this  dread  tribunal ;  but  the  priest 
hood  prevailed.  The  tribunal  was  opened  in 
Seville,  and  invested  writh  full  power  to  sum 
mon  every  individual  suspected  of  secret  at 
tachment  to  Judaism.  The  unsparing  energy 
with  which  it  was  to  proceed  was  marked  by 
the  fact,  that  in  a  short  time  Seville  number 
ed  more  prisoners  than  inhabitants ;  and  in 
the  course  of  a  single  year,  in  that  city  and 
in  the  immediately  surrounding  country,  up 
wards  of  2000  were  put  to  death,  several 
were  imprisoned  for  life,  and  1^,000  were 
subjected  to  corporal  punishment.  At  last 
a  large  stone  building  was  constructed  for 
containing  a  multitude  of  prisoners,  com 
bustible  materials  were  placed  around  the 
outside  of  the  walls,  while  the  wretched  in 
mates  were  left  to  perish  by  a  slow  death. 
Four  inferior  inquisitions  were  erected  in 
other  quarters,  and  each  tribunal  received 
the  strictest  injunctions  to  use  every  effort  to 
preserve  the  church  from  the  strain  of  a  re 
turn  to  Judaism.  The  different  signs  that 
were  supposed  to  indicate  a  secret  attach 
ment  to  the  abjured  religion  were  defined  by 
law  ;'  and  wherever  any  one  of  them  wras  ob 
served,  the  individual  was  to  be  brought  to 
trial.  A  free  pardon  was  offered  to  those 
who  confessed  their  guilt,  if  they  evinced 
the  sincerity  of  their  contrition  by  revealing 
the  names  of  such  as  had  shared  with  them 
in  their  deceit.  The  rabbis  were  forced,  up 
on  their  oath,  to  declare  if  they  knew  any 
who  secretly  adhered  to  the  hatred  worship. 
Death  was  the  punishment  of  concealment. 
The  fiercest  civil  war,  the  wildest  incursion 
of  barbarous  hordes,  could  not  have  occasion 
ed  the  death  of  so  many  innocent  men,  or 
annihilated  so  many  sources  of  advantage  to 
the  kingdom.  The  impolicy  was  not  less 
infatuated  than  the  injustice  and  cruelty  were 
monstrous. 

Hitherto  the  persecution  had  been  confined 
to  those  who  were  suspected  of  insincerity  in 
their  profession  of  the  catholic  faith  ;  it  was 
now  to  be  extended  to  wider  limits.  The 
arms  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  had  beer, 
prosperous  against  the  Moors,  and  the  soil  of 


190 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


Spain  was  freed  from  the  infidel  race.  The 
inquisition  gave  the  horrid  promise  of  tortur 
ing  the  new  Christians  into  sincerity,  or  of 
destroying  them  by  death  :  and  nothing  now 

*/         O  •/  O 

remained  but  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  to 
deliver  five  kingdom  from  every  taint  of 
heresy.  The  ambition  of  the  crowned  heads 
became  alive  to  the  glory  and  advantage  of 
reigning  over  a  land  purified  from  all  admix 
ture  of  error,  and  in  1492  the  order  was 
given,  that  within  four  months  every  Jew 
should  leave  the  country.  Upon  the  issuing 
of  this  memorable  edict,  the  minds  of  the 
unhappy  people  were  filled  with  astonish 
ment  and  horror.  From  the  one  end  of 
Spain  to  the  other,  the  voice  of  lamentation 
was  lifted  up.  But  superstition  is  inexorable  ; 
and  the  appeal  to  the  justice  or  mercy  of 
Ferdinand  or  his  queen  was  alike  in  vain. 
The  decree  was  passed,  and  it  was  not  to  be 
recalled.  The  Jews  now  acted  worthy  of 
the  high  character  which  they  had  sustained 
in  Spain  for  nearly  a  thousand  years.  The 
resource  of  apostasy  still  remained ;  but  the 
temptation  was  spurned,  and  the  sincerity  of 
their  attachment  to  their  faith  was  shown 
by  their  preferring  it  to  every  thing.  Up 
wards  of  300,000  left  all  that  was  dear  to 
them  on  earth,  and  went  forth  in  search  of 
lands  where  they  might  be  allowed  to  wor 
ship  the  God  of  their  fathers  in  peace.  But 
misfortune  continued  to  follow  them  on  their 
path.  The  account  of  their  sufferings  is 
heart-rending ;  our  limits  permit  us  only  to 
mention  in  general,  that  the  richer  part  of 
them  withdrew  first  to  Portugal,  where  the 
Jewish  faith  had  been  hitherto  tolerated. 
But  the  contagious  influence  of  the  proceed 
ings  in  Spain  extended  to  the  sister  kingdom ; 
and  the  wretched  exiles,  after  being  made 
the  objects  of  new  forms  of  cruelty  and  in 
justice,  were  at  last  expelled  from  that  king 
dom  also.  Others,  win)  directed  their  course 
for  the  states  of  Barbary  and  Morocco,  were 
subjected  t:>  the  horrors  of  shipwreck  and 
pestilence ;  some  were  set  ashore  on  desert 
islands  by  the  inhuman  ship-owners,  and 
some  were  sold  as  slaves.  Some  went  to 


Italy,  where  the  hardest  fate  of  all  awaited 
them,  in  the  cruelty  with  which  their  own 
countrymen  refused  to  receive  them.  Thou 
sands  lay  perishing  for  hunger  on  the  shore, 
till  even  the  pope  (Alexander  VI.)  interfered 
by  a  sentence  of  banishment  against  the  resi 
dent  Jews.  But,  notwithstanding  all  the 
sufferings  to  which  they  were  exposed,  and 
which  so  materially  diminished  their  num 
bers,  flourishing  communities  were  formed 
by  the  offspring  of  the  exiles  in  Barbary, 
Turkey,  Italy ;  and  this  perhaps  more  than 
any  thing  else  evinces  how  great  multitudes 
had  been  sent  into  banishment. 

In  Spain  there  were  now  no  professed 
Jews.  There  were  still,  however,  many  se 
cret  adherents  of  the  proscribed  faith.  Of 
these,  many  were  so  dexterous  in  the  con 
cealment  which  they  practised,  as  to  escape 
every  effort  for  their  detection ;  and  some 
of  them  were  seated  as  judges  in  the  very 
inquisition  that  had  been  instituted  for  their 
destruction.  Others,  however,  were  less  suc 
cessful,  and  against  them  horrible  cruelties 
were  exercised  under  the  Emperor  Charles 
V.  and  by  Philip  II.  and  III. 

The  policy  of  the  Spanish  government 
was  extended  also  to  Xaples,  from  which 
city  the  Jews  were  expelled  by  Charles  V. 
The  example,  however,  was  not  followed  in 
other  parts  of  Italy.  In  that  country,  from 
the  time  of  Charlemagne,  the  legal  position 
of  the  Jews  was  nearly  the  same  as  it  was  in 
Germany.  They  were  placed  under  the 
protection  partly  of  the  popes  and  partly  of 
the  emperors,  to  both  of  whom  they  were 
bound  to  do  homage.  Here,  as  elsewhere, 
they  were  chiefly  engaged  in  money-lending 
and  in  petty  traffic.  Their  head-quarters 
was  Home,  but  numbers  of  them  were  to  bo 
found  in  all  the  other  principal  cities.  The 
conduct  of  the  popes  varied  in  reference  tc 
the  Jews,  according  to  their  perso  al  charac 
ter.  Paul  IV.  was  the  first  who  shut  them 
up  in  a  confined  quarter  in  Home,  called  the 
Ghetto.  By  other  popes  they  were  compel 
led  to  assemble  regularly  in  a  church  at  stated 
periods,  where  sermons  were  prenched  for 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


191 


their  conversion.  They  were  subjected  to 
many  other  galling  interferences  till  the  time 
of  Sextus  V.  who  annulled  most  of  the  vex 
atious  regulations  of  his  predecessors,  and 
restored  them  to  some  degree  of  liberty. 

The  changes  effected  upon  the  character 
and  condition  of  the  Jews  by  the  restoration 
of  letters,  and  by  the  movements  occasioned 
by  the  reformation,  were  less  than  upon  any 
other  portion  of  European  society.  There 
were  indeed  individuals  among  them  who 
made  noble  use  of  the  newly-discovered  art 
of  printing,  and  who  were  distinguished  in 
the  walks  of  literature  and  philosophy.  But 
the  great  proportion  of  tho  people,  excluded 
from  all  share  in  the  government  of  the  coun 
tries  in  which  they  lived,  viewed  the  mighty 
changes  which  were  taking  place  without 
interest  or  advantage.  The  great  events  that 
were  stirring  other  men's  minds  into  activity ? 
freeing  them  from  the  shackles  of  ancient 

O 

prejudices,  and  opening  new  views  of  human 
affairs,  were  looked  upon  by  the  Jews  as  a 
spectacle  in  which  they  had  no  concern. 
Their  spirit  was  even  more  concentrated  up 
on  their  individual  gains  and  their  national 
hopes ;  and  in  the  progress  of  the  human 
mind,  and  in  the  new  views  that  were  contin 
ually  opening  up,  they  saw  nothing  more 
than  the  fluctuations  of  a  wild  uncertainty, 
that  wedded  them  with  a  deeper  pride  to  the 
contracted  principles  of  their  unchanging 
rabbinism.  On  the  other  hand,  the  benefit 
of  more  enlarged  views  that  began  to  be  en 
tertained  upon  the  subject  of  liberty,  and 
respecting  the  rights  of  citizens,  were  not  for 
a  long  period  extended  to  them ;  and  it  is  not 
till  within  the  last  fifty  years  that  an  instance 
has  been  afforded  of  the  full  concession  of 
the  privileges  of  citizenship  to  a  Jew. 

Still  the  progress  of  civilization  was  silent 
ly  preparing  the  way  for  greater  justice  be 
ing  done  to  this  people ;  and  their  conduct, 
in  circumstances  where  they  were  allowed 
scope  for  the  development  of  their  better 
qualities,  tended  greatly  to  the  removal  of 
the  predjudices  that  existed  against  them. 
In.  110  history  have  we  more  remarkable  illus 


trations  of  the  great  truths,  that  to  enslave 
is  to  degrade,  and  that  to  render  men  useful 
citizens,  it  is  essential  to  bestow  upon  them 
the  rights  of  citizens. 

Upon  the  revolt  of  the  Netherlands,  many 
of  the  Portuguese  Jews  (  a  name  applied  to 
all  the  Jews  of  the  Spanish  peninsula)  took 
refuge  from  the  persecutions  of  Philip  II. 
and  III.  in  that  country.  The  distinctions 
on  account  of  religion  were  to  a  certain  ex 
tent  removed,  and  the  Jews  of  Amsterdam, 
Rotterdam,  and  Antwerp,  vied,  in  the  high 
est  qualities  of  commercial  greatness,  with 
the  citizens  of  the  new  republic.  They  were 
afterwards  joined  by  many  of  their  conn- 
try  men,  but  of  a  lower  order,  from  Germa 
ny  and  Poland.  Offshoots  from  the  new  com 
munity  in  Holland  grew  up  in  circumstances 
scarcely  less  favorable  in  Denmark  and 
Hamburg.  The  continued  persecution  of 
the  new  Christians  in  Spain  drove  other  Jews 
to  seek  their  fortune  in  the  Spanish  and 
other  colonies  in  the  New  "World.  They 
settled  in  the  Brazils,  and  in  some  of  the  West 
India  islands,  with  various  fortunes;  but 
many  distinguished  themselves  by  their  re 
gularity,  and  enterprise,  and  wealth,  in  such 
a  way  as  to  produce  an  impression  favorable 
to  their  European  brethren. 

The  recognition  of  the  independence  of 
the  United  States  in  America  may  be  mark 
ed  as  the  epoch  that  secured  to  the  Jews  the 
prospect  of  their  being  admitted  to  the  full 
privileges  of  citizenship,  and  freed  them 
from  the  disabilities  that  had  been  so  long 
considered  as  inseparable  from  their  religious 
condition.  The  fundamental  principle  of  the 
new  republic  involved  the  treating  of  the 
Jews  upon  the  same  terms  as  the  other  in 
habitants.  It  was  not  acted  upon,  however 
throughout  all  the  States,  till  the  year  1822 
They  are  now  distinguished  in  no  respect, 
except  their  religion,  from  any  other  part  of 
the  population.  They  have  synagogues  in 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  Charleston,  Rich 
mond,  and  the  principal  cities  of  the  United 
States. 

The   movements    in   America  were  inti 


192 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


mately  connected  with  the  changes  which 
eoon  afterwards  took  place  in  France ;  and 
to  this  may  in  some  degree  be  traced  the 
new  policy  that  was  observed  in  that  country 
in  reference  to  the  Jews  at  the  beginning  of 
the  revolution.  Notwithstanding  the  edict 
of  exclusion  by  Charles  V.,  some  Portuguese 
Jews  had  been  allowed  by  Henry  II.  to  set 
tle  in  Bordeaux  and  Bayonne ;  and  at  a 
later  period,  the  conquest  of  Alsace,  and 
other  changes,  added  some  of  their  commu 
nities  to  the  French  dominions.  The  condi 
tion  of  these  communities  was  taken  into 
consideration  in  1789,  without  any  thing, 
however,  being  done  in  that  year.  But  in 
1791  they  were  admitted  to  equal  rights  as 
citizens.  In  1806  a  sanhedrim  was  assem 
bled  by  Bonaparte  at  Paris ;  and,  upon  sat 
isfactory  answers  being  returned  to  certain 
queries  proposed  to  them  respecting  their 
civil  institutions,  and  their  views  as  citizens 
and  subjects,  a  plan  for  the  organization  of 
the  Jews  throughout  the  empire  was  adopt 
ed.  The  abuse  made  of  their  privileges  in 
some  of  the  provinces  of  the  Rhine,  led  sub 
sequently  to  partial  restrictions  in  regard  to 
money  lending ;  and  an  effort  was  made  to 
turn  their  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits. 
The  privileges  conferred  by  Bonaparte  were 
not  interfered  with  upon  the  restoration  of 
the  Bourbons ;  and,  since  the  revolution  in 
1830,  the  Jewish  rabbis,  as  well  as  the  clergy 
of  the  different  Christian  sects,  received  a 
stipendiary  allowance  from  the  state.  Though 
by  no  means  approving  of  such  a  measure, 
we  conceive  it  to  be  worthy  of  remark,  that 
the  minister  by  whom  it  was  proposed  sup 
ported  it  upon  the  ground  that  they  had 
shown  themselves  deserving  of  the  patronage 
of  the  state,  having,  during  the  preceding 
quarter  of  a  century,  acted  in  such  a  way  as 
to  give  the  noblest  refutation  to  all  the 
slanders  of  their  enemies. 

At  a  national  assembly  held  in  1796,  they 
were  declared  in  every  respect  citizens  of 
the  Batavian  republic ;  and  the  union  of 
France  with  Holland  led  to  the  removal  of 
every  disability  of  the  Dutch  Jews. 


In  Germany  little  change  had  taken  place 
in  the  condition  of  the  Jewish  inhabitants 
for  many  centuries.  The  diet  of  Frederick 
the  Great  (1750),  for  the  regulation  of  his 
Jewish  subjects,  was  of  the  most  intolerant 
description.  The  severest  measures  were 
resorted  to  for  preventing  their  increase  be 
yond  a  fixed  number.  They  were  excluded 
from  all  civil  offices,  and  from  many  depart 
ments  of  lucrative  and  honorable  employ 
ment,  and  subject  to  an  equal  load  of  taxa 
tion.  Their  condition  in  other  parts  of  the 
empire  was  not  more  favorable  till  toward? 
the  end  of  the  last  century.  Various  cir 
cumstances  contributed  about  that  period  to 
a  decided  improvement.  Among  these,  the 
writings  and  character  of  Moses  Mendelssohn 
may  be  mentioned  as  having  considerable 
effect  in  elevating  the  character  of  the  people 
in  the  general  opinion.  An  edict  of  tolera 
tion  was  published  by  the  Emperor  Joseph 
II.  The  most  important  part  of  it  perhaps 
consisted  in  the  attention  it  directed,  and  the 
support  which  it  promised,  to  elementary 
education,  and  to  its  throwing  open  the 
schools  and  universities  of  the  empire  to  the 
Jews.  Freedom  of  residence  and  of  trade 
was  also  granted  to  them.  They  were  no 
longer  excluded  from  public  places  of  amuse 
ment;  and  they  were  permitted  to  wear 
certain  decorations,  and  might  be  created 
barons.  The  influence  of  Bonaparte  was 
exerted  for  the  advantage  of  the  Jews  in 
many  parts  of  the  German  states  ;  and  from 
1809  to  1813,  we  find  ordinances  issued  for 
the  melioration  of  their  condition,  admitting 
them  to  civil  rights,  and  abolishing  odious 
distinctions.  By  an  act  of  the  congress  of 
Vienna  in  1815,  the  diet  is  pledged  to  turn 
its  attention  to  the  melioration  of  the  state 
of  the  Jews ;  and  it  may  be  safely  affirmed 
that  their  condition  has  of  late  years  been  one 
of  progressive  advancement.  In  the  "Rhenish 
provinces  of  Prussia,  some  restrictions  have 
taken  place  in  their  privileges,  by  disquali 
fying  them  for  certain  civil  offices ;  and,  in 
1 822,  their  learned  men  were  excluded  from 
holding  offices  in  school  or  universities.  In 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


193 


the  free  towns,  commercial  jealousy  more  than 
feelings  of  a  religious  nature  still  places  the 
Jews  in  some  respects  at  disadvantage. 

In  Switzerland,  the  privileges  which  the 
Jews  enjoyed  during  the  reign  of  Bonaparte 
have  been  done  away.  In  Italy  also  their 
condition  is  less  favorable  than  formerly. 
In  the  ecclesiastical  states  they  are  again 
shut  up  in  the  Ghetto,  and  300  every  Sab 
bath  are  obliged  to  hear  a  sermon  for  their 
conversion;  in  1829  a  proposal  was  made  for 
banishing  them  from  the  dominions  of  the 
pope,  which,  however,  has  not  been  carried 
into  effect. 

The  greatest  accumulation  of  Jews  in  any 
one  point  is  in  the  countries  of  ancient  Po 
land,  now  divided  amongst  the  emperors  of 
Russia  and  Austria  and  the  king  of  Prussia. 
Their  state  has  long  continued  fixed.  They 
form  the  middle  class  between  the  nobles 
and  the  serfs,  occupying  all  the  common 
branches  of  traffic.  The  rabbinical  spirit 
exists  here  in  greater  severity  than  in  any 
other  country.  The  Austrian  emperors  have 
shown  a  laudable  zeal  for  the  melioration  of 
their  Jewish  subjects.  The  Emperor  Kicho- 
las  of  Russia,  though  his  attention  was  di 
rected  to  the  subject,  showed  a  less  enlight 
ened  spirit. 

In  England  the  Jews  again  obtained  a  le 
gal  re-establishment  under  the  protectorate  of 
Cromwell,  and  have  ever  since  maintained 
their  footing.  A  bill  for  their  naturalization 
was  passed  in  the  year  1753  ;  but  the  preju 
dices  against  the  measure  were  so  strongly 
expressed,  as  to  lead  to  its  repeal  in  the  fol 
lowing  year. 

In  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  some 
changes  have  taken  place  in  the  civil  con 
dition  of  the  Jews : 

In  Spain  and  Portugal  their  rights  are  still 
denied  them  with  all  the  exclusive  rigor  of 
the  middle  ages.  In  Spain,  where  every 
man  must  belong  to  the  Romish  Church, 
their  existence  only  is  tolerated ;  and  even 
in  Portugal,  where  the  Church  of  Rome  has 
not  the  same  constitutional  power,  protection 
alone  is  guaranteed.  In  France  Napoleon 
25 


III.  has  left  unchanged  the  arrangement  of 
1831,  which  introduced  the  rabbis  into  the 
circle  of  religious  pensionaries  of  the  state. 
The  affairs  of  the  French  Jews  are  managed 
by  a  general  consistorium  at  Paris,  and  their 
schools  in  Algiers  enjoy  the  same  privileges 
with  those  at  home.  Nowhere  is  their  social 
position  higher  than  within  the  realms  of 
France.  In  Holland  and  Belgium  the  only 
remaining  restrictions  were  swept  away  by 
the  revolution  of  1830.  The  Belgian  gov 
ernment  now  undertakes  the  expense  of 
Jewish  education,  and  follows  the  example 
of  France  in  treating  them  with  favor, 
although,  as  in  Maestricht  in  1840,  the  pop 
ular  prejudice  against  the  race  occasionally 
breaks  out  in  open  violence.  In  Denmark, 
since  1814,  Jews  have  been  eligible  for  com 
munal  magistracies  ;  and  in  1850  the  special 
prerogative  of  the  crown  to  sanction  their 
intermarriage  with  Christians  was  dis 
pensed  with,  on  the  condition  that  the  chil 
dren  be  educated  in  the  Christian  faith.  In 
Sweden  the  favorable  disposition  of  the 
government  in  1838  was  checked  by  popular 
indignation,  in  which  the  artizans  of  Stock 
holm  were  particularly  prominent.  In  Xor- 
way  the  law  of  1814,  which  forbade  the 
toleration  of  their  worship,  has  been  gradu 
ally  relaxed,  until,  in  1851,  the  parliament, 
with  the  consent  of  the  king,  placed  them 
on  the  same  footing  with  the  various  sects 
that  do  not  belong  to  the  national  church. 
In  Russia,  which  contains  about  two-thirds 
of  the  entire  Jewish  population  of  Europe, 
their  position  is  very  various.  In  the  Polish 
provinces  their  numbers  often  exceed  those 
of  the  Christian  population ;  and  in  some  of 
the  smaller  towns  they  stand  so  high  in  in- 
fluence  that,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  the 
rest  of  the  population  has  found  it  advisable 
to  hold  the  Christian  Sabbath  on  the  Satin- 
day.  In  Old  Russia  their  residence  is  fettered 
with  intolerable  conditions.  Great  anxiety  is 
manifested  by  the  government  for  their  con 
version  to  the  Greek  Church,  and  in  184^ 
important  exemptions  from  taxation  were, 
by  an  imperial  ukase,  made  vena,  with  apos 


194 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


tacy.  Within  the  last  ten  years,  however, 
a  severer  regimen  has  been  adopted,  partly 
on  account  of  the  known  sympathies  of  the 
Jews  with  all  the  revolutionary  outbreaks  in 
Poland,  and  partly  on  account  of  their  par 
ticipation  in  the  smuggling  trade  on  the 
frontier.  Chiefly  on  the  latter  account  they 
were  interdicted,  in  1843,  from  settling 
within  a  certain  distance  from  the  Austrian 
and  Prussian  boundaries,  and  all  who  were 
settled  within  the  prescribed  limits  were 
compelled  to  sell  their  houses,  and  remove 
to  the  interior.  Another  ukase  of  Septem 
ber  1843  ordainel  that,  in  the  deficiency  of 
Russian  subjects,  they  should  be  subjected 
to  military  service,  instead  of  purchasing 
exemption  by  a  heavy  tax.  More  oppressive 
was  the  legislation  of  the  1st  October,  1840, 
which  fixed  the  right  to  wear  a  long  beard,  a 
caftan,  girdle,  and  cap  of  sable  at  50  rubles 
yearly,  and  doomed  all  to  wear  a  Christian 
dress  except  children  under  ten,  or  old  men 
above  sixty,  who  could  not  pay  that  sum.  In 
1850  an  equally  oppressive  ukase  forbade 
altogether  the  practice  prevalent  among 
Jewish  women  in  Russia  of  cutting  off  their 
hair  at  their  marriage,  and  wearing  their 
head  covered.  A  mitigation  of  some  of 
their  burdens  was  granted  in  1851  ;  a 
capitation  tax,  levied  on  Jews  who  came 
from  Austria  into  Poland,  was  repealed,  and 
the  price  exacted  for  a  safe-conduct  to  all 
who  quitted  the  Russian  dominions  for  Galli- 
cia  was  also  abated.  In  the  late  war  with 
Turkey  Jews  were  compelled  to  enlist  in  the 
Russian  militia  when  the  regiments  of  the 
interior  were  drafted  south,  and  melted  away 
in  the  Crimea.  In  Turkey  they  enjoy,  in 
an  equal  measure  of  bondage  and  contempt, 
all  the  privileges  accorded  to  foreign  nations 
under  the  sway  of  the  sultan.  In  Italy  the 
ban  of  the  middle  ages  still  hangs  over  the 
Jewish  people  ;  only  in  Parma  and  Tuscany 
is  there  any  alleviation  of  their  lot.  At 
Ancona,  in  1843,  a  promise  was  given  that 
the  power  of  the  Inquisition  over  them 
should  cease,  and  their  position  beyond  the 
pale  of  civil  society  otherwise  amended.  In 


Rome  they  are  still  confined  to  the  Ghetto, 
and  must  pay  800  scudi  yearly  for  the 
wretched  solace  of  papal  protection.  It  is 
due  to  the  republic  of  1849  to  state  that  this 
odious  tax  was  formally  annulled  during  the 
short  period  of  its  power  ;  but  on  the  restor 
ation  of  the  pope  it  was  again  imposed,  and 
the  old  law,  which  forbade  the  employment 
of  Jewish  females  in  Christian  households 
was,  in  1851,  revived  with  heavier  penalties 
than  before.  The  emancipation  of  the  Jews 
in  Sardinia,  which  was  promised  in  1848,  has 
not  yet  been  carried  out  at  least  to  its  full 
extent.  In  Switzerland  the  prevailing  liber 
alism  of  their  institutions  has  not  prevailed 
so  far  as  to  affect  the  social  position  of  the 
Jews.  So  late  as  1839  they  were  forbidden 
to  enter  the  canton  of  Basle  except  on  market- 
days,  and  Jews  in  the  service  of  Christian 
merchants  received  only  a  few  days'  notice  to 
quit  the  province.  Lucerne  followed  the 
example  and  expelled  them  from  the  public 
market  in  1850.  A  second  time,  in  1851, 
the  canton  of  Basle  repeated  this  odious  de 
cree  ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of 
the  French,  the  penalty  for  employing  a 
Jewish  servant  wras  fixed  at  300  francs.  In 
Germany  their  condition  varies  very  much, 
each  principality  enacting  laws  more  or  less 
intolerant,  according  as  the  government  con 
trols,  or  is  controlled  by  the  invariably  un 
friendly  voice  of  the  people.  In  Austria  the 
decree  of  Joseph  is  still  in  force.  Their  re 
moval  from  one  province  to  another  is  at  the 
option  of  the  emperor,  and  trade  itself  is 
loaded  with  restrictions  which  prevent  them 
from  ever  reaching  the  position  of  a  native 
craftsman  or  merchant.  Only  in  some  parts 
are  they  permitted  to  rent  or  purchase  land 
beyond  the  space  occupied  by  their  own 
dwellings.  In  Hungary  alone  the  Magyar 
nobles  have  allowed  them  to  free  privileges 
of  unrestricted  trade.  After  the  commotions 
of  1848  the  Jewish  capitation  tax  was  miti 
gated  to  all  except  the  residents  of  Yienna  ; 
but  in  Hungary  their  share  in  the  revolu 
tionary  movements  of  that  year  became  tho 
occasion  of  a  heavy  exaction,  ostensibly  to 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


196 


be  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Jewish  education. 
Popular  hatred,  however,  avails  far  more 
than  legislative  enactment  effectually  to 
isolate  the  Jews  from  the  commercial  and 
literary  circles  of  the  kingdom;  and  few 
years  pass  without  some  flagrant  act  of  ex 
pulsion  or  exhibition  of  petty  tyranny,  from 
which  there  is  no  redress  and  no  protection. 
In  Prussia  there  has  been  no  recent  legisla 
tion  of  any  consequence.  Their  admission 
as  teachers  in  the  gymnasia,  and  physicians 
in  the  army,  has  been  several  times  proposed 
by  government  and  abandoned.  Commer 
cial  jealousy  is  still  powerful  enough  to  pro 
cure  their  expulsion  from  the  exchange,  and 
popular  hatred  to  debar  them  from  the  pub 
lic  gardens  of  the  great  cities.  In  the  free 
towns  their  condition  is  scarcely  much  higher 
than  in  the  most  rural  districts.  In  Frank 
fort  the  decree  of  1824,  which  excluded 
them  from  practicing  as  physicians  or  advo 
cates,  and  interdicted  them  from  trading  in 
raw  material,  or  employing  any  assistants 
except  those  of  their  own  faith,  was  slightly 
modified  in  1849,  and  a  revision  of  question 
able  tendency  was  made  in  1851.  In  Lubeck 
their  equalization  with  the  other  citizens  has 


been  only  promised;  and  in  Bremen  they 
must,  as  clients,  pay  a  price  for  their  protec 
tion.  In  Hamburg  they  have  since  1849 
been  admitted  to  civic  privileges;  and  in 
1851  their  marriage  with  Christians  was 
legalized,  leaving  it  to  the  parents  to  decide 
in  what  faith  the  children  shall  be  educated. 

Wherever  Islamism  prevails  they  are  the 
helpless  victims  of  studied  insult  and  oppres 
sion.  In  Persia  their  fate  is  wretched  in  the 
extreme.  In  Syria  the  sudden  disappearance 
of  a  clergyman  in  1840  revived  the  old 
outcry  that  the  Jews  mingled  Christian  blood 
in  their  paschal  ceremonies,  and  Damascus  be 
came  the  scene  of  a  persecution,  which 
quickly  spread  to  the  other  towns  of  the 
Ottoman  empire.  The  intervention  of  their 
British  compatriots  has,  however,  availed  to 
procure  their  protection  from  the  Porte. 

The  probable  number  of  the  Jews  has 
been  the  subject  of  frequent  but  not  very 
successful  conjecture.  The  most  cautious 
estimate  is  about  six  millions ;  but,  as  their 
numbers  are  very  great  in  lands  where  there 
is  no  census,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  say 
whether  this  falls  short  of  the  truth  or 
not. 


196 


HISTOfcY   OF   THE  WOELD. 


ASIA    MINOR. 


FItOM  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country, 
once  the  seat  of  early  civilization,  and 
the.  cradle  of  the  fine  arts,  Asia  Minor  is  now 
comparatively  imperfectly  known,  and  the  ac 
counts  left  ns  by  ancient  writers  are  very  mea 
gre  and  unsatisfactory.  It  is,  however,  of  per 
haps  greater  interest  to  the  geographer,  the 
historian,  and  the  antiquary,  than  almost  any 
other  country.  It  everywhere  abounds  with 
relics  and  monuments  of  antiquity,  all  tend 
ing  more  or  less  to  throw  light  upon  the  his 
tory  of  the  human  race. 

The  grandeur  and  picturesque  beauty  of 
its  scenery  renders  it  at  least  equal  if  not 
superior  to  any  country  in  Europe,  while  its 
extreme  productiveness,  coupled  with  the 
number  of  its  excellent  ports  arid  other  ad 
vantages,  give  evidence,  that  under  a  more 
favorable  system  of  government  it  might 
become  a  land  of  commercial  importance ; 
but  at  present  its  imports  are  subject  to  very 
heavy  and  arbitrary  taxes,  and  almost  every 
branch  of  industry  is  paralyzed  by  a  still 
more  ruinous  system  of  monopolies. 

When  the  descendants  of  Noah  were,  from 
their  numbers,  obliged  to  disperse  themselves 
over  the  earth,  the  family  of  Lud,  one  of  the 
eons  of  Shem,  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
first  to  people  the  wilds  of  Asia  Minor,  and 
to  have  at  length  settled  on  the  banks  of  the 
Hermus.  The  traditionary  Lydus  the  origi 
nal  king  of  the  Lydians  is  supposed  to  be  the 
game  with  Lud,  and  his  grandfather  Manes 
is  probably  the  Noah  of  Scripture. 

The  term  Asia  Minor  does  not  seem  to 


have  been  used  until  the  fourth  century  of 
our  era,  and  was  then  applied  to  that  peninsula 
of  Asia  extending  westward  from  an  imag 
inary  line  drawn  from  Trebisond  to  the  gulf 
of  Scanderoon.  It  comprehended  Mysia, 
Lydia,  Caria,  Lycia,  Pisidia,  Cilicia,  Bith- 
ynia,  Paphlagonia,  Pontus,  Phrygia,  Gala- 
tia,  Lycaonia,  and  Cappadocia.  "We  shall 
now  give  a  brief  notice  of  the  principal 
states,  separately. 

MYSIA. 

Mysia  lay  in  the  extreme  northwest  cor 
ner  of  Asia  Minor.  The  province  waa 
originally  divided  into  Mysia,  Troas,  Aeblis, 
and  Luthuania.  To  the  first  of  these  the 
Mysians  originally  belonged  ;  they  had  come 
from  the  country  of  the  Lydians,  or  as  some 
historians  assert,  from  Thrace.  They  gradu 
ally  spread  southward,  encroaching  upon 
the  Trojan,  Arabian,  and  Phrygian  settlers, 
until  they  attained  sufficient  importance  to 
communicate  their  name  to  the  entire  prov 
ince.  Little  is  known  of  their  history. 
They  were  subject  at  one  time  to  the  Lydian 
monarchy.  They  are  mentioned  by  Homer 
among  the  allies  of  Persia.  The  country 
afterward  formed  a  part  of  the  third  satrapj 
under  the  Persians,  and  then  a  part  of  the 
Syrian  empire  that  was  created  after  the 
death  of  Alexander  the  Great.  On  the  de 
feat  of  Antiochus,  the  last  king  of  Syria, 
in  B.  c.  65,  it  was  given  by  the  Eomans  to 
Eumenes,  king  of  Pergamus.  It  was  after 
ward  incorporated  in  the  Koman  Province 


HISTOKY    OF    THE    WOKLD. 


197 


of  Asia.  Mysia  is  most  celebrated  from  the 
ancient  town  of  Troy  which  lay  on  the 
northwestern  coast,  directly  opposite  to  Eu 
rope,  from  which  it  was  separated  by  the 
narrow  strait,  now  called  the  Dardanelles. 
The  only  accounts  of  the  Trojan  wrar  which 
we  have  are  in  the  form  of  poetry ;  and  in  these 
narratives  the  truth  is  so  intricately  inter 
woven  with  the  fabulous,  the  gods  of  Olym 
pus  appearing  and  assisting  the  mortal  he 
roes,  arid  the  whole  so  contradictory  and 
inconsistent,  that  we  are  forced  to  exclude 
them  from  the  domain  of  actual  history, 
and  class  them  with  the  rest  of  the  Grecian 
mythology. 

LYDIA. 

The  origin  of  the  Lydians  was  a  disputed 
point  among  the  ancients ;  all  we  know  for 
certain  is,  that  they  were  a  very  ancient  na 
tion  ;  and  this  is  manifest  from  their  fables ; 
for  Atys,  Tantalus,  Pelops,  Niobe,  and  Ar- 
achne,  are  all  said  to  have  been  the  children 
of  Lydus.  Zanthus  informs  us  that  the 
ancient  city  of  Ascalon,  one  of  the  five 
satrapies  of  the  Philistines,  mentioned  in  the 
books  of  Joshua  and  the  Judges,  was  built 
by  one  Ascalus,  a  Lydian,  whom  Achiamus, 
King  of  Lydia,  had  appointed  to  command  a 
body  of  troops  which  he  sent  into  Syria,  we 
know  not  on  what  occasion.  The  Heraclidae, 
or  Kings  of  Lydia  descended  from  Hercules, 
began  to  reign  before  the  Trojan  War,  and 
had  been  preceded  by  a  long  line  of  sov 
ereigns  sprung  from  Atys,  a  strong  proof  of 
the  antiquity  of  the  kingdom. 

The  Lydians  began  very  early  to  be  gov 
erned  by  kings,  whose  authority  seems  to 
have  been  despotic,  and  the  crown  heredi 
tary.  We  read  of  three  distinct  races  of 
kings  reigning  over  Lydia, — the  Atyados, 
the  Heraclidse,  and  the  Mermnadce.  The 
AtyaddB  were  so  called  from  Atys  the  son  of 
Cotys,  and  grandson  of  Manes,  the  first 
Lydian  king.  But  the  history  of  the  family 
is  obscure  and  fabulous.  The  Atyadae  were 
succeeded  by  the  Ileraclidce,  or  the  descend 
ants  of  Hercules.  This  hero  having,  by  the 


direction  of  the  oracle,  been  sold  as  a  slave, 
Omphale,  Queen  of  Lydia,  in  order  to  expi 
ate  the  murder  of  Iphitus,  had  by  one  of  her 
slaves,  during  his  captivity,  a  son  named 
Cleolaus,  whose  grandson  Argon  was  the 
first  of  the  Heraclidoa  who  ascended  the 
throne  of  Lydia.  This  race  is  said  to  have 
reigned  505  years,  the  son  succeeding  the 
father  for  twenty-two  generations.  They 
began  to  reign  about  the  time  of  the  Trojan 
War.  The  last  of  the  family  was  the  un 
happy  Candaules,  who  lost  both  his  life  and 
kingdom  by  his  imprudence.  Of  this  event 
an  account  is  given  by  Herodotus.  Candau 
les  had  a  wife  whom  he  passionately  loved, 
and  believed  to  be  the  most  beautiful  of  her 
sex.  He  extolled  her  charms  to  Gyges,  his 
favorite,  whom  he  used  to  intrust  with  his 
most  important  affairs ;  and  to  convince  him 
the  more  of  her  beauty,  resolved  to  show  her 
to  him  quite  undressed.  Enraged  at  this 
wanton  affront,  she  told  Gyges  that  he  must 
either  by  his  death  atone  for  the  criminal 
action  he  had  been  guilty  of,  or  put  to  death 
Candaules,  the  contriver  of  it,  and  receive 
both  her  and  the  kingdom  of  Lydia  as  his 
reward.  Gyges  chose  the  latter  alternative, 
and  having  stabbed  the  king  whilst  he  was 
asleep,  married  the  queen,  and  took  posses 
sion  of  the  kingdom,  in  which  he  was  con 
firmed  by  the  response  of  the  oracle  of  Del 
phi.  Candaules  is  said  to  have  purchased, 
for  its  weight  in  gold,  a  picture  painted  by 
Bularchas,  representing  a  battle  of  the  Mag 
nates  ;  a  circumstance  which  shows  how 
early  the  art  of  painting  had  begun  to  be 
appreciated  in  that  country,  Candaules  hav 
ing  been  contemporary  with  Romulus. 

Gyges  having  thus  possessed  himself  of 
the  kingdom  of  Lydia,  sent  many  rich  and 
valuable  presents  to  the  oracle  of  Delphos, 
amongst  which  were  six  cups  of  gold,  weigh 
ing  thirty  talents,  and  greatly  esteemed  for 
the  workmanship.  He  made  war  upon  Mile 
tus  and  Smyrna,  took  the  city  of  Colophon, 
and  subdued  the  whole  country  of  Troas. 
In  his  reign,  and  by  his  permission,  the  city 
of  Abydus  was  built  by  the  Milesiads.  Plu- 


198 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


tarch  and  other  writers  give  a  different  ac 
count  of  his  accession  to  the  crown  of  Lydia, 
and  inform  us,  without  making  any  mention 
of  the  queen,  that  Gyges  rebelled  against 
Candaules,  and  slew  him  in  an  engagement. 
In  Gyges  commenced  the  third  race  called 
Mermnadce,  who  were  also,  properly  speak 
ing,  Heraclidae,  being  descended  from  a  son 
of  Hercules  by  Omphale. 

Gyges  reigned  thirty-eight  years,  and  was 
succeeded  on  the  throne  by  his  son  Ardyes, 
who  possessed  himself  of  Priene,  and  of 
Sardis  the  metropolis  of  Lydia,  and  after 
reigning  forty-nine  years,  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  Sadyattes,  who  reigned  twelve  years, 
during  most  part  of  which  he  carried  on  war 
with  the  Milesians. 

After  him  came  his  son  Alyattes,  who,  for 
the  space  of  five  years,  continued  the  war 
which  his  father  had  begun  against  the  Mile 
sians,  ravaging  their  country,  and  about  har 
vest-time  yearly  carrying  away  all  their  corn  ; 
when  having  on  one  occasion  set  fire  to  the 
corn  in  the  fields,  the  flames  were  earned  by 
a  violent  wind,  which  happened  at  that  time 
to  blow,  to  the  temple  of  Minerva  at  Assesus 
and  burned  it  down  to  the  ground.  Not 
long  afterwards,  Alyattes  falling  sick,  sent 
to  consult  the  oracle  at  Delphos ;  but  the 
god  refused  to  return  any  answer  until  the 
king  should  rebuild  the  temple  of  Miner 
va  at  Assesus.  Alyattes,  thus  warned,  dis 
patched  ambassadors  to  Miletus,  enjoin 
ing  them  to  conclude  a  truce  with  the  Mile 
sians  until  the  temple  should  be  rebuilt.  On 
the  arrival  of  the  ambassadors,  Thrasybultis 
then  King  of  Miletus,  having  commanded  all 
the  corn  which  was  at  that  time  in  the  city 
to  be  brought  into  the  market-place,  ordered 
the  citizens  to  banquet  in  public,  and  to  rev 
el  as  if  the  city  were  plentifully  stored  with 
all  manner  of  provisions.  This  stratagem 
Thrasybulus  practised  that  the  ambassadors, 
seeing  such  quantities  of  corn,  and  the  peo 
ple  everywhere  diverting  themselves,  might 
acquaint  their  master  with  his  affluence,  and 
thus  divert  him  from  pursuing  the  war.  As 
Tlirasj bulus  had  intended,  so  it  happened. 


Alyattes,  who  believed  the  Milesians  greatly 
distressed  for  provisions,  receiving  a  differ 
ent  account  from  his  ambassadors,  changed 
the  truce  into  a  lasting  peace,  and  ever  after 
wards  lived  in  amity  and  friendship  with 
Thrasybulus  and  the  Milesians. 

After  a  reign  of  fifty-seven  years,  he  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Croesus,  whose  uninter 
rupted  prosperity,  in  the  first  years  of  his 
reign,  far  eclipsed  the  glory  of  his  predeces 
sors.  He  was  the  first  who  made  war  on  the 
Ephesians,  wrhose  city  he  besieged  and  took, 
notwithstanding  their  consecrating  it  to  Di 
ana,  and  their  fastening  the  walls  by  a  rope 
to  her  temple,  which  was  seven  stadia  from 
the  city.  After  the  reduction  of  Ephesus, 
he,  under  various  pretences,  attacked  the 
lonians,  and  ^Eolians,  obliging  them,  and  all 
the  other  Greek  states  of  Asia,  to  pay  him 
an  annual  tribute.  Having  met  with  such 
extraordinary  success  by  land,  the  Lydion 
prince  determined  to  render  his  power  equally 
conspicuous  by  sea.  Eor  this  purpose  he  had 
serious  thoughts  of  equipping  a  fleet,  with 
which  he  purposed  to  invade  and  conquer 
the  Grecian  islands  directly  opposite  to  his 
dominions.  But  this  design,  which,  consid 
ering  the  slow  progress  of  maritime  power 
amongst  the  nations  most  diligent  in  attain 
ing  it,  would  probably  have  failed  of  suc 
cess,  was  prevented  by  the  advice  of  a  philo 
sophical  traveller,  conveyed  in  such  a  lively 
turn  of  wit  as  easily  changed  the  resolution 
of  the  king.  Bias  of  Priene,  in  Ionia  (some 
say  Pittacus  of  Mitylene,  in  the  Isle  of  Les 
bos),  whilst  he  travelled,  after  the  Grecian 
custom,  from  curiosity  and  a  love  of  knowl 
edge,  was  presented  to  Croesus  at  the  Lydian 
court ;  and  being  asked  by  that  prince  what 
news  he  brought  from  Greece  answered  with 
a  republican  freedom,  that  the  islanders  had 
collected  powerful  squadrons  of  cavalry  with 
an  intention  of  invading  Lydia.  "  May  the 
gods  grant,"  said  Croesus,  "  that  the  Greeks, 
who  are  unacquainted  with  horsemanship, 
should  attack  the  disciplined  valor  of  the 
Lydian  cavalry ;  there  would  speedily  be  an 
end  to  the  contest."  In  the  same  manner," 


HISTOKY  OF   THE  WOKLD. 


199 


replied  Bias,  "  as  if  tlie  Lydians  who  are  to 
tally  unexperienced  in  naval  affairs,  should 
invade  the  Grecians  by  sea."  Struck  by  the 
acuteness  of  this  unexpected  observation, 
Croesus  desisted  from  his  intended  expedi 
tion  against  the  islands ;  and,  instead  of  em 
ploying  new  means  for  extending  his  con 
quest,  determined  peaceably  to  enjoy  the 
laurels  he  had  won,  and  to  display  the  grand 
eur  he  had  attained.  But  his  happiness  was 
eoon  afterwards  alloyed  by  the  death  of  his 
favorite  son  Atys,  who  was  unfortunately 
killed  in  the  chase  of  a  wild  boar.  This  loss 
rendered  him  disconsolate  for  two  years,  and 
reduced  him  to  a  state  of  inaction  till  the 
conquests  of  Cyrus  and  the  growing  power 
of  the  Persians  roused  up  his  martial  spirit, 
and  diverted  his  mind  to  other  thoughts. 

Croesus  apprehending  that  the  success 
which  had  attended  Cyrus  in  all  his  under 
takings  might  at  last  prove  dangerous  to  him 
self,  resolved,  if  possible,  to  put  a  stop  to 
his  progress.  In  adopting  this  resolution, 
which  might  probably  be  attended  with  the 
most  important  consequences,  he  was  desir 
ous  to  learn  the  Avill  of  heaven  concerning 
the  issue  of  the  war.  The  principal  oracles 
which  he  consulted  were  those  of  Branchis 
in  Ionia,  of  Ammon  in  Libya,  and  of  Del 
phi  in  Greece.  But,  amongst  these  respect 
ed  shrines,  the  oracle  of  Delphi  maintained 
its  ascendant,  as  the  most  faithful  interpreter 
of  fate.  Croesus  was  fully  persuaded  of  its 
veracity  ;  and,  generally  desirous  to  compen 
sate  the  priests  of  Apollo  for  the  trouble 
which  he  had  already  given,  and  still  meant 
to  give,  he  sacrificed  three  thousand  oxen  to 
the  god,  and  adorned  his  shrine  with  gifts 
equally  valuable  for  the  workmanship  and 
for  the  materials,  viz.,  precious  vessels  of 
silver,  ewers  of  iron,  beautifully  inlaid  and 
enamelled,  various  ornaments  of  pure  gold, 
particularly  a  gold  lion  weighing  ten  talents 
and  a  female  figure  three  cubits,  or  nearly 
five  feet  in  height.  In  return  for  these  mag 
nificent  presents,  the  oracle,  in  equivocal 
and  ambiguous  language,  flattered  Croesus 
with  obtaining  an  easy  victory  over  Ms  ene 


mies,  and  with  enjoying  a  long  life  and  a 
prosperous  reign.  The  god  at  the  same 
time  enjoined  him  to  contract  an  alliance 
with  the  most  powerful  of  the  Grecian  sta  tes. 
Elevated  with  these  favorable  predictions 
of  Apollo,  Croesus  prepared  to  yield  a  ready 
obedience  to  the  only  condition  required  on 
his  part  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  aspir 
ing  design.  ISTot  deeming  himself  sufficient 
ly  acquainted  with  the  affairs  of  Greece  to 
know  what  particular  republic  was  meant  by 
the  oracle,  he  made  especial  inquiry  of  those 
who  were  best  informed  concerning  the  state 
of  Europe,  and  discovered  that  amongst  all 
the  members  of  the  Grecian  confederacy, 
the  Athenians  and  Lacedaemonians  were  just 
ly  entitled  to  the  pre-eminence.  But  in  or 
der  to  learn  which  of  these  communities  de 
served  the  epithet  of  "  most  powerful,"  it 
was  necessary  to  send  ambassadors  into 
Greece.  The  Lydians  dispatched  on  thia 
important  commission  soon  discovered  that 
the  Athenians,  having  been  long  harassed 
by  internal  dissensions,  were  actually  gov 
erned  by  the  tyrant  Pisistratus.  The  Spar 
tans,  on  the  other  hand,  though  anciently  the 
worst  regulated  of  all  the  Grecian  communi 
ties,  had  enjoyed  domestic  peace  and  foreign 
prosperity  ever  since  they  had  adopted  the 
wise  institutions  of  Lycurgus.  To  the  Lyd- 
ian  ambassadors,  therefore,  the  Spartan  re 
public  appeared  to  be  pointed  out  by  the 
oracle  as  the  community  whose  alliance  they 
were  enjoined  to  solicit.  Having  according 
ly  repaired  to  Sparta,  they  were  introduced 
not  only  to  the  kings  and  senate,  but,  as  the 
importance  of  the  negotiations  required,  tc 
the  general  assembly  of  the  Lacedaemonians 
to  whom  they,  in  few  words,  declared  the  ob 
ject  of  their  commission.  The  Lacedaemo 
nians,  pleased  with  the  alliance  of  a  warlike 
king,  and  still  more  with  the  fame  of  their 
valor,  readily  accepted  the  proposal.  To  the 
strict  connection  of  an  offensive  and  defen 
sive  league  they  joined  the  more  respected 
ties  of  sacred  hospitality.  A  few  years  be 
fore  this  transaction  they  had  sent  to  Sardis 
to  purchase  gold  for  making  a  statue  of 


200 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Apol'o,  and  on  that  occasion  Crcesus  had  gra 
tuitously  supplied  their  -wants.  Remem 
bering  this  generosity,  they  gave  the  Lydian 
ambassadors  at  their  departure,  as  a  present 
for  their  master,  a  vessel  of  brass  containing 

*  o 

three  hundred  amphoras  (above  twelve  hogs 
heads),  and  beautifully  carved  on  the  outside 
with  various  forms  of  animals. 

Croesus,  having  thus  happily  accomplished 
the  design  recommended  by  the  oracle,  was 
eager  to  set  out  upon  his  intended  expedition. 
He  had  formerly  entered  into  alliances  with 
Amasis,  King  of  Egypt,  and  Labynetus,  King 
of  Babylon ;  and  he  had  now  obtained  the 
friendship  of  the  most  warlike  nation  of 
Europe.  The  newly-raised  power  of  Cyrus 
and  the  Persians  seemed  incapable  of  resist 
ing  such  a  formidable  confederacy.  Ele 
vated  with  these  flattering  ideas  of  his  own 
invincible  greatness,  Croesus  waited  not  to 
attack  the  Persian  dominions  until  he  had 
collected  the  strength  of  his  allies.  The 
sanguine  impetuosity  of  his  temper,  unexpe 
rienced  in  adversity,  unfortunately  precipi 
tated  him  into  measures  no  less  daring  than 
ruinous.  Attended  only  by  the  arms  of 
Lydia  and  a  numerous  band  of  mercenaries, 
whom  his  immense  wealth  enabled  him  at 
any  time  to  call  into  his  service,  he  marched 
towards  the  River  Halys,  and  having  with 
much  difficulty  crossed  that  deep  and  broad 
stream,  entered  the  province  of  Cappadocia, 
which  formed  the  western  frontier  of  the 
Median  dominions.  That  unfortunate  country 
soon  experienced  all  the  calamities  of  inva 
sion.  The  Pterian  plain,  the  most  beautiful 
and  fertile  district  of  Cappadocia,  was  laid 
waste ;  the  ports  of  the  Euxine,  as  well  as 
several  inland  cities,  were  plundered,  and 
the  inoffensive  inhabitants  were  either  put 
to  the  sword,  or  dragged  into  captivity.  En 
couraged  by  the  unresisting  softness  of  the 
natives  of  those  parts,  Croesus  was  eager  to 
push  forwards ;  and  if  Cyrus  did  not  previ 
ously  meet  him  in  the  field,  he  had  determin 
ed  to  proceed  in  triumph  to  the  mountains 
of  Persia.  Against  this  dangerous  resolu 
tion  he  "was  in  vain  exhorted  by  a  prudent  | 


Lydian  named  Sandamis,  whom  he  dismiss 
ed  with  contempt  and  prepared  to  prosecute 
his  fatal  enterprise. 

Meanwhile  the  .approach  of  Cyrus,  whc 
who  was  not  of  a  temper  to  permit  his  do 
minions  to  be  ravished  with  impunity,  af 
forded  the  Lydian  king  an  opportunity  of 
bringing  the  war  to  a  more  speedy  issue  than 
by  his  intended  expedition  into  Persia.  The 
army  of  Cyrus  gradually  augmented  as  he 
advanced.  He  marched  from  the  shores  of 
the  Caspian  to  those  of  the  Euxine  Sea  be 
fore  the  army  of  Crcesus  had  provided  the 
necessaries  for  their  advance.  That  prince, 
when  apprised  of  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Persians,  encamped  on  the  Pterian  plain ; 
Cyrus  likewise  took  up  a  position  at  no  great 
distance;  frequent  skirmishes  occurred  be 
tween  the  light  troops ;  and  at  length  a  gen 
eral  engagement  was  fought  with  equal  fury 
and  perseverance,  and  only  terminated,  by 
the  darkness  of  night.  The  loss  on  both 
sides  prevented  a  renewal  of  the  battle ;  but 
the  numbers  as  well  as  the  courage  of  tho 
Persians  much  exceeded  the  expectation  of 
Crcesus ;  and  as  they  discovered  no  intention 
of  harassing  his  retreat,  he  determined  to 
fall  back  on  Sardis. 

But  this  design  was  defeated  by  the  watch 
ful  vigilance  of  Cyrus.  That  experienced 
leader  allowed  the  enemy  to  retire  without 
molestation,  carefully  informing  himself  of 
every  movement  they  made,  and  of  every 
measure  they  seemed  determined  to  pursue. 
Patiently  watching  the  opportunity  of  a  just 
revenge,  he  waited  until  Crcesus  had  re-en 
tered  his  capital,  and  disbanded  the  foreign 
mercenaries,  who  composed  the  most  numer 
ous  division  of  his  army.  Cyrus  then  put 
his  Persians  in  motion ;  and  such  was  his 
celerity,  that  he  brought  the  first  intelligence 
of  his  own  arrival  in  the  plain  of  Sardis. 
Crcesus,  whose  firmness  might  well  have  been 
shaken  by  the  imminence  of  this  unfonseen 
danger,  was  not  wanting  on  the  present  occa 
sion  in  the  duties  which  he  owed  to  his  fame 
and  the  lustre  of  the  Lydian  throne.  Though 
his  mercenaries  were  disbanded,  his  own  sub- 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


201 


jects,  who  served  him  from  attachment,  who 
had  been  long  accustomed  to  victory,  and 
who  were  animated  with  a  high  sense  of  na 
tional  honor  burned  with  a  desire  to  check 
the  daring  insolence  of  the  invaders.  Croe- 

o 

BUS  indulged  and  encouraged  this  generous 
ardor.  The  Lydians  in  that  age  fought  on 
horseback,  armed  with  long  spears;  the 
strength  of  the  Persians  consisted  in  their 
infantry.  The  latter  were  so  little  accustom 
ed  to  the  use  of  horses,  that  camels  were  al 
most  the  only  animals  which  they  employed 
as  beasts  of  burden.  This  circumstance  sug 
gested  to  a  Mede,  by  name  Harpagus,  a 
stratagem,  which,  being,  communicated  to 
Cyrus  was  immediately  adopted  with  the  ap 
probation  of  that  prince.  Harpagus  hav 
ing  observed  that  horses  had  a  strong  aver 
sion  to  the  shape  and  smell  of  camels,  ad 
vised  that  the  Persian  army  should  be  drawn 
up  with  the  camels  in  front,  mounted  with 
armed  men.  As  the  troops  on  both  sides  ap 
proached  to  join  battle,  the  Lydian  cavalry, 
terrified  at  the  unusual  appearance  of  the 
camels,  mounted  with  men  in  arms,  were 
thrown  into  disorder,  and  the  horses  turning 
their  heads,  endeavored  to  escape  from  the 
field ;  but  the  Lydians  abandoning  their 
horses,  prepared  with  uncommon  bravery  to 
attack  the  enemy  on  foot.  They  were  soon 
obliged  to  take  refuge,  however,  within  the 
fortified  strength  of  Sardis,  where  they  im 
agined  themselves  secure.  The  walls  of  that 
city  bade  defiance  to  the  rude  art  of  attack, 
as  practised  by  the  most  warlike  nations.  If 
the  Persian  army  should  invest  it,  the  Lydians 
were  provided  with  provisions  for  several 
years  ;  and  there  was  reason  to  expect  that 
in  a  few  months,  nay,  even  weeks,  they 
would  receive  such  assistance  from  Egypt, 
Babylonia,  and  Greece  to  which  countries 
they  had  already  sent  ambassadors,  as  would 
oblige  the  Persians  to  raise  the  siege. 

The  Lydian  ministers  dispatched  into 
Greece  met  with  great  sympathy  from  the 
Spartans.  They  immediately  resolved  there 
fore  to  send  speedy  and  effectual  relief  to  Croe 
sus  ;  and  for  this  purpose  they  assembled  their 
26 


troops,  made  ready  their  vessels,  and  prepared 
everything  necessary  for  the  expedition.  The 
valor  of  the  Spartans  might  perhaps  have 
upheld  the  sinking  empire  of  Lydia  ;  but  be 
fore  their  armament  set  sail,  Croesus  was  no 
longer  a  sovereign.  Notwithstanding  the 
strength  of  Sardis,  that  city  was  taken  by 
storm  on  the  twentieth  day  of  the  siege  ; 
the  walls  having  been  scaled  in  a  quarter 
which  appearing  altogether  inacessible,  was 
too  carelessly  guarded.  This  was  effected  by 
the  enterprise  of  Hyreades,  a  Mede,  who  ac 
cidentally  observed  a  sentinel  descend  part  of 
the  rock  in  order  to  recover  his  helmet.  ITy- 
reades  was  a  native  of  the  mountainous 
province  of  Mardia,  and,  being  accus 
tomed  to  clamber  over  the  dangerous  preci 
pices  of  his  native  country,  resolved  to  try 
his  activity  in  passing  the  rock  upon  which 
he  had  discovered  the  Lydian.  The  design 
was  more  easily  accomplished  than  he  had 
reason  to  expect ;  emulation  and  success  en 
couraged  the  bravest  of  the  Persians  to  fol 
low  his  example ;  these  were  supported  by 
great  numbers  of  their  countrymen ;  the 
garrison  of  Sardis  was  surprised,  the  citadel 
stormed,  and  the  rich  capital  of  Lower  Asia 
subjected  to  the  vengeful  rapacity  of  an  in 
dignant  conqueror.  Thus  ended  the  ancient 
kingdom  of  Lydia,  which  continued  subject 
to  the  Persians  until  they  in  their  turn  were 
conquered  by  the  Macedonians. 

CAEIA 

was  a  maritime  province  in  the  southwest 
corner  of  Asia  Minor.  The  boundaries  of 
the  kingdom,  as  possessed  by  the  original 
Carians,  seem  to  have  undergone  rapid 
changes  with  the  advancement  of  Dorian 
and  Ionian  colonization  on  the  coast.  Ac 
cordingly  the  earlier  geographers  assign  it  a 
much  larger  territory  than  those  who  wrote 
at  a  later  period.  The  principal  encroach 
ment  seems  to  have  been  made  in  the  north, 
where  the  Ionian  settlers  dispossessed  the 
Carians  entirely  of  the  plain  between  the 
Messogis  range  and  the  Mceander,  which 
from  that  time  forward  became  the  northern 


202 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


boundary  of  Caria.  The  Dorian  immigrants 
contented  themselves  with  seizing  on  the 
islands  and  part  of  the  sea-coast,  which  how 
ever  still  remained  as  the  great  natural  boun 
dary  of  the  Carian  province.  The  eastern 
frontier  is  distinctly  marked  by  the  range  of 
Mount  Cadmus ;  and  the  river  Calbis,  near 
the  left  bank  of  which  stood  Calynda,  the 
frontier  town  according  to  Strabo,  sufficiently 
divides  the  province  from  Lyciaon  the  south. 
The  interior  of  the  country  consisted  chiefly 
of  a  fertile  plain,  inclosed  by  the  Ma?ander 
and  the  Messogis  hills,  and  several  smaller 
valleys  inclosed  by  the  ridges  which  stretch 
from  the  eastern  boundary  in  a  south-wester 
ly  direction  to  the  sea,  and  are  prolonged  in 
the  various  peninsulas  and  islands  on  the 
coast.  Beyond  the  cultivation  of  the  olive 
and  vine,  and  the  tending  of  their  flocks  of 
sheep  on  the  highlands,  the  Carians  paid 
little  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits.  They 
served  like  the  modern  Swiss  as  mercenaries 
to  almost  all  their  more  powerful  neighbors  ; 
and  while  indifferent  to  anything  but  their 
pay,  they  were  generally  planted  in  front  of 
the  battle,  and  fought  with  the  greatest 
bravery.  Their  mercenary  character  in  an 
cient  times,  however,  gave  rise  to  several 
proverbs  in  which  cheapness,  rudeness,  and 
treachery  were  associated  with  the  Carian 
name.  The  islands  on  the  coast  were  too 
widely  scattered  and  too  much  exposed  to 
the  powerful  maritime  states  in  the  neigh 
borhood,  to  remain  long  in  connection  with 
an  oppressed  people  on  the  mainland;  but 
must  have  afforded  admirable  shelter  to  the 
Carians  w^hen  they  were  the  pirates  of  the 
^Egean.  Syme  alone  remained  faithful  to 
the  continental  interest. 

Of  the  Carian  ancestry  very  conflicting  ac 
counts  have  come  down  to  us  from  antiquity. 
They  piqued  themselves  in  being  an  aborigi 
nal  people,  but  their  Cretan  rivals  gloried  in 
affirming  that  they  had  been  once  subjects 
of  the  great  Minos.  They  seem  originally 
to  have  been  extensively  scattered  over  the 
islands  of  the  ^Egean,  and  to  have  been  con 
fined  within,  if  not  actually  driven  to,  their 


possessions  on  the  mainland  by  the  flood  of 
Dorian  and  Ionian  colonies,  which  seized  on 
every  convenient  point  for  maritime  settle 
ments.  According  to  Thucydides,  their 
characteristic  armor  was  to  be  seen  in  the 
graves  of  Delos ;  while  vestiges  of  a  totally 
distinct,  although  perhaps  an  allied  people, 
were  to  be  found  on  the  mainland  which 
afterwards  went  by  their  name.  If  these 
native  Pelasgi  were  dispossessed  by  the  Ca 
rian  fugitives,  they  themselves  shared  the 
same  fate  at  the  hands  of  the  Dorian  and 
Ionian  colonies,  and  the  enterprising  Ivho- 
dians,  who  stripped  them  respectively  of 
Cnidus  and  Ilalicarnassus,  Mycale  and  Mile 
tus,  Persea,  and  wrhat  was  afterward  called 
the  Khodian  Chersonese.  Notwithstanding 
the  presence  of  these  invaders  in  their  terri 
tory,  the  Carians  still  enjoyed  a  large  measure 
of  independence,  retaining  their  own  dialect, 
and  preserving  their  own  political  constitu 
tion.  Their  Chrysorseum  or  convention  met 
in  the  interior  at  the  temple  of  Zeus  Chry- 
sorseus  and  settled  their  private  affairs,  even 
after  the  surrounding  districts  had  yielded 
to  a  foreign  yoke.  The  Persians,  who,  not 
without  a  protracted  contest,  reduced  them 
to  obedience  after  the  Ionian  revolt,  pushed 
their  conquests  no  farther  than  to  establish  a 
line  of  native  princes,  who  ruled  at  Ilali 
carnassus,  and  were  dependent  on  the  Per 
sian  crown.  On  the  approach  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  Ada  the  rightful  queen  vindicated 
her  claim  to  Grecian  descent  by  detaching 
herself  from  the  Persian  interest,  and  was 
rewarded  for  her  allegiance  with  tile  throne 
of  Caria.  Her  descendants  did  not  fare  a* 
well  from  the'  subsequent  Macedonian  prin 
ces,  who  established  themselves  in  her  domin 
ions,  and  paved  the  way  for  their  occupation 
by  Antiochus  the  Great.  On  the  rise  of  the 
Homan  power  in  Asia  Minor,  the  district  of 
Caria  was  dismembered  and  partitioned  be 
tween  Eumenes,  king  of  Pergamus,  and  the 
Khodians,  and  soon  after  incorporated  with 
the  Roman  province  of  Asia.  On  the  fall 
of  the  Eastern  empire  it  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Turks. 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


203 


LYCIA. 

From  the  account  given  by  Herodotus,  we 
may  infer  that  the  country  was  originally 
called  Milyas,  and  was  inhabited  by  two 
tribes,  the  Solymi  and  Tremilse,  or  Termi- 
log ;  that  a  band  of  adventurers  under  Lycus, 
eon  of  Pandion,  drove  the  former  tribe  back 
to  the  northern  mountains,  and  subdued  the 
latter ;  and  that,  while  the  northern  parts  of 
the  country  still  retained  the  ancient  name 
of  Milyas,  the  remaining  parts  were  called 
Lycia,  after  the  name  of  their  conqueror. 
The  northern  part  of  Lycia  is  rendered  rug 
ged  by  offsets  from  Mount  Taurus.  The 
two  principal  rivers,  the  Limyrus,  the  Xan- 
thus,  both  flow  southward  into  the  Mediter 
ranean.  Pliny  represents  the  country  as 
fruitful,  and  rioted  for  its  firs,  cedars,  and 
plane  trees.  It  appears  to  have  been  gov 
erned  in  the  time  of  Homer  by  kings,  but 
afterwards  by  a  congress  of  deputies  from 
the  different  free  cities.  By  this  congress, 
the  chief  magistrate,  called  Lyciarch,  the 
judges,  and  other  officials,  were  chosen,  and 
the  general  affairs  of  the  country  adminis 
tered.  In  the  time  of  Strabo  the  free  cities 
amounted  to  twenty-three.  Of  these,  the 
principal  were  Xanthus,  Patara,  Olympus, 
Myria,  Pinara,  and  Tlos.  All  these  had 
three  votes  each  in  the  decisions  of  the  assem 
bly.  Of  the  remaining  towns,  some  had  two 
votes  each,  others  only  one.  So  productive 
of  peace  and  good  order  was  this  constitution, 
that  it  was  left  in  full  operation  by  the  Ro 
mans  after  they  had  subdued  the  country. 
Finally,  however,  it  became  disordered  and 
incompetent,  and  was  abolished  by  the  Em-" 
deror  Claudius.  According  to  Herodotus, 
the  Lycians  had  derived  their  customs  partly 
from  the  Cretans,  and  partly  from  the  Ca- 
rians  ;  but  differed  from  these  nations  as  well 
as  from  all  others  in  assuming  the  name  of 
their  mothers  and  not  of  their  fathers. 

Recent  discoveries  have  ascertained  that 
the  Lycians  had  an  alphabet  compounded  of 
the  Greek  and  some  other  character.  Al 
though  possessing  a  language  of  their  own, 


they  seem  also  to  have  been  intimate  with 
that  of  the  Greek,  a  circumstance  that  might 
be  partly  the  result  and  partly  the  cause  of 
their  want  of  a  national  literature.  The  re 
mains  of  their  temples  and  richly  ornament 
ed  tombs  show,  that  in  architecture  and  sculp 
ture  they  were  not  far  behind  the  Greeks 
At  a  very  early  period  the  Lycians  seem 
to  have  waged  a  protracted  warfare  with  the 
Solymi,  the  aborigines  of  the  country ;  and 
to  this  struggle  the  legends  of  the  Lycian 
hero  Bellerophon,  as  related  by  Homer, 
bears  reference.  In  the  Iliad  the  Lycians 
are  enumerated  among  the  allies  of  the  Tro 
jans  ;  and  their  two  champions,  Glaucus  and 
Sarpedon,  act  a  prominent  part  in  the  war. 
Strongly  banded  together  by  their  excellent 
government,  the  towns  of  Lycia  successfully 
repulsed  the  arms  of  Croesus.  Yet  they  were 
forced  by  Cyrus  to  submit  to  the  yoke  of  the 
Persians,  and  are  mentioned  by  Herodotus 
as  contributing  their  contingent  fifty  ships  to 
the  fleet  of  Xerxes.  They  succumbed  after  a 
slight  resistance  to  the  power  of  Alexander 
the  Great ;  and  after  the  dismemberment  of 
the  Macedonian  empire,  came  successively 
under  the  sway  of  the  Ptolemies,  the  Seleu- 
cidte,  and  the  Romans.  Adopting  the  cause 
of  Octavianus  and  Antony,  they  were  sub 
dued  and  severely  taxed  by  Brutus.  After 
the  government  of  Lycia  had  been  abolished 
by  the  Emperor  Claudius,  that  country  be 
came  part  of  the  prefecture  of  Pamphylia. 
However,  in  the  reign  of  Theodosius  II.,  it 
was  constituted  a  separate  province. 

BITHYNIA 

was  in  the  northeast  of  Asia  Minor,  stretch 
ing  along  the  Propontis,  the  Thracian  Bos- 
phorus,  and  the  Euxinc,  between  the  rivers 
Rhyndacus  in  the  west,  and  the  Parthenius 
in  the  east.  In  the  south  it  bordered  on 
Galatia  and  Phrygia  Epictetus.  The  country 
derived  its  name  from  its  inhabitants,  the 
Bithyni,  whose  original  home  was  the  coun 
try  about  the  Strymon  in  Thrace.  Remnants 
of  this  nation  remained  in  Thrace,  and  are 
frequently  spoken  of  under  the  name  of 


204 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


Thyni,  or  Tliraces  Bithyni.  On  their  arri 
val  in  Asia,  they  expelled  or  subdned  the 
native  tribes  of  the  Mysians,  Bebryces,  Can- 
cones,  and  Mygdones ;  the  Mariandyni,  how 
ever,  maintained  themselves  on  the  coast  in 
the  north-eastern  part  of  the  country.  The 
Bithyni,  after  their  conquest  of  the  new 
country,  appear  to  have  been  divided 
into  two  branches,  the  Thyni  on  the  coast 
about  the  river  Sangarius,  and  the  Bithvni 

O  *  v 

in  the  southern  part  of  the  country.  In  the 
reign  of  Croesus,  Bithynia  was  incorporated 
with  the  Lydian  empire,  together  with  which 
it  soon  after  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Per- 
eians.  Under  the  dominion  of  the  latter,  who 
probably  made  no  great  changes  in  the  con 
stitution  of  the  country,  it  was  governed  by 
the  Satrap  of  Phrygia ;  for  at  that  time  it 
scarcely  contained  any  towns  except  the 
Greek  colonies  of  Chalcedon  and  Astacus. 
During  the  subsequent  disturbances  in  the 
Persian  empire,  some  native  princes  of  the 
Thyni  made  themselves  independent,  and 
maintained  this  independence  even  against 
Alexander  the  Great  and  his  successors. 
Nicomedes,  the  first  who  assumed  the  title 
of  king,  reigned  until  B.C.  246.  His  succes 
sor,  Prusias  L,  who  died  in  B.C.  192,  and 
Prusias  II.  (who  probably  died  in  B.  c.  150) 
did  much  to  establish  the  kingdom  on  a  firm 
basis,  and  to  extend  its  boundaries.  The  last 
king,  Is  icomedes  III.,  in  B.C.  75,  bequeathed 
his  kingdom  to  the  Romans,  who  at  first 
united  it  with  their  province  of  Asia,  and 
afterwards  with  Pontus,  until  Augustus  con 
stituted  it  as  a  separate  proconsular  province. 
At  the  same  time  that  emperor  united  the 
western  part  of  Paphlagonia,  under  the  name 
of  Pontus,  with  Bithynia.  Theodosius  II. 
again  divided  the  province,  restricting  the 
name  of  Bithynia  to  the  western  half,  which 
contained  the  cities  of  Nicomedia,  Nicaoa, 
and  Chalcedon,  while  the  eastern  part,  with 
the  cities  of  Ileraelea,  and  Claudiopolis,  re 
ceived  the  name  of  Hcnorias. 

LYCAONIA,  PISIDIA.  PAMPHYLIA,  and  PAPH- 
LAOONIA,   were  the  names  of  several  little 


states.  They  require  no  separate  notice,  for 
their  history  is  nearly  the  same  ;  at  first,  they 
were  inhabited  by  different  independent 
tribes,  generally  branches  of  the  Phrygian 
stock,  and  then  they  fell  a  prey  to  their  more 
powerful  neighbors,  such  as  the  Lydians,  and 
after  that,  they  passed  under  the  successive 
dominion  of  the  foreign  conquerors  of  Asia 
Minor,  the  Persians,  Alexander  the  Great, 
the  Seleucidae,  the  Romans,  and  finally  the 
Mohammedans, 

PHRYGIA. 

Phrygia  WNJ  one  of  the  most  important 
provinces  of  Asia  Minor.  The  ancient 
boundaries  are  very  uncertain.  The  origin 
of  the  Phrygians,  one  of  the  mosr  ancient  and 
powerful  races  of  the  world,  io  lost  in  obscu 
rity.  At  one  time  they  extended  over  the 
larger  part  of  northern  Greece,  and  the  ad 
jacent  countries ;  and  ilic  influence  of  their 
religious  ideas  is  very  perceptible  in  the 
Grecian  mythology.  Yielding  to  the  pressure 
of  the  northern  nations,  they  appear  to  have 
been  driven  back  into  Asia,  about  ninety 
years  before  the  Trojan  war.  Of  their  histo 
ry  little  is  known ;  the  people  were  agricul 
tural,  and  the  country  was  celebrated  for  its 
fine  breed  of  sheep,  and  their  excellent  wooL 
Phrygian  marble  was  much  prized,  and  gold 
was  found  in  the  beds  of  the  streams.  The 
independent  existence  of  Phrygia  ceased 
after  the  overthrow  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
and  its  geographical  boundaries  were  lost  in 
the  new  divisions  of  the  country. 

CAPPADOCIA, 

an  ancient  kingdom  of  Asia  Minor,  compre 
hended  originally  all  the  country  wliich  lies 
between  Mount  Taurus  and  the  Euxine  Sea. 
Its  early  history  and  condition  are  wrapped 
in  obscurity.  The  only  authentis  accounts 
which  have  come  down  to  us  do  not  remount 
beyond  the  period  of  its  subjection  to  Persia, 
and  the  native  princes  who  held  it  in  fief 
from  the  Persian  king.  The  first  of  these 
was  Pharnaces,  who  is  said  to  have  married 
Atossa,  the  sister  of  Cambyses.  and  to  have 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WOULD. 


205 


been  slain  in  a  war  with  the  Hyrcanians. 
The  princes  who  succeeded  him  (Smerdis, 
Atamnas,  Anaphas  I.  and  II.,  Datames, 
Ariamnes  L,  Ariarathes  L,  and  Olophernes) 
continued  faithful  to  the  Persian  interest, 
and  under  Ariarathes  II.,  who  (disregarding 
the  previous  and  somewhat  fabulous  line  of 
kings,)  is  generally  called  Ariarathes  L,  the 
Cappadocians  continued  to  struggle  for  their 
independence,  when  the  rest  of  the  kingdom 
had  been  overrun  and  dismembered  by  Al 
exander  the  Great.  After  the  death  of 
Alexander,  Perdiccas,  marching  into  Cappa- 
docia  with  a  powerful  and  well-disciplined 
army,  succeeded  in  taking  Ariarathes  prison 
er,  and  crucified  him  and  all  those  of  the 
royal  blood  who  fell  into  his  hands.  His 
son  Ariarathes  II.,  however,  having  escaped 
the  general  slaughter,  fled  into  Armenia, 
where  he  lay  concealed  till  the  civil  dissen 
sions  which  arose  among  the  Macedonians 
after  the  death  of  Eumenes  (to  wrhom  Per 
diccas  had  surrendered  the  kingdom),  gave 
him  a  favorable  opportunity  of  recovering 
the  throne.  Having  defeated  Amyntas  in  a 
pitched  battle,  he  compelled  the  Macedonians 
to  abandon  all  the  strongholds,  and  after  a 
long  and  undisturbed  reign,  left  his  kingdom 
to  his  son  Ariamnes  II.,  under  whose  peace 
ful  administration  Cappadocia  made  great 
progress.  Under  Ariarathes  III.,  who  waged 
a  successful  war  with  Arsaces,  founder  of 
the  Parthian  monarchy,  the  territory  of  Cap 
padocia  was  considerably  enlarged. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Ariarathes  IV.,  who 
joined  Antiochus  the  Great  against  the  Ro 
mans,  and  after  his  defeat  was  obliged  to 
atone  for  taking  up  arms  against  the  people 
of  Rome  by  paying  a  fine  of  two  hundred 
talents.  He  afterwards  assisted  the  republic 
with  men  and  money  again  Perseus  king  of 
Macedon,  and  was  honored  by  the  senate 
with  the  title  of  the  friend  and  ally  of  the 
Roman  people.  He  left  the  kingdom  to  his 
son  Mithridates,  who  took  the  name  of  Ari 
arathes  V. 

During  the  reign  of  this  prince,  surnamed 
Philopater,  from  the  strength  and  constancy 


of  his  filial  affection,  the  Cappadociuns  re 
mained  in  close  alliance  with  Rome.  In  the 
beginning  of  his  reign,  having  been  relieved 
from  an  invasion  by  Mithrobarzanes  the  king 
of  Lesser  Armenia,  whom  he  himself  had 
placed  on  the  throne  at  the  intervention  of 
the  republic,  he  presented  the  senate  with  a 
golden  crown,  and  received  in  return  a  staff 
and  chair  of  ivory.  Not  long  before  this, 
Demetrius  Soter,  king  of  Syria,  had  offered 
Ariarathes  in  marriage  to  his  sister,  the 
widow  of  Perseus,  king  of  Macedon,  an  hon 
or  which  he  declined  for  fear  of  offending 
the  Romans.  Demetrius,  greatly  incensed 
at  the  slight,  set  up  a  rival  to  the  throne  of 
Cappadocia  in  the  person  of  Olophernes  a 
supposititious  son  of  the  deceased  king,  and 
succeeded  in  driving  Ariarathes  from  his 
throne. 

The  usurper  having  sent  a  present  to  Rome 
in  token  of  his  allegiance,  contrived  to  make 
his  case  appear  so  plausible  to  the  senate  that 
he  was  invested  by  them  with  a  share  of  the 
kingdom ;  but  in  the  following  year  he  was 
expelled  by  Attalus,  who  had  succeeded 
Eumenes  on  the  throne  of  Pergamus. 

Ariarathes,  being  thus  restored,  avenged 
the  refusal  of  the  Priennians  to  restore  four 
hundred  talents  of  gold  which  Olophernes 
deposited  with  them,  and  would  have  storm 
ed  their  capital  if  the  Romans,  to  whom 
they  appealed,  had  not  commanded  him  to 
desist.  Disappointed  of  his  revenge  in  this 
respect,  Ariarathes  hastened  to  Syria  to 
avenge  himself  on  Demetrius  Soter,  by 
whose  instrumentality  he  had  been  driven 
from  the  throne.  By  joining  his  forces  to 
those  of  Alexander  Epiphanes,  who  had 
already  taken  the  field  against  the  Syrian 
king,  the  war  was  quickly  ended.  In  the 
very  first  engagement  Demetrius  was  slain, 
and  his  army  entirely  dispersed.  Some  yearg 
afterwards  Ariarathes,  having  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  Romans  in  their  contest  with 
Aristonicus,  a  claimant  of  the  throne  of  Per 
gamus,  he  was  slain  in  the  same  battle  in 
which  Crassus  proconsul  of  Asia  wras  taken, 
and  the  Roman  army  cut  to  pieces.  lie  left 


206 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


six  sons  by  bis  wife  Laodice,  on  whom  the 
Romans  bestowed  Lycaonia  and  Cilicia.  But 
Laodice,  fearing  lest  her  children  when  they 
came  of  age  should  take  the  government  out 
of  her  hands,  poisoned  five  of  them  ;  the 
youngest  only  having  escaped  her  cruelty  by 
being  conveyed  out  of  the  kingdom.  She 
was  soon,  however,  put  to  death  by  her  sub 
jects,  who  rose  in  rebellion  against  her  tyran 
nical  government. 

Laodice  was  succeeded  by  Ariarathcs  VI., 
who  soon  after  his  accession  married  Laodice, 
daughter  of  Mithridates  the  Great,  wishing  to 
E;ain  the  alliance  of  that  powerful  prince  in 
his  contest  with  Nicomedeskingof  Bithynia, 
who  laid  claim  to  part  of  his  kingdom. 
Mithridates,  however,  instead  of  assisting, 
procured  the  death  of  Ariarathes  by  poison, 
and  under  pretence  of  maintaining  the  rights 
of  the  Cappadocians  against  Nicomedes, 
proclaimed  himself  regent  till  the  children 
of  Ariarathes  should  be  competent  to  govern 
the  kingdom.  The  Cappadocians  at  first  ac 
quiesced  ;  but  finding  him  unwilling  to  resign 
the  regency  in  favor  of  the  lawful  king,  they 
rose  in  arms,  expelled  the  foreign  garrison, 
and  placed  Ariarathes  VII.,  eldest  son  of  the 
late  king,  on  the  throne. 

The  new  prince  found  himself  immediate 
ly  engaged  in  a  war  with  Nicomedes  ;  but, 
being  assisted  by  Mithridates,  not  only  drove 
him  out  of  Cappadocia,  but  stripped  him  of 
a  great  part  of  his  hereditary  dominions. 
On  the  conclusion  of  the  peace,  the  refusal 
of  Ariarathes  to  recall  Gordius  the  murder 
er  of  his  father,  led  to  a  war  with  Mithridates. 
When  the  two  armies  met  on  the  frontiers 
of  Cappadocia,  Mithridates  invited  Ariara 
thes  to  a  conference,  and  openly  stabbed  him 
with  a  dagger  which  he  had  concealed  in  his 
dress.  The  terror-stricken  Cappadocians  im 
mediately  dispersed,  and  submitted  to  the 
yoke  of  Mithridates ;  but,  unable  to  endure 
the  tyranny  of  his  prefects,  they  quickly  rose 
in  rebellion,  and  recalling  the  exiled  brother 
of  the  late  king  they  placed  him  on  the 
throne.  He  had  scarcely  ascended  the  throne 
when  Mithridates  invaded  the  kingdom  at 


!  the  head  of  a  numerous  army,  defeated  the 
army  of  the  Cappadocians  with  great  slaugh 
ter,  and  compelled  Ariarathes  VI II.  to  aban 
don  the  kingdom.  The  unhappy  prince  soon 
after  died  of  grief,  and  Mithridates  bestowed 
the  kingdom  on  his  own  son,  a  youth  only 
eight  years  old,  giving  him  also  the  name  of 
Ariarathes.  But  Nicomedes  Philopater,  king 
of  Bithynia,  dreading  the  increase  of  power 
in  a  rival  already  so  formidable,  claimed  the 
throne  for  a  youth  who  pretended  to  be  the 
tlu'rd  son  of  Ariarathcs,  and  whom  he  sent 
with  Laodice  to  Rome,  to  advocate  his  cause. 
Having  received  the  declaration  of  Laodice 
that  the  petitioner  was  one  of  the  sons  which 
she  had  borne  to  Ariarathes,  and  whom  she 
had  kept  concealed  lest  he  should  share  the 
fate  of  his  brothers,  the  senate  assured  him 
that  they  would  reinstate  him  in  his  king 
dom.  Mithridates,  receiving  notice  of  these 
transactions,  despatches  Gordius  to  Eome  to 
advocate  his  cause,  and  to  persuade  the  sen 
ate  that  the  youth  to  whom  he  had  resigned 
the  kingdom  of  Cappadocia  was  the  lawful 
son  of  the  late  krng,  and  grandson  to  Ari 
arathes,  who  had  lost  his  life  in  the  service 
of  the  Romans  against  Aristonicus.  On  re 
ceiving  this  embassy,  the  senate  inquired 
more  narrowly  into  the  matter,  discovered 
the  whole  plot,  and  ordered  Mithridates  to 
resign  Cappadocia.  The  Cappadocians  en 
joyed  their  freedom  for  a  short  time,  but 
soon  sent  embasssdors  to  Rome,  requesting 
the  senate  to  appoint  a  king.  Leave  waa 
given  to  elect  a  king  of  their  own  nation ; 
as  the  family  of  Pharnaces  was  now  extinct, 
they  chose  Ariobarzancs,  who  received  the 
sanction  of  the  senate,  and  continued  stead 
ily  attached  to  the  Roman  interest. 

Ariobarzanes  had  scarcely  taken  possession 
of  his  kingdom  when  he  was  driven  out  by 
Tigranes,  king  of  Armenia,  who  resigned 
Cappadocia  to  the  son  of  Mithridates,  in 
terms  of  an  alliance  previously  concluded 
between  them.  Ariobarzanes  fled  to  Rome, 
and  by  the  assistance  of  Sylla,  who  routed 
Gordius  the  general  of  Mithridates,  he  was 
quickly  reinstated  in  liis  kingdom.  On  tho 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


207 


retreat  of  Sylla,  however,  Ariobarzanes  was 
again  driven  out  by  Ariarathes,  the  son  of 
Mithridates,  whom  Tigranes  had  set  up  as 
king.  By  the  intervention  of  Sylla,  Ario 
barzanes  was  again  placed  on  the  throne ; 
and  immediately  after  Sylla's  death  he  was 
a  third  time  forced  to  abandon  his  kingdom, 
when  Pompey,  after  defeating  Mithridates 
near  Mount  Stella,  restored  the  unfortunate 
monarch,  and  rewarded  him  for  his  services 
during  tho  war  with  the  provinces  of 
Sophene,  Gordyene,  and  a  great  pail  of  Cili- 
cia.  Wearied  with  such  a  succession  of  dis 
asters,  soon  after  his  restoration  he  resigned 
the  crown  to  his  son  Ariobarzanes,  and  spent 
the  rest  of  his  life  in  retirement. 

Ariobarzanes  II.  proved  no  less  faithful  to 
the  Romans  than  his  father  had  been.  On 
the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  between 
Cffisar  and  Pompey,  he  sided  with  the  latter; 
but  after  the  death  of  Pompey  he  was  re 
ceived  into  favor  by  Cassar,  who  bestowed 
upon  him  a  great  part  of  Armenia.  While 
the  emperor  was  engaged  in  a  war  with  the 
Egyptians,  Pharnaces,  king  of  Pontus,  in 
vaded  Cappadocia  and  stripped  Ariobarzanes 
of  all  his  dominions ;  but  Csesar,  after  de 
feating  Pharnaces,  restored  the  king  of  Cap 
padocia,  and  honored  him  with  new  titles  of 
friendship.  After  the  murder  of  Ca3sar, 
Ariobarzanes,  refusing  to  join  Brutus  and 
Cassius,  was  declared  an  enemy  to  the  re 
public,  and  soon  afterwards  taken  prisoner 
and  .put  to  death.  He  was  succeeded  by  his 
brother  Ariobarzanes  III.,  who  shared  the 
same  fate  at  the  hands  of  Antony.  With 
him  the  royal  family  became  extinct. 

Archelaus,  the  grandson  of  the  general  of 
the  same  name  who  commanded  against 

O 

Sylla  in  the  Mithridatic  war,  owed  his  eleva 
tion  to  the  throne  of  Cappadocia  solely  to  the 
intrigues  of  his  mother  Glaphyra  with  Mark 
Antony,  to  whom  he  remained  faithful  in  the 
contests  with  Augustus.  On  the  defeat  of 
Antony,  he  was  pardo.  led  by  the  emperor  at 
the  intercession  of  the  Cappadocians,  and  re 
ceived  Armenia  Minoi  and  Cilicia  Trachsea 
as  a  reward  for  having  assisted  the  Romans 


in  clearing  the  seas  of  pirates,  who  infested 
the  coast  of  Asia.  He  contracted  a  strict 
friendship  with  Herod  the  Great,  king  of  Ju- 
dea ;  and  married  his  daughter  Glaphyra  to 
Alexander,  Herod's  son.  On  the  accession 
of  Tiberius  (who  entertained  a  secret  hostility 
to  Archelaus  on  account  of  his  previous  neg 
lect  of  his  merits  during  the  lifetime  of  Caius 
Cassar),  be  was  decoyed  to  Rome  by  the  fair 
promises  of  Livia,  the  emperor's  mother ;  but 
being  accused  before  the  senate,  and  loaded 
with  reproaches  at  the  court,  he  died  of  grief, 
after  a  reign  of  fifty  years. 

On  the  death  of  Archelaus,  the  kingdom 
of  Cappadocia  was  reduced  to  a  Roman 
province,  and  governed  by  men  of  the  eques  • 
trian  order.  It  shared  the  fortunes  of  the 
Eastern  Empire  till  the  rise  of  the  Turkish 
power  and  the  fall  of  Byzantium.  Under 
the  Turkish  rule  it  is  comprehended  in  the 
Ejalet,  or  government  of  Ssiwas. 

In  the  time  of  the  Romans,  the  inhabi 
tants  of  Cappadocia  were  so  famous  for  vice 
and  profligacy  that  among  the  neighboring 
nations  a  worthless  man  was  aptly  termed  a 
Cappadocian.  The  reception  of  Christiani 
ty,  however,  produced  a  wondrous  change 
on  the  character  of  the  population ;  and  in 
the  struggles  of  the  early  church  we  find 
them  taking  a  prominent  part.  In  ecclesias 
tical  history,  several  of  its  cities  have  become 
among  the  most  famous  of  antiquity.  ISTyssa 
and  Nazianzum,  the  cities  of  the  two  Grego- 
ries  ;  CaBsarea,  the  city  of  Basil,  to  say  noth 
ing  of  Tyana  and  Samosata. 

We  have  now  no  system  of  the  Cappado 
cian  laws,  and  scarcely  anything  by  which  to 
form  an  estimate  of  Cappadocian  jurispru 
dence.  The  commerce  was  limited  to  a  trade 
in  horses,  great  numbers  of  which  were 
reared  in  the  table  lands,  and  taken  to  the 
fairs  of  Tyre  to  be  sold,  as  we  learn  from 
Ezek.  xxvii.  14.  It  is  probable  that  they 
also  acted  as  carriers  of  the  mineral  produce 
of  the  Cappadocian  Pontus. 

The  religion  of  the  ancient  Cappadociang 
resembled  that  of  the  Persians,  but  was 
largely  interspersed  with  Grecian  myths. 


208 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


At  Comana  there  was  a  rich  and  stately  tem 
ple  in  which  the  bloody  rites  of  Bellona  were 
celebrated ;  and  the  temples  of  Apollo, 
Catanius,  and  Jupiter,  were  thronged  with 
crowds  of  votaries.  The  chief  priest  of  Jupi 
ter  was  next  in  rank  to  that  of  Bellona,  and, 
according  to  Strabo,  had  a  yearly  revenue  of 

O  •>  •/ 

fifteen  talents.  Diana  Persica  was  worship 
ped  in  a  city  called  Castaballa,  where  women 
devoted  to  the  worship  of  that  goddess  were 
reported  to  tread  barefoot  on  burning  coals 
without  receiving  any  hurt.  The  temples 
of  Diana  at  Diospolis,  and  of  Anias  at  Zela, 
were  likewise  held  in  great  veneration  both 
by  the  Cappadocians  and  Armenians,  who 
nocked  to  them  from  all  parts.  In  the  latter 
were  taken  all  oaths  in  matters  of  importance  ; 
and  the  chief  priest,  who  was  attended  by  a 
royal  retinue,  possessed  unlimited  authority 
over  all  the  inferior  servants  and  officers  of 
the  temple.  The  Romans,  who  readily 
adopted  all  the  superstitious  rites  of  conquer 
ed  nations,  greatly  increased  the  revenues  of 
the  temples,  and  thus  made  the  priesthood 
the  willing  tools  of  their  ambitious  designs. 
It  is  said  that  human  sacrifices  were  offered 
at  Comana ;  and  that  this  barbarous  custom 
was  brought  by  Orestes  and  his  sister  Iphi- 
genia  from  Tauris  Scythica,  where  men  and 
women  were  immolated  to  Diana.  But  this 
custom,  if  ever  it  obtained  in  Cappadocia, 
mis  abolished  in  the  time  of  the  Romans. 


CILICIA. 

Cilicia  was  a  maritime  province,  lying 
south  of  Cappadocia,  and  played  a  conspicu 
ous  part  in  ancient  history,  from  the  sea 
faring  and  adventurous  character  of  the  peo 
ple,  who  chiefly  distinguished  themselves  as 
pirates,  making  themselves  feared  by  all  the 
navigators  of  the  Mediterranean. 

According  to  the  old  Greek  myths,  the 
Cilicians  (who  were  originally  called  Hypa- 
ohcei)  took  their  name  from  Cilix,  son  of  the 
Phoenician  Agenor.  They  were  originally 
governed  by  native  kings,  who  successfully 
resisted  the  attempt  of  Croesus  and  others  to 


subdue  them,  and  remained  independent  till 
the  rise  of  the  Persian  empire.  Even  after 
their  incorporation  with  that  power  they 
continued  to  be  governed  by  their  own 
princes.  "When  Xerxes  was  organizing  a 
fleet  for  the  invasion  of  Greece,  Cilicia  con 
tributed  100  galleys,  which  were  placed 
under  the  command  of  Syennesis,  whoso 
bravery  is  eulogized  by  JEschylus. 

If  tradition  may  be  believed,  the  Greeks 
began  at  a  very  remote  period  to  settle  in 
Cilicia.  Historical  evidence  of  their  presence 
in  the  country,  however,  is  wanting  till  the 
days  of  Alexander  the  Great.  The  natives 
gradually  retired  before  them,  and  took 
refuge  in  the  mountainous  regions  of  the 
Trachaea,  where  they  maintained  themselves 
till  the  time  of  Cicero.  After  the  downfall 
of  Persia,  Cilicia  passed  into  the  family  of 
the  Seleucidae,  by  whom  it  was  retained  till 
Pompey  reduced  the  Campestris  to  a  Roman 
province.  The  mountaineers  were  not  final 
ly  subdued  till  B.C.  52,  in  which  year  the 
proconsul  Cicero  took  their  stronghold  Pin- 
denossus — an  exploit  for  which  he  was  re 
warded  with  a  triumph  on  his  return  to 
Rome.  After  this  the  Trachsea  continued  to 
be  governed  by  native  princes  (ill  the  reign 
of  Vespasian,  when  it  was  reduced  to  a  Ro 
man  province.  The  character  of  the  Cili 
cians  never  stood  very  high  among  the  an- 
ciorits.  By  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  the 
Cilicians,  Carians,  and  Cappadocians  were 
classed  together  as  the  three  bad  E  s. 

GALATIA. 

Galatia  took  its  name  from  a  body  of 
Gauls  who  invaded  Asia  Minor  about  the 
year  279  B.C.  They  had  formed  part  of  the 
army  which  invaded  Greece  tinder  Brenuus' 
but  having  quarrelled  with  that  commander 
had  left  his  standard,  and  marching  into 
Thrace  under  generals  of  their  own  choice ( 
advanced  to  Byzantium,  whence  they  were 
invited  by  Nicomedes,  king  of  Bithynifc,  to 
cross  into  Asia  and  help  him  in  his  struggle 
against  his  brother  Zibaetas.  After  perform- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


209 


ing  the  required  services,  they  turned  their 
arms  against  their  employer,  and  ravaged 
the  western  half  of  Asia  Minor.  Their  suc 
cess  allured  over  hordes  of  their  countrymen, 
who  readily  took  service  with  the  Asiatic 
kings  in  their  wars  against  each  other.  ~No  ori 
ental  prince  was  found  able  to  check  them, 
until  Attains  king  of  Pergamus  defeated 
them  in  a  great  battle,  B.C.  239,  and  compelled 
them  to  settle  in  part  of  the  country,  which 
after  them  was  called  Galatia.  They  still 
remained  independent,  however,  and  proved  a 
formidable  foe  to  the  Romans  in  their  wars 
with  Antiochus.  It  was  found  necessary  to 
direct  a  special  army  against  them,  and  the 
result  of  the  campaign  was  their  complete 
subjugation  to  the  power  of  Home.  Galatia, 
however,  was  not  at  this  time  reduced  to  a 
Roman  province,  but  the  Gauls  were  still  al 
lowed  to  choose  their  own  kings.  One  of 
the  most  famous  of  these  was  Deiotarus,  who, 
in  return  for  the  assistance  he  gave  the  Eo 
mans,  was  rewarded  with  a  grant  of  Pontus 
and  Armenia  Minor,  and  styled  king  by  the 
senate.  On  the  death  of  his  son  Amyntas, 
B.C.  25,  Galatia  became  a  Roman  province. 
Theodosius  the  Great  subdivided  it  for  pur 
poses  of  government  into  Galatia  Prima,  of 
which  Ancyra  was  made  the  capital,  and 
Galatia  Secunda,  with  Pessinus  for  its  chief- 
town. 

PONTUS. 

Pontus  was  an  ancient  kingdom  in  the 
northeast  of  Asia  Minor,  which  derived  it3 
name  from  its  being  on  the  Pontus  Euxinus, 
extending  from  the  river  Colchis  in  the  east 
to  the  river  Halys  in  the  west.  In  early 
times  its  various  parts  were  designated  after 
the  tribes  which  inhabited  them.  From  the 
middle  of  the  seventh  century  B.C.,  many  of 
those  tribes  inhabiting  the  coast  rose  to  great 
power  and  opulence,  spreading  Greek  culture 
and  civilization  around  them ;  while  many 
of  those  in  the  interior  were  extremely  sav 
age  and  wild.  According  to  tradition  it  was 
conquered  by  Ninus,  founder  of  the  Assyrian 
empire  ;  and  it  was  certainly  under  the  Per- 
27 


sian  dominion  after  the  time  of  Cyrus  tho 
Great.  In  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes  II., 
Ariobarzanes  conquered  several  of  the  Pon- 
tian  tribes,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  an 
independent  kingdom.  Mithridates  II.  suc 
ceeded  Mm  B.  c.  337,  who,  by  availing  him 
self  of  the  disputes  of  the  successors  of  Alex 
ander,  considerably  enlarged  his  dominions 
He  was  followed  by  Mithridates  III.,  by 
Ariobarzanes  III.,  by  Mithridates  IY.,  by 
Pharnaces  I.,  and  by  Mithridates  Y. 

Mithridates  YL,  surnamed  Eupator,  and 
usually  styled  "  The  Great,  "  king  of  Pontus, 
who  succeeded  his  father,  Mithridates  Y.,  at 
the  age  of  eleven,  about  120  B.C.  His  reign 
began  amid  daring  conspiracies,  which  sum 
moned  up  prematurely  his  great  tact  and 
intrepidity.  Afraid  of  being  poisoned  by 
his  treacherous  subjects,  he  followed  the 
practice  of  swallowing  antidotes,  until  his 
frame  became  thoroughly  fortified  against 
the  action  of  the  most  deadly  drugs.  Tho 
more  open  attempts  against  his  life  he  baf 
fled  by  incessant  activity.  There  was  no 
warlike  exercise  in  which  he  did  not  engage, 
and  none  in  which  he  did  not  excel.  He 
was  also  a  keen  daring  hunter,  pursuing  his 
sport  into  distant  and  desolate  regions,  dis 
turbing  the  lair  of  the  most  savage  animals, 
and  sleeping  on  the  ground  under  the  most 
inclement  skies.  Under  such  a  thorough 
training,  he  acquired  an  iron  strength,  great 
agility,  a  stature  almost  gigantic,  and  a 
spirit  indifferent  to  the  presence  of  any  dan 
ger.  His  mind  meanwhile  was  not  neglect 
ed.  He  studied  with  success  the  physics 
and  philosophy  of  that  age,  and  cultivated 
his  mind  with  so  much  diligence,  that  he  is 
said  to  have  acquired  the  languages  of  no 
less  than  twenty-five  of  the  neighboring  na 
tions.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  Mithridatcs 
began  to  govern  in  his  own  person.  One  of 
his  first  public  acts,  it  ie.  said,  was  to  render 
his  claim  to  the  throne  undisputed  by  the 
assassination  of  his  mother  and  brother.  He 
then  directed  the  entire  strength  of  his  king 
dom  to  foreign  conquest.  Leading  his  armies 
eastward  along  the  shores  of  the  Euxine,  he 


210 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


conquered  Lesser  Armenia,  Colchis,  and 
other  barbarian  kingdoms.  The  wild  Scy 
thians  of  the  Tanais,  who  had  dared  the 
might  of  so  many  conquering  kings,  were 
compelled  to  submit  to  his  yoke ;  and  his 
generals  being  then  entrusted  with  the  com 
mand  of  his  armies,  extended  his  conquests 
as  far  as  the  river  Tyras,  and  exacted  tribute 
from  the  Tauric  Chersonese.  Shortly  after 
wards  he  seized  upon  the  sovereignty  of  Bos 
porus,  left  vacant  by  the  death  of  Parisades. 
With  his  strength  and  resources  thus  aug 
mented,  Mithridates  formed  the  design  of 
wresting  all  the  Asiatic  states  from  the  pow 
erful  grasp  of  Rome.  Cautiously  making 
his  preparations,  he  first  traveled  in  disguise 
through  Asia  Minor,  and  employed  his  inti 
mate  knowledge  of  the  different  languages 
of  that  country  in  ascertaining  from  the  in 
habitants  the  state  of  their  defences  and  their 
feelings  towards  their  Roman  masters,  lie 
then  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Parthians 
and  Iberians,  and  married  his  daughter  to 
Tigrancs,  the  powerful  king  of  Armenia. 
He  even  entertained  the  gigantic  design  of 
banding  together  in  one  great  league  all  the 
foes  of  Rome,  and  of  convulsing  her  sov 
ereignty  in  all  parts  of  the  world  by  one  gen 
eral  shock.  His  legates  accordingly  traveled 
as  far  as  the  pillars  of  Hercules,  negotiating 
with  the  rebel  Marsians  and  every  people 
and  predatory  band  that  were  up  in  arms 
against  the  Romans.  Before  these  prepara 
tions  were  completed  he  became  involved  in 
a  war  with  his  nephew  Ariarathes,  king  of 
Cappadocia,  who  was  an  ally  of  the  Romans. 
Ariarathes  feU  in  battle,  and  Mithridates 
placed  his  own  son  upon  the  vacant  throne. 
Rome,  however,  interfered,  and  seized  the 
Cappadocian  crown  for  Ariobarzanes,  a 
creature  of  her  own.  Mithridates  succumbed 
for  a  time  ;  but  about  90  B.C.  he  openly  at 
tacked  and  deposed  the  puppet  of  the  Ro 
mans.  At  the  same  period  he  wrested  the 
Bceptre  from  the  young  king  Xicomedes  of 
Bithynia,  another  tributary  of  the  Romans. 
Both  of  the  wronged  sovereigns  laid  their 
cases  before  the  senate  of  Rome  and  were  I 


reinstalled  in  their  dominions.  Mithridatea 
again  submitted;  but  no  long  time  had 
elapsed  before  he  was  lying  at  the  head  of 
an  army  of  300,000  waiting  for  the  Romans 
or  their  allies  to  strike  the  first  blow.  He 
did  not  wait  long.  Kicomedes,  at  the  insti 
gation  of  the  Romans,  invaded  Pontus. 
Mithridates  then  poured  his  troops  into  Cap 
padocia,  and  in  a  short  time  overran  and 
subdued  the  whole  country.  As  speedily  did 
his  generals  Archelaus  and  Neoptolemna 
prostrate  the  might  of  Xicomedes  in  a  great 
battle  on  the  banks  of  the  Amnias,  and  wrest 
Bithynia  from  the  remnants  of  his  army. 
The  neighboring  states,  eagerly  hailing  the 
outbreak  of  a  war  that  seemed  likely  to  free 
them  from  the  insatiable  rapacity  of  their 
Roman  oppressors,  raised  the  standard  of  re 
volt.  All  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  flung  open  their  gates  to  the  vic 
torious  king  of  Pontus,  and  he  marched  west 
ward  without  opposition  to  the  shores  of  the 
^Egean  Sea.  Lesbos,  Delos,  Eubcea,  and  the 
islands  of  the  Cyclades,  were  next  subjected  to 
his  sway,  and  even  Athens  was  betrayed  into 
the  hands  of  his  general  Archelaus.  In  the 
height  of  his  triumph  Mithridates  repaired  to 
Pergamus,  and  abandoned  himself  to  luxury 
and  pleasure.  It  was  then  that  he  issued  a 
decree  for  the  extermination  of  all  the  Ro 
man  citizens  in  Asia  Minor.  With  an  eager 
promptitude  the  vengeful  natives  obeyed  the 
order ;  and  the  massacre  of  80,000,  or,  ac 
cording  to  some,  of  150,000  Romans,  cut  oif 
Mithridates  from  all  chances  of  reconciliation 
with  his  powerful  foes.  About  the  middle 
of  87  B.C.  he  was  roused  to  his  former  activ 
ity  by  the  news  that  a  Roman  army  under 
Sylla  was  approaching  Greece.  He  imme 
diately  despatched  Taxiles  with  an  immense 
force  to  co-operate  with  Archelaus.  In  the 
following  year,  however,  the  news  arrived 
that  Athens  had  been  captured,  and  that  his 
troops  had  been  routed  at  the  battle  of 
Chceronea.  With  unslackened  perseverance 
he  equipped  another  army  cf  80,000,  and  sent 
it  under  the  command  of  Dorybus  to  the 
scene  of  conflict.  But  the  tide  of  fortune 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WOKLD. 


211 


was  running  against  him  ;  and  in  85  B.C.  his 
position  had  become  critical.  The  time 
serving  Asiatics,  estranged  by  his  growing 
misfortunes,  were  rising  in  revolt  around 
him,  and  assassinating  the  tetrarchs  he  had 
placed  over  them.  An  army  sent  by  the 
Marian  party  at  Rome  had  invaded  Asia 
Minor,  had  defeated  a  large  force  under  his 
son  Mithridates,  and  was  pursuing  himself 
from  place  to  place.  About  the  same  time 
he  received  the  intelligence  of  the  almost 
utter  annihilation  of  his  Grecian  troops  at 
Orchomenus.  Almost  his  only  resource, 
therefore,  was  a  treaty  of  peace.  This,  after 
some  difficulty,  he  purchased  from  Sylla  in 
84  B.C.  at  the  expense  of  2,000  talents,  70 
ships,  and  all  the  territories  he  had  wrested 
from  the  Romans. 

In  spite  of  this  treaty,  Mithridates  knew 
well  that  nothing  less  than  his  complete 
humiliation  would  satisfy  his  haughty  ene 
mies,  and  therefore  he  resolved  to  prepare 
for  the  worst.  Several  years  were  spent  in 
building  navies,  in  collecting  magazines  of 
arms  and  provisions,  in  recruiting  his  army, 
and  in  gathering  hordes  of  mercenaries  from 
every  quarter  both  in  Asia  and  in  Europe. 
He  equipped  his  troops  with  Roman  arms, 
and  attempted  to  infuse  into  them  the  maop- 
nanimous  Roman  valor  by  subjecting  them 
to  the  severe  Roman  discipline.  He  even 
entered  into  an  alliance  with  Sertorius  the 
great  Marian  general  in  Spain.  After  such 
preparations  he  was  bold  enough,  on  the 
death  of  jSTicomedes  III.  in  74  B.C.,  to  lay 
claim  to  the  vacant  throne  of  Bithynia.  He 
then  burst  into  that  country  with  a  mighty 
army,  swept  through  it  without  encounter 
ing  opposition,  and  overwhelmed  the  forces 
of  Cotta  the  prsetor  under  the  walls  of  Chal- 
cedon.  Marching  then  into  Mysia,  he  sat 
down  before  Cyzicus,  and  invested  that  city 
by  land  and  sea.  Thither  Lucullus  the  Ro 
man  general  followed  him.  For  some  time 
the  two  armies  lay  encamped  near  each  other 
without  meeting  in  any  general  engagement. 

At  last  Mithridates,  unable  to  provide  for 
BO  large  an  army  in  so  narrow  a  territory, 


was  forced  to  raise  the  siege  and  to  commence 
a  retreat  towards  the  west.  Lucullus  then 
hovered  about  his  rear,  threw  his  army 
into  confusion,  and  took  many  prisoners. 
With  great  difficulty  Mithridates  embarked 
his  shattered  forces  and  set  sail  homewards. 
On  the  way  a  storm  sunk  his  fleet,  and  he 
arrived  in  his  own  dominions  with  a  frag 
ment  of  that  magnificent  army  with  which 
he  had  set  out.  Yet  Mithridates  still  retain 
ed  his  invincible  energy,  and  that  soon  sup 
plied  him  with  another  army.  By  the  spring 
of  72  B.C.  he  had  organized  a  large  force  of 
his  own  subjects,  of  Scythians,  and  of  Par- 
thians,  and  awaited  the  arrival  of  Lucullua 
in  an  impregnable  position  among  the  moun 
tains  at  Cabira.  Lucullus  arrived,  but  found 
that  his  enemy  had  learned  a  lesson  from 
former  misfortunes,  and  that  he  was  resolved 
to  act  merely  on  the  defensive.  He  attempt 
ed  to  dislodge  him,  but  was  repulsed  with 
great  loss.  In  a  short  time  he  discovered 
that  his  provisions  were  effectually  cut  off 
and  that  want  was  beginning  to  lay  waste 
his  camp.  At  this  crisis  an  accident  saved 
him.  The  forces  of  Mithridates,  compelled 
by  a  misfortune  to  shift  their  camp,  were 
struck  with  a  sudden  panic.  A  headlong 
flight  ensued,  and  their  ranks  were  cut  to 
pieces  and  scattered  over  the  whole  country 
by  the  pursuing  Roman  cavalry.  The  King 
himself,  after  braving  many  dangers  in  his 
desperate  attempts  to  rally  his  troops,  fled  to 
the  kingdom  of  his  son-in-law  Tigranes,  and 
left  all  his  dominions  in  the  power  of  Lucullus. 
In  69  B.C.  Tigranes  mustered  a  large  army 
to  vindicate  the  cause  of  his  father-in-law, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  defend  his  own  ter 
ritories  against  the  invading  Romans  ;  but 
risking,  in  opposition  to  the  advice  of  Mith 
ridates,  a  pitched  battle  at  Tigranocerta,  he 
was  defeated  by  Lucullus  with  great  slaugh 
ter.  The  ensuing  winter  was  spent  by 
Mithridates  in  equipping  a  select  force  of 
70.000  with  Roman  armor,  and  in  inurina 

*  O 

them  to  Roman  discipline.  In  the  summer 
of  68  B.C.  he  commenced  to  harass  the  ad 
vance  of  Lucullus  into  Armenia  by  cutting 

J  G 


212 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WOKLD. 


off  In's  foraging  parties,  and  by  galling  his 
rear  •with  bodies  of  skirmishers.  At  length 
he  was  brought  to  a  general  engagement 
near  Artaxata,  and  suffered  a  severe  defeat. 
But  no  sooner  had  the  enemy  inarched  into 
Mesopotamia  to  lay  siege  to  the  strong  for 
tress  of  Nisibis,  than  Mithridates  betook 
himself  to  Pontus  at  the  head  of  40,000  chosen 
troops,  and  commenced  a  sudden  and  daring 
guerilla  war.  Garrison  after  garrison  was 
surprised  and  wrested  from  the  Romans ;  his 
old  soldiers  rallied  round  his  standard  ;  the 
army  under  Fabius,  the  lieutenant  of  Lucul- 
lus,  was  cut  to  pieces ;  and  when  winter  sus 
pended  the  contest,  Triarius  was  the  only 
Roman  commander  who  was  capable  of  offer 
ing  any  effectual  resistance.  With  him  Mith 
ridates  prepared  to  engage  in  the  spring  of 
87  B.C.  A  pitched  battle  soon  took  place,  in 
which  the  Romans,  after  an  obstinate  strug 
gle,  fled,  leaving  their  camp  in  the  hands  of 
the  enemy  and  7000  of  their  officers  and  pri 
vate  soldiers  lying  dead  on  the  field.  This 
defeat,  the  most  disastrous  blow  that  had 
fallen  upon  Rome  for  many  years,  left  the 
greater  part  of  Pontus  in  the  hands  of  Mith 
ridates. 

The  king  of  Pontus  was  engrossed  with 
the  re-organization  of  his  government  when 
Pompey  the  Great  arrived  in  Asia  in  66  B.C. 
to  supersede  Lucullus.  That  able  general 
immediately  formed  an  alliance  with  the 
Parthian  king,  and  thus  rendered  it  necessa 
ry  for  Tigrancs  to  keep  his  troops  for  the 
protection  of  his  own  dominions.  Mithri 
dates  was  accordingly  left  to  meet  his  great 
antagonist  all  alone.  At  first  he  tried  nego 
tiating,  but  scorned  to  stoop  to  the  condi 
tions  that  were  offered  to  him.  He  then 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  32,000  well- 
disciplined  troops,  and  resorted  to  his  former 
plan  of  defensive  warfare.  For  some  time 
he  attended  the  movements  of  the  Romans, 
intercepting  their  provisions,  destroying 
their  foragers,  and  baffling  all  their  attempts 
to  force  him  to  a  general  engagement.  At 
length  desperation  drove  Pompey  to  attack 
him  by  night  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates. 


An  accident  spread  a  panic  through  the 
king's  forces ;  in  a  few  moments  there  was 
a  general  flight ,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
Pontine  army  were  either  slain  by  the  Ro 
mans  or  drowned  in  attempting  to  cross  the 
river.  Mithridates  himself,  at  the  head  of  a 
few  horsemen,  cut  his  way  through  the  le 
gions  of  the  enemy,  and  escaped  to  the  bor 
der  stronghold  of  Synoria.  Thence  he  has 
tened  with  a  considerable  body  of  troops  to 
take  refuge  in  Armenia.  But  dread  of  the 
Romans  prevented  Tigranes  from  giving 
him  any  countenance.  The  only  retreat  now 
left  to  him  was  the  kingdom  of  Bosporus, 
over  which  his  son  Machares  reigned.  Thith 
er,  therefore,  he  directed  his  course  by  forced 
marches  through  the  country  of  Colchis,  until 
he  arrived  at  Dioscurias.  Assured  then  that 
he  was  beyond  the  reach  of  Pompey,  he 
halted,  and  passed  the  winter  enlisting  troops 
and  equipping  a  fleet  for  the  remainder  of 
his  journey.  In  65  B.C.  he  continued  his 
march  through  the  midst  of  the  most  savage 
tribes,  exciting  the  opposition  of  some  and 
the  enthusiastic  admiration  of  others,  yet 
pressing  onwards  with  resistless  constancy. 
At  length  he  arrived  at  Panticapaeum,  the 
capital  of  the  kingdom  of  Bosporus,  and 
found  that  his  son  Machares,  who  had  former 
ly  sent  in  his  submission  to  the  Romans,  had 
put  an  end  to  his  life  on  hearing  of  his  ap 
proach.  Mithridates  accordingly  seated 
himself  in  the  vacant  throne.  His  newly- 
acquired  power  was  far  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  grasping  tyranny  of  Rome,  and  he  might 
now  have  rested  from  that  disastrous  struir- 

O 

gle  in  which  he  had  been  engaged  for  the 
last  twenty-six  years.  Yet  hardly  had  he 
organized  his  government,  when  he  con 
ceived  the  daring  plan  of  marching  at  the 
head  of  a  large  army  round  the  north  and 
west  coasts  of  the  Euxine,  of  rallying  round 
his  standard  all  those  barbaric  tribes  who  cher 
ished  a  deadly  enmity  towards  Rome,  of  burst 
ing  with  an  overwhelming  horde  into  the  Ro 
man  possessions,  and  of  even  penetrating  into 
Italy  and  striking  at  the  Eternal  City  itself. 
With  all  possible  speed  he  set  himself  to 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WOULD. 


213 


muster  the  strength  of  his  kingdom,  and 
soon  saw  himself  at  the  head  of  an  army  of 
36,000,  supported  by  a  considerable  fleet. 
However,  as  the  desperate  nature  of  the 
coming  expedition  began  to  be  generally 
known,  the  soldiers  began  to  falter  in  their 
allegiance.  This  growing  disaffection  speed 
ily  swelled  into  open  revolt,  through  the  in 
trigues  of  Pharnaces,  the  king's  own  son  and 
heir.  In  vain  did  Mithridates  attempt  to 
awe  his  troops  into  obedience,  and  to  excite 
filial  regard  in  his  son.  lie  was  forced  to 
flee  for  his  life  into  a  strong  fortress.  There 
he  resolved  to  die,  that  he  might  not  fall 
alive  into  the  hands  of  his  remorseless  sub 
jects.  He  tried  to  poison  himself;  but  his 
iron  constitution,  even  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight,  was  proof  against  the  deadly  drug,  and 
he  was  compelled  to  die  on  the  sword  of  a 
faithful  Gallic  mercenary,  after  having,  for 
BO  long  a  period,  resisted  the  whole  power  of 
Rome. 

After  the  fall  of  Mithridates,  his  kingdom 

y  o 

was  dismembered  by  Pompey,  B.C.  65,  who 
annexed  the  western  part  of  the  nation  and 
gave  the  remainder  to  the  native  chiefs.  A 
portion  between  the  Iris  and  the  Halys,  was 
given  to  the  Galatian  Deiotarus,  which  was 
henceforth  called  Pontus  Galaticus.  The 
Colchians  and  ether  tribes  received  a  king  in 
the  person  of  Aristarchus.  Pharnaces  II., 
son  of  Mithridates,  received  the  Crimea  and 
some  neighboring  districts,  under  the  name 
of  Bosphorus ;  and  the  central  part  of  the 
Pontian  kingdom,  subsequently  given  to 
Polemon,  was  henceforth  termed  Pontus- 
Polemoniacus.  The  widow  of  Polemon,  on 
her  marriage  with  Archelaus,  King  of  Cap- 
padocia,  transferred  to  him  the  eastern  part 
of  the  kingdom,  subsequently  called  Pontus 
Cappadocius.  On  occasion  of  Polemon  II., 
BOH  and  successor  to  Polemon  I.,  resigning 
his  kingdom  into  the  hands  of  Nero,  Pontus 
was  made  a  Roman  province  A.D.  63.  In  the 
changes  which  transpired  under  Constantine, 
the  province  was  divided  into  two  parts, — 
viz.,  Helenopontus  after  the  emperor's  moth 
er  Helena,  and  Pontus  Polemaicus. 


EHODES  AND  CYPRUS 

In  the  very  earliest  times  the  beauty  and 
fertility  of  the  island   of  Rhode*  seem   to 
have  brought  it  into  notice :  it  is  said  to  hare 
had  several  names ;  and  the  one  that  it  has 
since  retained  signifies  probably  the  Island 
of  Roses.     After   various   poetical    legends 
about  its  original  inhabitants,  we  learn  that 
it  was  colonized  by  the  Dorians,  who  emi 
grated  from  their  native  land ;  and  that  its 
cities,  Lindus,  Jalysus,  and  Camirus,  formed, 
along  with  Cos,  Cnidus  and  Halicarnassus, 
the  Dorian  Confederacy,  or  Hexapolis,  wor 
shipping  at  the  common  sanctuary  of  Apollo 
on  the  Triopian  headland.     The  island  was 
then  divided  among  the  three   confederate 
towns,  and  soon  attained  a  flourishing  condi 
tion,  sending  out   colonies  to  the  coasts  of 
Lycia,  Cilicia,  Sicily,  Italy,  Spain,  and  the 
Balearic  Islands.     It  was  not  till  a  later  pe 
riod,  however,  that  Rhodes  became  one  of 
the  great  maritime  and  political  powers  in 
Greece.     After  the  Persian  wars  it  belonged 
to  the  Athenian  confederacy,  and  remained 
in  subjection  to  it  for  the  most  part  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war.     But  in  412  the  aristo 
cratic  party  gained  the  ascendant,  and  the 
Rhodians  deserted  the  Athenian  cause.     In 
408  the  new  capital,  Rhodes,  was  built,  and 
peopled  by  the  other  three  cities.     The  archi 
tect  was  Hippodamus  of  Miletus,  who  had 
planned    and    embellished    the    Piraeus   at 
Athens ;  and  the  new  city  soon  became  one 
of  the  most  splendid  in  the  world,  adorned 
with  magnificent    buildings   and   exquisite 
works  of  art.     When  Conon  and  his  fleet  re 
stored  the  Athenian  power  by  his  victory  off 
Cnidus,  Rhodes  again  embraced  the  victori 
ous  cause  ;  but  her  fidelity  during  the  subse 
quent  contests  was  not  very  great.     Sparta 
afterwards   received  the  allegiance   of  the 
island  ;  and  in  the  Social  War  (B.C.  157-5)  it 
joined  the  alliance  against  Athens ;  and,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  Carian  monarch  Mau- 
solus,  succeeded  in  achieving  independence. 
But  finding  the  power  of  that  king  danger 
ous  to  their  liberties,  th«  Rhodians  once  more 


214 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


sued  for  the  Athenian  protection,  which  they 
obtained  through  the  eloquence  of  Demos 
thenes.  But  neither  they  nor  the  rest  of 
Greece  could  resist  the  overwhelming  power 
of  Macedonia,  though  Memnon,  a  Rhodian. 
was  one  of  the  ablest  generals  under  the  last 
Persian  king,  and  attempted  to  check  the 
career  of  Alexander.  Rhodes  received  a 
Macedonian  gariison ;  but  it  was  expelled 
after  the  death  of  Alexander,  and  a  resolute  re 
sistance  was  begun  to  the  Macedonian  power, 
This  formed  one  of  the  most  illustrious  pe 
riods  in  the  history  of  the  island.  The  capi 
tal  was  besieged  in  303  B.C.  by  Demetrius 
Poliorcctes,  with  a  large  army  and  a  complete 
train  of  the  artillery  of  that  age.  Although 
a  breach  was  effected  in  the  walls,  the  des 
perate  valor  of  the  defenders  foiled  all  the 
attempts  to  carry  it  by  assault,  and  cost  the 
besiegers  the  lives  of  some  of  their  generals 
and  a  great  number  of  their  soldiers.  This 
heroic  resistance  obtained  for  the  Rhodians 
great  renown;  they  enjoyed  the  friendship 
of  Rome,  and  obtained  possession  of  some  of 
the  adjacent  islands  and  coasts.  For  arts  as 
well  as  arms  the  island  was  then  renowned : 
^Eschines,  who  had  contended  in  eloquence 
with  the  greatest  of  orators,  opened  a  school 
of  rhetoric  here ;  Protogenes  embellished 
the  city  with  his  paintings ;  and  Chares  of 
Lindus  with  the  celebrated  statue,  in  which 

"  the  piffantic  kinpr  of  day 
On  his  own  Rhodes  looks  down  ;" 

and  the  Rhodian  laws  especially  on  maritime 
affairs,  were  reckoned  the  best  in  antiquity, 
and  many  of  them  adopted  into  the  Roman 
code.  The  Colossus,  not  probably  striding 
over  tlte  harbor,  stood  for  fifty-six  years,  till 
tin  earthquake  prostrated  it  in  224  B.C.  Be 
ing  the  sovereigns  of  the  seas,  the  Rhodians  by 
their  fleets  rendered  good  service  to  Rome, 
with  whom  they  were  in  alliance,  and  retain 
ed  their  independence  for  a  long  time.  The 
severest  blow  they  suffered  was  from  Cas- 
sius  in  42  B.C.  who  plundered  it  even  to  the 
bare  temple  walls  in  the  desperate  cause  of 
liberty,  for  the  island  had  embraced  the  side 
of  Caesar.  Under  the  empire  the  liberty  of 


Rhodes  was  permitted  and  withdrawn  ac 
cording  to  the  caprice  of  the  sovereign.  It 
continued  a  part  of  the  Roman  empire ;  after 
its  partition,  of  the  Eastern,  till  610  A.D., 
when  Chosroes  the  Persian  obtained  posses 
sion  of  it  for  a  short  time.  It  was  subse 
quently  conquered  by  Moawiyah,  one  of  Oth- 
man's  generals ;  but,  recovered  by  the  Byzan 
tine  empire,  it  proved  the  last  of  their  Asiatic 
possessions  that  succumbed  to  the  infidel. 
In  1308  it  was  granted  by  the  Emperor 
Emmanuel  to  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  who 
soon  after  resisted  a  siege  by  the  Sultan  Oth- 
man.  They  strengthened  the  natural  advan 
tages  of  the  place  by  skillful  fortifications ; 
and  by  discipline  and  equipments  made  them 
selves  nearly  a  match  for  the  superior  num 
bers  of  the  Turks.  Nor  did  the  knights  re 
strict  their  efforts  to  self-defence ;  they  con 
quered  Smyrna,  and  established  an  outpost 
there  in  1344  ;  and  at  a  later  period  formed 
a  league  against  the  common  enemy  of 
Christendom.  But  in  1401  Smyrna  was 
taken  by  Timour  :  in  14SO  Mahomet  II.  be 
sieged  Rhodes  with  a  vast  train  of  artillerv  ; 
and,  though  then  averted  by  the  courage  of 

O  v  O 

its  few  defenders,  the  downfall  of  the  place 
could  not  long  be  averted.  The  last  and 
most  famous  siege  of  Rhodes  took  place  in 
1522,  when  after  a  desperate  resistance  for 
four  months  to  the  overwhelming  numbers 
of  the  Ottomans,  the  knights,  being  left  un 
assisted  by  all  the  European  powers,  capitu 
lated  on  honorable  terms,  and  evacuated  the 
island.  On  the  first  day  of  1523,  Yilliers  de 
Lisle  Adam,  the  grand  master,  embarked,  thn 
last  of  the  small  band,  carrying  away  all  the 
property  of  the  order,  and  leaving  the  ruins 
of  their  city  to  the  enemy.  The  knights  sub 
sequently  settled  in  Malta,  where  they  also 
gained  great  renown.  Rhodes  has  since  been 
in  possession  of  the  Turks,  and  is  now  the 
residence  of  the  pasha  of  the  Archipelago. 

The  first  settlers  in  CYPRUS  appear  to  have 
been  of  Phoenician  origin,  and  as  early  as  the 
days  of  Solomon  acknowledged  the  supre 
macy  of  the  Syrians.  To  them  the  Greeks 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


215 


succeeded.  They  in  turn  were  reduced  by 
the  Egyptians  under  Amasis,  who  kept  the 
island  until  dispossessed  by  the  superior  pow 
er  of  the  Persian  Cambyses.  An  attempt 
made  shortly  after  this  by  the  Greek  portion 
of  the  inhabitants  to  throw  off  the  Persian 
yoke  was  put  clown,  and  the  island  remained 
subject  to  its  oriental  conquerors  till  the  over 
throw  of  their  naval  powers  at  Salamis. 
Afterwards  Cyprus  was  governed  alternately 
by  Greeks  and  Persians  till  the  days  of  Alex 
ander  the  Great,  when  it  declared  for  that 
monarch,  and  sent  a  fleet  to  assist  him  in  his 
eastern  conquests.  Upon  Alexander's  death 
Cyprus  was  incorporated  with  Egypt,  and 
fell  to  the  lot  of  Ptolemy.  It  was  wrested 
from  Ptolemy  by  Demetrius  Poliorcetes,  who 
retained  it  for  about  ten  years ;  at  the  end 
of  which  period  it  once  more  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Ptolemy,  by  whose  successors  it 
was  carefully  watched  over,  and  to  whose 
annual  revenues  it  contributed  a  very  large 
proportion.  It  remained  in  the  family  of  the 
Ptolemies  as  a  sort  of  storehouse  for  the  jew 
els  and  plate  belonging  to  the  Egyptian  crown, 
till  in  B.C.  58  it  became  a  province  of  the 
Roman  empire  and  in  the  political  distribu 
tion  of  the  Roman  conquest  was  annexed  to 
Cilicia,  having,  however,  a  quaestor  and  judi 


cial  courts  of  its  own.  Under  Augustus  it  be 
came  an  imperial  province,  and  was  govern 
ed  by  a  proconsul  with  a  staff  of  inferior  offi 
cers.  Before  the  close  of  the  first  century 
of  the  Christian  era  the  Jewish  population 
of  the  island  had  greatly  increased,  and  in 
the  reign  of  Hadrian  is  said  to  have  risen  in 
rebellion  and  slain  200,000  of  the  other  in 
habitants.  In  the  seventh  century  Cyprus 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Saracens ;  and  in  the 
ninth  it  owned  the  supremacy  of  the  "  good'' 
Ilaroun  Al  Easchid.  At  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  century  it  was  conquered  by  Richard 
Coeur  de  Lion,,  who  made  it  over  first  to  the 
knights  of  the  Temple,  and  ultimately  to 
Guy  of  Lusignan,  titular  king  of  Jerusalem. 
Eor  three  centuries  the  island  remained  in 
the  family  of  Lusignan,  till  in  1473  it  be 
came  an  appanage  of  the  Yenetian  republic, 
Cyprus  was  retained  by  the  Yenetians  till  in 
1571  it  was  overrun  by  an  army  of  Turkish 
invaders,  who  stormed  Lefkosia  and  Fama- 
gosta,  and  made  a  general  massacre  of  the 
inhabitants.  Since  that  date  the  island  has  re 
mained  in  possession  of  the  Turks,  and  now 
forms  a  pashalic  in  the  Eyalet  of  Djizairs. 
Under  the  Turkish  rule,  as  might  be  ex 
pected,  the  material  prosperity  of  Cyprus 
has  greatly  declined. 


216 


HISTORY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


AFRICA 


A    GENERAL    VIEW. 


fTlIIE  knowledge  of  this  great  continent 
JL  which  ancient  writers  have  transmitted 
to  posterity,  is  of  very  limited  extent,  owing 
principally  to  its  physical  construction.  The 
great  desert,  which  in  a  broad  belt  stretches 
quite  across  the  continent,  forbade  every  at 
tempt  to  pass  it  until  the  introduction  of  the 
camel  by  the  Arabs.  The  want  of  any 
known  great  river,  except  the  ISale,  that 
might  conduct  into  the  interior,  contributed 
to  confine  the  Greek  and  Roman  colonists  to 
the  habitable  belt  along  the  northern  coast. 
The  Phoenicians  are  known~to  have  formed 
establishments  on  the  northern  coast  of  Afri 
ca  at  a  very  early  period  of  history,  probably 
not  less  than  three  thousand  years  ago  ;  and 
the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  Cambyses  dates  as 
for  back  as  the  year  B.C.  525.  We  may  con 
sider,  therefore,  the  coasts  of  Egypt,  of  the 
Red  Sea,  and  of  the  Mediterranean,  to  have 
been  settled  and  well  known  to  the  ancient 
Asiatics,  who  were  constantly  passing  the 
narrow  isthmus  which  divided  their  country 
from  Africa,  and  led  them  immediately  from 
parched  deserts  into  a  fertile  valley,  watered 
by  a  magnificent  river.  But  whether  they 
were  much  or  little  acquainted  with  the 
western  coast,  which  bounds  the  Atlantic, 
and  the  eastern  coast  washed  by  the  Indian 
Ocean,  is  a  question  that  has  exercised  the 
research  and  ingenuity  of  the  ablest  scholars 
and  geographers,  and  has  not  yet  been  satis 
factorily  answered. 

Africa  lies  between  the  latitudes  of  38* 
north  and  35"  south,  and  is  of  all  the  conti 


nents  the  most  truly  tropical.  It  is,  strictly 
speaking,  an  enormous  peninsula  attached  to 
Asia  by  the  isthmus  of  Suez.  The  most 
northern  points  is  the  Cape,  situated  a  little 
to  the  west  of  Cabo  Blanco,  and  opposite 
Sicily.  Its  southernmost  point  is  Cabo 
d'Agulhas ;  the  distance  between  these  two 
points  being  about  5000  English  miles.  The 
westernmost  point  is  Cabo  Verde,  its  east 
ernmost,  Cape  Jerdaffun,  the  distance  be 
tween  the  two  points  being  about  the  same 
as  its  length.  The  wrestern  coasts  are  wash 
ed  by  the  Atlantic,  the  northern  by  the  Medi 
terranean,  and  the  eastern  by  the  Indian 
Ocean. 

The  form  has  been  likened  to  a  triangle, 
or  to  an  oval,  but  such  a  comparison  is 
scarcely  warranted,  it  being  of  an  irregular 
shape,  the  northern  half  rounding  ofl",  the 
southern  one  terminating  in  a  point. 

The  superficial  extent  of  Africa  lias  never 
been  accurately  determined,  but  may  be  tak 
en  at  13,550,000  geographical  square  miles, 
exclusive  of  the  islands.  It  is  much  larger  than 
either  Europe  or  Australia,  but  smaller  than 
Asia  and  the  l^ew  World. 

The  coast  line  of  Africa  is  very  regular 
and  unbroken,  presenting  few  bays  and  pen 
insulas.  The  chief  indentation  is  formed  by 
the  Gulf  of  Guinea,  with  its  two  secondary 
divisions,  the  Bight  of  Benin  and  the  Bight 
of  Biafra.  On  the  northern  coast,  the  Gulf 
of  Sidra  and  the  Gulf  of  Kabes  must  be 
mentioned,  and  on  the  eastern  coast  the  Gulf 
of  Arabia. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD 


217 


The  physical  configuration  may  be  consid 
ered  under  two  heads,  the  great  plain  of 
Northern  Africa,  and  the  great  table  lands, 
with  their  mountain  ranges  and  groups,  of 
Central  and  Southern  Africa.  The  great 
plain  comprises  the  Sahara,  the  Lake  Tsad 
region,  and  the  valley  of  the  Lower  Kile. 
The  Sahara  is  by  no  means  a  plain  through 
out,  but  for  the  greater  part  it  rises  into 
table-lands,  interspersed  with  mountain 
groups  of  six  thousand  feet  elevation,  and 
probably  more,  and  the  term  plain  can  only 
be  applied  to  it  in  a  general  way,  to  distin 
guish  it  from  the  more  elevated  regions  to 
the  south. 

The  Sahara  has  often  been  pictured  as  a 
monotonous  and  immense  expanse  of  sand  ; 
but  nothing  could  be  more  erroneous,  as  the 
greatest  variety  exists  in  the  physical  config 
uration  of  its  surface,  as  well  as  in  its  geolog 
ical  features.  Our  knowledge  is  as  yet  too 
scanty  to  enable  us  to  trace  its  features  in 
every  part.  On  the  north,  this  great  desert 
is  fringed  with  extensive  table-lands,  which 
in  some  places  rise  abruptly  from  the  Med 
iterranean,  as  the  table-land  of  Barca,  ele 
vated  fifteen  hundred  feet,  and  gradually 
descending  towards  the  Delta  of  the  Nile. 
This  elevated  ground  is  succeeded  to  the 
south  by  a  depressed  region,  which  extends 
from  the  Great  Syrtis  or  Gulf  of  Sidra,  in  a 
general  direction  as  far  as  middle  Egypt,  and 
comprises  the  oases  of  Augila  and  Siwah. 
This  depressed  region  is  again  followed  by  a 
table-land  of  considerable  extent  and  width, 
extending  from  the  Gulf  of  Kabes  in  a  south 
erly  direction,  along  the  Tripoline  shores,  and 
probably  traversing,  in  the  same  direction, 
the  Libyan  Desert,  and  reaching  as  far  as  the 
Nile,  near  the  first  cataract.  Its  north-west 
ern  part,  as  far  as  Sokna,  consists  of  the 
Hamadah,  a  stony,  dreary,  and  extensive 
table-land,  "  which  seems  to  be  like  a  broad 
belt  intercepting  the  progress  of  commerce, 
civilization,  and  conquest,  from  the  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean  to  Central  Africa."  Our 
knowledge  of  this  table-land  is  only  of  re 
cent  date,  derived  as  it  is,  from  the  expedi- 
28 


tion  under  Richardson,  Earth,  and  Overweg, 
and  the  journey  of  Dickson  to  Ghadamis. 
Near  Sokna,  this  plateau  breaks  up  and  forms 
what  are  called  the  Black  Mountains,  a  most 
picturesque  group  of  cliffs ;  and  again,  on 
the  route  from  Murzuk  to  Egypt,  it  also 
breaks  into  huge  cliffs,  and  bears  the  name 
of  El-Harouj.  The  edge  of  this  table-land 
towards  the  Tripoline  shores  is  formed  by 
what  is  generally  called  the  Gharian  Moun 
tains  ;  but,  strictly  speaking,  this  name  ap 
plies  only  to  a  small  portion  of  that  range, 
situated  due  south  of  Tripoli.  This  range  is 
not,  as  is  generally  supposed,  connected  with 
the  Atlas  Mountains,  but  is  separated  from 
them  by  a  depressed  belt,  which  even  sinks 
below  the  level  of  the  sea.  This  depressed 
region  forms  the  north-western  boundary  of 
the  Sahara,  and  extends  from  the  Gulf  of 
Kabes  along  the  southern  slope  of  the  Atlas 
system  to  the  Wady  Draa,  bordering  on  the 
States  of  Morocco,  Algeria,  and  Tunis.  The 
extensive  oasis  of  Tuat  occupies  the  central 
portion  of  that  region.  Erom  Wady  Draa, 
this  great  plain  extends  along  the  western 
shore  as  far  as  the  river  Senegal,  and  proba 
bly  continues  as  such  to  the  east  towards 
Timbuktu,  and  thence  to  Lake  Tsad.  To 
the  south  of  the  Hamadah,  the  kingdom  of 
Fezzan  and  the  oasis  of  Ghadamis  are  flat 
and  depressed;  and  between  Fezzan  and 
Lake  Tsad,  a  tract  of  country  intervenes 
which  may  also  be  considered  rather  a  desert 
plain  than  a  table-land.  Thus  it  appears^ 
that  the  western  half  of  the  Sahara  is  sur 
rounded  by  a  broad  belt  of  plains  and  de 
pressions,  the  central  parts  being  formed  by 
extensive  table-lands  and  mountainous  re 
gions,  comprising  the  kingdom  of  A'ir  or  As- 
ben,  lately  explored  by  Messrs.  Richardson, 
Barth,  and  Overweg. 

The  eastern  portion  of  the  Sahara  appeaia 
for  the  greater  part  to  be  a  considerably  ele 
vated  table-land,  comprising  the  mountainous 
country  of  Borgu.  The  summit  of  Ercher- 
dat-Erner  is  said  to  be  the  highest  in  the 
whole  region,  but  the  testimony  of  European 
eye-witnesses  is  altogether  wanting  in  treat- 


218 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD 


in"-  of  its  geographical  features.    The  narrow 

~  O          O          A 

valley  of  the  Nile  forms  the  eastern  bound 
ary  of  the  Great  Desert. 

To  the  south  of  the  region  just  described, 
Africa  may  be  considered  as  one  connected 
mass  of  eleyated  land,  rising  more  or  less 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  comprising 
the  most  extensive  table-lands,  as  well  as  high 
mountain  groups  and  chains.  Some  geo 
graphers  have  attempted  to  trace  a  system 
of  terraces,  which,  they  maintained,  this 
elevated  mass  presented  on  all  sides.  Such 
is  certainly  the  case  in  its  southern  extremity, 
where  three  well-defined  terraces  are  well 
known  to  exist,  but  the  same  feature  cannot 
be  traced  throughout ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
plateau  either  gradually  slopes  down  into  a 
plain  along  the  sea-shore,  or  it  rises  abrupt 
ly  almost  from  out  the  sea,  and  presents 
a  deep  edge  of  from  seven  to  eight  thousand 
feet  elevation,  as  the  northern  part  of  the 
Abyssinian  table-land  at  Massowah.  The 
edge  of  the  table-land,  however,  is  generally 
from  one  hundred  to  three  hundred  miles 
distant  from  the  sea-shore.  Little  is  known 
at  present  beyond  some  parts  of  this  outer 
fringe,  and  a  few  routes  across  the  interior. 
Commencing  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and 
traversing  the  three  aforementioned  terraces, 
an  almost  uninterrupted  table-land  has  re 
cently  been  ascertained  to  extend  to  the  north 
for  at  least  one  thousand  geographical  miles. 
The  southern  portion  is  formed  by  the  basin 
of  the  Orange  river,  followed  by  the  desert 
of  Kalihari,  which  is  again  succeeded  by  the 
basin  of  the  River  Sesheke  and  Lake  iNgami, 
with  many  other  rivers,  traversing  a  region 
which  presents  a  dead  level.  That  region 
probably  is  in  connection  with  the  basin  of 
Zambezi.  Farther  north  the  ground  ascends 
to  the  line  of  water-parting  with  the  basin 
;>f  the  Congo  river  and  Lake  Kyassa ;  a  re 
gion  very  little  known,  and  succeeded  by  a 
complete  terra  incognita,  extending  to  the 
north  of  the  equator.  In  this  region  are 
supposed  to  be  the  celebrated  "  Mountains 
of  the  Moon,"  which  have  played  so  exciting 
a  part  in  the  history  of  African  geography, 


and  have  given  rise  to  so  many  curious  hy 
potheses.  Since  the  time  of  Ptolemceus  of 
Alexandria,  geographers  have  continued  to 
shift  these  mountains  from  one  latitude  to 
another,  from  10°  to  the  north  of  the  equator 
to  12°  to  the  south  of  it,  but  all  seem  to  have 
agreed  in  one  point,  namely,  in  giving  them 
a  direction  from  west  to  east.  Rennell,  one 
of  the  ablest  geographers  of  recent  times, 
argued  that  a  very  high  central  chain  must 
cross  Africa  from  east  to  west  in  about  10* 
X.  Lat.,  beginning  at  Cape  Jerdaffun  and 
ending  at  Sierra  Leone  ;  and  in  some  of  the 
most  recent  maps  this  direction  is  still  to  be 
seen.  "When,  therefore,  the  Egyptian  expe 
ditions  up  the  Bahr-el-Abyad,  not  only  ad 
vanced  as  far  as  the  fourth  parallel  of  north 
latitude,  but  actually  sailed  over  the  alleged 
site  of  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon,  without 
seeing  any  elevations  whatever  which  could 
claim  the  title  of  mountains,  that  favorite 
hypothesis  fell  completely  to  the  ground. 
Dr.  Beke  was  the  first  who,  from  his  own 
personal  researches,  combined  with  extensive 
studies  of  the  geography  of  Eastern  Africa, 
propounded  the  opinion  that  the  Mountains 
of  the  Moon  have  a  direction  from  north  to 
south,  and  run  parallel  to  the  eastern  coast, 
and  that  they  form  in  fact  the  southern  con 
tinuation  of  the  Abyssinian  table-land.  This 
direction  also  agrees  much  better  with  what 
is  known  of  the  basin  of  the  Kile.  It  is  a 
remarkable  feature  that  the  most  elevated 
peaks  rise  on  the  outer  edge  of  this  great  table 
land,  and  even  between  it  and  the  coast  as 
isolated  cones.  This  seems  to  be  the  case 
with  the  Kenia  and  Kilimanjaro,  which  are 
the  only  snowy  mountains  of  Africa  at  pres 
ent  known,  and  must  have  for  that  reason  an 
altitude  of  at  least  20,000  feet.  Abba  Tared 
rises  out  of  the  northern  edge  of  the  Abyssi 
nian  table-land  to  the  height  of  15,000  feet. 
Mendif,  south  of  Lake  Tsad,  another  isolated 
mountain,  is  probably  as  high  as  10,000  feet; 
and  Alantika,  a  conspicuous  mountain  to  the 
south  of  Tola  (in  8. 30.  N.  Lat.l  3. 45.  E.  Long.) 
also  an  isolated  peak,  wa?  estimated  by  Barth 
to  be  10,000  feet  high ;  the  highest  of  tho 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


219 


Cameroons  is  13,760  feet,  and  the  highest 
known  mountain  of  southern  Africa,  the 
Spits  Kop,  or  Compass  Berg,  attains  10,250 
feet, 

The  system  of  the  Atlas  mountains  is 
quite  distinct  from  either  of  the  two  divisions 
described  above  ;  it  occupies  the  north-west 
ern  region  of  Africa,  consists  of  several 
ranges,  and  its  highest  summits  are  said  to 
reach  an  altitude  of  about  15,000  feet. 

Of  all  the  rock  formations,  those  of  sand- 
ttone  and  limestone  are  the  most  frequent 
and  the  most  widely  distributed  in  Africa ; 
natron,  a  rare  deposit  in  other  countries,  is 
comparatively  abundant ;  salt  is  very  widely 
distributed,  though  in  some  districts  wholly 
wanting.  Metals,  although  met  with  in  dif 
ferent  quarters,  seem  nowhere  abundant ;  of 
all  the  different  metals,  gold  being  the  most 
generally  distributed.  Precious  stones,  so 
frequent  in  other  tropical  regions,  are  here 
of  rare  occurrence.  The  African  continent 
is  nearly  exempt  from  volcanic  action. 

Africa  is  emphatically  the  land  of  deserts, 
which  are  productive  of  a  scarcity  of  rivers. 
Many  of  the  smaller  rivers  and  lakes,  and 
not  a  few  of  the  large  ones,  present  only  dry 
water-courses  during  certain  periods  of  the 
year.  Even  Lake  Tsad  is  said  at  times  to 
become  nearly  dry ;  this  large  expanse  of 
water  has  no  outlet,  and  the  immense  supply 
of  water  received  during  the  rainy  season  is 
lost  again  by  evaporation.  "With  the  rains 
floods  are  prevalent  all  over  the  country,  even 
in  the  desert,  as  the  recent  observations 
made  by  the  expedition  under  Richardson 
testify.  That  traveller  relates  that  when  on 
the  borders  of  the  kingdom  of  "  A'ir,  on  the 
30th  September  1850,  there  was  a  cry  in  the 
encampment,  l  The  wady  is  coming.'  Going 
out  to  look  I  saw  a  broad  white  sheet  of  foam 
advancing  from  the  south  between  the  trees 
of  the  valley.  In  ten  minutes  after  a  river 
of  water  came  pouring  along,  and  spread  all 
around  us,  converting  the  place  of  our  en 
campment  into  an  isle  of  the  valley.  The 
current  in  its  deepest  part  was  very  power 
ful,  capable  of  carrying  away  sheep  and  cat 


tle,  and  of  uprooting  trees.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  interesting  phenomena  I  have  wit 
nessed  during  my  present  tour  in  Africa. 
The  scene,  indeed,  was  .perfectly  African. 
Rain  had  been  observed  falling  in  the  south ; 
black  clouds  and  darkness  covered  that  zone 
of  the  heavens;  and  an  hour  afterwards 
came  pouring  down  this  river  of  water  into 
the  dry  parched-up  valley.  This  instance  of 
Wady  Tintaghoda  explains  the  Scriptural 
phrase,  '  rivers  of  waters,'  for  here  indeed 
was  a  river  of  water,  appearing  in  an  instant, 
and  almost  without  notice."  The  importance 
of  the  floods  and  inundations  of  the  Nile 
scarcely  needs  to  be  referred  to. 

Africa  is  chiefly  drained  into  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  and  its  branch  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
the  river  system  of  the  Indian  Ocean  being 
comparatively  inconsiderable. 

The  Nile  is  the  oldest  of  historical  rivers, 
and  afforded  the  only  means  of  subsistence 
to  the  earliest  civilised  people  on  earth. 
Thus  renowned  from  immemorial  ages  as  the 
gift  of  the  Nile,  Egypt  issues  from  the 
womb  of  primordial  time  with  a  civili 
zation  already  perfected  at  the  very  earliest 
epoch  of  her  history,  hieroglyphed  on  the 
monuments  of  the  third  and  fourth  dynasties, 
prior  to  the  thirty-fifth  century  before  the 
Christian  era. 

A  strange  mystery  formerly  enshrouded 
the  sources  of  this  river,  one  of  the  mighti 
est  of  the  globe.  Its  three  principal  tribu 
taries  from  the  east  have,  each  in  succession, 
claimed  the  distinction  of  being  the  main 
stream,  but  this  doubt  has  recently  been 
removed.  The  Atbara,  called  by  the  Abys- 
sinians  Takkazie,  the  last  of  the  tributaries 
of  the  Nile  before  it  disembogues  into  the 
sea,  was  looked  upon,  in  early  Christian 
o-es,  as  the  head  of  the  Nile  ,  it  rises  in  the 

c5         '  ' 

Abyssinian  provinces  of  Lasta  and  Samen, 
amid  mountains  attaining  the  height  of 
15,000  feet.  From  the  same  lofty  regions 
issues  the  Abai',  termed  formerly  the  Astapus, 
which  becomes  the Bahr-el-Azrek,  or  "Blue 
River,"  at  Khartum.  The  Abyssinians  still 
look  upon  the  Abai  as  the  Gihon  of  the  Gen- 


220 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


esis;  as  did  the  Portuguese  Jesuits  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  One 
hundred  and  fifty  years  before  Bruce,  its 
source  in  the  peninsula  of  Godjam  was  visit 
ed  and  far  more  accurately  described  by  Pe 
dro  Paez. 

Above  the  junction  of  the  Astapus  with 
the  Bahr-cl-Abyad,  or  "  White  River,"  the 
ancients  seem  to  have  known  nothing  of 
the  course  of  the  Kile,  previously  to  the  time 
of  Ptolemy  the  geographer,  except  that  it 
came  from  the  west :  in  this  vaguely  refer 
ring  to  the  Ke'ilak.  The  White  Kile  is  join 
ed,  in  Lat.  9.  20.  K".,  on  its  eastern  banks  by 
the  Sobat,  and  a  little  beyond  this  point  the 
stream  divides  itself  into  two  great  arms, 
the  eastern  one  of  which  lias  been  traced  to 
a  large  lake  not  far  from  the  equator.  This 
discovery  which  had  so  long  baffled  the  re 
searches  of  geographers,  was  reserved  for  the 
enterprise  of  the  nineteenth  century.  An 
exploring  expedition  started  from  Zanzibar 
on  the  eastern  coast,  in  1858,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Capt.  Burton,  the  celebrated  Afri 
can  traveler.  When  they  reached  Kajeh  Capt. 
Burton  was  taken  sick,  and  the  expedition 
went  on  in  charge  of  Capt.  Speke.  Leaving 
the  Lake  Tanganyika  behind,  he  pushed  on 
into  the  interior,  and  soon  came  to  another 
large  lake,  which  the  natives  told  him  was 
called  Nyanza,  and  they  said  terminated  at 
the  north  in  a  large  river,  which  was  much 
navigated  by  white  men.  It  immediately 
occurred  to  Capt,  Speke  that  they  might 
mean  the  Nile,  and  that  this  might  be  its 
long  sought-for  source.  Impressed  with  this 
idea,  and  unable  to  proceed  farther,  he  hur 
ried  back  to  Capt.  Burton,  who,  however, 
received  his  views  with  incredulity,  and  de 
clined  to  follow  up  the  subject.  He  then 
returned  to  England,  and  succeeded  in  inter 
esting  the  Geographical  Society  in  the  pro 
ject,  and  by  their  assistance  he  succeeded  in 
fitting  out  a  new  expedition  with  which  he 
started  from  Zanzibar,  in  October,  1860. 
After  much  delay  and  hardship,  they  arriv 
ed  at  the  lake  Xyanza.  Here  he  succeeded 
in  gaining  the  good  will  of  the  king  of  Ky- 


anda,  through  whose  territory  he  was  obliged 
to  pass,  and  he  was  even  aided  by  him  in  his 
explorations.  He  found  that  the  lake  was 
not  so  large  as  the  natives  had  described  it, 
being  only  about  two  hundred  miles  in  length. 
After  some  trouble  with  the  natives  on  the 
way,  he  finally  reached  the  actual  source 
of  the  Nile,  where  it  issues  from  the 
lake.  It  is  at  this  point  about  four  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  broad.  A  little  way  lower 
down,  it  descends  a  fall  of  twelve  feet,  to 
which  Capt.  Speke  gave  the  name  of  Ripon 
Falls.  In  consequence  of  the  tribes  on  the 
banks  being  at  war,  it  was  impossible  to  fol 
low  the  whole  course  of  the  river,  and  they 
were  compelled  to  cross  the  country.  Between 
the  territory  of  the  king  of  Nugoro  and  that  of 
the  Madi,  the  river,  it  is  said,  takes  a  great 
bend  to  the  west,  and  unites  with  another 
lake.  The  greater  part  of  its  course  is  through 
valleys  deep  and  narrow.  It  is  thought  that 
the  other  rivers  of  Central  Africa  have  their 
source  in  lakes  on  the  same  plateau,  which 
are  fed  by  streams  which  descend  from 
mountains  under  the  equator. 

There  are  no  rivers,  of  any  consideration, 
along  the  northern  shores  of  Africa.  Pro 
ceeding  to  the  western  coasts,  we  first  find 
the  Wady  Draa,  augmented  by  the  Wady 
Sagis  and  el  Hamra,  which  runs  into  the  sea 
opposite  the  Canary  Islands,  and  is  spoken 
of  as  a  considerable  river.  The  River  Sene 
gal  has  a  length  of  upwards  of  eleven  hun 
dred  miles,  and  has  its  sources  in  the  same 
elevated  tract  of  land  as  those  of  the  Xawara. 
The  Gambia  and  Rio  Grande,  south  of  the 
River  Senegal,  are  also  considerable  rivers. 
The  Kawara,  commonly  but  erroneously 
called  Niger,  is  next  to  the  Kile  tho 
largest  of  African  rivers.  Its  sources  are 
still  unknown.  It  appears  to  be  the 
Amner,  which  is  said  to  rise  in  a  high 
group  of  mountains  east  of  Liberia.  As  far 
as  Timbuktu  the  river  is  called  Joliba,  and 
its  course  is  pretty  -well  known,  but  from 
that  place  to  Yaouri  it  is  as  yet  unexplored. 
Thence  down  to  its  mouth  it  was  first  traced 
by  Lander.  It  is  there  called  Kawara  in  gen- 


H1STOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


221 


era!,  although  it  has  several  names  in  the 
different  languages  of  the  tribes  which  in 
habit  the  shores.  Of  the  tributaries  of  the 
Kawara  our  knowledge  is  very  scanty.  The 
Tchadda  is  the  most  important  of  these,  and 
rivals  the  Ivawara,  if  it  do  not  actually  sur 
pass  it  in  magnitude  ;  it  extends  far  into  the 
heart  of  Inner  Africa,  and  was  recently  ex 
plored  by  Dr.  Earth  in  its  upper  course, 
\vhere  it  flows  through  the  kingdom  of  Ada- 
mana :  even  there  it  is  half  a  mile  broad, 
and  ten  feet  deep,  and  is  called  Benue.  It 
is  highly  probable  that  this  splendid  river 
\vill  eventually  form  the  natural  and  most 
important  line  from  the  "west  for  the  spread 
of  commerce  and  civilization  into  the  very 
centre  of  Africa.  The  kingdom  of  Adamaua, 
situated  in  the  valley  of  the  upper  Tchadda, 
with  its  pastoral  and  agricultural  population, 
is  spoken  of  by  Dr.  Barth  as  the  most  beau 
tiful  country  in  Central  Africa,  and  as  such 
may  probably  become  the  key  to  the  interior 
of  that  continent. 

South  of  the  equator,  the  west  coast  re 
ceives  many  large  rivers  which  are  as  yet 
little  explored.  Such  are,  the  Zaire  or  Con 
go,  known  only  for  a  short  distance  beyond 
its  mouth ;  the  Coanza,  which  is  better 
known  ;  the  bourse  river  or  Cunene,  almost 
unknown. 

The  Orange  river  is  about  one  thousand 
miles  in  length. 

Rounding  the  southern  extremity  of  Afri 
ca,  and  proceeding  up  its  eastern  coast,  the 
Limpopo  is  the  first  river  requiring  notice. 
Its  head  streams  and  its  middle  course  are 
pretty  well  known,  but  whether  it  disem 
bogues  into  the  sea  at  Del  ago  a  Bay  or  at  In- 
hambane,  is  a  matter  of  doubt.  The  most 
trustworthy  testimony  is  that  it  reaches  the 
sea  at  the  latter  place. 

The  Zambezi  is  the  largest  river  of  the 
eastern  coast.  Its  upper  course  is  also 
shrouded  in  mystery.  It  is  most  probable 
that  the  Rivers  Sesheke  and  Chobe,  recently 
discovered  by  Messrs  Livingston  and  O swell, 
form  the  head  streams  of  the  Zambezi ;  their 
magnitude  is  opposed  to  the  hypothesis  en 


tertained  by  some  that  they  are  lost  in  the 
sands. 

Africa  possesses  several  considerable  lakes, 
among  which  Lake  Tsad  is  probably  the 
largest  and  most  interesting.  It  was  discov 
ered  by  Denham  and  Clapperton,  who  traced 
its  borders,  except  on  the  eastern  side ;  but 
was  first  navigated  by  Ovenveg,  who  recent 
ly  fell  a  victim  in  the  cause  of  African  ex 
ploration.  This  was  done  in  a  boat  wrhich 
had  been  conveyed  from  JVIaltar  across  the 
Sahara  to  Lake  Tsad.  It  was  successfully 
launched  on  the  18th  of  June,  1851 ;  and  Dr. 
Overweg  embarked  in  it  at  Bree,  to  the  east 
of  Kuka.  At  a  distance  of  twelve  miles  from 
the  former  place  he  reached  the  first  of  the 
islands,  of  which  there  are  about  one  hundred 
of  large  size  scattered  over  the  lake.  They 
are  wooded,  and  inhabited  by  the  Bidduma, 
a  Pagan  tribe  who  have  remained  independ 
ent  of  the  Mohammedan  nations  living 
around  the  lake.  They  have  herds  of  cattle 
and  goats ;  the  shores  are  infested  by  numer 
ous  crocodiles  and  hippopotami.  The  di 
mensions  of  the  lake  were  found  by  Dr. 
Overwear  to  be  considerablv  smaller  than 

O  t/ 

those  given  by  Major  Denham ;  it  being 
from  west  to  east  only  sixty  miles  in  extent, 
whereas  in  Denham's  map  it  is  more  than 
double  that  size.  This  apparent  discrepan 
cy,  however,  may  find  its  explanation  in  the 
remarkable  nature  of  the  lake, — it  being  an 
immense  body  of  water  which  is  greatly 
augmented  in  the  rainy  season,  but  in  the 
season  of  drouth  evaporates  so  much  that  it 
seems  at  times  to  dry  up  entirely.  This  waa 
said  to  have  taken  place  six  years  previously 
to  the  date  of  Overweg's  visit.  The  average 
depth  of  the  lake  is  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet, 
and  its  waters  are  fresh  and  clear.  Dr.  Over 
weg  was  received  with  great  kindness  by  the 
Biddumas  on  his  landing  at  several  of  the 
islands,  and  during  his  visits  to  many  of  their 
villages.  Lake  Tsad  has  no  connection  with 
the  Kawara  or  the  Nile,  but  forms  an  inland 
receptacle  receiving  the  waters  of  some  of 
the  most  distant  regions  of  Inner  Africa. 
Lake  Fittri,  east  of  Lake  Tsad  has  never 


222 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


been  explored  by  Europeans.  Lake  Tsana 
or  Denibea  is  the  chief  lake  within  the  basin 
of  the  Nile,  as  far  as  known.  It  is  situated 
on  the  table-land  of  Abyssinia,  has  a  length 
of  about  sixty  miles,  and  possesses  many 
islands.  The  Abai  flows  through  it. 

In  Inner  Africa  a  number  of  considerable 
lakes  are  reported  to  exist,  but  only  two  are 
known  south  of  the  equator  with  any  degree 
of  certainty.  They  have  various  names,  but 
are  best  known  under  those  of  Nyassa  and 
Ngami.  Nyassa,  the  great  lake  or  sea  in  10° 
south  latitude,  is  as  yet  only  approximately 
laid  down  in  the  maps,  according  to  native 
information,  and  whether  it  be  the  feeder  of 
a  large  river,  or  merely  a  recipient  lake,  is 
unknown.  It  is  represented  as  stretching  in 
a  general  direction  of  south-east  to  north 
west.  Nyassa  or  Nyassi  is  the  name  given 
to  it  by  the  Yao,  nations  living  on  its  eastern 
shores,  but  it  is  also  called  Ziwa  by  the 
Sawahili,  and  is  farther  identified*  with  the 
Nlianja,  and  the  Murusura,  as  also  with  the 
Maravi  and  Zambeze  of  early  geographers, — 
Zembere,  Zembre,  Zambre  being  considered 
corruptions  of  the  latter.  Zambeze  is  proba 
bly  only  the  name  of  the  river  flowing  into 
the  Indian  Ocean  at  Quillimane,  a  branch  of 
which  rises  near  the  south-east  extremity  of 
the  lake,  but  by  no  means  issues  from  it. 

Another  lake  in  that  region  has  recently 
been  reported  by  the  natives  to  Dr.  Krapf, 
as  being  situated  west  of  Mombas,  beyond 
Kilimanjaro,  and  in  the  country  of  Uniamezi. 

Lake  Ngami  was  known  to  exist  upwards 
of  twenty  years  ago,  and  is  alluded  to  by 
Philips,  Campbell,  Harris,  and  others,  and 
indicated  in  maps  under  the  name  of  Mam- 
poor  or  Mampua;  but  it  was  first  reached 
by  Europeans  in  1849,  when  Messrs.  Living- 
Eton,  Murray,  and  Oswell,  undertook  a  voy 
age  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  its  discovery. 
They  only  saw  its  north-eastern  extremity, 
however,  which  there'  opened  out,  like  the 
Firth  of  Forth,  with  an  unbounded  horizon 
of  water  towards  the  south-west,  As  to  its 
extent,  nothing  positively  could  be  ascertain 
ed  from  the  natives,  who  said  that  it  took 


twenty-five  days  to  travel  round  it ;  their 
canoes  never  cross  it,  but  some  coast  round 
and  along  the  shores.  It  was  said  to  contain 
hippopotami,  alligators,  and  large  fish.  The 
river  Zouga,  which  issues  from  the  lake,  is 
lost  in  the  sands  before  it  reaches  the  sea. 

Lakes  Tsad,  Nyassa,  and  Ngami  are  ox- 
tensive  fresh-water  formations.  To  these 
may  be  added  the  lake  discovered  by  Capt. 
Speke  in  1858,  and  called  by  him  Albert 
Nyanza.  There  are,  besides,  numerous  small 
salt  and  natron  lakes  in  various  parts  of 
Africa. 

Africa  lies  almost  entirely  in  the  torrid  zone, 
and  is  the  hottest  continent  of  all.  The  great, 
est  heat,  however,  is  not  found  under  the  equa 
tor  but  to  the  north  of  it,  in  consequence  of 
the  northern  portion  being  of  greater  extent 
than  the  southern,  and  of  less  elevation.  The 
greatest  temperature  is  found  throughout  the 
Sahara,  particularly  in  its  eastern  portions 
towards  the  Red  sea.  In  Upper  Egypt  and 
Nubia  eggs  may  be  baked  in  the  hot  sands, 
and  the  saying  of  the  Arabs  is,  "in  Nubia 
the  soil  is  like  fire  and  the  wind  like  a  flame." 
The  regions  along  the  Mediterranean  and 
Atlantic  coasts  are  rendered  more  temperate 
by  the  influence  of  the  sea.  To  the  south 
of  the  Great  Desert,  where  the  country  be 
comes  more  elevated,  the  temperature  de 
creases,  and  it  is  now  fully  confirmed  that 
some  spots,  quite  -near  the  equator,  even 
reach  the  altitude  of  permanent  snow.  Reg 
ular  snowfall,  however,  does  not  occur  even 
in  the  most  southern  or  northern  regions 
The  intensity  of  radiation  and  its  influence 
upon  the  temperature  are  very  great  in 
Northern  Africa :  while  in  the  day  time  the 
soil  of  the  Sahara  rapidly  absorbs  the  solar 
rays,  during  the  night  it  cools  so  rapidly  that 
the  formation  of  ice  has  often  been  known  to 
occur.  Africa  is  not  much  under  the  influ 
ence  of  the  regular  winds,  except  the  mon 
soons  of  the  Indian  Ocean.  It  will  be  seen 
in  the  next  paragraph,  that  the  monsoons, 
although  they  extend  only  about  a  third  por 
tion  of  the  East- African  shores,  have  an  ex 
tremely  important  bearing  upon  the  physical 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


223 


economy  of  the  whole  African  continent. 
From  hurricanes  Africa  is  nearly  exempt, 
except  its  south-eastern  extremity,  to  which 
at  times  the  Mauritius  hurricanes  extend. 
Northern  Africa  is  much  exposed  to  the  hot 
winds  and  storms  from  the  Sahara,  which 
are  called  in  Egypt  Khamsin,  in  the  Medi 
terranean,  Scirocca,  and  in  the  western  re 
gions  Harmattan.  Extreme  heat  and  dry- 
ness  are  the  characteristics  of  these  winds, 
which  raising  the  sand,  filling  the  air  with  dust 
and  prodigiously  favoring  the  powers  of  evap 
oration,  are  often  fatal  to  the  vegetable  and 
animal  creation  in  the  i  egions  visited  by  them. 
The  supply  of  rain  is,  upon  the  whole, 
scanty  in  this  continent.  The  Sahara  and 
also  the  Kalihari  of  Southern  Africa  are  al 
most  rainless  regions.  There  seems,  how 
ever,  no  part  where  rain  is  entirely  wanting, 
even  in  the  middle  of  the  desert.  A  very 
striking  instance,  as  related  by  Mr.  Richard 
son,  has  already  been  referred  to.  At  sea, 
between  the  tropic  of -Capricorn  and  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  on  both  sides  of  the 
continent,  the  transparency  of  the  atmosphere 
exceeds  what  is  known  in  any  other  part  of 
the  world ;  and  European  astronomers,  on 
first  visiting  those  latitudes,  contemplate 
with  astonishment  the  nocturnal  splendor  of 
the  heavens,  in  which  the  naked  eye  can  per 
ceive  stars  of  considerably  less  magnitude 
than  it  can  discern  in  the  northern  skies. 
There  Jupiter  and  Yenus  shine  with  start 
ling  refulgence,  and  cause  opaque  bodies  to 
cast  well-defined  shadows  ;  the  fixed  stars 
Aldebaran,  Castor  and  Pollux,  the  Corona 
Australis,  and  Orion,  appear  preternaturally 
brilliant.  The  shore  regions  of  "Western  Af 
rica,  from  the  Kawara  to  the  Senegal,  re 
ceive  copious  falls  of  rain  with  the  south-east 
trade-winds.  But  the  largest  supply  of  rain 
appears  to  be  brought  to  Africa  by  the  sum 
mer-monsoon  on  the  east  coast.  This  mon 
soon,  lasting  from  April  to  October,  extends 
over  the  Indian  Ocean  in  a  half-circle  from 
south-east  to  north-east  by  west.  From  the 
latitude  of  Mozambique  to  the  equator  it  has 
a  general  direction  from  south-east,  and 


there,  in  a  corresponding  manner  the  chief 
rainy  season  is  found  during  April,  June,  and 
July.  Under  the  equator  the  direction  of 
the  monsoon  changes  and  becomes  south-west. 
To  these  winds  are  to  be  ascribed  the  heavy 
falls  of  rain  that  drench  the  extensive  plains 
and  ascending  grounds  of  the  east  horn  of 
Africa.  Farther  inland  they  are  broken  by 
the  great  Abyssinian  table-lands,  so  that  they 
do  not  extend  beyond  the  strait  of  Babelman 
deb,  south-east  of  which  a  great  fall  of  rain 
consequently  occurs ;  to  the  north-west,  on 
the  other  hand,  scarcely  any  rain  falls.  'No 
rain  occurs  in  these  regions  when  the  mon 
soon  comes  from  the  opposite  direction, 
namely,  from  the  Asiatic  continent.  The 
south-east  monsoon  does  not  stop  in  the 
coast  regions,  but  continues  in  a  more  or  less 
modified  direction  northwards  as  far  as  Lake 
Tsad  and  Kordofan ;  in  both  regions  its  in 
fluences  begin  to  be  felt  in  May,  or  one 
month  later  than  on  the  coast.  This  is  a 
most  important  fact,  as  it  evidently  shows 
that  no  connected  equatorial  range  of  high 
mountains— such  as  the  hypothetical  Moun 
tains  of  the  Moon  of  early  geographers — can 
exist  in  Central  Africa,  and  the  assumption 
is  corroborated  by  the  fact  that  in  the  east 
ern  portion,  where  high  mountains  are  known 
to  exist,  the  same  rainy  wind  is  interrupted 
so  much  that  it  reaches  the  nor  them  portions 
of  Abyssinia  one  month  later  than  Lake  Tsad 
and  Kordofan.  The  upper  basin  of  the  Nile, 
probably  not  far  from  the  coast,  receives  the 
undiminished  supply  of  water  with  the  be- 
jnnnino;  of  the  monsoon,  and  hence,  after  two 

O  O  ft 

months,  the  Nile  begins  to  rise  in  Upper 
Egypt  and  continues  to  do  so  till  September. 
Were  the  head  streams  of  the  Nile  surround 
ed  by  a  high  mountain  range  in  the  east  and 
south,  like  the  Andes  of  South  America,  the 
monsoon  would  probably  not  have  the  same 
beneficial  influence  upon  its  development. 

Although  Africa  belongs  almost  entirely 
to  the  torrid  and  warm  zones,  its  vegetable 
productions  are  essentially  different  in  differ 
ent  parts.  Thus,  in  the  extreme  north, 
groves  of  oranges  and  olives,  plains  covered 


224 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD 


with  wheat  and  barley,  thick  woods  of  ever 
green-oaks,  cork-trees,  and  sea-pines,  inter 
mixed  with  cypresses,  myrtles,  arbutus,  and 
fragrant  tree-heaths  form  the  principal  fea 
tures  of  the  landscape.  On  this  northern 
coast  the  date-palm  is  first  found;  but  its 
fruit  does  not  arrive  at  perfection,  and  it  is 
chiefly  valued  as  an  ornamental  object  in 
gardens.  Various  kinds  of  grain  are  culti 
vated.  Bevond  this  region  of  the  coast  and 

v  O 

the  Atlas  chain,  with  the  borders  of  the 
Sahara  commences  a  new  scene.  It  is  in 
this  region,  extending  to  the  borders  of  Su 
dan,  that  the  date-tree  forms  the  characteris 
tic  feature,  it  being  peculiarly  adapted  to 
excessive  clryness  and  high  temperature, 
where  few  other  plants  can  maintain  an  ex 
istence.  "Were  it  not  for  the  fruit  of  the 
invaluable  date-tree,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
desert  would  almost  entirely  depend  on  the 
products  of  other  regions  for  their  subsistence. 
With  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Sahara, 
the  date-tree  disappears,  the  baobab  or  mon 
key  bread-tree  takes  its  place,  aud,  under  the 
influence  of  the  tropical  rains,  a  new,  rich, 
and  highly-developed  flora  presents  itself. 
These  trees,  together  with  huge  cotton-trees, 
oil-palms,  sago-palms,  and  others  of  the  same 
majestic  tribe,  determine  the  aspect  of  the 
landscape.  The  laburnum  expands  its 
branches  of  golden  flower,  and  replaces  the 
senna  of  the  northern  regions,  and  the  swamps 
are  often  covered  with  immense  quantities  of 
the  papyrus  plant.  Instead  of  waving  fields 
of  corn,  the  cassava,  yam,  pigeon-pea,  and 
the  ground-nut,  form  the  farinaceous  plants. 
The  papaw,  the  tamarind,  the  Senegal  cus 
tard-apple,  and  others,  replace  the  vine  and 
the  fig.  In  Southern  Africa,  again,  the 
tropical  forms  disappear,  and  in  the  inland 
desert-like  plains,  the  fleshy,  leafless,  contort 
ed,  singular  tribes  of  kapsias,  of  mesembry- 
anthemums,  euphorbias,  crassulas,  aloes,  and 
other  succulent  plants,  make  their  appear 
ance.  Endless  species  of  heaths  are  there 
found  in  great  beauty,  and  the  hills  and 
rocks  are  scattered  over  with  a  remarkable 
tribe  of  plants  called  cycadaceae. 


Of  the  characteristic  African  plants,  the 
date-tree  is  one  of  the  most  important,  as  it  ia 
likewise  among  the  nearly  one  thousand  dif 
ferent  species  of  palms.  It  furnishes,  as  it 
were,  the  bread  of  the  desert,  beyond  which 
it  occurs  only  in  Western  Asia,  wherever  a 
similar  dry  and  hot  climate  prevails.  This 
tree  requires  a  sandy  soil,  and  springs  must 
not  be  absent.  The  dates  furnish  food  not 
only  for  man,  but  for  the  camel  and  the 
horse.  For  the  latter  purpose  the  stones  are 
used  in  many  parts,  and  are  said  to  be  more 
nourishing  than  the  fruit  itself.  The  Arabs 
make  a  great  variety  of  dishes  of  which  dates 
form  the  chief  part.  Of  the  sap  of  the  tree 
palm-wine  is  prepared,  and  the  young  leaves 
are  eaten  like  cabbage. 

In  Southern  Africa  are  the  extensive 
miniature  woods  of  heaths,  as  characteristic 
as  the  groves  of  date-palms  in  the  north.  No 
less  than  five  hundred  species  have  already 
been  discovered.  These  plants,  of  which 
some  reach  the  height  of  twelve  to  fifteen 
feet,  are  covered  throughout  the  greater  part 
of  the  year  with  innumerable  flowers  of 
beautiful  colors,  the  red  being  prevalent. 

The  papyrus  is  an  aquatic  plant,  having  a 
stem  from  three  to  six  feet  high.  It  inhabits 
both  stagnant  waters  and  running  streams, 
and  is  common  in  the  countries  of  the  Nile, 
particularly  Egypt  and  Abyssinia.  Its  soft, 
smooth,  flower-stem  afforded  the  most  ancient 
material  from  wliich  paper  was  prepared,  and 
for  this  reason  it  is  one  of  the  noticeable 
African  plants.  It  has,  however,  also  been 
used  for  other  purposes ;  its  flowering  stems 
and  leaves  are  twisted  into  ropes ;  and  the 
roots,  which  are  sweet,  are  used  as  food. 

Africa  is  distinguished  from  other  conti 
nents  by  the  scarcity  of  forests  :  it  has  con 
sequently  very  few  of  the  animals  which  in 
habit  forests.  Deer  are  almost  entirely 
wanting;  in  their  place  we  find  antelopes, 
which  occur  in  greater  numbers  than  in  any 
other  country.  Peculiar  to  Africa  are  the 
zebras  and  other  striped  mammalia  of  the 
equine  and  asinine  tribes  ;  the  giraffe,  and 
their  constant  companion  the  ostrich.  The 


HISTOKY    OF    THE    WOULD. 


225 


extraordinary  swiftness  of  these  animals, 
which  enables  them  to  seek  for  their  food  at 
great  distances,  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
immense  plains  of  tiie  country.  The  scar 
city  of  forests  further  corresponds  with  that 
of  squirrels,  the  few  that  are  found  being 
mostly  ground-squirrels.  Mice  are  numer 
ous,  as  are  also  hares,  which  prefer  steppe- 
like  countries  to  woodland.  The  immense 
quantity  of  game  affords  food  for  plenty  of 
carnivorous  animals.  Upon  the  whole,  the 
mammalian  fauna  of  Africa  approaches  in 
resemblance  much  nearer  to  that  of  South 
ern  Asia  than  that  of  South  America. 

From  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  to 
about  the  latitude  of  20°  north,  the  popula 
tion  of  Africa  consists  largely  of  tribes  not 
originally  native  to  the  soil,  but  of  Arabs 
and  Turks,  planted  by  conquest,  with  a  con 
siderable  number  of  Jews,  the  children  of 
dispersion;  and  the  recently  introduced 
French.  The  Berbers  of  the  Atlas  region, 
the  Tuaricks  and  Tibbus  of  the  Sahara,  and 
the  Copts  of  Egypt,  may  be  viewed  as  the 
descendants  of  the  primitive  stock,  while 
those  to  whom  the  general  name  of  Moors  is 
applied,  are  perhaps  of  mixed  descent,  native 
and  foreign.  From  the  latitude  stated,  to 
the  Cape  colony,  tribes  commonly  classed  to 
gether  under  the  title  of  the  Ethiopic  or  ne 
gro  family  are  found,  though  many  depart 
very  widely  from  the  peculiar  physiognomy 
of  the  negro,  which  is  most  apparent  in  the 
natives  of  the  Guinea  coast.  In  the  Cape 
colony,  and  on  its  borders,  the  Hottentots 
form  a  distinct  variety  of  the  population  of 
Africa,  most  closely  resembling  the  Mongo 
lian  races  of  Asia. 

The  Copts  are  considered  to  be  the  de 
scendants  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  They  do 
not  now  compose  more  than  one-sixteenth 
part  of  the  population  of  Egypt.  Conver 
sions  to  the  Mohammedan  faith,  and  intermar 
riages  with  the  Moslems,  have  occasioned  this 
decrease  in  their  numbers  ;  to  which  may  be 
added  the  persecutions  which  they  endured 
from  their  Arabic  invaders  and  subsequent 
rulers.  They  M  ere  forced  to  adopt  distinc- 
29 


tions  of  dress,  and  they  still  wear  a  turban 
of  a  black  or  blue,  or  a  grayish  or  light  brown 
color,  in  contradistinction  to  the  red  or  white 
turban.  In  some  parts  of  Upper  Egypt, 
there  are  villages  exclusively  inhabited  by 
the  Copts.  Their  complexion  is  somewhat 
darker  than  that  of  the  Arabs,  their  fore 
heads  flat,  and  their  hair  of  a  soft  and  woolly 
character ;  their  noses  short,  but  not  flat  ; 
mouths  wide,  and  lips  thick  ;  the  eyes  large, 
and  bent  upwards  in  an  angle  like  those  of 
the  Mongols ;  their  cheek-bones  high,  and 
their  beards  thin.  They  are  not  an  unmixed 
race,  their  ancestors  in  the  early  ages  of 
Christianity  having  intermarried  with  Greeks, 
Nubians,  and  Abyssinians.  "With  the  ex 
ception  of  a  small  proportion,  the  Copts  are 
Christians  of  the  sect  called  Jacobites,  Euty- 
chians,  and  Monothelites,  whose  creed  was 
condemned  by  the  council  of  Chalcedon,  A.D. 
451.  They  are  extremely  bigoted,  and  bear 
a  bitter  hatred  to  all  other  Christians  ;  they 
are  of  a  sullen  temper,  extremely  avaricious, 
great  dissemblers,  ignorant,  and  faithless. 
They  frequently  indulge  in  excessive  drink 
ing  ;  but  in  their  meals,  their  mode  of  eating, 
and  the  manner  in  which  they  pass  their 
hours  of  leisure,  which  is  chiefly  in  smoking 
their  pipes  and  drinking  coffee,  they  resem 
ble  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  country. 
Most  of  the  Copts  in  Cairo  are  employed  as 
secretaries  and  accountants,  or  tradesmen ; 
they  are  chiefly  engaged  in  the  government 
offices ;  and  as  merchants,  goldsmiths,  silver 
smiths,  jewellers,  architects,  builders,  and 
carpenters,  they  are  generally  considered 
more  skillful  than  the  Moslems.  The  Coptic 
language  is  now  understood  by  few  persons, 
and  the  Arabic  being  employed  in  its  stead, 
it  may  be  considered  as  a  dead  language. 

The  countries  above  Egypt  are  inhabited 
by  two  tribes  of  people  resembling  each 
other  in  physical  characters,,  but  of  distinct 
language  and  origin.  One  is,  perhaps,  the 
aboriginal  or  native,  the  other  a  foreign  tribe. 
Dr.  Prichard  terms  them  Eastern  Nubians, 
or  Nubians  of  the  Eed  Sea,  and  Nubians  of 
the  Nile,  or  Berberines.  All  these  tribes  are 


226 


HISTOEY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


people  of  a  red-brown  complexion,  their 
color  in  some  instances  approaching  to  black, 
but  still  different  from  the  ebon}7  hue  of  the 
Eastern  negroes.  Their  hair  is  often  frizzled 
and  thick,  and  is  described  to  be  evenwool- 
ly;  yet  it  is  not  precisely  similar  to  the  hair 
of  the  negroes  of  Guinea.  The  Eastern 
Nubians  are  tribes  of  roving  people  who  in 
habit  the  country  between  the  Nile  and  the 
Red  Sea ;  the  Northern  division  of  this  race 
are  the  Ababdeh,  who  reach  northward  in  the 
eastern  desert  as  far  as  Kosseir,  and  towards 
the  parallel  of  Deir  border  on  the  Bishari. 
The  Bishari  reach  thence  towards  the  con 
fines  of  Abyssinia.  The  latter  are  extreme 
ly  savage  and  inhospitable  ;  they  are  said  to 
drink  the  warm  blood  of  living  animals : 
they  are  for  the  most  part  nomadic,  and  live 
on  flesh  and  milk.  They  are  described  as  a 
handsome  people,  with  beautiful  features, 
fine  expressive  eyes,  of  slender  and  elegant 
forms ;  their  complexion  is  said  to  be  a  dark 
brown,  or  a  dark  chocolate  color.  The 
Barubra  or  Berberines  are  a  people  well 
known  in  Egypt,  whither  they  resort  as  la 
borers  from  the  higher  country  of  the  Nile. 
They  inhabit  the  valley  of  that  name  from 
the  southern  limit  of  Egypt  to  Sennaar. 
They  are  a  people  distinct  from  the  Arabs  and 
all  the  surrounding  nations.  They  live  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nile  ;  and  wherever  there 
is  any  soil,  they  plant  date-trees,  set  up 
wheels  for  irrigation,  and  sow  durra  and 
some  leguminous  plants.  At  Cairo,  whith 
er  many  of  this  race  resort,  they  are  esteemed 
for  their  honesty.  They  profess  Moham 
medanism. 

The  country  of  the  Nubians  is  limited  on 
the  west  by  that  of  the  Tibbus,  who  are 
spread  over  the  eastern  portions  of  the  Sa 
hara,  as  far  as  Fezzan  and  Lake  Tsad. 
Their  color  is  not  uniform.  In  some  it  is 
quite  black,  but  many  have  copper-colored 
faces.  They  are  slim  and  well  made,  have 
high  cheek-bones,  the  ncse  sometimes  flat 
Like  that  of  the  negro,  and  sometimes  aqui 
line.  Their  mouth  is,  in  general,  large,  but 
their  teeth  fine.  Their  lips  are  frequently 


formed  like  those  of  Europeans,  their  eyes 
are  expressive,  and  their  hair,  though  curled, 
not  woolly.  The  females  are  especiallv  dis 
tinguished  by  a  light  and  elegant  form,  and 
in  their  walk  and  erect  manner  of  carrying 
themselves  are  very  striking.  Their  feet 
and  ankles  are  delicately  formed,  and  not 
loaded  with  a  mass  of  brass  or  iron,  as  is  the 
practice  in  other  countries  of  Northern 
Africa,  but  have  merely  a  light  anklet  of 
polished  silver  or  copper,  sufficient  to  show 
their  jetty  skin  to  more  advantage ;  and 
they  also  wear  neat  red  slippers.  The  Tib- 
bus  are  chiefly  a  pastoral  people.  They 
keep  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats,  but 
camels  constitute  their  principal  riches. 
The  villages  of  the  Tibbus  are  very  regular 
ly  built  in  a  square,  with  a  space  left  on  the 
north  and  south  faces  of  the  quadrangle  for 
the  use  of  the  cattle.  The  huts  are  entirely 
of  mats,  which  exclude  the  sim,  yet  admit 
both  the  light  and  air.  The  interior  ot 
these  habitations  is  singularly  neat :  clean 
wooden  bowls  for  the  preservation  of  milk, 
each  with  a  cover  of  basket-work,  are  Imiig 
against  their  walls.  They  are  greatly  ex 
posed  to  the  predatory  incursions  into  their 
country  by  the  enemies  who  surround  thorn. 
They  carry  on  a  considerable  traffic  in  slaves 
between  Sudan,  Fezzan,  and  Tripoli. 

"  All  that  is  not  Arabic  in  the  kingdom 
of  Morocco,"  says  Dr.  Latham,  "all  that  is 
not  Arabic  in  the  French  provinces  of  Alge 
ria,  and  all  that  is  not  Arabic  in  Tunis, 
Tripoli,  and  Fezzan,  is  Berber.  The  lan 
guage,  also,  of  the  ancient  Cyrenaica,  indeed 
the  whole  country  bordering  the  Mediter 
ranean  between  Tripoli  and  Egypt,  is  Ber 
ber.  The  extinct  language  of  the  Canary 
Isles  was  Berber ;  and  finally,  the  language 
of  the  Sahara  is  Berber.  The  Berber  Ian 
guages,  in  their  present  geographical  locali 
ties,  are  essentially  inland  languages.  As  a 
general  rule,  the  Arabic  is  the  language  for 
the  whole  of  the  sea-coast,  from  the  Delta  of 
the  Nile  to  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  and  from 
the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Senegal."  The  Berber  nation  is  one  of 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WORLD. 


227 


great  antiquity,  and  from  the  times  of  the 
earliest  history  has  been  spread  over  the 
eame  extent  of  country  as  at  present.  The 
mountains  of  Atlas  are  said  to  be  inhabited 
by  more  than  twenty  different  tribes,  carry 
ing  on  perpetual  welfare  against  each  other. 
They  are  very  poor,  and  make  plundering 
excursions  in  quest  of  the  means  of  support 
ing  life.  They  are  described  as  an  athletic, 
strong-featured  people,  accustomed  to  hard 
ships  and  fatigue.  Their  only  covering  is 
a  woollen  garment  without  sleeves,  fastened 
round  the  waist  by  a  belt. 

The  Shuluh,  who  are  the  mountaineers  of 
the  Xorthern  Atlas,  live  in  villages  of  houses 
made  of  stone  and  mud,  with  slate  roofs, 
occasionally  in  tents,  and  even  in  caves. 
They  are  chiefly  huntsmen,  but  cultivate  the 
ground  and  rear  bees.  They  are  described 
as  lively,  intelligent,  well-formed  athletic 
men,  not  tall,  without  marked  features,  and 
with  light  complexions.  The  Kabyles,  or 
Kabaily,  of  the  Algerian  and  Tunisian  terri 
tories,  are  the  most  industrious  inhabitants 
of  the  Barbary  States,  and,  besides  tillage, 
wo'rk  the  mines  contained  in  their  mountains, 
and  obtain  lead,  iron,  and  copper.  They 
live  in  huts  made  of  the  branches  of  trees, 
and  covered  with  clay,  which  resembles  the 
magalia  of  the  old  Numidians,  spread  in 
little  groups  over  the  sides  of  the  mountains, 
and  pieserve  the  grain,  the  legumes,  and 
other  fruits,  which  are  the  produce  of  their 
husbandry,  in  maltourcs,  or  conical  excava 
tions  in  the  ground.  They  are  of  middle 
stature ;  their  complexion  is  brown,  and 
sometimes  nearly  black. 

The  Tuarick  are  a  people  spread  in  vari 
ous  tribes  through  the  greater  portion  of  the 
Sahara. 

The  various  tribes  are  very  different  in 
their  characters,  but  they  are  all  fine  men, 
tall,  straight,  and  handsome.  They  exact  a 
tribute  from  all  the  caravans  traversing  their 
country,  which  chiefly  furnishes  them  with 
the  means  of  subsistence.  They  are  most 
abstemious,  their  food  consisting  principally 
of  coarse  brown  bread,  dates,  olives,  and 


water.  Even  on  the  heated  desert,  where 
the  thermometer  generally  is  from  90°  to  120°, 
they  are  clothed  from  head  to  foot,  and  cover 
the  face  up  to  the  eyes  with  a  black  or  color 
ed  handkerchief. 

The  Moors  who  inhabit  large  portions  of 
the  empire  of  Morocco,  and  are  spread  all 
along  the  Mediterranean  coast,  are  a  mixed 
race,  grafted  upon  the  ancient  Mauritanian 
stock ;  whence  their  name.  After  the  con 
quest  of  Africa  by  the  Arabs,  they  became 
mixed  writh  Arabs ;  and  having  conquered 
Spain  in  their  turn,  they  intermarried  with 
the  natives  of  that  country,  whence,  after  a 
possession  of  seven  centuries,  they  were  driv 
en  back  to  Mauritania.  They  are  a  handsome 
race,  having  much  more  resemblance  to 
Europeans  and  western  Asiatics,  than  to 
Arabs  or  Berbers ;  although  their  language 
is  Arabic,  that  is,  the  Mogrebin  dialect,  which 
differs  considerably  from  the  Arabic  in  Ara 
bia,  and  even  in  Egypt.  They  are  an  intel 
lectual  people,  and  not  altogether  unlettered ; 
but  they  are  cruel,  revengeful,  and  blood 
thirsty,  exhibiting  but  very  few  traces  of 
that  nobility  of  mind  and  delicacy  of  feeling 
and  taste  which  graced  their  ancestors  in 
Spain.  The  history  of  the  throne  of  Moroc 
co,  of  the  dynastic  revolutions  at  Algiers, 
Tunis,  and  Tripoli,  is  written  with  blood ; 
and  among  the  pirates  who  infested  the  Med 
iterranean  they  were  the  worst.  Their  reli 
gion  is  the  Mohammedan.  They  are  temper 
ate  in  their  diet,  and  simple  in  their  dress, 
except  the  richer  classes  in  the  principal 
towns,  where  the  ladies  literally  cover  them 
selves  with  silk,  gold,  and  jewels,  while  the 
men  indulge  to  excess  their  love  of  fine  horses 
and  splendid  arms.  They  generally  lead  a 
settled  life  as  merchants,  mechanics,  or  agri 
culturists,  but  there  are  also  many  wandering 
tribes.  They  exhibit  considerable  skill  and 
taste  in  dyeing,  and  in  the  manufacture  of 
swrords,  saddlery,  leathern-ware,  gold  and 
silver  ornaments.  At  the  Great  Exhibition 
in  London  in  1851,  the  Moorish  department 
contained  several  articles  which  were  greatly 
admired.  The  Moors,  along  the  coast  of 


228 


HISTORY   OF  THE   WORLD. 


Morocco,  still  carry  on  piracy  by  means  of 
armed  boats. 

'At  two  different  periods,  separated  from 
each  other  by  perhaps  a  thousand  years,  Af 
rica  was  invaded  by  Arabic  tribes  which 
took  a  lasting  possession  of  the  districts  they 
conquered,  and  whose  descendants  form  no 
inconsiderable  portion  of  the  population  of 
North  and  Central  Africa,  while  their  lan 
guage  has  superseded  all  others  as  that  of 
civilization  and  religion.  The  second  was  that 
effected  by  the  first  successors  of  Mohammed, 
who  conquered  Egypt,  and  subsequently  the 
whole  north  of  Africa  as  far  as  the  shores  of 
the  Atlantic,  in  the  course  of  the  first  centu 
ry  of  the  Ilegira,  or  the  seventh  of  the  Chris 
tian  era.  As  regards  language,  Egypt  is  now 
an  entirely  Arabic  country,  although  in 
many  other  respects  the  Fellahs  are  totally 
different  from  the  peasants  in  Arabia.  But 
there  are  also  several  tribes  of  true  Arabic 
descent  scattered  about  from  the  highlands 
of  Abyssinia  down  over  Nubia  and  Egypt, 
and  westward  over  the  central  provinces  of 
Kordofan,  Darfur,  "\Vaday,  and  Bornu. 
Others  wander  in  the  Libyan  deserts  and  the 
Great  Sahara,  as  well  as  in  the  states  of  Trip 
oli,  Tunis,  and  Algiers,  leading  a  similar  life 
with  the  Kabyles,  but  constituting  a  totally 
distinct  race.  Others,  again,  dwell  in  the 
empire  of  Morocco,  among  whom  those  along 
the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  are  notorious  for 
their  predatory  habits  and  ferocious  charac 
ter.  In  many  places  Arabic  adventurers 
have  succeeded  in  subduing  native  tribes  of 
every  nationality,  over  which  they  rule  as 
sovereign  lords ;  and  on  the  coast  of  Zanzi 
bar  resides  an  Arabic  royal  dynasty.  Many 
of  the  smaller  islands  to  the  north  of  Mada 
gascar  are  inhabited  by  Arabs,  and  traces  of 
them  have  been  discovered  in  Madagascar 
itself.  The  African  Arabs  are  not  all  alike 
in  features  and  color  of  skin,  the  difference 
being  attributable  to  some  of  them  having 
intermarried  with  natives,  while  others  pre 
served  the  purity  of  their  blood. 

The  early  settlements  of  the  Jews  in  Egypt 
are  facts  uni  versally  known.  Under  the  Ptole 


mies,  large  numbers  of  them  settled  in  Alex 
andria  and  in  Cyrenaica,  and  after  the  de 
struction  of  Jerusalem  they  rapidly  spread 
over  the  whole  of  the  Roman  possessions  in 
Africa ;  many  also  took  refuge  in  Abyssinia. 
King  Philip  II.  having  driven  them  out  of 
Spain,  many  thousands  of  families  took  refuge 
on  the  opposite  coast  of  Africa.  They  are 
now  numerous  in  all  the  large  towns  in  the 
north,  where  they  carry  on  the  occupation 
of  merchants,  brokers,  etc.,  the  trade  with 
Europe  being  mostly  in  their  hands.  They 
live  in  a  state  of  great  degradation,  except 
in  Algiers,  where  the  French  restored  them 

o  * 

to  freedom  and  independence.  They  have 
acquired  much  wealth,  and,  although  com 
pelled  to  hide  their  riches  from  the  cupidity 
of  their  rulers,  they  lose  no  opportunity  of 
showing  them  whenever  they  can  do  so  with 
out  risk  of  being  plundered,  fear  and  vanity 
being  characteristic  features  of  their  charac 
ter.  The  Jewesses  in  Morocco  and  Algiers 
are  of  remarkable  beauty. 

Ever  since  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  Sul 
tan  Selim,  and  the  establishment  of  Turkish 
pashalics  in  Tripoli,  Tunis,  and  Algiers, 
Turks  have  settled  in  the  north  of  Africa ; 
and  as  they  were  the  rulers  of  the  country, 
whose  numbers  were  always  on  the  increase, 
on  account  of  the  incessant  arrivals  of  Turk 
ish  soldiers  and  officials,  the  Turkish  became, 
and  still  is,  the  language  of  the  different 
governments.  Properly  speaking,  however, 
they  are  not  settled,  but  only  encamped  in 
Africa,  and  hardly  deserve  a  place  among 
the  African  nations. 

Not  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  country 
called  Abyssinia  are  Abyssinians  in  ethnolo 
gy  ;  nor  are  the  real  Abyssinians  all  of  the 
same  origin,  being  a  mixed  race,  to  the  for 
mation  of  which  several  distinct  nations  have 
contributed.  The  primitive  stock  is  of  Ethi 
opian  origin,  but,  as  their  language  clearly 
shows,  was  at  an  early  period  mixed  with  a 
tribe  of  the  Ilimyarites  from  the  opposite 
coast  of  Arabia,  who,  in  their  turn,  were 
ethnologically  much  more  closely  connected 
with  the  Hebrews  than  the  Joctanides,  or 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


229 


the  Arabs  properly  speaking.  In  the  age  of 
the  Egyptian  Ptolemies,  and  after  the  des 
truction  of  Jerusalem,  Jews  settled  in  Abys 
sinia  in  such  numbers,  that  not  only  their 
religion  spread  among  the  inhabitants,  but 
the  Hebrew  language  became  mixed  with 
the  Abyssinian  as  it  then  was.  The  uninter 
rupted  intercourse  with  Arabia,  and  the  im 
migration  of  several  Arabic  tribes,  also  con 
tributed  towards  the  apparently  Semitic 
aspect  of  the  present  Abyssinian  language. 
A  large  portion  of  Abyssinia  having  been 
occupied  by  Galla  and  other  tribes,  we  shall 
here  only  dwell  on  the  original  Abyssinians. 
Thev  inhabit  a  large  tract  extending  from 

i/  O  o 

the  upper  course  of  the  Blue  River,  north  as 
far  as  the  Red  Sea,  and  some  isolated  dis 
tricts  in  the  south  and  south-east.  To  the 
west  of  them  are  the  Agau  Abyssinians,  a 
different  tribe,  whose  idiom,  however,  is  the 
common  language  of  the  lower  classes  in 
Tigre  and  Amhara  also.  Abyssinia  was 
once  a  large  and  powerful  kingdom,  but  the 
Galla  having  conquered  the  whole  south  of 
it,  it  gradually  declined  until  the  king  or 
emperor  became  a  mere  shadow,  in  whose 
name  several  vassal  princes  exercised  an  un 
limited  power  each  in  his  own  territory. 
Owing  to  their  jealousy  and  mutual  fears, 
war  seldom  ceases  among  the  inhabitants. 
The  Christian  religion  was  introduced  into 
Abyssinia  in  the  first  centuries  after  Christ ; 
but  whatever  its  condition  might  have  been 
in  former  times,  it  now  presents  a  degraded 
mixture  of  Christian  dogmas  and  rites,  Jew 
ish  observances,  and  heathenish  superstition. 
Yet  of  Judaism,  which  wras  once  so  powerful, 
but  feeble  traces  are  extant,  while  the  Mo 
hammedan  religion  is  visibly  on  the  increase. 
European  missionaries  have  been  and  still  are 
very  active  among  them,  but  their  efforts 
have  been  crowded  only  with  partial  success. 
The  Abyssinians,  the  Gallas  being  excluded 
from  that  denomination,  are  a  fine  strong 
race,  of  a  copper  hue  more  or  less  dark,  and 
altogether  different  from  the  Negroes,  with 
whom,  however,  they  have  frequently  been 
confounded  because  they  were  called  a  black 


people.  Their  noses  are  nearly  straight, 
their  eyes  beautifully  clear,  yet  languishing, 
and  their  hair  is  black  and  crisp,  but  not 
woolly.  They  are  on  the  whole  a  barbarous 
people,  addicted  to  the  grossest  sensual 
pleasures;  and  their  priests,  among  whom 
marriage  is  customary,  are  little  better  than 
the  common  herd  of  people.  They  live  in 
huts,  a  large  assemblage  of  which  forms  a 
so-called  town,  and  although  they  possess 
some  solid  constructions  of  stone,  such  as 
churches  and  bridges,  it  appears  that  they 
were  built  by  the  Portuguese,  the  ruins  at 
Axurn  and  other  places  belonging  to  a  much 
earlier  period,  when  the  country  undoubted 
ly  enjoyed  a  higher  civilization  than  at  pres 
ent.  Owing  to  influence  exercised  upon 
them  during  the  last  thirty  years  by  Euro 
pean  missionaries  and  travelers,  their  eon- 
duct  towards  strangers  is  less  rude  than  it 
used  to  be  at  the  time  of  Bruce.  It  is  a  re 
markable  fact  that,  notwithstanding  the  low 
state  of  their  religion,  the  Christians  ii? 
Abyssinia  are  not  allowed  to  keep  slaves,  al 
though  they  may  purchase  them  for  the  pur 
pose  of  selling  them  again. 

This  extensive  race  comprehends  by  fai 
the  greater  number  of  African  nations,  ex 
tending  over  the  whole  of  Middle  and  South 
Africa,  except  its  southernmost  projection 
towards  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  A  line 
drawn  from  the  mouth  of  the  Senegal  in  the 
west  to  Cape  Jerclaffun  in  the  east,  forms  its 
northern  limits  almost  with  geometrical  ac 
curacy,  few  Ethiopic  tribes  being  found  to 
the  north  of  it.  All  the  members  of  this 
race,  however,  are  not  Negroes  The  latter 
are  only  one  of  its  numerous  offshoots,  bill 
between  the  receding  forehead,  the  projecting 
cheek-bones,  the  thick  lips  ol  the  Negro  of 
Guinea,  and  the  more  straight  configuration 
of  the  head  of  a  Galla  in  Abyssinia,  there  are 
still  many  striking  analogies;  and  modern 
philology  having  traced  still  greater  analogies, 
denoting  a  common  origin,  among  the  only 
apparently  disconnected  languages  of  so  many 
thousands  of  tribes,  whose  color  presents  all 
the  hues  between  the  deepest  black  and  the 


230 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


yellow  brown,  it  is  no  longer  doubtful  that 
the  Negro,  the  Galla,  the  Somali,  and  the 
Kaffre,  all  belong  to  the  same  ethnological 
stock.  Owing  to  our  most  imperfect  knowl 
edge  of  the  central  parts  inhabited  by  that 
race,  a  classification  of  all  its  numerous  mem 
bers  must  always  remain  imperfect. 

The  principal  Negro  nations,  as  we  know 
them,  are  the  Mandingoes,  who  are  numer 
ous,  powerful,  and  not  uncivilized,  in  Sene- 
gambia,  and  farther  inland,  around  the  head 
waters  of  the  Kawara,  where  they  have 
established  a  great  number  of  kingdoms  and 
smaller  sovereignties.  The  inland  trade  is 
chiefly  in  their  hands.  They  are  black,  with 
a  mixture  of  yellow,  and  their  hair  is  com 
pletely  woolly.  The  Wolofs  or  Yolofs, 
whose  language  is  totally  different  from 
those  of  their  neighbors,  are  the  handsomest 
and  blackest  of  all  Negroes,  although  they 
live  at  a  greater  distance  from  the  equator  than 
most  of  the  other  black  tribes,  their  principal 
dwelling-places  being  between  the  Senegal 
and  the  Gambia  along  the  coast  of  the  Atlan 
tic.  They  are  a  mild  and  social  people.  The 
Foulahs  or  Fellatahs  occupy  the  central  parts 
of  Sudan,  situated  in  the  crescent  formed  by 
the  course  of  the  Kawara,  and  also  large 
tracts  to  the  south-east  as  far  as  the  equator 
west  to  the  Senegal,  and  east  till  beyond 
Lake  Tsad.  Their  color  is  black,  with  a 
striking  copper  hue,  some  of  them  being 
hardly  more  dark  than  gypsies.  They  are 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  nations  in  Afri 
ca,  very  industrious,  live  in  commodious  and 
dean  habitations,  and  are  mostly  Mohamme 
dans.  Of  the  principal  nations  in  Guinea, 
among  whom  the  true  Negro  type  is  particu 
larly  distinct,  especially  around  the  Bight 
of  Benin,  are  the  Feloops,  near  the  Casa- 
manca,  very  black,  yet  handsome ;  and  the 
Ashanti,  of  the  Amina  race,  who  surpass  all 
their  neighbors  in  civilization,  and  the  cast 
of  whose  features  differs  so  much  from  the 
Negro  type  that  they  are  said  to  be  more 
like  Indians  than  Africans  ;  although  this  is 
perhaps  only  true  of  the  higher  orders.  They 
are  still  in  possession  of  a  powerful  kingdom. 


The  country  behind  the  Slave  Coast  is  occu 
pied  by  tribes  akin  to  the  Dahomch  on  the 
coast.  In  South  Guinea  we  meet  three 
principal  races,  namely,  the  Congo,  the 
Abunda,  and  the  Benguela  Negroes,  who  are 
divided  into  a  variety  of  smaller  tribes,  with 
whom  we  are  much  less  acquainted  than  with 
the  northern  Negroes,  although  the  Portu 
guese  have  occupied  this  coast  for  upwards 
of  three  centuries.  The  next  great  branch 
of  the  Ethiopic  race  comprehends  the  Galla, 
who  occupy  an  immense  tract  in  Eastern 
Africa  from  Abyssinia  as  far  as  the  inland 
portions  of  the  Portuguese  possessions  in 
Mozambique  to  the  south  of  the  equator. 
Our  knowledge  of  them  is  chiefly  confined 
to  those  Gallas  who  conquered  Abyssinia. 
With  regard  to  their  physical  conformation, 
they  stand  between  the  Negro  of  Guinea  and 
the  Arab  and  Beber.  Their  countenances  are 
rounder  than  those  of  the  Arabs,  their  noses 
are  almost  straight,  and  their  hair,  though 
strongly  frizzled,  is  not  so  woolly  as  that  of 
the  Negro,  nor  are  their  lips  quite  so  thick. 
Their  eyes  are  small  (in  which  they  again 
differ  from  the  Abyssinians),  deeply  set,  but 
very  lively.  They  are  a  strong,  large,  almost 
bulky  people,  whose  color  varies  between 
black  and  brownish,  some  of  their  women 
being  remarkably  fair,  considering  the  race 
they  belong  to. 

An  interesting  tribe  of  them  has  lately 
been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  Europeans, 
the  Somali,  a  widely-scattered  nation  which 
leads  a  pastoral  life  on  the  uplands,  and  also 
nearer  to  the  coast  of  the  Indian  Ocean  from 
Cape  Jerdaflim  southward  for  a  considerable 
distance.  They  seem  to  be  of  a  mild  and 
peaceful  disposition,  while  on  the  contrary 
the  other  Galla  are  a  warlike  race,  which  baa 
been  pressing  upon  its  neighbors  during  the 
last  three  hundred  years,  and  are  much 
feared  by  all  those  who  are  obliged  to  come 
near  them. 

The  Kaflfres,  who,  together  with  the  tribes 
most  akin  to  them,  occupy  the  greater  por 
tion  of  South  Africa,  especially  the  eastern 
portions,  have  some  analogy  with  Europeans 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


231 


in  their  features  ;  but  they  are  woolly-haired, 
and  while  some  are  almost  black,  others  are 
comparatively  fair,  although  some  of  their 
bribes  might  have  been  mixed  with  Eastern 
N~egroes.  They  have  been  very  wrongly 
classed  with  the  Xegroes.  They  are  a  strong, 
muscular,  active  people,  addicted  to  plunder 
and  warfare.  The  Eastern  Kaffres,  among 
whom  the  Amakosan  and  Amazuian  are  best 
known  to  us  on  account  of  their  frequent  in 
vasions  of  the  Cape  Colony,  are  much  more 
savage  than  the  western  and  northern,  or  the 
Bechuana  and  Sichuana  tribes.  All  Kaffres 
are  pastoral,  keeping  large  herds  of  cattle, 
but  the  last-named  tribes  inhabit  large  towns, 
well-built  houses,  cultivate  the  ground  care 
fully,  and  exhibit  every  appearance  of  being 
capable  of  entire  civilization.  The  word  Kaifre 
or  Kafir,  as  it  ought  to  be  written,  is  Arabic, 
and  was  first  applied  by  the  Europeans  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  coast  of  Mozambique, 
because  they  were  so  called  by  the  Moham 
medans,  in  whose  eyes  they  were  Kafirs, 
that  is  infidels. 

We  conclude  this  sketch  with  the  Hotten 
tot  race,  which  is  entirely  different  from  all 
the  other  races  of  Africa.  "Where  they  orig 
inally  came  from,  and  how  they  happened  to 
be  hemmed  in  and  confined  entirely  to  this 
remote  corner  of  the  earth,  is  a  problem  not 
likely  to  be  ever  satisfactorily  solved.  The 
only  people  to  whom  the  Hottentots  has  been 
thought  to  bear  a  resemblance,  are  the  Chi 
nese  or  Malays,  or  their  original  stock  the 
Mongols.  Like  these  people,  they  have  the 
broad  forehead,  the  high  cheek-bones,  the 
oblique  eye,  the  thin  beard,  and  the  dull 
yellow  tint  of  complexion,  resembling  the 
color  of  a  dried  tobacco  leaf ;  but  there  is  a 
difference  with  regard  to  the  hair,  which 
grows  in  small  tufts,  harsh,  and  rather  wiry, 
covering  the  scalp  somewhat  like  the  hard 
pellets  of  a  shoe-brush.  The  women,  too, 
have  a  peculiarity  in  their  physical  confor 
mation,  which,  though  occasionally  to  be  met 
with  in  other  nations,  is  not  universal,  as 
among  the  Hottentots.  The  constitutional 
"  bustles"  sometimes  grow  to  three  times  the 


size  of  those  artificial  stuffings,  with  which 
our  fashionable  ladies  have  disfigured  them 
selves.  Even  the  females  of  the  diminutive 
!  Bosjesmen  Hottentots,  who  frequently  per 
ish  of  hunger  in  the  barren  mountains,  and 
are  reduced  to  skeletons,  have  the  same  pro 
tuberance  as  the  Hottentots  of  the  plains.  It 
is  not  known  even  whence  the  name  of  Hot 
tentot  proceeds,  as  it  is  none  of  their  own.  It 
has  been  conjectured  that  hot  and  tot  frequent' 
ly  occurring  in  their  singular  language,  in 
which  the  monosyllables  are  enunciated  with 
a  palatic  clacking  with  the  tongue,  like  that 
of  a  hen,  may  have  given  rise  to  the  name, 
and  that  the  early  Dutch  settlers  named 
them  hot-en-tot.  They  call  themselves  qui- 
quce,  pronounced  with  a  clack.  They  are  a 
lively,  cheerful,  good-humored  people,  and 
by  no  means  wanting  in  intellect ;  but  they 
have  met  with  nothing  but  harsh  treatment 
since  their  first  connection  with  the  Euro 
peans.  Neither  Bartholomew  Diaz,  who  first 
discovered,  nor  Yasco  de  Gama,  who  first 
doubled,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  nor  any  oi 
the  subsequent  Portuguese  navigators,  down 
to  1509,  had  much  communication  with  the 
natives  of  this  southern  angle  of  Africa  ;  but 
in  the  year  above  mentioned,  Erancisco 
d'Almeyda,  viceroy  of  India,  having  landed 
on  his  return,  at  Saldanha  (now  Table)  Bay, 
was  killed,  with  about  twenty  of  his  people, 
in  a  scuffle  with  the  natives.  To  avenge  his 
death,  a  Portuguese  captain,  about  three 
years  afterwards,  is  said  to  have  landed  a 
piece  of  ordnance  loaded  with  grape  shot,  as 
a  pretended  present  to  the  Hottentots.  Two 
ropes  were  attached  to  this  fatal  engine ;  the 
Hottentots  poured  down  in  swams.  Men, 
women,  and  children  flocked  round  the  dead 
ly  machine,  as  the  Trojans  did  round  the 
wooden  horse.  The  brutal  Portuguese  fired 
off  the  piece,  and  viewed  with  savage  delight 
the  mangled  carcasses  of  the  deluded  people. 
The  Dutch  effected  their  ruin  by  grati tying 
their  propensities  for  brandy  and  tobacco,  at 
the  expense  of  their  herds  of  cattle,  on  which 
they  subsisted.  Under  the  British  sway 
they  have  received  protection,  and  shown 


232 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WORLD. 


themselves  not  unworthy  of  it.  They  now 
possess  property,  and  enjoy  it  in  security. 
One  of  the  most  beautiful  villages,  and  the 
neatest  and  best-cultivated  gardens,  belong 
to  a  large  community  of  Hottentots,  under 
the  instruction  and  guidance  of  a  few  Mora 
vian  missionaries. 

The  forlorn  people  called  Bushmen  are  of 
Hottentot  origin.  Of  them  also  several 
tribes  have  been  discovered  much  farther 
north,  and  intelligence  has  lately  reached 
Europe,  that  between  the  Portuguese  posses 
sions,  in  the  very  centre  of  South  Africa 
there  is  a  nation  of  dwarfish  appearance  who 
possess  large  herds,  and  who  seem  to  belong 
to  the  original  Bushmen  stock. 

The  island  of  Madagascar  is  inhabited  by 
a  race  of  Malay  origin,  exhibiting  traces  of 
Xegro  and  Arabic  mixture. 

The  total  population  of  Africa  is  vaguely 
estimated,  according  to  the  most  recent  re 
searches,  at  150,000,000. 

In  describing  the  political  divisions  of 
Africa,  we  shall  proceed  from  north  to 
south. 

The  country  included  under  the  general 
name  of  Barbary  extends  from  the  borders 
of  Egypt  on  the  east,  to  the  Atlantic  on  the 
west,  and  is  bounded  by  the  Mediterranean 
on  the  north,  and  by  the  Sahara  on  the  south. 
It  comprises  the  states  of  Morocco,  Algeria, 
Tunis,  and  Tripoli. 

Morocco,  the  most  westerly  state  of  Barba 
ry,  is  thus  named  by  the  Europeans,  but  by 
the  Arabs  themselves  Mogr'-eb  el-Aksa,  or 
"  the  extreme  west."  The  eastern  boundary 
was  determined  in  the  treaty  with  the  French 
of  18th  March  1845,  by  a  line  which,  in  the 
south,  commences  east  of  the  oasis  Figueg, 
intersecting  the  desert  of  Angad,  and  reach 
ing  the  Mediterranean  at  a  point  about  30 
miles  west  of  the  French  port  Nemours.  It 
comprehends  an  area  of  about  170,000  geo 
graphical  square  miles,  and  a  population  of 
8,500,000. 

Algeria  extends  from  Morocco  in  the  west, 
to  Tunis  in  the  east,  and  closely  answers  in 
Its  limits  to  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Numidia. 


The  eastern  and  southern  boundaries  are  not 
very  definite,  falling,  as  they  do,  within  the 
boundless  plains  of  the  desert.  The  area  is 
estimated  at  100,000  square  miles,  the  popu 
lation  at  3,000,000. 

Tunis  is  the  smallest  of  the  Barbary  states. 
The  area  may  be  estimated  at  40,000  square 
miles,  and  the  population  between  2,000,000 
and  3,000,000. 

The  configuration  of  the  surface  is  similar 
to  that  of  Algeria,  the  northern  part  being 
mountainous,  the  southern  and  eastern  con 
sisting  of  lowlands  and  plains.  The  highest 
peaks  range  between  4000  and  5000  feet. 
The  southern  plains  comprise  the  land  of 
dates  (Belad-el-Jerid),  and  several  extensive 
salt  lakes.  Tunis  possesses  but  few  rivers 
and  streams,  and  springs  are  plentiful  only  in 
the  mountainous  regions.  The  climate  is, 
upon  the  whole,  salubrious,  and  is  not  of  the 
same  excessive  character  as  that  of  Algeria  ; 
regular  sea-breezes  exercise  an  ameliorating 
influence  both  in  summer  and  winter ;  frost 
is  almost  unknown,  and  snow  never  fulls. 
During  the  summer  occasional  winds  from 
the  south  render  the  atmosphere  exceedingly 
dry  and  hot.  The  natural  productions  of 
the  country  are  somewhat  similar  to  those 
of  the  other  Barbary  states,  but  dates  of  the 
finest  quality  are  more  largely  produced. 
The  horses  and  camels  are  of  excellent  breed, 
and  the  former  are  eagerly  sought  for  the 
French  army  in  Algeria.  Bees  are  reared 
in  great  quantity,  and  coral  fisheries  are  car 
ried  on,  especially  at  Tabarka.  Of  minerals, 
lead,  salt,  and  saltpetre,  are  the  most  notice 
able.  The  population  consists  chiefly  of 
Moors  and  Arabs ;  the  former  have  attained 
a  higher  degree  of  industry  and  civilization 
than  their  brethren  elsewhere  ;  those  of  the 
latter  who  inhabit  the  central  mountainous 
regions  are  nearly  independent. 

Tripoli,  a  Turkish  province,  extends  from 
Tunis  to  Egypt,  along  the  shores  of  the  Med' 
iterranean.  Politically,  it  includes  the  pash- 
alics  of  Fezzan  and  Ghadamis,  countries 
which,  in  a  physical  point  of  view,  are  in 
cluded  in  the  Sahara.  The  area  is  estimated 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


233 


at  200,000  square  miles,  and  the  population 
at  1,500,000. 

Tripoli  is  the  least  favored  by  nature  of 
the  Barbary  states,  possessing  a  great  extent 
of  sterile  surface. 

The  climate  is  somewhat  more  excessive 
than  that  of  Tunis,  especially  in  the  interior, 
where  extreme  heat  is  followed  by  a  consid 
erable  degree  of  cold.  As  far  south  as  Sok- 
na,  snow  occasionally  falls.  The  climate  of 
Murzak  is  very  unhealthy,  and  frequently 
fatal  to  Europeans. 

The  natural  products  are  very  much  like 
those  of  Tunis.  Oxen  and  horses  are  small, 
but  of  good  quality ;  the  mules  are  of  excel 
lent  breed.  Locusts  and  scorpions  are 
among  the  most  noxious  animals.  Salt  and 
sulphur  are  the  chief  minerals. 

Egypt  occupies  the  north-eastern  corner  of 
Africa,  and  comprises  100,000  square  miles 
with  2,000,000  inhabitants.  It  is  remarkable 
for  its  ancient  and  sacred  associations,  and  its 
wonderful  monuments  cf  human  art. 

Egypt  is  a  vast  desert,  the  cultivable  and 
fertile  portions  being  confined  to  the  Delta 
of  the  Nile  and  its  narrow  valley,  a  region 
celebrated  in  the  most  ancient  historic  docu 
ments  for  its  singular  fertility,  and  still  pour 
ing  an  annual  surplus  of  grain  into  the  mar 
kets  of  Europe.  By  the  annual  inundation 
of  the  Nile  this  region  is  laid  under  water, 
and  upon  its  retirement  the  grain  crops  are 
sown  in  the  layer  of  mud  left  behind  it.  Bar 
ren  ranges  of  hills  and  elevated  tracts  occupy 
the  land  on  both  sides  of  the  Nile,  which  is 
the  only  river  in  the  country.  The  amount 
of  its  rise  is  a  matter  of  extreme  solicitude  to 
the  people,  for  should  it  pass  its  customary 
bounds  a  few  feet,  cattle  are  drowned,  houses 
are  swept  away,  and  immense  injury  ensues ; 
a  falling  short  of  the  ordinary  height,  on  the 
other  hand,  causes  dearth  and  famine  ac 
cording  to  its  extent.  The  water  of  the  Nile 
is  renowned  for  its  agreeable  taste  and 
wholesome  quality.  In  connection  with  the 
Nile  is  the  Birket-el-Kerun,  a  salt  lake. 

The  climate  is  very  hot  and  dry.  Rain 
falls  but  seldom  along  the  coasts,  but  the 
30 


dews  are  very  copious.  The  hot  and  oppres 
sive  winds  called  khamsin  and  simooms  are  a 
frequent  scourge  to  the  country;  but  the 
climate  is,  upon  the  whole,  more  salubrious 
than  that  of  many  other  tropical  countries. 

The  natural  products  are  not  of  great 
variety.  The  wild  plants  are  but  few  and 
scanty,  while  those  cultivated  include  all  the 
more  important  kinds  adapted  to  tropical 
countries  :  rice,  wheat,  sugar,  cotton,  indigo, 
are  cultivated  for  export ;  dates,  figs,  pon^e- 
granates,  lemons,  and  olives,  are  likewise 
grown.  The  doum-palrn,  which  appears  in 
Upper  Egypt,  is  characteristic,  as  also  the 
papyrus.  The  fauna  is  characterised  by  an 
immense  number  of  waterfowl,  flamingoes, 
pelicans,  etc.  The  hippopotamus  and  croco 
dile  the  two  primeval  inhabitants  of  the  Nile, 
seem  to  be  banished  from  the  Delta,  the  lat- 
ler  being  still  sometimes  seen  in  Upper 
Egypt.  The  cattle  are  of  excellent  breed. 
Large  beasts  of  prey  are  wanting ;  but  the 
ichneumon  of  the  ancients  still  exists.  Bees, 
silkworms,  and  corals  are  noticeable.  Min 
erals  are  scarce,  natron,  salt,  and  sulphur  be 
ing  the  principal. 

Since  the  last  century  the  inhabitants, 
then  amounting  to  four  millions,  have  con 
siderably  diminished  in  number.  In  1840 
their  total  number  was  calculated  at  2,895,- 
500.  The  native  Egyptians  of  Arab  descent 
amount  to  2,600,000  souls,  composing  the 
great  bulk  of  the  people.  Next  in  number, 
though  comparatively  few  (150,000)  are  the 
Copts,  descending  from  the  old  inhabitants 
of  the  country,  the  ancient  Egyptians,  but 
far  from  being  an  unmixed  race.  The  Ara 
bic  Bedouin  tribes  were  calculated  in  1840 
at  70,000,  the  Negroes  at  20,000,  the  Euro 
pean  Christians  at  9500,  the  Jews  at  7000, 
and  the  dominant  Turks  at  only  12,000. 

Nubia  extends  along  the  Eed  Sea,  from 
Egypt  to  Abyssinia,  comprising  the  middle 
course  of  the  Nile.  The  total  population 
amounts  to  1,000,000  at  the  least. 

The  natural  features  of  this  country  are 
varied ;  the  northern  portion  consisting  of  a 
burning  sterile  wilderness,  while  the  south- 


234 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


eni,  lying  within  the  range  of  the  tropical 
rain?,  and  watered  by  the  Abyssinian  afflu 
ents  of  the  Nile,  exhibits  vegetation  in  its 
tropical  glory,  forests  of  arborescent  grasses, 
timber-trees,  and  parasitical  plants  largely 
clothing  the  country.  This  latter  territory, 
which  may  be  called  Upper  Nubia,  includes 
the  region  of  ancient  Meroe,  situated  in  the 
peninsula  formed  by  the  Nile  proper,  the 
Blue  River,  and  the  Atbara,  and  comprises, 
further  south,  the  recently  extinguished  mod 
ern  kingdom  of  Sennaar. 

The  climate  of  Nubia  is  tropical  through 
out,  and  the  heat  in  the  deserts  of  its  cen 
tral  portions  is  not  exceeded  by  that  of  any 
other  part  of  the  globe.  The  southern  half 
of  the  country  is  within  the  influence  of  the 
tropical  rains,  the  northern  partakes  the 
character  of  the  almost  rainless  Sahara ;  and 
while  the  latter  is  generally  very  salubrious, 
the  former  is  a  land  of  dangerous  fever  par 
ticularly  in  the  plains  subject  to  inundations. 
Such  is  the  Kolla,  a  marshy  and  swampy  re 
gion  of  great  extent,  situated  along  the  foot 
of  the  Abyssinian  Mountains,  between  the 
Blue  River  and  the  Takkazie. 

The  northern  region  is  poor  in  natural 
productions,  but  in  the  south  the  vegetation 
is  most  luxuriant ;  palms  form  a  prominent 
feature,  and  the  monkey  bread-tree  attains 
its  most  colossal  dimensions.  The  date-tree, 
dourra,  cotton,  and  indigo,  are  cultivated. 
The  date-palm  does  not  extend  beyond  the 
south  of  Abou-Egli,  in  Lat.  18.36. 

The  elephant  is  native  to  this  region,  and 
is  seen  in  herds  of  several  hundreds ;  also  the 
rhinoceros,  lion,  and  giraffe.  The  waters 
are  inhabited  by  crocodiles  more  ferocious 
than  those  of  Egypt,  and  by  huge  hippopo 
tami.  The  young  hippopotamus  brought  to 
the  zoological  gardens,  Regent's  Park,  in 
1850,  was  captured  in  Nubia,  in  an  island  of 
the  Nile,  about  1800  miles  above  Cairo :  no 
living  specimen  had  been  seen  in  Europe 
since  the  period  when  they  were  exhibited 
by  the  third  Gordian  in  the  Colosseum  at 
Rome.  Monkeys  and  antelopes  are  found 
in  great  numbers.  The  camel  does  not  ex-  j 


tend  beyond  the  twelfth  degree  of  latitude 
to  the  south.  Ostriches  roam  over  the  des 
erts;  and  among  the  reptiles,  besides  the 
crocodile,  a  large  serpent  of  the  python  spe 
cies,  and  tortoises.  Of  the  numerous  insects, 
the  most  remarkable  is  the  scarabaeus  of  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  still  found  in  Sennaar. 
Of  minerals,  Nubia  possesses  gold,  silver, 


copper,  iron, 


salt. 


The  boundaries  of  Abyssinia  are  somewhat 
uncertain ;  but,  confining  it  to  the  provinces 
actually  under  the  government  of  Christian 
or  Mohammedan  prince?,  it  may  be  describ 
ed  as  extending  from  about  9°  to  16°  north 
Latitude,  and  from  35°  to  41°  east  Longitude, 
and  as  having  a  superficial  area  of  about 
150,000  square  miles.  The  population  has 
been  estimated  at  from  4,000,000  to  5,000,- 
000,  which  is  probably  too  high. 

The  Saharan  countries  extend  from  the 
Atlantic  in  the  west,  to  the  Nilotic  countries 
in  the  east,  from  the  Barbary  States  in  the 
north,  to  the  basin  of  the  Rivers  Senegal 
and  Kawara,  and  Lake  Tsad  in  the  south. 
The  area  of  this  large  space  amounts  to  at 
least  2,000,000  square  miles,  or  upwards  of 
one-half  of  that  of  the  whole  of  Europe.  It 
is  very  scantily  populated,  but  from  our  pres 
ent  defective  knowledge  of  that  region,  tho 
number  of  its  inhabitants  cannot  even  l>v 
estimated. 

The  physical  configuration  of  the  Sahara 
has  already  been  indicated  in  the  general 
introductory  remarks  of  this  article.  Not 
withstanding  the  proverbial  heat,  which  is 
almost  insupportable  by  day,  there  is  often 
great  cold  at  night,  owirg  to  the  excessive 
radiation,  promoted  by  the  purity  of  the  sky. 
Rain  is  nearly,  though  not  entirely  absent,  in 
this  desolate  region.  It  appears  that  when 
nature  has  poured  her  bounty  over  the  ad 
joining  regions  in  the  south,  and  has  little 
more  left  to  bestow,  she  sends  a  few  smart 
showers  of  rain  to  the  desert,  parched  by  the 
long  prevalence  of  the  perpendicular  rays  of 
the  sun.  The  prevailing  winds  blow  during 
three  months  from  the  west,  and  nine  months 
from  the  east.  When  the  wind  increases 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


235 


into  a  storm,  it  frequently  raises  the  loose  sand 
in  such  quantities  that  a  layer  of  nearly 
equal  portions  of  sand  and  air,  and  rising 
about  20  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
divides  the  purer  atmosphere  from  the  solid 
earth.  This  sand,  when  agitated  by  whirl 
winds,  sometimes  overwhelms  caravans  with 
destruction^  and,  even  when  not  fatal,  in 
volves  them  in  the  greatest  confusion  and 
danger. 

The  natural  products  correspond  with  the 
physical  features  of  the  country.  Vegetation 
and  animal  life  exist  only  sparingly  in  the 
oases  or  valleys  where  springs  occur,  and 
u'here  the  soil  is  not  utterly  unfit  to  nourish 
certain  plants.  '  Amongst  the  few  trees,  the 
most  important  is  the  date-palm,  which  is 
peculiarly  suited  to  the  dryness  of  the  climate. 
This  useful  tree  flourishes  best  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  desert,  inhabited  by  the  Tibbus. 
The  doum-palm  is  likewise  a  native  of  the 
same  part,  and  seems  entirely  absent  in  the 
western  Sahara :  its  northernmost  limit  is  on 
the  southern  borders  of  Fezzan  and  Tegerry, 
in  Lat.  24.  4.  N.  Acacias  are  found  in  the 
extreme  west  towards  Senegambia,  furnish 
ing  the  so-called  gum-arabic.  In  many  parts 
of  the  desert,  a  thorny  evergreen  plant  occurs, 
about  eighteen  inches  high.  It  is  eagerly 
eaten  by  camels,  and  is  almost  the  only  plant 
which  furnishes  them  with  food  while  thus 
traversing  the  desert.  The  cultivation  of 
grains  to  a  small  extent  is  limited  to  the 
western  oases  of  Tuat  and  others,  a  little 
barley,  rice,  beans,  and  gussub,  being  there 
grown.  In  the  kingdom  of  A'ir,  there  are 
some  fields  of  maize  and  other  grains ;  but 
upon  the  wrhole,  the  population  depends  for 
these  products  on  Sudan  and  other  regions. 
There  are  but  a  few  specimens  of  wild  ani 
mals  in  these  wildernesses;  lions  and  pan 
thers  are  found  only  on  its  borders.  Ga 
zelles  and  antelopes  are  abundant,  hares  and 
foxes  but  scarce.  Ostriches  are  very  numer 
ous,  and  vultures  and  ravens  are  also  met 
with.  In  approaching  Sudan,  animal  and 
vegetable  life  becomes  more  varied  and 

Cj 

abundant.    Of  reptiles  only  the  smaller  kinds 


are  found,  mostly  harmless  lizards  and  a  few 
species  of  snakes.  Of  domestic  animals,  the 
most  important  is  the  camel,  but  horses  and 
goats  are  not  wanting,  and  in  the  country  of  the 
Tuaricks  an  excellent  breed  of  sheep  is  found, 
while  in  that  of  the  Tibbus  a  large  and  fine 
variety  of  the  ass  is  valuable  to  the  inhabi 
tants.  Of  minerals,  salt  is  the  chief  produc 
tion,  which  occurs  chiefly  near  Bilma. 

The  habitable  portions  of  the  Sahara  are 
possessed  by  three  different  nations.  In  the 
extreme  western  portion  are  Moors  and 
Arabs.  They  live  in  tents,  which  they  re 
move  from  one  place  to  another ;  and  their 
residences  consist  of  similar  encampments, 
formed  of  from  twenty  to  a  hundred  of  such 
tents,  where  they  are  governed  by  a  sheik  of 
their  own  body ;  each  encampment  consti 
tuting,  as  it  were,  a  particular  tribe.  They 
are  a  daring  set  of  people,  and  not  restrained 
by  any  scruple  in  plundering,  ill-treating, 
and  even  killing  persons  who  are  not  of  their 
own  faith  ;  but  to  such  as  are,  they  are  hos 
pitable  and  benevolent.  The  boldest  of 
these  children  of  the  desert  are  the  Tuaricks, 
who  occupy  the  middle  of  the  wilderness, 
where  it  is  widest.  The  form  of  their  bodies, 
and  their  language,  prove  they  belong  to  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Northern  Africa, 
who  are  known  by  the  name  of  Berbers. 
They  are  a  fine  race  of  men,  tall,  straight, 
and  handsome,  with  an  air  of  independence 
which  is  very  imposing.  They  live  chiefly 
upon  the  tribute  they  exact  from  all  cara 
vans  traversing  their  country.  They  render 
themselves  formidable  to  all  their  neighbors, 
with  whom  they  are  nearly  always  in  a  state 
of  enmity,  making  predatory  incursions  into 
the  neighboring  countries.  The  third  divis- 
sion  of  Saharan  people  are  the  Tibbus,  who 
inhabit  the  eastern  portion,  comprising  one 
of  the  best  parts  of  the  desert.  In  some  of  their 
features  they  resemble  the  Negro.  They  are  an 
agricultural  and  pastoral  ration,  live  mostly 
in  fixed  abodes,  and  are  in  this  respect  great 
ly  different  from  their  western  neighbors. 
Their  country  is  as  yet  little  explored  by 
Europeans.  The  Tibbue  are  in  part  Pagans, 


230 


HISTOKY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


while  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  Sahara  are 
Mohammedans. 

The  commerce  of  the  Sahara  consists 
chiefly  of  gold,  slaves,  ivory,  iron,  and  salt. 

Western  Africa  comprehends  the  west 
coast  of  Africa,  from  the  border  of  the  Saha 
ra,  in  about  Lat.  17.  north  to  Nourse  Eiver, 
in  about  the  same  latitude  south,  with  a 
considerable  space  of  inland  territory,  varying 
in  its  extent  from  the  shores,  and  in  fact, 
completely  undefined  in  its  interior  limits. 

Sencgambia,  the  country  of  the  Senegal 
and  Gambia,  extends  from  the  Sahara  in  the 
north  to  Lat.  10.  in  the  south,  and  may  be 
considered  as  extending  inland  to  the  sources 
of  the  waters  which  flow  through  it  to  the 

O 

Atlantic. 

The  western  portion  is  very  flat,  and  its 
contiguity  to  the  great  desert  is  frequently 
evidenced  by  dry  hot  winds,  an  atmosphere 
loaded  with  fine  sand,  and  clouds  of  locusts. 
The  eastern  portion  is  occupied  with  hills 
and  elevated  land.  Under  the  10th  parallel 
the  hills  approach  quite  close  to  the  coast. 
There  the  Sangari  Mountains  attain  an  ele 
vation  of  from  4000  to  5000  feet.  Tiie 
country  possesses  a  great  number  of  rivers, 
among  which  the  Senegal,  Gambia,  and  Rio 
Grande  are  the  most  important.  Senegam- 
bia  ranges,  in  point  of  heat,  with  the  Sahara 
and  Nubia.  The  atmosphere  is  most  oppres 
sive  in  the  rainy  season,  which  lasts  from 
June  to  November,  when  an  enormous  amount 
of  rain  drenches  the  country.  The  prevailing 
winds  in  that  period  are  south-west,  whereas 
in  the  dry  season  they  are  from  the  east.  The 
climate  is,  upon  the  whole,  most  unhealthy, 
and  too  generally  proves  fatal  to  Europeans. 

The  vegetation  is  most  luxuriant  and  vig 
orous.  The  baobab  (monkey  bread-tree),  the 
most  enormous  tree  on  the  face  of  the  globe, 
is  eminently  characteristic  of  Senegambia. 
It  attains  to  no  great  height,  but  the  circumfer 
ence  of  the  trunk  is  frequently  60  to  75  feet, 
it  has  been  found  to  measure  112  feet ;  its 
fruit,  the  monkey  bread,  is  a  principal  arti 
cle  of  food  with  the  natives.  Bombaceae 
(cotton-treee)  arc  likewise  numerous,  and 


they  are  among  the  loftiest  in  the  world.  Aca 
cias,  which  furnish  the  gum-arabic,  are  most 
abundant,  while  the  shores  are  lined  Avith 
mangrove  trees.  The  vegetation  is  similar 
to  that  of  Nubia,  as  also  the  animal  world 
Gold  and  iron  arc  the  chief  metals. 

The  inhabitants  consist  of  various  Negro 
nations,  the  chief  of  which  are  the  YTolof. 

The  gum  trade  is  the  most  important 
traffic  on  the  Senegal ;  bees-wax,  ivory,  bark, 
and  hides,  forming  the  chief  exports  from  the 
Gambia. 

Of  European  settlements  are  :  The  French 
possessions  on  the  Senegal ;  the  capital  of 
which  is  St.  Louis,  built  about  the  year  1026, 
on  an  island  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  The 
total  population  of  the  settlement  amounted, 
in  1846,  to  17,976  colored  people,  and  1170 
Europeans. 

The  British  settlement  is  on  the  Gambia, 
and  has  4851  inhabitants.  Bathurst  is  tho 
chief  town. 

The  Portuguese  settlement  consists  of 
small  factories  south  of  the  Gambia,  at  Bis- 
sao,  Cacheo,  and  some  other  points. 

The  west  coast  of  Africa,  from  Senegam 
bia  to  the  Nourse  lliver,  is  commonly  com 
prised  by  the  general  denomination  Guinea 
Coast,  a  term  of  Portuguese  origin. 

The  coast  is  mostly  so  very  low,  as  to  be 
visible  to  navigators  only  within  a  very  short 
distance,  the  trees  being  their  only  sailing 
marks.  North  of  the  equator,  in  the  Bight 
of  Benin,  the  coast  forms  an  exception,  being 
high  and  bold,  with  the  Cameroon  Moun 
tains  behind ;  as  also  at  Sierra  Leone, 
which  has  received  its  name  (Lion  Mountain) 
in  consequence.  The  coast  presents  a  dead 
level  often  for  thirty  to  fifty  miles  inland.  It 
has  numerous  rivers,  some  of  which  extend 
to  the  furthest  recesses  of  Inner  Africa. 

The  climate,  notoriously  fatal  to  European 
life,  is  rendered  pestilential  by  the  muddy 
creeks  and  inlets,  the  putrid  swamps,  and  the 
mangrove  jungles  that  cover  the  banks  of 
the  rivers.  There  are  two  seasons  in  the 
year,  the  rainy  and  the  dry  season.  The 
former  commences  in  the  southern  portion 


HISTOKY    OF    THE    WOKLD. 


237 


in  March,  but  at  Sierra  Leone  and  other 
northern  parts,  a  month  later. 

Vegetation  is  exceedingly  luxuriant  and 
varied.  One  of  the  most  important  trees  is 
the  Elais  guineensis,  a  species  of  palm,  from 
the  covering  of  whose  seed  or  nut  is  extract 
ed  the  palm-oil,  so  well  known  to  English 
confmerce  and  manufacture :  several  thou 
sand  tons  are  annually  brought  into  the  ports 
of  Liverpool,  London,  and  Bristol.  The 
palm-oil  tree  is  indigenous  and  abundant 
from  the  river  Gambia  to  the  Congo ;  but 
the  oil  is  manufactured  in  large  quantities 
chiefly  in  the  country  of  the  Gold  and  Slave 
Coasts.  The  former  comprises  nearly  all 
the  more  remarkable  of  African  animals : 
particularly  abundant  are  elephants,  hippo 
potami,  monkeys,  lions,  leopards,  crocodiles, 
serpents,  parrots.  The  domestic  animals  are 
mostly  of  an  inferior  quality.  The  principal 
minerals  are  gold  and  iron.  The  population 
consists,  besides  a  few  European  colonists,  of 
a  vast  variety  of  Negro  nations,  similar  in 
their  physical  qualities  and  prevailing  cus 
toms,  but  differing  considerably  in  their  dis 
positions  and  morals. 

The  chief  articles  of  commerce  are  palm- 
oil,  ivory,  gold,  wax,  various  kinds  of  timber, 
spices,  gums,  and  rice. 

The  divisions  of  Northern  or  Upper  Gui 
nea,  are  mostly  founded  on  the  productions 
characteristic  of  the  different  parts,  and  are 
still  popularly  retained. 

The  British  colony  of  Sierra  Leone  extends 
from  Rokelle  River  in  the  north,  to  Kater 
River  in  the  south,  and  about  twenty  miles 
inland.  The  population,  consisting  chiefly 
of  liberated  slaves,  amounted  in  1847  to 
41,735.  Freetown,  the  capital,  has  10,580 
inhabitants,  and  is,  after  St.  Louis,  the  most 
considerable  European  town  on  the  western 
coast  of  Africa. 

The  Malaghetta  or  Grain  Coast  extends 
from  Sierra  Leone  to  Cape  Palmas.  Mal 
aghetta  is  a  species  of  pepper  yielded  by  a 
parasitical  plant  of  this  region.  It  is  some 
times  styled  the  Windy  or  Windward  Coast, 
from  the  frequency  of  short  but  furious  tor 


nadoes,  throughout  the  year.  The  republic 
of  Liberia,  a  settlement  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society,  founded  in  1822,  for 
the  purpose  of  removing  free-people  of  color 
from  the  United  States,  occupies  a  consider 
able  extent  of  the  coast,  and  has  for  its  capi 
tal  Monrovia,  a  towrn  named  after  the  presi 
dent,  Mr.  Monroe.  The  population  amounts 
to  from  10,000  to  15,000  native  inhabitants, 
and  3200  liberated  Negroes  from  America. 

The  Ivory  Coast  extends  from  Cape  Pal 
mas  to  Cape  Three  Points,  and  obtained  its 
name  from  the  quantity  of  the  article  sup 
plied  by  its  numerous  elephants. 

The  Gold  Coast  stretches  from  Cape  Three 
Points  to  the  River  Yolta,  and  has  been 
long  frequented  for  gold-dust  and  other  pro 
ducts.  The  Dutch  have  several  trading 
ports,  of  which  Elmina,  a  town  of  12,000  in 
habitants,  is  the  principal  and  oldest  of  the 
European  stations,  founded  by  the  Portu 
guese  in  1411.  The  British  possess  Cape 
Coast  Castle,  a  spacious  fortress,  and  James' 
Fort,  near  Accra.  The  Danish  settlements 
of  Christiansburg  and  Friedensburg  were 
ceded  to  the  English  in  1849. 

The  Slave  Coast  extends  from  the  River 
Yolta  to  the  Calabar  River,  and  is,  as  its 
name  implies,  the  chief  scene  of  the  most 
disgraceful  traffic  that  blots  the  history  of 
mankind.  Eko,  or  Lagos,  one  of  the  chief 
towns  of  the  coast,  was  destroyed  in  1852. 

The  kingdoms  of  Ashanti,  Dahomey,  Yoru- 
ba,  and  others,  occupy  the  interior  country 
of  the  Guinea  coast. 

The  coast  from  the  Old  Calabar  River  to 
the  Portuguese  possessions  is  inhabited  by 
various  tribes.  Duke's  Town,  on  the  former 
river,  is  a  large  town  of  30,000  to  40,000  in 
habitants,  with  considerable  trade  in  palm- 
oil,  ivory,  and  timber. 

On  the  Gabun  river,  close  to  the  equator, 
are  a  French  settlement  and  American  mis 
sionary  stations.  At  the  equator,  Southern 
or  Lower  Guinea  begins,  where  the  only 
European  settlements  are  those  of  the  Portu 
guese. 

Loango  is  reckoned  from  the  equator  to  the 


238 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


Zaire  or  Congo  river.  Its  chief  town  is  Boal- 
ly,  called  Loango  by  the  Europeans. 

Congo  extends  south  of  the  Zaire,  com 
prising  a  very  fertile  region,  with  veins  of 
copper  and  iron.  Banza  Congo  or  St.  Sal 
vador  is  the  capital. 

Angola  comprises  the  two  districts  of  An 
gola  proper  and  Benguela.  In  these  regions 
the  Portuguese  settlements  extend  farther 
inland  than  in  the  two  preceding  districts, 
namely,  about  200  miles.  The  population 
of  the  settlements  is  about  400,000,  compris 
ing  only  1830  Europeans.  The  capital  St. 
Paolo  de  Loando,  contains  1COO  Europeans 
and  4000  native  inhabitants,  and  has  a  fine 
harbor.  St.  Felipe  de  Benguela  is  situated 
in  a  picturesque  but  very  marshy  and  most 
unhealthy  spot. 

The  coast  from  Benguela  to  the  Cape  Col 
ony  may,  in  a  general  arrangement  like  this, 
be  included  either  within  West  Africa  or 
South  Africa.  The  whole  coast  is  little  vis 
ited  or  known,  being  of  a  most  barren  and 
desolate  description,  and  possessing  few  har 
bors.  From  Walfich  Cay,  as  has  been  al 
ready  stated,  Mr.  Galton  recently  penetrated 
nearly  400  miles  into  the  interior  towards 
Lake  Ngami,  and  explored  the  country  in 
habited  by  the  Ovaherero  or  Damaras,  and 
other  tribes. 

Under  South  Africa  the  Cape  Colony  only 
is  generally  comprised.  It  takes  its  name 
from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  extends 
from  thence  to  the  Orange  River  in  the 
north,  and  to  the  Tugela  River  in  the  east. 
A  large  proportion  of  the  territory  included 
within  these  limits,  especially  in  the  north, 
is  either  unoccupied,  or,  excepting  missiona 
ry  stations,  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
aborigines. 

Apart  from  the  shores,  the  country  con 
sists  of  high  lands,  forming  parallel  moun 
tainous  ridges,  with  elevated  plains  or  ter 
races  of  varying  extent  between.  The  loftiest 
range,  styled  in  different  parts  of  its  course 
Sneuw-bergen,  Winter-bergen,Xieuveld-ber- 
gen,  and  Roggenveld-bergen,  names  origina 
ted  by  the  Dutch,  is  the  third  and  last  encoun 


tered  on  proceeding  into  the  interior  from  tho 
south  coast.  The  most  elevated  summit,  Spitz- 
kop  or  Compass-berg,  in  the  district  of  Graa- 
freynet,  attains  the  height  of  10,250  ieot.  This 
and  the  other  chains  are  deeply  cut  by  the 
transverse  valleys  called  kloofs,  which  serve 
|  as  passes  across  them,  and  appear  as  if  pro 
duced  by  some  sudden  convulsion  of  nature, 
subsequently  widened  by  the  action  of  the 
atmosphere  and  running  water. 

The  high  plains  or  terraces  are  remarkable 
for  their  extraordinary  change  of  aspect  in 
the  succession  of  the  seasons.  During  the 
summer  heats  they  are  perfect  deserts, 
answering  to  the  term  applied  to  them,  kai- 
roos,  signifying,  in  the  Hottentot  language, 
"  dry"  or  "  arid."  But  the  sandy  toil  being 
prevaded  with  the  roots  and  fibres  of  various 
plants,  is  spontaneously  clothed  with  the 
richest  verdure  after  the  rains,  and  becomes 
transformed  for  a  time  into  a  vast  garden  of 
gorgeous  flowers,  yielding  the  most  fragrant 
odors.  Adapted  thus  to  the  support  of 
graminivorous  animals,  the  karroos  are  the 
resort  of  antelopes,  zebras,  quaggas,  and  gnu  a 
in  countless  herds,  and  of  the  carnivorous 
beasts  that  prey  upon  them,  the  lion,  hyaena, 
leopard,  and  panther.  These  quadrupeds, 
however,  with  the  elephant,  rhinoceros,  hip 
popotamus,  girafte,  buffalo,  and  ostrich,  have 
been  largely  banished  from  their  old  haunts 
by  the  advanced  footsteps  of  civilized  man, 
and  are  only  found  in  the  more  secluded 
parts  of  the  interior.  The  country  has  a 
singular  and  superb  flora,  but  it  comprises 
few  native  plants  useful  to  man  :  many  such 
have  been  now  introduced.  Heaths  of  varied 
species  and  great  beauty  abound  ;  and  gera 
niums  are  treated  as  common  weeds.  Many 
highly  productive  districts  occur ;  corn,  wines, 
and  fruit  being  the  chief  objects  of  cultiva 
tion  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Cape,  while 
the  more  inland  settlements  are  grazing  farms. 
Some  fine  natural  forests  clothe  the  sides  of 
the  mountains  ;  but  in  general  the  colony  is 
deficient  in  timber-trees,  as  well  as  in  navi 
gable  streams,  perennial  springs,  and  regular 
rain.  A  great  deposit  of  rich  copper  ore  oc- 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


239 


curs  near  the  moutli  of  the  Gariep ;  and 
salt  is  obtained  for  consumption  and  sale  from 
salt  lakes. 

The  climate  is  exceedingly  fine  and  salu 
brious.  There  are  two  seasons,  characterised 
by  the  prevalence  of  certain  winds.  During 
the  summer,  which  lasts  from  September  to 
April,  the  winds  blow  from  southeast,  cold 
and  dry ;  during  the  winter,  namely  from 
May  to  September,  northwest  winds  prevail. 
In  the  most  elevated  regions  the  winters 
are  occasionally  severe,  and  snow  and  ice 
occur. 

The  population  of  Cape  Colony  amounted 
in  1847  to  178,300  souls.  The  chief  native 
tribes  within  the  British  territory  are  the 
Kaffres,  Hottentots,  and  Bechuanas.  Ro 
manufacture  is  conducted  at  the  Cape  except 
the  making  of  wine,  of  which  8000  pipes  are 
annually  exported  to  England.  Yarious 
articles  of  provision  are  supplied  to  ships 
sailing  between  Europe  and  the  East  Indies. 

Cape  Town  is  the  capital  of  the  colony, 
and  contains  22,GOO  inhabitants.  Its  com 
merce  is  considerable,  and  the  port  is  fre 
quented  by  500  to  GOO  vessels  every  year. 

The  Orange  River  sovereignty,  added  to 
the  British  territories  in  1849,  extends  north 
of  the  Orange  River  as  far  as  the  Ky  Gariep 
or  Vaal  River. 

Ratal,  or  Victoria,  a  district  on  the  east 
coast  and  separated  from  the  Cape  Colony 
by  Kaffraria,  is  a  recently  formed  British 
settlement,  containing  an  area  of  about  18,- 
000  square  miles.  It  is  highly  favored  in 
those  respects  in  which  the  Cape  is  most  de 
ficient,  having  abundance  of  wood  and  water, 
with  coal  and  various  metallic  ores,  a  fine 
alluvial  soil,  and  a  climate  adapted  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  products  for  which  the 
home  demand  is  large  and  constant — cotton, 
silk,  and  indigo.  Pietermaritzburg,  the  cap 
ital  of  the  settlement,  lies  50  miles  from  the 
coast.  Pert  R  atal,  now  D'TJrban,  seated  on 
a  fine  lake-like  bay,  is  the  only  harbor. 

East  Africa  extends  from  Natal  north 
wards  to  the  Red  Sea,  comprising  Sofala, 
Mozambique,  Zanzibar,  and  the  Somali 


country.  But  little  is  known  of  that  region 
beyond  the  shores.  The  Sofala  coast  ex 
tending  from  Delagoa  Bay  to  the  Zambezi 
River,  is  flat,  sandy,  and  marshy,  gradually 
ascending  towards  the  interior.  It  abounds 
with  rivers,  which  cause  yearly  inundations. 
The  soil  is  very  fertile,  and  produces  chiefly 
rice.  In  the  interior,  gold  and  other  metals. 
as  well  as  precious  stones,  are  found.  The 
Portuguese  have  settlements  at  Sofala,  in  an 
unhealthy  spot,  abounding  with  salt-marshes ; 
it  consists  of  only  eighteen  huts,  a  church, 
and  a  fort  in  ruins.  Inhambane,  near  the 
Tropic  of  Capricorn,  has  an  excellent  harbor. 

Mozambique  extends  from  the  Zambezi  to 
Cape  Delgado,  and  is  similar,  in  its  natural 
features,  to  the  Sofala  coast.  The  country 
is  inhabited  by  the  large  and  powerful  tribe 
of  the  Macuas.  The  principal  river  is  Zam 
bezi.  The  principal  settlement  of  the  Por 
tuguese  is  at  Quilh'mane,  which  is  situated  in 
a  very  unhealthy  position^  surrounded  with 
mangrove  trees.  It  has  130  free  inhabitants, 
comprising  only  12  Portuguese,  and  5000  01 
6000  slaves. 

The  Zanzibar  or  Sawahili  coast  extends 
from  Cape  Delgado  to  the  River  Jub,  near 
the  equator.  The  coast  is  generally  low, 
and  has  but  few  bays  or  harbors :  its  north 
ern  portion  is  rendered  dangerous  by  a  line 
of  coral  reefs  extending  along  it.  The  region 
possesses  a  great  number  of  rivers,  but  none 
of  them  attain  a  first-rate  magnitude.  The 
principal  are  the  Livuma,  Lufigi,  Ruvu,  Pan- 
gani,  and  Dana ;  the  two  latter  rising  in  the 
snowy  mountains  of  Kilimanjaro  and  Kenia. 
The  climate  is  similar  to  that  of  other  tropi 
cal  coasts  of  Africa,  hot  and  unhealthy  in 
general :  in  some  portions,  however,  the  ele 
vated  ground,  and  wdth  it  a  more  temperate 
and  healthy  climate,  approaches  the  shores 
to  within  a  short  distance.  The  vegetation 
is  luxuriant,  and  cocoa-nut,  palms,  maize, 
rice,  and  olives,  are  the  chief  articles  of  cul 
tivation.  The  fauna  comprises  all  the  more 
characteristic  African  species. 

The  chief  inhabitants  are  the  Sawahili,  but 
the  coasts  are  under  the  Arab  dominion  of 


240 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  Iniaum  of  Muscat,  by  whose  efforts  com 
merce  with  the  nations  of  the  interior  has 
greatly  increased. 

The  island  of  Zanzibar  (TJnguja  of  the 
Sawahili)  is  the  residence  of  the  Imanm  of 
Muscat,  and  the  seat  of  extensive  commerce. 
Mombas,  on  a  small  island  close  to  the  main 
shore,  possesses  the  finest  harbor  on  that 
coast,  and  has  recently  become  famous  as  the 
seat  of  an  important  missionary  station. 

The  Somali  country  comprises  the  eastern 
horn  of  Africa,  from  the  equator  northward 
to  the  Bay  of  Tadjurra,  near  the  entrance 
into  the  Red  Sea.  The  coast  is  generally 
bold  and  rocky,  in  some  places  covered  with 
sand ;  and  the  extensive  region  it  encloses, 
presents  a  slightly  ascending  plain,  traversed 
by  large  valleys  of  great  fertility,  among 
which  the  "Wady  Nogal  is  prominent.  Along 
the  Arabian  Gulf  the  coast  is  very  abrupt, 
and  girded  with  a  range  of  mountains,  the 
highest  summit  of  which,  Jebel  Ahl,  reaches 
an  elevation  of  G500  feet.  This  country  is 
not  so  well  watered  as  the  regions  to  the 
south,  and  some  of  its  rivers  are  periodical. 

The  Somali  country  is  famous  for  its  aro 
matic  productions  and  gums  of  various  kinds  ; 
and  it  is  supposed  that  the  spices  and  incense 
consumed  in  such  large  quantities  by  the  an 
cient  people  of  Egypt,  Greece,  Syria,  and 
Rome,  were  derived  from  this  part  of  Africa, 
and  not  from  Arabia. 

The  Somali,  the  inhabitants  of  this  region, 
belong  to  the  Gall  a  tribe.  The  commerce  is 
considerable,  and  is  partly  in  the  hands  of  the 
Arabs.  Ze'ila  and  Berbera,  on  the  northern 
coast,  are  the  chief  trading  ports :  the  per 
manent  population  of  the  former  is  about 
750,  while  the  latter  may  be  said  to  exist 
only  during  the  winter,  when  no  less  than 
20,000  strangers,  at  an  average,  arrive  to 
pitch  their  tents,  and  thus  create  a  great 
market  place.  Hurrur  is  the  chief  place  in 
the  interior,  with  17,000  inhabitants,  who  are 
Mohammedans. 

Central  Africa  comprises  the  regions 
which  extend  from  the  southern  borders  of 
the  Sahara  in  the  north  to  Cape  Colony  in 


the  south,  and  from  Senngambia  in  the  west 
to  the  territory  of  the  Egyptian  pashalic  in 
the  east.  It  comprehends  the  central  basing 
of  Lake  Tsad,  Nyassa,  and  others,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  basins  of  the  Kawara, 
Zaire,  Nile,  and  Zambezi.  Even  the  Sahara 
may  well  be  included  in  this  general  denom 
ination.  So  little  is  yet  known  of  this  vast 
region  that  the  general  features  of  some  por 
tions  only  can  be  indicated.  Tlie  greater 
portion  seems  to  be  densely  peopled  with 
numerous  tribes,  and  to  possess  inexhaustible 
natural  resources.  The  portion  north  of  the 
equator,  under  the  name  Sudan  or  Nigritia, 
comprises  a  great  number  of  states,  among 
which  the  principal  are  Bambarra,  Timbuk 
tu,  and  Iloussa  in  the  ~?rest ;  Bornu,  Bagher- 
mi,  and  Waday,  around  Lake  Tsad  ;  Darfur, 
in  the  east;  and  Adamauain  the  south.  The 
inhabitants  are  Negro  races,  with  many 
Arabs,  Moors,  and  Berbers. 

Bambarra  occupies  part  of  the  basin  of 
the  Joliba,  or  upper  source  of  the  Kawara. 
The  dominant  inhabitants  are  the  Man  din 
goes  and  Foulahs,  who  have  embraced  Islam- 
ism,  and  are  much  more  advanced  in  civili 
zation  than  the  other  negro  tribes.  The 
country  comprises  extensive  and  excellent 
pastures,  with  abundance  of  domestic  ani 
mals,  as  horned  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  and 
horses  of  a  fine  breed.  Among  the  vegetable 
products  the  most  remarkable  is  the  butter- 
tree,  which  furnishes  an  important  article  of 
agricultural  industry  and  trade. 

Sego,  the  capital,  is  situated  on  the  Joliba, 
and  contains  30,000  inhabitants.  It  was  here 
that  Mungo  Park  first  caught  sight  of  tho 
long-sought  river. 

Timbuktu,  or  Jennie,  comprises  the  basin 
of  the  Joliba  below  Bambarra,  and  lies  part 
ly  within  the  Great  Sahara.  Timbuktu,  a 
few  miles  from  the  banks  of  the  Joliba,  and 
situated  amid  sands  and  desert?,  is  the  cele 
brated  centre  of  the  North  African  caravan 
trade.  It  contains  from  12,000  to  15,000 
inhabitants. 

Iloussa  is  an  extensive  country  extending 
to  the  Sahara  in  the  north,  to  the  Joliba  or 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


241 


Kawara  on  the  west,  to  Bornu  on  the  east, 
and  to  about  10.  north  Lat.  on  the  south. 
The  dominant  races  are  the  Foulahs,  but  the 
mass  of  the  population  are  Negroes.  It  is  a 
very  fertile  and  beautiful  country,  but  the 
climate  is  insalubrious,  and  in  many  parts 
fatal  to  Europeans.  The  inhabitants  are  en 
gaged  in  pastoral,  as  well  as  in  agricultural 
and  commercial  pursuits. 

The  capital,  Sakatu,  is  one  of  the  largest 
cities  in  Xegroland  ;  it  is  situated  in  a  fer 
tile  but  marshy  plain.  Kano,  another  large 
town,  containing  30,000  to  40,000  inhabit 
ants,  is  the  great  emporium  of  trade  in 
Houssa :  there  the  English  merchandise 
coming  from  the  north  through  the  Sahara, 
meets  with  American  goods  coming  from 
the  Biffht  of  Benin.  The  manufactures  of 

O 

Kano  consist  chiefly  of  cloth,  for  the  dyeing 
of  which  that  town  is  famed  all  over  Cen 
tral  Africa. 

Bornu  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  states 
of  Negroland ;  extending  on  the  west  to  the 
10th  degree  of  Long.,  on  the  east  to  Lake 
Tsad  and  the  kingdom  of  Baghermi,  and  on 
the  south  as  far  as  Mandara  and  Adamaua, 
in  about  11.  north  Lat.  Kanem,  on  the 
northern  side  of  Lake  Tsad,  has  recently 
been  conquered  and  brought  under  Bornuese 
sovereignty. 

The  general  character  of  Bornu  is  that  of 
a  plain,  subject  to  inundations,  particularly 
near  Lake  Tsad.  It  is  very  fertile,  and 
cotton  and  indigo  attain  a  high  degree  of 
excellence.  The  original  Bornuese  are  an 
agricultural  people. 

Kuka,  the  capital  and  residence  of  the 
Sheik  of  Bornu,  has  only  8000  inhabitants, 
while  Angornu,  south  of  it,  has  30,000. 

Baghermi,  another  powerful  kingdom,  is 
eituated  east  of  Cornu.  The  boundaries,  ac 
cording  to  Dr.  Barth,  who  first  visited  this 
country  and  penetrated  as  far  as  Masefia, 
the  capital,  are  on  the  west  the  river  Log- 
geme,  a  tributary  of  the  Shary  or  Asu,  by 
which  it  is  divided  from  Bornu  and  Adam 
aua;  on  the  north  its  limits  are  in  about  12£" 
north  Lat.,  and  on  the  east  in  19i'east  Long., 
31 


both  lines  dividing  it  from  Waday :  the 
southern  boundary  is  in  about  8^-'  north  Lat. 
Berghermi  is  an  extensive  plain  or  valley 
formed  by  the  river  Shary  or  Asu  and  its 
tributaries.  The  inhabitants  are  very  war 
like,  and  frequently  engage  in  slave  maraud 
ing  expeditions  into  the  neighboring  states 
to  the  south. 

Mason  a,  the  capital,  lies  in  11.40.  north 
Lat.,  and  17.20.  east  Long. 

Waday,  or  Dar  Saley,  lies  east  of  Bagher 
mi,  and  reaches  as  Darfur.  It  comprises  an 
extensive  region,  stretching  as  far  as  the 
basin  of  the  Nile.  Lake  Fittri,  situated  in 
the  western  portion,  forms  a  basin,  uncon 
nected  with  that  of  Lake  Tsad,  and  by  which 
the  country  as  far  as  Darfur  is  drained.  It 
has  never  been  explored  by  Europeans.  The 
population  comprises  a  great  variety  of  tribes 
and  different  languages. 

Wara,  the  capital,  is  placed  by  Dr.  Barth 
in  14°  north  Lat.,  and  22°  east  Long. 

Darfur,  east  of  Waday,  extends  as  far  as 
Kordofan.  The  country  rises  towards  the 
west  into  a  range  of  hills  called  Jebel  Marrah. 
It  is  drained  into  the  Nile.  A  great  portion 
of  the  country  is  Saharan  in  its  character, 
while  others  are  fertile  and  diversified. 
Browne,  in  1793,  estimated  the  whole  popu 
lation  at  200,000.  It  has  an  extensive  trade 
with  Egypt. 

Cobbe'ih,  the  capital,  is  a  merchant  town 
and  contains  about  6000  inhabitants. 

Fumbina  or  Adamaua  is  an  extex.-.fe 
country  south  of  Houssa  and  Bornu,  .-aider 
Foulah  dominion.  It  consists  of  a  large, 
fertile,  and  highly-cultivated  valley,  formed 
by  the  River  Benue,  \vhich  is  the  upper 
course  of  the  Tchadda.  Near  Tola,  the 
capital,  the  Benue  receives  the  Faro,  a  large 
tributary  coming  from  the  south-west  in  the 
direction  of  the  Cameroon  Mountains.  The 
waters  in  the  rainy  season,  namely,  from 
June  to  September,  rise  forty  to  fifty  feet. 
This  country  was  first  visited  by  Dr.  Barth 
in  1851. 

Tola,  the  capital,  lies  in  8.50.  north  Lat., 
and  13.30.  east  Longitude. 


242 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WORLD. 


To  Africa  belong  a  considerable  number 
of  islands.  The  Madeiras,  belonging  to 
Portugal,  lie  off  the  north-west  coast  of 
Africa,  at  a  distance  of  about  360  miles. 
Madeira,  the  chief  island,  is  about  100  miles 
iu  circuit,  and  has  long  been  famed  for  its 
picturesque  beauty,  rich  fruits,  and  fine  cli 
mate,  which  renders  it  a  favorite  resort  of 
invalids.  Wine  is  the  staple  produce.  Fun- 
chal,  the  chief  town,  with  nearly  30,000  in 
habitants,  is  a  regular  station  for  the  WTest 
India  mail  steam-pockets  from  Southampton, 
and  the  Brazilian  sailing-packets  from  Fal- 
raouth. 

The  Canaries,  belonging  to  Spain,  the 
supposed  Fortunate  Islands  of  the  ancients, 
are  situated  about  300  miles  south  of  Madei 
ra.  They  are  thirteen  in  number,  all  of 
volcanic  origin,  Teneriffe  being  the  largest. 
The  latter  is  remarkable  for  its  peak,  which 
rises  as  a  vast  pyramidal  mass  to  the  height 
of  12,172  feet. 

The  Cape  Yerde  Islands,  subject  to  Por- 
lugal,  are  a  numerous  group  about  eighty 
miles  from  Cape  Verde.  They  obtained 
their  name  from  the  profusion  of  sea-weed 
found  by  the  discoverers  in  the  neighboring 
ocean,  giving  it  the  appearance  of  a  green 
meadow.  They  are  also  of  volcanic  origin. 

Fernando  Po,  a  very  mountainous  island, 
is  in  the  Bight  of  Biafra.  Formerly  a  British 
settlement,  it  was  abandoned  owing  to  its 
unhealthiness,  and  is  now  only  inhabited  by 
a  few  negroes  and  mulattoes. 

O 

St.  Thomas,  immediately  under  the  equa 
tor,  is  a  Portuguese  settlement;  as  also 
Prince's  Island,  2"  north  of  the  line. 

Annobon,  in  2.  south.  Lat,  belongs  to  the 
Spaniards. 

Ascension,  a  small,  arid,  volcanic  islet, 
was  made  a  British  port  on  the  arrival  of 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  at  St.  Helena,  and  since 
retained  as  a  station,  at  which  ships  may 
touch  for  stores.  Green  Hill,  the  summit 
of  the  island,  rises  to  the  height  of  2840 
feet. 


St.  Helena  is  a  huge  dark  mass  of  rook, 
rising  abruptly  from  the  ocean  to  the  height 
of  2692  feet.  .Tames'  Town  is  the  only  town 
and  port,  containing  5300  inhabitants. 

Madagascar,  the  largest  island  of  Africa,  and 
one  of  the  largest  in  the  world,  is  separated 
from  the  Mozambique  coast  by  a  channel  of 
that  name,  about  250  miles  wide.  The  area 
exceeds  that  of  France,  comprising  225,000 
square  miles,  and  the  population  is  estimated 
at  4,000,000. 

It  has  an  atmosphere  so  pestilential,  in 
particular  localities,  that  to  breathe  it  for  a 
short  duration  is  generally,  and  very  quickly 
fatal.  But  other  parts  are  not  insalubrious 
The  lemurs,  an  interesting  tribe  of  animals, 
are  peculiar  to  Madagascar  and  the  Comoro 
Archipelago. 

The  inhabitants  are  diverse  races  of  Negro, 
Arab,  and  Malay  origin.  The  Ovahn,  a 
people  of  the  central  provinces,  are  now 
dominant.  The  principal  town,  Tananarive, 
has  8000  inhabitants. 

The  Comoro  isles,  four  in  number,  are  in 
the  nortli  part  of  the  Mozambique  Channel, 
and  inhabited  by  Arab  tribes. 

Bourbon,  400  miles  east  of  Madagascar,  is 
a  colony  of  France,  producing  for  export, 
coffee,  sugar,  cocoa,  spices,  and  timber. 

Mauritius,  ceded  to  the  British  by  the 
French  in  1814,  is  ninety  miles  north-east  of 
Bourbon.  The  sugar-cane  is  chiefly  cultiva 
ted.  Port  Louis,  the  capital,  beautifully 
situated,  has  26,000  inhabitants.  Within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  governor  of  the  Mau 
ritius,  are  the  islands  of  Rodriguez,  the  Sey 
chelles,  and  the  Amirante  islands. 

Socotra,  a  large  island,  east  of  Cape  Jer- 
daffun,  with  an  Arab  population,  has  been 
known  from  early  times  ;  it  is  now  a  British 
possession.  This  island  was  long  celebrated 
as  producing  the  finest  aloetic  drug:  a  few 
years  ago  this  was  denied;  but  now  it  is 
found  still  to  produce  a  fine  kind  of  aloe, 
though  much  of  what  passed  as  Socotrinc 
aloes  reallv  came  from  India. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


243 


EGYPT. 


T  TTITII  Menes,  about  B.C.  2717,  Egyptian 
V  V  history  commences.  His  dynasty  is 
stated  to  have  been  one  of  Thinite  kings,  of 
the  city  of  This,  situated  near  Abydos  in  Up 
per  Egypt.  Respecting  Menes,  Manetho,  ac 
cording  to  Eusebius,  relates  that  he  made  a  for 
eign  expedition  and  acquired  renown ;  and, 
moreover,  that  he  was  killed  by  a  hippopot 
amus,  as  Africanus  also  mentions.  Diodo- 
rus  Siculus,  who  calls  him  Menas,  states  that 
he  first  instructed  the  Egyptians  in  religion, 
and  so  changed  their  simple  manners  that 
Trephachthus,  the  father  of  Bocchoris  the 
Wise,  finding  from  experience  the  happiness 
of  a  frugal  life,  and  the  evils  of  luxury,  in 
scribed  a  curse  against  him  in  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  (or  Amen-ra),  at  Thebes.  Herodo 
tus  says  that  Menes  founded  the  city  of 
Memphis,  after  he  had  diverted  the  course  of 
the  river  by  raising  the  dyke.  The  same 
historian  mentions  that  he  built  the  temple 
of  Ilephsetus  (or  Ptah)  in  Memphis.  His 
name,  written  Menee,  has  been  found  in 
hieroglyphic  characters  in  a  sort  of  list,  or 
procession  of  small  statues  of  kings,  in  the 
Rameseum  of  El-Kurneh,  and  in  hieratic 
characters  in  the  Royal  Turin  Papyrus. 

Menes  was  succeeded,  after  a  long  reign, 
by  Athothis  his  son,  respecting  whom  Man 
etho  tells  us  that  he  built  the  palace  at  Mem 
phis,  and  that  he  was  a  physician,  and  left 
the  anatomical  books.  This,  as  well  as  what 
Herodotus  relates  of  his  father  having  changed 
the  course  of  the  river,  however  that  be  un 
derstood,  shews  that  the  Egyptians  were  at 


this  remote  period  a  highly  civilized  people  ; 
and  the  circumstances  that,  after  an  interval 
of  less  than  four  centuries  from  the  accession 
of  the  first  king,  we  find  magnificent  pyra 
mids  as  royal  sepulchres,  and  the  tombs  of 
the  subjects  sculptured  and  having  hierogly 
phic  inscriptions,  confirms  this  opinion.  The 
Third  Dynasty  commenced,  and  Memphis 
became  independent,  during,  or  soon  after, 
the  reign  of  Athothis ;  but  as  the  exact  time 
of  this  change  is  not  determined,  it  will  be 
best  to  notice  the  later  Thinite  kings  before 
speaking  of  the  Memphite  line  of  Sovereigns. 
Uenephes,  the  fourth  Thinite  king,  is  said  by 
Manetho  to  have  built  the  pyramids  near 
Kochome,  a  place  which  has  not  been  iden 
tified  ;  and  it  is  added  that  Egypt  was  afflict 
ed  by  a  famine  in  his  reign.  In  the  time  of 
Semempses,  the  seventh  king,  there  was  a 
very  great  plague.  With  his  successor  the 
dynasty  terminated,  having  ruled,  in  all  pro 
bability,  about  two  centuries  and  a  half. 

The  few  particulars  that  we  know  of  the 
history  of  the  Second  Dynasty,  in  which  tha 
Thinite  line  was  continued,  are  related  by 
Manetho  alone.  He  says  that  in  the  reign 
of  the  first  king  Boethos,  a  chasm  of  the  earth 
opened  at  Bubastis,  and  many  perished  ;  that 
under  the  second  king  Kaiecho,  the  bulls 
Apis  in  Memphis,  and  Menevis  in  Heliop- 
olis,  and  the  Mendesian  goat,  were  called 
gods ;  and  that  under  the  next  king  Binoth- 
ris,  it  was  adjudged  that  women  could  hold 
the  sovereign  powei.  During  the  reign  of 
the  seventh  king  Nephercheres,  Manetho 


244 


HISTORY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


tells  us  that  it  was  fabled  that  the  Nile  flowed 
mixed  with  honey  for  the  space  of  eleven 
days.  His  successor,  according  to  the  Egyp 
tian  historian,  was  Sesochris,  a  man  of  gigan 
tic  stature.  Nothing  further  is  related  by 
Manetho  of  the  occurrences  of  this  dynasty, 
to  which  he  assigns  a  duration  of  about  300 
years.  From  the  monuments,  however,  it 
appears  most  probable  that  it  lasted  little 
less  than  four  centuries,  and  that  the  Thinite 
kingdom  came  to  a  close  with  it  at  the  time 
of  the  Shepherd  invasion. 

The  Mempliite  kingdom,  as  already  no 
ticed,  commenced  not  long  after  the  Thinite, 
with  the  Third  Dynasty.  Manetho  relates 
that  during  tho  reign  of  the  first  king 
Necherophes  or  Necherochis,  the  Libyans 
revolted  from  the  Egyptians,  but  returned 
to  their  allegiance,  being  terrified  by  a  sud 
den  increase  of  the  moon.  The  second  Mem 
pliite  sovereign  Tosorthros,  or  Sesorthos,  is 
said  by  the  same  author  to  have  been  called 
by  the  Egyptians  ^Esculapius,  on  account  of 
his  medical  knowledge,  and  to  have  invented 
the  art  of  building  with  hewn  stones,  and  to 
have  patronized  literature.  After  having 
lasted  about  two  centuries,  this  dynasty  was 
succeeded  by  the  Fourth,  one  of  the  most 
famous  of  the  lines  which  ruled  in  Egypt, 
while  the  Fifth  Dynasty  of  Elephantinite 
kings  arose  at  the  same  time. 

Of  Soris,  the  head  of  the  Fourth  Dynas 
ty,  nothing  is  known ;  his  name,  written 
Slmra,  occurs  in  the  hieroglyphic  inscriptions 
of  tombs  near  the  Pyramids  of  El-Geczeh, 
and  was  found  by  Mr.  Perring  in  the  quarry- 
marks  of  the  Northern  Pyramid  of  Aboo- 
Seer,  which  was  therefore  his  tomb.  In 
Manetho's  list,  according  to  Africanus,  he 
was  followed  by  two  kings  bearing  the  name 
of  Suphis,  who  may  be  called  Suphis  I.  and 
II.  These  correspond  to  the  Shufu,  or  Khu- 
fu,  and  Num-Shufu,  or  Num-Khufu  of  the 
monuments.  Since  these  names  are  found 
together,  particularly  in  the  quarry -marks  of 
the  Great  Pyramid  which  has  two  chambers, 
and  which  are  all  agreed  in  assigning  to  the 
reign  of  one  king,  it  is  most  reasonable  to 


suppose  that  they  ruled  together  for  the 
greater  part  of  their  reigns.  Manetho  makes 
Suphis  I.  to  have  ruled  i)r  63  years,  and 
Suphis  II.  6G.  The  latter,  therefore,  proba 
bly  reigned  for  some  years  after  the  former. 
Shufu  must  be  the  first  of  these  kings,  since 
he  is  the  Cheops  (Kufu)  to  whom  Herodotus 
ascribes  the  building  of  the  Great  Pyramid, 
which,  according  to  Manetho,  was  the  work 
of  Suphis  I.  This  is  the  period  at  which  we 
first  find  undoubted  cotemporary  monuments 
of  which  we  know  the  date,  the  earliest 
whereof  is  most  probably  the  Northern 
Pyramid  of  Aboo-Seer  before  mentioned. 
Under  the  rule  of  the  Suphises  such  mon 
uments  are  extremely  numerous  and  afford 
us  far  better  knowledge  of  the  state  of  Egypt 
at  that  time  than  do  the  scanty  remains  of 
Manetho  and  the  traditionary  tales  of  Hero 
dotus  and  Diodorus.  The  names  of  both  tho 
Suphises  occur  among  the  rock  inscriptions 
of  Wadee-el-Magharah  in  the  peninsula  of 
Sinai,  where  the  second  of  them,  or  Nuui- 
Shufu,  is  represented  slaying  a  foreigner. 
The  military  expeditions  of  the  Egyptians, 
however,  at  this  period  were  probably  of 
little  importance,  and  designed  to  repress  the 
nomad  tribes  which  have  at  all  times  infest 
ed  the  eastern  and  other  borders  of  Egypt, 
and  to  maintain  the  possessions  beyond  these 
borders.  The  Mempliite  Pharaohs  were 
rather  celebrated  for  the  arts  of  peace  and 
for  the  care  with  which  they  promoted  the 
interests  of  literature  and  science.  Of  Su 
phis  I.  Manetho  writes  that  he  was  arrogant 
towards  the  gods,  but,  repenting,  wrote  the 
Sacred  Book.  The  power  of  the  king  or 
kings  is  evidenced  by  the  magnitude  of  the 
Great  Pyramid,  and  the  costly  manner  of  its 
construction ;  the  safety  of  the  kingdom  by 
no  soldiers  being  represented  in  the  sculp 
tures,  and  the  general  custom  of  going  un 
armed  common  to  the  great  and  the  small ; 
the  wealth  of  the  subjects,  by  the  scenes 
portrayed  upon  the  walls  of  their  tombs  ; 
and  the  state  of  science  and  art,  by  the  con 
struction  of  monuments,  gigantic  in  size,  of 
materials  many  of  wliich  were  transported 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


245 


from  a,  great  distance,  and  fitted  together 
with  an  accuracy  that  has  never  been  excel 
led,  as  well  as  by  the  astronomical  and  other 
knowledge,  of  which  evidence  is  found  in  the 
cotemporary  inscriptions.  After  the  Suphis- 
es  rilled  Mencheres.  By  him  the  Third  Py 
ramid  was  raised,  in  which  the  late  General 
Howard  Yyse  found  part  of  his  mummy  case, 
bearing  his  name,  now  in  the  British  Muse 
um.  According  to  Manetho,  Queen  iSTitokris, 
the  last  sovereign  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty, 
built  this  pyramid  ;  but  it  should  be  observ 
ed  that  Eusebius's  version  of  the  lists  seems 
to  state  this  merely  on  the  authority  of  tradi 
tion.  It  is  most  probable,  from  its  plan,  that 
the  building  was  enlarged  and  a  new  passage 
and  chamber  excavated  in  the  rock  beneath 
it  after  its  first  completion,  whence  it  seems 
that  the  later  sovereign,  by  this  additional 
work,  made  the  tomb  of  Mencheres  her  own 
sepulchre  also.  Of  the  subsequent  kings  of 
the  Fourth  Dynasty,  who  were,  according  to 
Africanus's  version  of  the  lists  of  Manetho, 
four  in  number,  nothing  is  known.  The 
duration  of  the  dynasty  probably  somewhat 
exceeded  two  hundred  years,  and  it  was  suc 
ceeded  by  that  called  the  Sixth,  in  like  man 
ner  of  Memphite  sovereigns. 

The  Fifth  Dynasty,  of  Elephantinites, 
commenced  about  the  same  time  as  the 
Fourth.  The  names  of  several  of  its  earlier 
kings  occur  in  the  necropolis  of  Memphis, 
and  sometimes  with  those  of  the  cotempora- 
ry  sovereigns  of  the  Fourth  Dynasty.  The 
most  important  of  these  is  Sephres,  the 
Shaf-ra  or  Khaf-ra  of  the  monuments,  the 
builder  of  the  Second  Pyramid.  The  Ele- 
phantinite  Dynasty  lasted  not  much  less  than 
six  hundred  years,  and  appears  to  have  con 
sisted  of  thirty-one  kings,  the  last  of  whom, 
called  by  Manetho  Onnos,  and  in  hierogly 
phics  Unas,  was  contemporary,  as  is  shown 
by  an  ancient  inscription,  with  Assa  the  fifth 
king  of  the  Fifteenth  Dynasty  of  Shepherds, 
ruling  at  Memphis. 

The  Sixth  Dynasty,  by  which  the  Mem 
phite  kingdom  was  ruled  after  the  Fourth, 
lasted  about  a  century  and  a  half.  The  most 


famous  sovereign  was  the  second  of  the  line 
Papa  or  Phiops,  who  is  related  to  have  ruled 
a  hundred  years,  a  statement  which  the  mon 
uments  seem  to  corroborate,  although  not 
directly.  His  sculptured  records  are  numer 
ous  throughout  Egypt,  showing  him  to  have 
been  a  powerful  king,  but  not  giving  us  any 
account  of  remarkable  events  ,  during  his 
reign.  The  second  sovereign  after  him  was 
Queen  ISTitokris.  "With  her  the  Dynasty 
closed,  Memphis  being  taken  by  the  foreign 
invaders  called  Shepherds,  whose  first  king 
made  it  his  capital. 

Another  royal  line,  that  of  the  Heracleopo- 
lites,  arose  while  the  Sixth  Dynasty  ruled  at 
Memphis.  The  time  of  the  commencement 
of  the  first  Heracleopolite  Dynasty,  the 
ISTinth,  is  not  certain,  but  it  was  probably 
not  long  after  that  of  the  Memphite  Dynasty 
abovo  mentioned.  The  names  of  six  kings 
of  the  Xinth  Dynasty  have  been  found  in 
hieroglyphics,  and  their  order  is  shown  by 
the  list  of  the  Chamber  of  Kings :  all  these 
bear  the  name  of  Nantef,  excepting  the  fifth, 
who  is  called  Munt-hotp.  The  king  last 
mentioned  seems  to  have  been  the  most  pow 
erful  of  the  six ;  his  successor  in  the  list  of 
the  Chamber  of  Kings  receives  a  title  equiv 
alent  to  that  of  "  chief,"  and  his  name  ap 
pears  not  to  have  been  inclosed  in  a  royaj 
ring.  Munt-hotp  was  contemporary  with  the 
last  king  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty,  and  it  is 
therefore  probable  that  his  successor  was  de 
prived  of  all  but  titular  power  by  the  potent 
head  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty.  After  this 
time  the  monuments  have  not  been  found  to 
afford  us  any  information  respecting  the 
Heracleopolite  kingdom.  Probably  the  Ninth 
Dynasty  lasted  about  four  hundred  years, 
and  the  Tenth  nearly  two  hundred,  termin 
ating  at  the  time  of  the  great  Shepherd  war 
of  expulsion,  which  resulted  in  the  over 
throw  of  all  the  royal  lines  except  the  Dios- 
polite. 

With  the  Eleventh  Dynasty  commenced 
the  Diospolite  or  Theban  kingdom,  which 
afterwards  attained  to  greater  power  tlian 
any  other,  and  had  a  longer  uninterrupted 


246 

duration.  Its  first  dynasty  was  that  called 
the  Eleventh,  the  kings  of  which  excepting 
the  last,  seem  to  have  been  of  little  power, 
and  are  probably  mentioned  in  subsequent  in 
scriptions  rather  because  they  were  the  found 
ers  of  the  Diospolite  line  than  as  illustrious 
rulers.  The  duration  of  this  dynasty  is 
doubtful,  and  the  time  of  its  commencement 
has  not  been  determined ;  it  may  be  suppos 
ed  that  it  began  not  long  after  the  Ninth 
Dynasty.  Amenemha  I.,  its  last  sovereign, 
was  a  potent  king  who  succeeded  in  a  time 
of  great  disorder  in  establishing  his  kingdom 
as  supreme  in  Upper  Egypt.  During  part 
of  his  reign  he  was  co-regent  of  Sesertesen 
I.,  head  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty. 

The  commencement  of  the  Twelfth  Dy 
nasty  forms  an  epoch  in  Egyptian  history. 
Until  then  the  country  seems  to  have  enjoyed 
a  long  period  of  prosperity,  and  then  to  have 
been  suddenly  surprised  and  subdued  by  a 
foreign  force,  which  succeeded  in  gaining 
possession  of  Lower  Egypt,  and  maintained 
itself  for  upwards  of  five  centuries,  being 
at  length  expelled,  after  a  protracted  struggle, 
which  did  not  probably  finally  terminate 
until  upwards  of  a  century  or  even  more 
after  its  power  was  broken.  This  period— 
that  of  the  Shepherd-rule — lasting  from  the 
invasion  of  Egypt  until  the  beginning  of  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty,  under  which  the  for 
eigners  are  generally  held  to  have  been  ulti 
mately  forced  to  leave  the  country,  was  one 
for  the  most  part  of  great  suffering  to  the 
inhabitants ;  yet  it  comprehends  the  rule  of 
many  sovereigns,  both  native  and  foreign,  of 
strength  and  wisdom ;  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  brought  out  those  martial  qual 
ities  which  afterwards  so  greatly  distinguish 
ed  the  Egyptian  race. 

The  manner  in  which  Egypt  was  subdued 
by  the  foreigners  is  not  certainly  known. 
Manetho  states  that  they  easily  gained  pos 
session  of  the  country  without  a  battle.  This 
success  may  have  been  partly  owing  to  the 
undisturbed  good  fortune  which  preceded 
the  invasion,  but  must  have  been  also  attri 
butable  to  other  causes ;  and  it  is  not  improb- 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


able  that  some  one  of  the  Egyptian  kings 
had  called  in  the  foreigners  as  allies,  or  hired 
them  as  mercenaries,  both  dangerous  expe 
dients,  more  especially  the  latter,  which  if 
generally  regarded  as  a  symptom  of  a  decay 
ing  state  or  tyrannical  government.  Manetho 
relates  that  the  Shepherds  having  subdued 
the  country,  burnt  the  cities,  demolished 
the  temples,  and  treated  the  people  with 
great  barbarity.  It  is  probable  that  this  ac 
count  of  their  conduct  is  somewhat  exagger 
ated,  having  been  colored  by  the  hatred 
which  the  Egyptians  bore  to  the  foreigners, 
and  a  recollection  of  the  troubles  of  the  great 
struggle  which  ended  in  their  expulsion.  At 
all  events  it  is  evident  that  they  soon  accom 
modated  themselves  to  the  manners  of  the 
Egyptians,  adopted  their  religion,  and  en 
deavored  in  every  way  to  promote  the  wel 
fare  of  the  subjugated  country.  The  race 
of  the  foreigners  has  been  much  disputed; 
the  Egyptian  historian  says  that  some  said 
they  were  Arabs,  and  in  his  lists  the  kings 
of  the  first  Shepherd  Dynasty,  the  Fifteenth, 
are  called  Phoenicians.  There  is  reason  to 
suppose  the  latter  statement  to  be  true,  and 
there  is  also  evidence  that  some  of  the  foreign 
race  were  Arabs,  and  certain  of  their  kings, 
most  probably  of  the  Sixteenth  Dynasty,  aj> 
pear  to  have  been  Assyrians.  Having  said 
thus  much  respecting  the  establishment  of 
the  Shepherds  in  Egypt,  we  must  return  to 
the  Diospolite  kingdom. 

The  first  king  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty 
was  Sesertesen  I.,  of  whose  long  reign  many 
records,  but  those  chiefly  of  subjects,  yet  re 
main.  The  most  interesting  of  the  national 
monuments  is  a  tablet  found  by  Dr.  Ilicci  at 
Wadee  Ilalfeh,  in  Nubia,  near  the  Second 
Cataract,  recording  the  king's  triumph  over 
foreign  tribes,  probably  Ethiopians,  and 
showing  that  at  this  early  period  the  Egyp 
tian  rule  had  stretched  thus  far  into  Nubia. 
For  part  of  his  reign  Sesertesen  I.  was  co- 
regent  with  Amenemha  L,  the  last  sovereign 
of  the  E  eventh  Dynasty,  and  with  Amen 
emha  II.  towards  the  close  of  his  reign.  Un 
der  the  latter  king  the  first  Tropical  Cycle 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


247 


commenced  B.C.  2005.  Late  in  his  reign  he 
took  as  his  colleague  Sesertesen  II.  The  next 

o 

king,  who  probably  was  for  part  of  his  reign 
co-regent  with  Sesertesen  II.,  was  Sesertesen 
III.,  the  Sesostris  of  Manetho.  This  name 
of  Sesostris  is  applied  by  ancient  historians 
to  several  kings.  It  is  probably  derived 
from  Sesertesen  :  other  derivations  have  in 
deed  been  proposed,  but  none  of  these  is 
equally  satisfactory.  We  can  recognize  an 
early  Sesostris,  that  is,  Sesertesen  III.,  and 
a  later  one,  Rameses  II.,  of  the  Nineteenth 
Dynasty,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  Seserte- 
Ben  I.  is  also  spoken  of  under  this  name.  If 
this  supposition  be  correct,  we  may  distin 
guish  the  two  very  ancient  kings  as  Sesos 
tris  the  conqueror,  or  Sesertesen  I.,  or  Se- 
Bostris  the  lawgiver,  or  Sesertesen  III.  After 
the  reigns  of  two  other  sovereigns,  Amenein- 
ha  IV.  and  Ra-sebak-nufret,  who  was,  ac 
cording  to  Manetho,  as  preserved  by  Afri- 
canus,  a  queen,  the  sister  of  her  predecessor, 
the  dynasty  came  to  a  close.  It  is  probable 
that  these  two  ruled  with.  Arnenemha  II.,  as 
successive  co-regents,  perhaps  towards  the 
close  of  the  reign.  This  dynasty  lasted  about 
100  years :  Africanus  assigns  to  it,  in  his 
version  of  Manetho's  list,  exactly  that  dura 
tion,  and  the  monuments  and  Royal  Turin 
Papyrus  afford  confirmation  of  this  sum.  At 
its  termination  the  power  of  the  Diospolites 
became  greatly  diminished,  and  did  not  re 
cover  until  the  beginning  of  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty. 

The  Fourteenth  Dynasty,  or  Xoite  king 
dom,  seems  to  have  arisen  with,  or  during, 
the  Twelfth  Dynasty.  It  had  its  seat  of 
government  at  Xois.  a  town  of  Lower  Egypt 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  ancient  Delta. 
Seventy-six  kings  are  assigned  to  this  line, 
and  a  duration  of  either  184  or  48-i  years. 
The  latter  sum  is  the  more  probable  if  the 
number  of  kings  be  correct.  Supposing,  then, 
that  the  Fourteenth  Dynasty  lasted  for 
nearly  five  centuries,  it  probably  terminated 
during  the  great  Shepherd  war,  and  perhaps 
some  years  before  the  beginning  of  the 
Eighteenth. 


The  Shepherd  kings  of  the  Fifteenth  Dyn 
asty  were  the  greatest  of  the  foreign  rulers. 
The  first  of  these,  Salatis  or  Sa'ites,  was  made 
king,  according  to  Manetho,  after  the  con 
quest  of  the  country  (dr.  B.  c.  2080).  "  He 
lived  at  Memphis,  making  the  Upper  and 
Lower  Country  to  pay  tribute,  and  placing 
garrisons  in  the  most  fit  situations."  Of 
these  the  greatest  was  Avaris,  an  old  city,  to 
the  east  of  the  Pelusiac  Branch,  which  he  re 
built  and  fortified  strongly  with  placing  in  it 
an  enormous  garrison.  His  object  was  to  de  • 
fend  the  frontier  against  the  Assyrians,  who 
Manetho  tells  us,  he  foresaw  would  have  a 
desire  to  invade  his  kingdom.  Salatis  died 
after  an  active  reign  of  nineteen  years.  In 
the  lists  he  and  his  successors  are  called 
Phoenicians,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  they 
were  of  that  race.  His  nomen  is  not  found 
in  the  hieroglyphic  inscriptions,  but  his  pre- 
nomen  occurs  both  on  a  contemporary  monu 
ment  and  in  the  Royal  Turin  Papyrus. 

The  successor  of  Salatis  was  Boon,  in  tie 
hieroglyphics  Pi-ankhee,  and  he  was  followed 
by  Apachnas,  whose  nomen  is  found  only  in 
the  Royal  Turin  Papyrus,  and  is  of  doubtful 
reading.  The  next  king  wras  lannas,  called 
on  the  monuments  A-an,  to  whom  succeeded 
Assis,  whose  hieroglyphic  name  is  Assa. 
There  are  several  tombs  of  the  time  of  this 
king  in  the  necropolis  of  Memphis,  from  the 
sculptures  and  inscriptions  of  which  we  ob 
tain  great  insight  into  the  state  of  the  Shep 
herd  kingdom  under  his  rule.  In  the  sculp 
tures  we  see  the  same  evidences  of  the  pros 
perity  and  wealth  of  the  subjects  as  in  those 
of  the  period  of  the  Fourth  Dynasty.  The 
foreigners  appear  to  have  adopted  the  Egyp 
tian  dress  and  manners  so  completely  that 
we  do  not  find  a  single  foreign  name.  In 
one  tomb  the  inscriptions  show  that  the 
Shepherd  kings  of  this  dynasty  held  Leon 
topolis  or  the  Leontopolite  nome  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  ancient  Delta,  which 
shows  that  their  dominion  must  have  been 
extensive.  Most  probably  Assa  was  the 
Pharaoh  of  \vhom  Joseph  was  the  prime 
minister,  the  patriarch  receiving  that  aj> 


218 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WOELD. 


pointment  towards  the  close  of  his  reign,  and 
continuing  to  hold  it  in  the  next  reign.  Of 
the  last  king  of  the  Fifteenth  Dynasty,  the 
successor  of  Assa,  the  monuments  tell  us 
nothing,  and  it  is  not  even  certain  that  his 
name  has  been  found  in  hieroglyphics  or 
hieratic.  In  Manetho's  lists  he  is  called 
Aphobis  or  Apobhis.  With  him  the  greatest 
Shepherd  Dynasty  came  to  a  close,  and 
Memphis  was  again  the  seat  of  native  kings. 

After  the  end  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty, 
about  B.  c.  1920,  the  Diospolite  kingdom  was 
ruled  by  the  Thirteenth,  which  lasted  about 
400  years,  until  the  commencement  of  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty.  The  kings  seem  to 
have  been  of  little  power,  for  the  most  part, 
and  probably  tributary  to  the  Shepherds. 
They  possessed,  however,  a  considerable 
tract  south  of  Egypt ;  and  this  may  be  sup 
posed  to  have  been  an  asylum  for  them  dur 
ing  the  troublous  period  of  their  rule.  All 
the  names  of  these  kings  have  not  been 
found.  The  Fourteenth  Dynasty,  or  Xoite 
Kingdom,  has  been  already  noticed. 

The  Eighth  Dynasty,  of  Memphites,  suc 
ceeded  the  Fifteenth,  and  ruled,  according 
to  Africanus's  version  of  Manetho's  list, 
nearly  a  century  and  a  half.  It  is  not  cer 
tain  whether  the  Seventh  Dynasty,  likewise 
of  Memphites,  to  which  the  same  version 
assigns  a  duration  of  only  seventy  days, 
intervened  between  the  Sixth  and  Fifteenth 
Dynasties,  or  the  Fifteenth  and  Eighth. 
The  native  successors  of  the  Shepherds  at 
Mempliis  seem  to  have  been  princes  of  little 
power  and  contracted  dominions.  The  Shep 
herds  of  the  Sixteenth  Dynasty  appear  to 
have  succeeded  to  the  political  position  of 
those  of  the  Fifteenth.  It  is  very  remark 
able  that  in  the  Royal  Turin  Papyrus  among 
kingf  who  must  be  assigned  to  this  dynasty 
or  the  Seventeenth  are  certain  who  appear 
to  be  Assyrians,  and  one  of  these  is  probably 
a  Pharaoh  who  oppressed  Israel,  the  prede 
cessor  of  him  who  was  drowned  in  the  Red 
Sea.  Indeed  there  are  strong  grounds  for 
supposing  that  this  dynasty  was  composed 
of  kings  of  a  different  race  or  races  to  those 


of  the  Fifteenth,  and  bitterly  opposed  to 
them  ;  and  that  when  the  rule  of  the  latter 
came  to  a  close  they  seized  their  posscssione 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Delta,  and  perse 
cuted  the  Israelites  wrho  had  been  favored 
by  the  earlier  sovereigns.  Of  the  Seven 
teenth  Dynasty  nothing  is  known,  except 
that  its  kings  were  Shepherds.  Africanus's 
version  indeed  makes  them  to  have  been  co- 
regent  Diosopolites  and  Shepherds,  but  this 
is  generally  held  to  be  a  mistake. 

From  the  time  of  Assa  to  the  commence 
ment  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  a  period  ol 
about  three  centuries  and  a  half,  scarcely  any 
monuments  have  been  discovered,  and  this 
indicates  that  Egypt  was  then  in  a  weak  and 
distracted  condition,  and  agrees  with  the 
statement  of  Manetho,  that  after  the  Shep 
herds  had  ruled  Egypt  for  511  years,  the 
kings  of  the  Thebais  and  of  the  rest  of  Egypt 
made  an  insurrection  against  them,  and  a 
great  and  long  war  raged  between  them. 
The  kings  here  meant  must  have  been  a 
Diospolite  of  the  Thirteenth  Dynasty,  prob 
ably  with  a  Ileraclcopolite  of  the  Tenth,  and 
a  Xoite  of  the  Fourteenth.  The  great  war 
thus  commenced  had  resulted  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  in  the  res 
toration  to  Egyptian  rule  of  nearly  all  Lower 
Egypt ;  and  the  other  lines  having  then 
come  to  an  end,  the  whole  power  was  cen 
tred  in  the  Theban  monarchy.  It  was, 
however,  probably  more  than  a  century  be 
fore  the  foreigners  were  finally  expelled. 

With  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  about  B.  c. 
1525,  a  new  period  of  Egyptian  history  com 
mences,  new  in  the  abundance  of  materials 
for  its  reconstruction,  and  in  the  greatness 
of  the  monarchy  whose  fortunes  it  relates. 
The  sources  of  information  are  no  one  con 
nected  history,  but  numerous  inscriptions, 
sculptures,  and  papyri,  whence  we  can 
o-athcr  many  of  the  remarkable  events  by 
which  this  and  the  succeeding  dynasty  were 
distinguished. 

The  first  king  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty 
was  Aah-mes,  whom  Manetho  called  Amos 
or  Amosis.  No  great  monuments  of  his 


H1STOEY    OF    THE    WOBLD. 


249 


reign  remain,  but  from  various  inscriptions 
we  must  infer  that  lie  was  a  powerful  king, 
and  that  in  his  time  the  Shepherds  had 
quirted  the  greater  part  of  Egypt.  Two 
records  of  especial  interest  may  be  particu 
larized.  One  is  a  long  inscription  in  the 
tomb  at  Eilethyas  of  one  Aah-mes,  chief  of 
the  mariners,  who  served  several  of  the  early 
kings  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  having  com 
menced  his  career  under  King  Aah-mes.  The 
inscription  speaks  of  war  at  sea,  or  on  the  river, 
mentions  the  famous  Shepherd-city  Avaris, 
and  relates  that  the  king  made  in  his  sixth 
year  an  expedition  by  water  to  Ethiopia  to 
impose  tribute.  The  other  record  is  a  tab 
let  at  the  quarries  of  El-Ma'sarah,  a  little 
above  Cairo,  on.  the  east  bank  of  the  river, 
opposite  Memphis,  which  relates  that  in  the 
twenty-second  year  of  his  reign  Aah-mes 
cut  stone  for  the  temple  of  Ptah,  most  prob 
ably  at  Memphis,  and  for  that  of  Amen  at 
Thebes.  Ainenoph  I.,  the  successor  of  Aah- 
mes.  was  at  least  as  potent  a  king,  and  the 
memorials  of  his  reign  are  more  numerous. 
They  are  chiefly  found  in  the  representations 
or  paintings  of  the  tombs  of  his  subjects ; 
but  chambers  in  the  more  ancient  portion  of 
the  great  temple  of  Amen-ra,  now  called 
that  of  El-Karnak,  at  Thebes,  show  that  he 
did  not  neglect  public  edifices.  He  was 
evidently  successful  in  wars  against  the 
Ethiopians  as  well  as  against  Asiatics.  To 
him  succeeded  Thothmes  1.,  in  whose  reign 
the  arms  of  Egypt  were  carried  into  Meso 
potamia,  for  one  of  his  officers  has  left  an 
inscription  recording  that  he  brought  booty 
thence.  The  same  king  warred  in  Ethiopia 
also.  In  the  great  temple  at  Thebes  he 
made  additions,  and  in  particular,  set  up 
there  two  obelisks  of  red  granite,  of  which 
one  yet  stands.  Under  the  next  sovereign, 
Thothmes  II.,  the  prosperity  of  Egypt  con 
tinued,  and  the  extent  of  his  kingdom  is 
proved  by  his  name  being  found  as  far  south 
as  Napata  (Gebel  Berkel),  in  Ethiopia. 
With  him  was  associated  in  the  government 
a  Queen  Amen-nmnt,  who  appears  to  have 
possessed  much  greater  power  than  he,  if  not 
32 


to  have  ruled  solely  while  he  was  but  nom 
inally  a  king.  For  at  least  sixteen  years, 
that  is,  for  the  whole  of  the  reign  of  Thot 
hmes  II.  and  the  first  three  or  four  years  of 
that  of  Thothmes  III.,  this  queen  continued 
to  govern,  and  left  many  beautiful  monu 
ments  to  attest  her  magnificence  and  power, 
chief est  of  which  are  the  lofty  obelisks  of  the 
temple  of  Amen-ra  at  Thebes,  one  of  which 
is  still  standing,  while  the  other  is  fallen  and 
broken  in  pieces.  Thothmes  III.  appears  soon 
to  have  emancipated  himself  from  the  con 
trol  of  Queen  Amen-numt.  His  reign  was 
marked  by  many  successful  expeditions  con 
ducted  by  him  in  person,  in  one  of  which 
he  penetrated  as  far  as  Nineveh,  though  it  is 
not  said  whether  he  besieged  that  city  or 
not.  If  Manetho  be  accurate,  the  most  im 
portant  military  event  must,  however,  have 
been  his  successful  war  with  the  Shepherds, 
who  according  to  that  historian,  were  driven 
by  lum  out  of  all  Egypt  excepting  the  strong 
hold  of  Avaris  on  the  frontier.  Many  monu 
ments  especially  at  Thebes,  remain  to  prove 
the  greatness  of  this  king  and  the  wealth  of 
his  subjects.  The  tombs  of  private  persons 
are  not  the  least  interesting  of  these  memor 
ials,  and  afford,  in  the  representations  which 
adorn  their  walls,  very  beautiful  specimens 
of  ancient  Egyptian  painting.  Indeed,  the 
reign  of  Thothmes  III.,  with  that  of  Thoth 
mes  II.  preceding  it,  and  those  of  Amenoph 
II. ,  Thothmes  IV.,  and  Amenoph  III.  fol 
lowing  it,  may  be  considered  as  comprising 
the  best  period  of  art,  all  the  earlier  time 
showing  a  gradual  improvement,  and  all  the 
later  a  gradual  declension.  "We  do  not, 
however,  trace  a  very  marked  falling  away 
until  the  power  of  Egypt  had  bogun  to  de 
cline,  full  two  centuries  later  than  the  end 
of  Thothmes  III.'s  reign.  Of  Amenoph  II., 
the  son  and  successor  of  Thothmes  III.,  little 
is  known,  and  we  can  scarcely  err  in  sup 
posing  his  reign  to  have  been  short  and  un 
marked  by  very  important  events.  In  the 
reign  of  Amenoplrs  son  Thothmes  IV.,  oc 
curred  according  to  Manetho,  the  departure 
of  the  Shepherds  from  their  last  possession 


250 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


in  Egypt.  The  Egyptian  historian  relates 
that  having  unsuccessfully  bclcagured  Avaris, 
the  stronghold  of  the  foreigners,  Thothmes 
agreed  to  terms,  and  the  Shepherds  were  per 
mitted  to  leave  the  country  unmolested  with 
their  families  and  effects.  The  monuments 
have  not  been  found  to  allude  to  this  event, 
and  they  tell  us  little  of  this  reign,  but  that 
little  shows  that,  short  as  it  evidently  was,  it 
was  marked  by  prosperity  and  success. 

Thothmes  IV.  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Amenoph  III.,  one  of  the  most  illustrious 
kings  of  the  best  period  of  Egyptian  history. 
In  his  time  we  find  a  distinct  record  of  the 
kingdom,  which  is  stated  to  have  had  Xe- 

™  ' 

hereena  (Mesopotamia)  as  its  northern  boun 
dary,  and  Keruee  or  Keluee  (probably  Coloe) 
as  its  southern.  Although  it  does  not  dis 
tinctly  appear  whether  these  are  to  be  under 
stood  as  the  outermost  provinces  or  as  the 
lands  bounding  those  provinces,  and  although 
the  southern  boundary  cannot  be  positively 
ascertained,  yet  we  can  gain  some  idea  of 
the  power  of  Egypt  from  the  inscription. 
Syria,  west  of  Euphrates,  obeyed  Amenoph 
III.,  and  a  very  great  part  of  Ethiopia  ;  and 
that  the  latter  was  the  case  is  proved  by 
monuments  and  their  inscriptions  in  that 
country,  and  records  of  his  successes  in  the 
inscriptions  of  Egypt.  It  is  remarkable  that 
he  seems  from  his  physiognomy  to  have 
been  partly  of  Ethiopian  origin.  His  long 
reign  of  nearly  forty  years,  at  the  least,  was 
marked  by  the  construction  of  magnificent 
temples.  Of  these  the  greatest  were  two  at 
Thebes ;  one  on  the  west  bank,  of  which 
scarce  anything  remains  but  the  two  great 
colossi  which  stood  on  each  side  of  the 
approach  to  it,  and  one  of  which  is  famous 
as  the  Vocal  Memnon.  On  the  opposite 
bank  he  likewise  built  the  great  temple  now 
called  that  of  El-Uksur,  which  Eameses  II. 
afterwards  greatly  increased  in  size.  It  is 
almost  needless  to  remark  that  the  identifi 
cation  of  this  king  with  Memnon  by  the 
Greeks,  apart  from  the  circumstance  that 
other  Pharaohs  were  so  called  by  them,  is  of 
no  historical  value.  The  tomb  of  Amenoph 


III.  yet  remains  at  Thebes  in  the  Western 
Valley  near  that  of  the  tombs  of  the  kings. 

After  the  reign  of  Amenoph  III.,  the 
tranquillity  of  Egypt  was  disturbed  by  the 
rule  of  the  chiefs  of  stranger  settlers,  foreign 
princes,  who  were  allied  to  the  Egyptian 
royal  family.  "Whatever  may  have  been  their 
title,  it  is  evident  that  the  Egyptians  regard 
ed  them  as  usurpers,  and  they  were  unable 
to  maintain  themselves  but  by  a  rigorous 
military  despotism.  Their  monuments  have 
been  found  in  all  parts  of  Egypt,  but  much 
defaced  or  entirely  ruined  by  the  enmity  of 
the  Egyptians.  AVe  learn,  however,  that 
they  abandoned  the  Egyptian  religion,  and 
set  up  in  its  place  sun-worship ;  that  they 
built  a  city  in  Middle  Egypt,  near  the  mod 
ern  village  of  Tel-el-' Amarineh  ;  and  raised 
temples  at  Thebes  and  elsewhere.  Manetho 
appears  to  have  noticed  their  rule,  for  Euse- 
bius,  in  the  second  part  of  his  chronicle, 
mentions  that  during  the  reign  of  Amenophis 
(Amenoph  III.)  "  the  Ethiopians,  migrating 
from  the  river  Indus,  came  and  dwelt  near 
to  Egypt ;"  and  in  the  catalogue  of  kings  of 
Egypt  by  an  anonymous  author,  given  by 
Syncellus,  we  find  the  following  passage  im 
mediately  before  the  mention  of  Oros,  Ame- 
noph's  son  and  legitimate  successor : — "  The 
Ethiopians,  coming  from  the  river  Indus, 
settled  near  to  Egypt,"  Several  kings  of 
this  race  ruled  after  Amenoph  III.,  of  whom 
the  most  important  was  Amenoph  IV., 
or  Berk-en-atenra.  The  duration  of  their 
power  probably  did  not  much  exceed  thirty 
years.  The  religion  of  these  foreigners 
is  a  matter  of  great  interest,  as  it  pre 
sents  us  with  a  very  ancient  example  of  pure 
sun-worship.  The  sun  is  represented  aa 
adored  by  them  under  the  form  of  a  disk 
whence  issue  numerous  rays,  each  termin 
ating  in  a  human  hand,  one  of  which  pre 
sents  to  the  worshipper  the  symbol  of  life. 
It  appears  that  they  adored  one  god,  whom 
they  supposed  to  be  resident  in  the  sun,  and 
operating  through  its  rays ;  and  that  they 
worshipped  this  god  tluough  the  medium  of 
the  sun  and  its  rays. 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


251 


Precisely  how  and  when  the  sun-worship 
pers  were  expelled  from  Egypt  or  destroyed, 
does  not  appear ;  though  it  can  scarcely  be 
Doubted  that  Oros,  the  ITar-em-heb  Of  the 
monuments,  who  succeeded  them,  was  the 
prince  by  whom  they  were  overthrown. 
Har-em-lieb  was  a  son  of  Amenoph  III.,  and 
with  him  was  continued  the  legitimate  line 
of  Diospolite  sovereigns.  The  records  of  his 
reign  are  comparatively  unimportant.  The 
sculptures  of  a  rock  temple  at  Silsilis,  Gebel- 
es-Silsileh,  commemorate  a  successful  expe 
dition  against  the  negroes. 

Oros  was  succeeded  by  Rameses  I.,  of 
whose  very  short  reign  no  important  details 
have  reached  us.  After  him  his  son,  Sethee 
L,  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  Pharaohs, 
ascended  the  throne.  The  exact  duration  of 
his  reign,  which  must  have  been  long,  is  un 
certain,  and  probably  for  part  of  it  he  ruled 
jointly  with  his  son  Rameses  II.  His  acces 
sion  may  be  placed  about  B.C.  1340,  which  is 
therefore  the  approximative  date  of  the  com 
mencement  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty ;  for 
Manetho  makes  him  head  of  that  line,  a 
position  which  should  rather,  one  would 
think,  have  been  assigned  to  his  father  Barn 
eses  I.  The  most  important  architectural 
work  of  his  reign  yet  remaining  is  the  mag 
nificent  hypostyle  hall  in  the  great  temple  of 
El-Karnak,  on  the  outside  of  the  north  wall 
of  which  is  a  highly  interesting  series  of 
sculptures  representing  the  great  achieve 
ments  of  his  arms.  His  tomb,  which  is  gen 
erally  known  as  "  Belzoni's,"  from  its  discov 
erer,  is  the  most  beautiful  of  those  in  the 
valley  of  the  tombs  of  the  kings ;  and  its 
size  shows  that  his  reign  must  have  been  a 
long  one,  for  it  is  well  known  that  the  sepul 
chre  of  an  Egyptian  king  was  usually  com 
menced  at  or  not  long  after  his  accession,  and 
thus  indicated  the  duration  of  his  reicrn.  The 

o 

most  important  of  the  military  exploits  of 
Sethee  I.  appears  to  have  been  the  conquest 
of  the  Kheta  or  Hittites,  and  the  capture  of 
their  great  stronghold  Ketesh,  or  Ashteroth- 
Karnaim. 
Rameses  II.,  who  succeeded  his  father, 


Sethee  I.,  probably  after  having  ruled  joint 
ly  with  him  for  some  time,  was  the  most 
illustrious  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Egypt.    It 
is  he  who  is  generally  intended  by  the  Sesos- 
tris  of  the  Greek  and  Eoman  writers.      His 
reign  lasted,  according  to  Manetho,  if  we  fol 
low  what  seems  the  best  readings,  a  little 
above  sixty-six  years,  and  was  marked  by 
great  success  in  war  and  by  the  construction 
of  magnificent  edifices.      Among  the  latter 
may  be  mentioned  at  Thebes  the  great  tem 
ple,  commonly  called  the  Memnonium,  bul 
more  appropriately  the  Rameseum  of   El- 
Kumeh,   on  the  western  bank,  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  Egyptian  monuments,  and 
a  great  part  of  the  temple  of  El-Uksur  on 
the  opposite  bank,  as  well  as  additions  to  that 
of  El-Karnak.  Throughout  Egypt  and  Nubia 
are  similar  memorials  of  the  power  of  Ra- 
meses  II.,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of 
which  is  the  great  rock  temple  of  Aboo 
Simbel,  not  far  north  of  the  Second  Catar 
act.     The  temple  of  Ptah  at  Memphis  wag 
also  adorned  and  enlarged  by  this  Pharaoh, 
and  its  site  is  chiefly  marked  by  a  very  beau 
tiful  colossal   statue  of  him,   fallen    on  itj 
face,  and  partly  mutilated.      The  numerous 
monuments  of  Eameses  II.  and  a  hieratic 
papyrus  commemorate  the  successful  wars  in 
which  he  was  engaged.     The  most  impor 
tant  of  these  was  waged  against  the  Hittites, 
called  by  the  Egyptians  the  Khe'ta,  and  their 
allies,  and  was  decided  late  in  the  fifth  year 
of  the  king's  reign.     A  powerful  confederacy 
had  been  formed  by  the  Hittites,  the  Khili- 
bu,  or  people  of  Aleppo,  the  people  of  Kar- 
kamish,  and  other  tribes,  some  of  which  had 
been  tributary  to  the  crown  of  Egypt,  and  a 
great  army  collected  to  support  their  avowal 
of  independence.     The  strongest  of  the  con 
federates  were   the  Kheta  led  by   several 
chiefs.     The  king  of  Egypt  marched  against 
them,  and  the  contending  armies  met  in  the 
plain   of  Ketesh,   or  Ashteroth-Karnaim,  a 
strong  city  which  formed  the  basis  of  the 
confederates'   operations.      The  generals  of 
the  latter  had  made  a  skillful  disposition  of 
their  forces.     Having  drawn  up  their  infan 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WORLD. 


try  in  a  large  and  deep  phalanx  before  Ash- 
teroth-Karnaim,  and  behind  the  moat  which 
surrounded  that  city,  they  posted  their 
chariots  on  the  other  side  of  the  moat.  The 
chariot  force  had  an  open  plain  in  -which  to 
manoeuvre,  'while  the  infantry,  placed  on  ris 
ing  and  wooded  country,  and  protected  by 
the  moat,  was  ready  to  support  the  retreat 
of  the  rest  of  the  army,  or  follow  up  its  ad 
vance.  The  Egyptian  chariots,  led  by  the 
king  and  four  of  his  sons,  met  and  broke  the 
charge  of  the  Hittites ;  and  notAvithstanding 
that  their  infantry,  having  crossed  the  fosse 
by  a  bridge,  endeavored  to  maintain  the  day, 
they  were  put  to  the  rout,  and  many  of 
those  who  escaped  the  arrows  of  the  chariot 
force  and  the  swords  of  the  infantry  were 
drowned  in  attempting  to  recross  the  moat. 
Negotiations  were  in  consequence  commenc 
ed,  which  resulted  in  a  treaty  favorable  to 
the  king  of  Egypt.  The  war  appears  to  have 
broken  out  again  some  years  afterwards, 
for  we  find  in  an  inscription  of  the  temple 
of  El-Karnak  the  record  of  peace  having 
been  concluded  with  certain  chiefs  of  the 
Kheta,  in  the  twenty-first  year  of  the  reign 
of  Rameses  II.  The  foreigners  were  com 
pelled  to  pay  tribute  by  this  treaty,  whence 
they  must  be  supposed  to  have  been  previ 
ously  worsted.  Many  other  nations  were 
subdued  by  Rameses  II.,  but  his  chief  ex 
ploit  was  the  overthrow  of  the  confederacy. 
His  great  expeditions  seem  almost  all  to  have 
been  conducted  in  the  earlier  part  of  his 
reign,  and  its  latter  portion  appears  to  have 
been  chiefly  spent  in  advancing  the  welfare 
of  the  country  by  a  promotion  of  the  arts  of 
peace. 

Menptah,  the  thirteenth  legitimate  son  of 
Rameses  II.,  reigned  in  his  father's  stead. 
Of  his  rule  the  records  are  few  and  of  little 
importance  ;  and  a  story  is  told  by  Manetho, 
who  does  not  vouch  for  its  accuracy,  that 
then  great  troubles  befel  Egypt.  He  relatos 
that,  according  to  this  account,  the  foreigners 
and  unclean  people  who  were  in  the  country, 
having  been  sent  to  work  in  the  quarries  by 
order  of  the  king,  revolted,  and,  in  alliance 


with  a  force  of  Shepherds  of  the  race  of 
those  who  had  been  previously  expelled, 
called  in  by  them  from  Palestine,  effected 
the  subjugation  of  Egypt,  which  they  held 
for  thirteen  years,  while  the  king  was  a 
fugitive  in  Ethiopia ;  and  that  at  the  end  of 
that  time  he  returned  with  Sethos  his  son 
and  drove  them  out  with  great  slaughter 
The  leader  of  the  rebels  is  said  to  have  been 
Moses,  and  the  people  the  Jews,  but  neither 
the  time  nor  the  circumstances  are  favorable 
to  this  view,  which,  nevertheless,  is  that  of 
some  eminent  modern  scholars.  The  monu 
ments  cannot  be  denied  to  afford  corrobora- 
tion  to  the  story,  by  indicating  that  about 
this  time  there  was  intestine  trouble  in 
Egypt,  and  that  at  least  one  king  ruled  who 
was  not  afterwards  regarded  as  legitimate  by 
the  Egyptians.  The  usurper  was  Siptah, 
who  married  Queen  Ta-seser,  a  daughter  of 
Rameses  II. ;  and  Amenmesei?,  whose  place 
is  not  certainly  known,  probably  succeeded 
him,  being  in  that  case  likewise  a  usurper. 

The  head  of  the  Twentieth  Dynasty  was 
Sethee  II.,  who  was  probably  the  son  of 
Menptah.  His  accession,  and  therefore  the 
commencement  of  the  dynasty,  may  be  placed 
about  B.c.1220. 

The  monuments  tell  us  nothing  important 
respecting  the  reigns  of  Sethee  II.,  and  of 
his  successor  Merer-ra :  of  the  latter  it  can 
only  be  said  that  he  evidently  ruled  but  a 
short  time,  leaving  the  kingdom  to  his  son 
Rameses  III.  "With  that  sovereign  the  glo 
ries  of  the  Theban  line  revived,  and  a  series 
of  great  victories  by  land  and  sea  raised 
Egypt  to  the  place  which  it  held  under  Ra 
meses  II.,  to  whom  alone  he  may  be  consid 
ered  second  as  a  warlike  prince.  In  a  state 
ly  temple,  now  called  that  of  Medeenet-IIa- 
boo,  which  he  raised  on  the  western  bank  at 
Thebes,  are  sculptures  and  inscriptions  com 
memorating  the  exploits  of  his  reign,  which 
are  not,  for  the  most  part,  elsewhere  record 
ed.  A  small  edifice,  which  was  evidently  a 
royal  residence,  and  has  been  called  his  pavil 
ion, and  an  extensive  tomb  in  the  Yalley  of 
the  Tombs  of  the  Kings,  are  the  only  other 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


253 


striking  monuments  of  a  reign  which  seems 
to  have  been  much  occupied  in  the  prosecu 
tion  of  foreign  wars.  Of  these,  one  of  the 

O  f 

most  important,  if  not  perhaps  the  most  im 
portant,  was  that  which  he  waged  against 
"  the  Khairetana  of  the  Sea,"  and  the  "  Tok- 
karee,"  whom  his  fleet  defeated  in  a  sea- 
fight,  which  he  beheld  from  the  shore  like 
Xerxes  at  Salamis.  This  sea-fight  is  the 
subject  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  bat 
tle-scenes  which  adorn  the  great  temple  of 
Medeenet-IIaboo. 

Among  the  other  nations  whom  Eameses 
III.  conquered,  were  the  Pelesatu,  or  Philis 
tines,  who  have  the  same  physiognomy  and 
costume  as  the  Tokkaree,  thus  indicating  a 
common  origin,  the  Eebu,  a  powerful  peo 
ple,  and  other  uncertain  races.  Nine  kings, 
all  bearing  the  name  of  Eameses,  succeeded 
Rameses  III.,  but  their  rule  was  not  (as  far 
as  we  know)  marked  by  great  events,  and 
scarcely  any  monuments  but  their  tombs  re 
main  to  commemorate  it.  Eameses  IV.,  V., 
VI.,  and  VII.  were  all  sons  of  Eameses  III. ; 
and  it  is  most  probable  that  they  supplanted 
one  another,  and  thus  weakened  the  country 
by  their  dissensions.  At  the  close  of  the 
reign  of  Eameses  XII.,  the  supreme  power 
fell  into  the  hands  of  a  ruler  of  the  Twenty- 
first  Dynasty,  three  kings  of  which  have  left 
records  at  Thebes.  The  first  of  these  was 
Amense  Pahor,  whom  Manetho  calls  Oso- 
ehor,  and  makes  the  fifth  king  of  the  dyn 
asty  ;  the  second,  Piankh,  who  is,  accord 
ing  to  Manetho,  Psinaches,  the  sixth  king  of 
the  same  line ;  and  the  third  Pisham,  Psu- 
sennes,  the  seventh  and  last.  Pahor  and 
Pisham  are  represented  as  priests,  though  re 
ceiving  the  titles  of  kings,  a  custom  which 
was  continued,  but  not  so  exclusively,  under 
the  next  dynasty. 

Manetho  calls  the  Twenty-second  Dynasty, 
«vhich  next  occupied  the  Egyptian  throne, 
of  Bubastite  kings;  and  this  statement  re 
ceives  some  support  from  the  circumstance, 
that  the  name  of  one  of  them  has  been  found 
among  the  sculptured  remains  of  the  temples 
of  Bubastis.  These  sovereigns  cannot,  how 


ever,  have  been  of  unmixed  Egyptian  origin, 
for  Mr.  Birch  has  shown,  from  their  names 
and  those  of  princes  of  their  family,  that 
they  must  have  been  partly  at  least  of  Assy 
rian  or  Babylonian  race.  Their  policy,  also, 
was  rather  that  of  those  peoples  than  of  the 
Egyptians,  if  we  may  judge  from  Sheshonk's 
war  with  Eehoboam ;  for  Sheshonk  I.  is  the 
Shishak  mentioned  in  the  Bible.  His  acces 
sion  of  Sheshonk  I.  may  therefore  be  placed 
in  the  year  B.  c.  1008  or  1009,  and  his  march 
against  Jerusalem  in  that  B.C.  988,  his  21st 
or  22d  year.  Among  the  sculptures  of  the 
great  temple  El-Karnak  is  a  list  of  nations 
and  towns  conquered  by  Sheshonk  I ,  among 
which  Champollion  discovered  the  name  of 
the  kingdom  of  Judah,  and  of  various  cities, 
of  which  some  appear  to  have  been  in  the 
territories  of  Jeroboam  I.,  to  whom  the  kins 

7  O 

of  Egypt  seems  therefore  to  have  acted  faith 
lessly.  Osorkon  I.,  the  next  king,  is  sup 
posed  to  have  been  the  Zerah  whom  Asa 
king  of  Judah  defeated  in  the  year  B.C.  962, 
or  somewhat  later ;  but  if  Manetho's  num 
bers  have  been  lightly  preserved,  this  king 
could  not  have  been  Zerah,  though  by 
that  name  might  be  intended  a  later  Osor 
kon.  Of  the  other  kings  of  this  dynasty,  the 
monuments  tell  us  scarcely  more  than  the 
names.  After  having  ruled  120  years,  ac 
cording  to  Africanus's  version  of  Manetho's 
lists,  it  was  succeeded  by  the  Twenty-third 
Dynasty  of  Tanite  kings,  about  B.C.  889. 
From  this  period  until  the  accession  of  the 
Twenty-fifth  Dynasty,  the  chronology  and 
history  is  obscure.  Of  the  Twenty-third 
Dynasty  we  know  nothing  of  importance, 
and  we  cannot  determine  its  duration.  It  is 
probably  that  the  hieroglyphic  names  of  some 
of  its  sovereigns  occur  on  the  monuments, 
but  this  is  not  certain.  "With  the  end  of  the 
Twenty-second  Dynasty,  the  fortune  of  the 
brightest  period  of  Egyptian  history  deserted 
the  Pharaohs ;  and  except  under  the  vigor 
ous  rule  of  the  Ethiopians,  and  then  of  cer 
tain  of  the  kings  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Dy 
nasty,  never  returned.  When  Egypt  had 
been  united  under  a  single  head  at  the  com 


25  4 


HISTORY    01    THE   WORLD. 


mencement  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  those 
threat  expeditions  soon  began  which  made 
the  Egyptian  name  famous  in  after  ages. 
The  countries  lying  to  the  east  of  Egypt,  as 
far  as  the  Euphrates,  were  overrun  by  the 
forces  of  the  Pharaohs,  and  their  inhabitants 
compelled  to  render  allegiance,  and  make 
tributary  presents  to  those  sovereigns.  But 
no  attempt  seems  to  have  been  made  to 
bring  the  strangers  under  Egyptian  govern 
ment,  although  alliances  were  entered  into 
with  some,  in  order  to  bind  them  in  friend 
ship  with  the  conquering  power.  Notwith 
standing  their  aversion  to  foreigners,  there  is 
abundant  evidence  that  the  Egyptians  treat 
ed  such  allies  with  respect,  unlike  the  Assyr 
ians  and  Babylonians,  who  enslaved  and 
transplanted  the  nations  which  they  subdued. 
Constantly,  however,  the  tributaries  rose  in 
revolt  against  the  Egyptians,  and  caused 
many  long  and  fierce  struggles  before  they 
were  reduced  to  their  former  condition ;  and 
they  seem  to  have  been  supported  in  these 
contests  by  some  great  power  seated  on  the 
Tigris  or  Euphrates.  Ethiopia  was,  at  least 
nearly  as  far  as  the  junction  of  the  "White 
and  Blue  Niles,  a  province  of  Egypt,  having 
the  same  religion  and  laws,  and  governed  by 
a  prince,  called  "the  Prince  of  Kush." 
From  the  accession  of  Aah-mes,  the  head  of 
the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  until  the  time  of 
Rameses  II.,  the  power  of  Egypt  gradually 
increased :  under  the  latter  king  it  attained 
its  greatest  height,  and  having  apparently 
waned  somewhat  after  his  reign,  it  rose  again 
through  the  vigour  of  Rameses  III.  Under 
the  kings  that  followed  him,  the  kingdom  of 
Egypt  fell  into  an  insignificant  condition ; 
and  in  Solomon's  time  seems  scarcely  to  have 
possessed  anything  in  Syria.  Sheshonk  I., 
however,  taking  advantage  of  the  divisions 
which  followed  the  reign  of  Solomon,  render 
ed  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  and  doubtless  that 
of  Israel  also,  tributary  to  him.  But  not 
long  after  his  time,  probably  in  consequence 
of  the  power  of  the  Assyrian  empire,  Egypt 
again  declined,  and  did  not  rise  until  the 
rule  of  the  Ethiopians. 


The  Twenty-fourth  Dynasty  consisted  of 
a  single  king,  Bocchoris  the  "\Vise,  a  Saite, 
the  period  of  whose  rule  was  six  years.  He 
was  celebrated  as  a  lawgiver.  His  reign  was 
brought  to  a  disastrous  termination  by  Sabaco 
the  Ethiopian,  who,  having  taken  him  cap 
tive  burned  him  alive.  Thus  was  established 
the  Twenty-fifth  Dynasty  of  Ethiopian  kings, 
which  can  scarcely  be  considered  a  foreign 
line,  since  Ethiopia  was  so  thoroughly  Egyp 
tian  at  that  time ;  and  the  transfer  of  supreme 
power  cannot,  therefore,  though  effected  by 
armed  force,  be  regarded  as  very  different 
from  the  earlier  changes  of  one  native  dy 
nasty  for  another. 

The  accession  of  Sabaco  may  be  assigned 
to  about  the  year  B.C.  749.  His  hieroglyphic 
name,  Shebek  (I.),  is  found  on  some  monu 
ments  of  his  reign,  to  which  we  may  assign 
a  duration  of  twelve  years.  Sebichus,  his 
son,  succeeded  him,  and  ruled  fourteen  years. 
He  likewise  bears  the  name  of  Shebek  (II.) 
on  the  monuments.  The  most  important 
event  that  we  know  of  his  reign  is  the  treaty 
which  he  concluded  with  Hoshea,  the  last 
king  of  Israel ;  who,  nevertheless,  was  over 
powered  by  Shalmaneser,  the  potent  king  of 
Assyria,  soon  afterwards.  In  the  Bible  lie 
is  called  So  or  Sewa,  after  the  manner  in 
which  Egyptian  names  are  often  abbreviated 
in  Hebrew.  The  last  kin£  of  this  dvnasty — 

O  •/  •/ 

called  by  Manetho  Tarcus  or  Taracus,  in  the 
Bible  Tirhakah,  was  one  of  the  greatest  sov 
ereigns  who  ruled  Egypt,  insomuch  that 
Megasthenes  mentions  him  with  Sesostris  as 
having  carried  his  arms  as  far  as  Europe. 
Monuments  in  Egypt  and  Ethiopia,  particu 
larly  at  Gebel-Berkel,  the  ancient  Napata, 
commemorate  his  piety  and  his  success  in 
war.  He  came  to  the  throne  dr.  B.C.  723, 
and  ruled  twenty  years.  In  the  year  dr. 
B.C.  710  he  advanced  against  Sennacherib  to 
support  Hezekiah,  king  of  Judah.  It  doea 
not  appear  whether  he  met  the  Assyrian 
army,  but  it  seems  probable  that  its  miracul 
ous  destruction  occurred  before  any  engage 
ment  had  been  fought  between  the  rival 
forces.  Perhaps  we  may  conclude  that  Tir- 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


bakah  availed  himself  of  this  opportunity  to 
restore  the  supremacy  of  Egypt  west  of  the 
Euphrates.  With  the  reign  of  Tirhakah  the 
Twenty-fifth  Dynasty  closed ;  but,  according 
to  Eusebius,  an  Ethiopian,  Ammeres,  com 
menced  the  next  line,  the  Twenty-sixth  Dy 
nasty  of  Sa'ite  kings.  The  earlier  part  of 
that  dynasty  presents  many  difficulties,  and 
it  is  not  until  the  reign  of  Psammitichus,  or 
Psametik  I.,  that  the  history  and  chronology 
become  clear.  This  king  was,  according  to 
Manetho,  either  the  fourth  or  fifth  king  of 
the  dynasty,  having  succeeded  Nechao  I. 
Herodotus  tells  us  that  before  his  reign  the 
country  was  ruled  by  a  dodecarchy  of  which 
he  was  a  member ;  and  that,  by  the  help  of 
Ionian,  Carian,  and  Phoenician  mercenaries, 
lie  overthrew  his  colleagues,  and  rendered 
himself  sole  king  of  Egypt.  Psammitichus 
came  to  the  throne  in  this  manner,  B.C.  664, 
and  reigned  for  fifty-four  years.  He  was 
generally  successful,  and  under  him  the  arts 
began  to  show  a  marked  revival.  The  sculp 
tures  of  his  time,  and  that  of  his  successors 
in  the  same  dynasty,  are  often  not  much  in 
ferior  to  those  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty, 
and  far  superior  to  those  of  the  Twenty- 
second  and  Twenty-fifth.  He  did  not  forget 
the  services  of  his  mercenaries,  especially  the 
Greeks,  and  in  addition  encouraged  their 
fellow-countrymen  to  trade  with  Egypt,  and 
caused  his  subjects  to  be  instructed  in  their 
language.  In  this  manner,  and  by  showing 
a  preference  to  the  Greek  troops  above  the 
native  Egyptian  soldiers,  he  offended  the  lat 
ter,  of  whom  a  great  force  rebelled,  and,  not 
withstanding  the  king's  remonstrances,  left 
their  country,  and  established  themselves  in 
Ethiopia,  far  south  of  Egypt.  Even  if  the 
number  stated  by  Herodotus  be  much  exag 
gerated,  this  defection  must  have  contributed 
to  weaken  Egypt,  no  less  than  the  establish 
ment  of  a  mercenary  force,  which  alienated  the 
affections  of  the  Egyptians,  particularly  the 
soldiery.  Psammitichus  carried  on  a  success 
ful  war  in  Palestine,  and  took  Ashdod  or 
Azotus,  after  a  twenty-nine  years'  siege. 
Towards  the  close  of  his  reign  Psammitichus 


averted  an  invasion  of  Egypt  by  the  Scyth 
ians,  who  had  gained  possession  of  the  king 
dom  of  the  Medes  and  the  dominion  of  Asia. 
They  advanced  to  Palestine  on  their  way  to 
Egypt,  but  Psammitichus,  having  met  them, 
stayed  their  progress  with  presents  and 
prayers.  His  son — called  in  the  inscriptions 
Neko,  by  Manetho  Nechao  II.,  and  in  the 
Bible  Pharaoh-Nechoh — succeeded  him  in 
the  year  B.C.  610.  His  reign  was  marked  by 
great  events.  In  his  first  year  he  advanced 
into  Palestine,  marching  alons;  the  sea-coast 

*  o  o 

on  his  way  to  Carchemish  on  the  Euphrates, 
and  was  met  by  Josiah,  king  of  Judah,  who, 
although  he  remonstrated,  opposed  his  pas 
sage.  Their  armies  joined  battle  at  Megid- 
do,  called  by  Herodotus  Magdolus,  and 
Josiah  was  slain  and  his  forces  put  to  rout. 
It  is  probable  that  Neko  was  successful  in 
the  object  of  his  enterprise,  and  that  he 
speedily  returned  to  Egypt  in  triumph,  hav 
ing  on  his  way  back  deposed  Jehoahaz,  Jo- 
siah's  son,  and  set  up  Johoiakim,  his  elder 
brother,  in  his  stead.  The  expedition  was 
apparently  intended  to  strike  a  blow  at  the 
failing  power  of  the  Assyrians,  whose  capital 
soon  after  fell  a  prey  to  the  combined  forces 
of  the  Babylonians  and  Medes.  The  army, 
however,  which  was  stationed  on  the  Eu 
phrates  by  Neko,  met  with  a  signal  disaster 
three  years  subsequently,  being  routed  by 
Nebuchadnezzar  at  Carchemish.  The  war 
like  king  of  Babylon  pushed  his  success,  and 
we  read  in  the  Bible,  after  a  mention  of 
Jehoiakim's  death,  that  "  the  king  of  Egypt 
came  not  again  any  more  out  of  his  land ; 
for  the  king  of  Babylon  had  taken  from  the 
river  of  Egypt  unto  the  river  Euphrates  all 
that  pertained  to  the  king  of  Egypt."  But 
although  warlike  affairs  occupied  so  much  of 
his  reign,  Neko  was  not  inattentive  to  the 
welfare  of  commerce,  for  he  either  com 
menced  the  canal  from  the  Nile  to  the  Red 
Sea,  or  attempted  to  clear  the  course  of  one 
previously  dug ;  but  in  either  case,  the  work 
was  not  completed.  He  likewise  maintained 
a  fleet  both  in  the  Mediterranean  and  in  the 
Red  Sea ;  and  Phoenicians,  by  his  command, 


256 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


attempted  and  accomplished  the  circumnavi 
gation  of  Africa.  lie  was  an  enlightened 
and  wise  prince,  who  encouraged  foreigners 
without  incurring  the  jealousy  of  the  Egyp 
tians,  and  whose  dealings  with  neighboring 
nations  evince  both  moderation  and  policy. 

Psametik  II.,  called  by  Herodotus  Psam- 
mis,  who  succeeded  his  father  B.C.  595,  does 
not  seem  in  his  short  reign  of  six  years  to  have 
done  anything  worthy  of  record.  Egypt, 
however,  prospered  under  his  rule,  for  the 
splendid  tombs  of  his  subjects,  and  those  of 
his  succeesors,  show  the  wealth  of  the  coun 
try  from  this  time  to  its  subjugation  by  Cam- 
byses.  The  next  sovereign  was  Uahphrah, 
called  Pharaoh-IIophra  in  the  Bible,  and  by 
Herodotus  Apries.  He  began  to  reign  B.C. 
589,  and  at  first  was  eminently  successful, 
for  he  entered  Palestine  and  Phoenicia, 
taking  Gaza  and  Sidon,  and  defeated  the 
king  of  Tyre  in  a  sea-fight.  He  also  worsted 
the  Cyprians.  Having  thus  restored  the  in 
fluence  of  Egypt,  he  succored  Zedekiah,  the 
king  of  Judah,  in  his  rebellion  against  Nebu 
chadnezzar,  and  when  Jerusalem  was  be 
sieged  by  the  Chaldeans  the  advance  of  his 
army  compelled  them  to  raise  the  siege. 
The  city  nevertheless  fell,  and  the  power  of 
Egypt  in  Palestine  was  crushed  by  the  cam 
paigns  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  fugitive 
Jews  were  kindly  received  by  Pharaoh- 
Hophra,  and  seem  henceforward  to  have 
formed  an  important  part  of  the  population. 
At  the  fall  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  many 
Hebrews  had  taken  refuge  in  Egypt,  and 
this  was  not  the  only  occasion  on  which 
their  numbers  were  increased  by  other  emi 
grants.  Greater  calamities  than  the  loss  of 
his  influence  to  the  east  of  Egypt  befel 
Apries  at  a  later  time,  for  an  army  which  he 
sent  against  the  Greeks  of  Cyrene  was  cut 
to  pieces,  and  a  consequent  military  revolt 
placed  the  crown  on  the  head  of  Amasis. 
Apries  was  deserted  by  all  except  the  Ionian 
and  Carian  troops,  and  a  few  Egyptians,  but 
nevertheless  he  marched  to  meet  the  rebel. 
At  Momemphis,  near  the  lake  Mareotis,  a 
decisive  battle  was  fought,  and  Apries  was 


made  prisoner  by  Amasis.  At  first  the  new 
king  treated  his  captive  with  consideration, 
but  afterwards  yielding  to  the  importunities 
of  the  people,  who  hated  him,  he  gave  him 
up  to  them,  by  whom  he  was  strangled. 
Nevertheless  he  buried  him  royally.  Thus 
was  fulfilled  the  prophecy  spoken  by  Jere 
miah  :  "  I  will  give  Pharaoh-IIophra,  king 
of  Egypt,  into  the  hand  of  his  enemies,  and 
into  the  hand  of  them  that  seek  his  life." 
There  seems  little  doubt  that  at  the  time  of 
this  rebellion,  and  perhaps  in  conjunction 
with  the  advance  of  Amasis,  Egypt  was  in 
vaded  and  desolated  by  Nebuchadnezzar. 
It  should  be  observed,  however,  that  the  re 
markable  prophecies  of  Ezekiel  may  refer 
for  the  most  part  to  the  invasion  by  Cam- 
byses. 

Amasis  or  Aah-mes  came  to  the  throne  in 
the  year  B.C.  5YO,  and  ruled  with  great  credit 
for  nearly  half  a  century.  He  endeavored 
rather  to  consolidate  the  power  of  Egypt 
than  to  make  extensive  conquests,  and  thus 
he  strengthened  the  country  against  its  dan 
gerous  neighbors  on  the  east.  He  was  not 
regardless  of  the  welfare  of  commerce,  and 

o 

the  efficiency  of  his  navies  is  shown  by  his 
having  subjugated  Cyprus  and  made  it  tribu 
tary.  The  Babylonian  kingdom  became  so 
weak  in  his  days,  that  he  joined  Nabonidus 
its  king,  and  Croesus  the  sovereign  of  Lydia, 
in  an  alliance  to  oppose  Cyrus.  Neverthe 
less  Babylon  fell,  and  with  it  the  remains  of 
the  great  empire  founded  by  Nebuchadnez 
zar,  and  the  defeat  of  Croesus  followed  the 
fall  of  his  ally.  Xenophon  says  that  Croesus 
was  aided  by  a  strong  force  of  Egyptians, 
who  in  a  great  battle  near  Thybarra  main 
tained  themselves  unbroken  until  Cyrus  grant 
ed  them  honorable  terms,  and  that  he  settled 
them  in  the  cities  of  Larissa  and  Cyllene,  on 
the  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  From  the  manner  in 
which  this  is  narrated,  and  particularly  from 
the  evident  appeal  to  the  truth  of  the  narra 
tive  on  account  of  the  cities  beirg  called 
those  of  the  Egyptians,  this  seems  to  be, 
notwithstanding  that  it  occurs  in  the  Oyropiv- 
dia,  a  genuine  fragment  of  history.  If  so. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


257 


•wo  could  well  understand  why  Egypt  was 
unable  to  offer  a  vigorous  resistance  to  the 
Persian  invader  a  few  years  later,  since  it 
would  have  thus  been  deprived  of  a  great 
part  of  the  army.  Monuments  were  raised 
by  Amasis  throughout  Egypt,  of  which  some 
remains  are  yet  to  be  seen,  but  his  works 
were  probably  chiefly  in  Lower  Egypt  and  at 
Sai's  ;  and  hence  there  are  no  very  remarka 
ble  ruins  of  his  time,  since  the  temples  of 
Upper  Egypt  are  the  best  preserved.  To 
wards  the  close  of  his  long  reign  Amasis 
found  himself  obliged  to  make  great  prepar 
ations  to  resist  the  threatened  invasion  of 
Cambyses,  and  at  length  died  a  little  before 
that  calamity  befel  his  country.  His  son, 
Psammenitus,  most  probably  the  Psametik 
III.  of  the  monuments,  ascended  the  throne 
B.C.  525,  and  prepared  to  meet  the  advancing 
enemy.  The  king  of  Egypt,  at  the  head  of 
a  native  and  Greek  army,  awaited  the  inva 
der  at  Pelusium,  which  was  long  regarded 
as  the  key  of  the  country,  and  therefore 
called  in  the  Bible  "Sin,  the  strength  of 
Egypt."  After  an  obstinate  battle  the  Per 
sians  gained  the  day,  and  Cambyses  advanced 
against  Memphis.  Thither  he  despatched  a 
herald  in  a  Mitylenian  vessel ;  but  the  Egyp 
tians,  exasperated  against  the  unjust  invader, 
destroyed  all  on  board.  Cambyses  then  laid 
siege  to  the  city,  wrhose  ancient  fort,  the 
"White  Wall,  offered  a  protracted  resistance, 
but  at  length  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  in 
vader,  with.  Psammenitus  the  king.  There 
upon  Cambyses  signalized  his  victory  by 
characteristic  acts  of  cruelty,  rendered  more 
odious  by  being  partly  enacted  under  a  show 
of  justice,  and  insulted  the  conquered  king 
by  the  humiliation  of  his  daughter  to  the 
rank  of  a  poor  slave,  and  the  execution  of 
his  son  as  a  low  malefactor.  Moved  by  shame 
rather  than  pity,  he  ordered  the  Icing's  son 
to  be  spared  when  it  was  too  late,  but  after 
wards  he  was  not  able  to  refrain  from  the 
meanness  of  dragging  forth  and  burning  the 
mummy  of  Amasis  and  that  of  his  queen. 
This  queen  was  called  Ankh-nes,  her  sar 
cophagus  is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
33 


ISTear  it  was  discovered  her  burnt  mummy. 
One  cannot  but  regret  that  a  desire  to  put  a 
historical  subject  in  a  new  light,  which  has 
worked  so  much  mischief  of  late,  should 
have  raised  up  an  apologist  for  a  despot  of 
whom  no  one  good  act  stands  recorded.  The 
unhappy  Psammenitus,  having  been  led  cap 
tive  to  Susa,  was  after  a  time  put  to  death 
by  drinking  bull's  blood,  for  having  plotted 
against  Cambyses.  It  is  believed  that  Cam 
byses  did  not  at  first  insult  the  Egyptian  re 
ligion  ;  indeed,  there  is  evidence  that  he 
began  by  showing  reverence,  or  a  pretence 
of  reverence,  towards  their  gods  ;  but  having 
failed  in  his  disastrous  expeditions  to  Ethi 
opia  and  the  Oasis  of  Jupiter  Ammon,  he 
became  exasperated  against  the  unfortunate 
Egyptians,  and  destroyed  their  temples  and 
statues,  and  even  wounded  the  bull  Apis. 
After  four  years  spent  in  Egypt,  he  left  the 
country  to  quell  the  rebellion  which  had 
placed  the  Magi  at  the  head  of  affairs,  and 
shortly  after  perished  from  the  effects  of  an 
accidental  hurt. 

Darius,  the  son  of  Hystaspes,  having  over 
thrown  Smerdis,  the  Magus,  early  applied 
himself  to  the  improvement  of  his  great 
empire,  and,  whether  from  policy  or  good 
ness,  strove  to  conciliate  the  various  nations 
that  composed  it.  During  his  visit  to  Egypt 
he  gained  the  favor  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
hieroglyphic  inscriptions  show  that  he  caused 
the  temples  to  be  adorned  with  additional 
sculptures.  Notwithstanding,  the  Egyptians, 
unwilling  to  continue  in  servitude  to  a  for 
eign  power,  revolted  in  the  last  year  but  one 
of  his  reign  (B.C.  486),  but  wrere  reduced  by 
Xerxes,  his  successor,  in  his  second  year  (B.C. 
484).  Xerxes  made  his  brother  Achasmenes 
satrap  of  Egypt,  and  the  province  remained 
quiet  until  his  death,  shortly  after  which 
Egypt  again  rose  against  the  foreign  rulers. 
Inaros,  the  son  of  Psammitichus,  who  was 
sovereign  of  some  of  the  Libyans,  and 
Amyrtseus,  the  Sai'te,  headed  the  insurrec 
tion.  The  Persians  wrere  driven  out ;  and 
the  insurgent  leaders  prepared  to  resist  their 
return,  by  raising  a  native  and  mercenary 


258 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WORLD. 


force,  and  securing  the  assistance  of  the 
Athenians.  Artaxerxes,  as  soon  as  he  was 
firmly  established  on  the  throne,  took  meas 
ures  towards  regaining  the  lost  province. 
An  enormous  army,  said  to  have  consisted 
of  400,000  men,  and  a  fleet,  were  dispatched 
under  the  command  of  Achcemenes,  the  late 
satrap.  Inaros  and  Amyrtaeus,  instead  of 
awaiting  the  advance  of  the  Persians  at  the 
eastern  frontier,  wisely  stationed  their  army 
in  the  western  part  of  the  Delta,  where,  if  de 
feated,  they  could  retire  into  Libya ;  and,  if 
successful,  they  could  place  their  enemies  in 
a  most  dangerous  position.  They  joined 
battle  near  Papremis,  the  city  of  the  Egyp 
tian  Mars,  and  the  Persians  were  disastrous 
ly  routed.  The  Athenians  rendered  great 
services,  but  the  fortune  of  the  day  was  de 
cided  by  the  valor  of  Inaros,  who  mortally 
wounded  Achoemenes  in  single  combat.  The 
Atheniars  pursued  the  fugitive  Persians  by 
water,  and  blockaded  them  in  the  castle  of 
Memphis.  Artaxerxes  then  despatched  a 
second  expedition,  under  Megabyzus,  the  son 
cf  Zopyrus  and  Artabazus,  which,  with  the 
remains  of  the  army  of  Achsemenes,  appears 
to  have  exceeded  in  magnitude  that  unfortu 
nate  force.  The  Egyptians  and  Greeks  ad 
vanced  from  Memphis,  where  they  were  still 
engaged  in  the  siege  of  the  castle,  and  were 
routed  by  the  Persians  in  a  battle,  in  which 
Inaros  was  wounded  by  Megabyzus.  Having 
retreated  to  the  island  Prosopitis,  the  defeat 
ed  forces  maintained  themselves  for  more 
than  a  year,  until  the  Persians,  having,  part 
ly  at  least,  cut  off  the  wrater  which  formed 
their  best  defense,  forced  them  to  capitulate. 
Inaros  surrendered,  on  condition  that  his  life 
should  be  spared — an  engagement  that  was 
broken  after  he  had  been  five  years  a  cap 
tive,  and  he  was  crucified  to  gratify  the  re 
venge  of  Amylis,  the  mother  of  Achaemenes. 
Amyrtfleus,  more  fortunate  than  his  colleague, 
escaped  to  the  fens,  where,  in  the  island  of 
Elbo,  he  defied  all  attempts  of  the  Persians 
to  reduce  him.  The  warlike  inhabitants  of 
that  part  of  Egypt  warmly  supported  his 
cause,  and  their  maritime  position  ensured 


them  the  succor  of  the  Athenians.  Artaxer 
xes  Longimanus  granted  some  privileges 
to  the  conquered ;  and,  in  particular,  made 
Thannyris,  the  son  of  Inaros,  and  Pausiris, 
the  son  of  Amyrtseus,  governors ;  thus  in  a 
manner  causing  them  to  succeed  their  fathers. 
Early  in  the  reign  of  Darius  Nothus,  after  a 
long  interval  of  rest,  Egypt  became  again 
disturbed,  and  in  his  tenth  year  (B.C.  414) 
successfully  asserted  its  independence.  The 
details  of  the  struggle  are  not  known  to  us ; 
all  that  can  be  said  with  certainty  is  that 
Amyrtffius,  the  Sa'ite,  was  proclaimed  king, 
and  was  the  first  of  a  short  series  of  Egyptian 
monarchs. 

The  rule  of  Amyrtreus,  the  sole  king  of 
the  Twenty-eighth  Dynasty,  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  marked  by  events  of  impor 
tance.  After  having  governed  six  years,  he 
was  succeeded  by  the  first  king  of  the  Twen 
ty-ninth  Dynasty.  From  this  period  until 
the  final  extinction  of  the  Egyptian  kingdom 
considerable  difficulties  beset  our  inquiries1 
from  the  conflicting  statements  of  historians 
The  first  of  the  Mcndesians  (B.C. 408),  !Nef(-i- 
ites  or  !Nephreus,  ruled  tranquilly  for  SIA 
years,  unmolested  by  the  Persians,  whom  he 
opposed  by  aiding  their  enemies  the  Greeks. 
Achoris  or  Ackoris,  the  Hakori  of  the  mon 
uments  (B.C.  402),  governed  for  thirteen 
years  or  more  prosperously.  lie  made  great 
efforts  to  repel  the  advance  of  the  Persians: 
and  raised  a  force  of  mercenaries,  of  which 
he  gave  the  command  to  the  Athenian  gen 
eral,  Chabrias.  Many  sculptures  attest  the 
happiness  of  Egypt  during  this  time  of 
peace.  Two  kings,  of  whom  nothing  is 
known,  followed  Achoris,  ruling  for  a  year 
and  four  months ;  and  with  the  second  of 
them  the  dynasty  came  to  a  close,  unless 
Eusebius  be  right  in  adding  a  tliird  king, 
with  a  rule  of  one  year. 

A  new  line,  the  Thirtieth  Dynasty,  of 
Sebennyte  kings,  succeeded  to  the  supreme' 
powrer.  The  first  of  this  dynasty  was  Nec- 
tanebes  I.,  called  in  the  hieroglyphic  inscrip 
tions  ISTekht-nebf.  His  accession  may  be 
probably  placed  in  the  year  B.C.  380,  and  he 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


259 


at  once  began  to  take  vigorous  measures  to 
defend  the  kingdom  against  the  Persians, 
who,  under  the  powerful  satrap  Pharnabazus, 
were  making  formidable  preparations  to  re 
duce  it.  The  Athenians,  with  characteristic 
baseness,  deserted  his  cause  ;  and  having  sent 
for  Chabrias  from  Egypt,  despatched  another 
eminent  general,  Iphicrates,  to  command  the 
Greeks  who  served  under  the  Persians.  The 
King  of  Egypt,  unaided  by  foreign  troops, 
made  the  best  disposition  of  his  forces,  and 
strengthened  all  assailable  points.  In  the 
year  B.C.  373,  the  Persians  entered  Egypt, 
led  by  Pharnabazus  and  Iphicrates,  and  find 
ing  Pelusium  too  strong  for  them,  landed  a 
force  at  the  Mendesian  mouth  of  the  Nile, 
and  captured  the  fort  •which  defended  it. 
But  this  success  did  not  endure.  The  gen 
erals  differed  as  to  the  plan  of  the  campaign, 
and  Nectanebes  worsted  the  enemy  in  sever 
al  skirmishes  and  also  in  a  battle.  The  diffi 
culties  of  their  position  were  increased  by 
the  overflow  of  the  Nile.  Iphicrates  fled 
secretly  thence  by  sea,  and  Pharnabazus  was 
compelled  to  make  a  disgraceful  retreat. 
This  expedition  is  of  no  little  importance,  as 
it  shows  that  the  Egyptians,  without  foreign 
aid,  on  at  least  one  occasion,  both  outman 
oeuvred  and  defeated  a  powerful  Greek  force, 
acting  with  a  great  Persian  army  ;  and  serves 
to  warn  us  against  believing  what  the  Greek 
historians,  with  the  inordinate  vanity  of  their 
nation,  tell  us  on  so  many  occasions,  that  the 
preservation  of  the  Egyptian  kingdom  was 
owing  to  the  bravery  of  their  mercenary 
troops.  During  the  rest  of  the  reign  of 
Nectanebes  Egypt  remained  unmolested, 
and  the  king  repaired  or  beautified  the  tem 
ples. 

Tachos,  or  Teos,  succeeded  Nectanebes  I. 
in  about  the  year  B.C.  361.  His  first  care 
was  to  take  advantage  of  the  distracted  state 
of  the  Persian  empire,  and  to  raise  an  army 
and  fleet  by  which  to  recover  the  influence 
of  Egypt  in  Syria.  The  command  of  the 
fleet  he  gave  to  Chabrias,  the  Athenian,  and 
tli  at  of  the  Greek  mercenaries  he  intrusted 
to  the  celebrated  Agesilaus,  king  of  Sparta, 


while  he  himself  was  general-in-chief.  Agesi 
laus  was  displeased  that  such  a  subordinate 
command  was  bestowed  upon  him,  and  hia 
enmity  had  no  little  share  in  the  subsequent 
misfortunes  of  Tachos,  which  were  as  much 
owing  to  the  friendly  counsels  of  Chabrias. 
In  order  to  raise  money  for  the  prosecution 
of  the  war,  it  became  necessary  to  tax  the 
inhabitants  of  Egypt  heavily ;  and  this,  com 
bined  with  the  obnoxious  character  of  the  tax 
es,  and  the  unfair  extortion  practiced  towards 
the  priests,  aroused  the  national  discontent. 
"When  the  king  was  already  in  Phoenicia,  his 
brother  Nectanebes,  whom  he  had  left  to 
govern  Egypt,  plotted  against  him ;  and 
persuaded  his  own  son,  of  the  same  name  as 
himself,  who  was  at  the  head  of  some  forces 
in  Syria,  to  try  for  the  supreme  power. 
Agesilaus  was  gained  over  by  the  usurper, 
and  Chabrias  was  probably  recalled  by  tho 
Athenians,  while  the  Egyptian  forces  desert 
ed  their  king.  Tachos  could  only  flee,  but 
his  true  character  is  shown  by  his  immedi 
ately  repairing  to  Artaxerxes  Mnemon.  The 
king  of  Persia,  following  the  national  policy, 
both  received  the  fugitive  well,  and  pro 
jected  an  expedition  against  Egypt  under 
his  command  ;  but  neither  lived  to  see  this 
design  carried  out,  and  Tachos  is  said  to  have 
died  a  victim  to  the  consequences  of  the  lux 
ury  of  the  Persian  court. 

In  the  meantime  Nectanebes  II.  (B.C.  359) 
established  himself  on  the  throne  by  the  aid 
of  Agesilaus.  A  Mendesian  leader,  whom 
Tachos  had  chosen  for  his  successor,  had 
raised  a  large  though  unwarlike  force  and 
proclaimed  himself  king ;  but  after  a  san 
guinary  contest,  the  king  of  Sparta  and 
Nectanebes  put  him  to  rout,  and  Egypt  was 
thus  tranquilized.  These  intestine  strug 
gles,  however,  had  greatly  contributed  to  the 
fall  of  Egypt,  and  may  be  partly,  at  least, 
ascribed  to  the  turbulent  mercenaries,  whose 
policy  must  be  condemned,  even  if  we  judge, 
as  alone  we  can,  from  the  partial  accounts  of 
their  countrymen,  the  Greek  historians,  and 
those  who  drew  their  information  fr  >m  them. 
Had  it  not  been  for  this  civil  war,  although 


260 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  expedition  into  Syria  might  have  "been 
unsuccessful,  Egypt  would  have  retained 
strength  enough  to  -withstand  the  Persians 

D  O 

for  the  few  years  of  weakness  that  preceded 
the  faL  of  their  empire.  The  early  part  of 
the  reign  of  Kectanebes  II.  was  prosperous, 
and  he  resisted  with  success  the  eiforts  which 
Artaxerxes,  or  Darius,  Ochus,  made  to  re 
conquer  the  country,  and  aided  the  Sidonians 
and  other  Phoenicians  in  throwing  off  the 
Persian  yoke.  The  indolent  king  of  Persia, 
roused  by  these  disasters,  collected  a  great 
army  and  fleet,  took  Sidon,  subdued  all 
Phoenicia,  and  reduced  Cyprus.  Mentor,  the 
Rhodian,  a  leader  of  Greek  mercenaries  in 
the  service  of  Nectanebes,  who  had  been 
sent  by  him  to  aid  the  Phoenicians  in  their 
revolt,  deserted  to  Ochus,  and  the  route  to 
Egypt  lay  open  to  the  victorious  army.  Nec- 
tanebes  prepared  to  make  a  vigorous  resist 
ance,  by  strengthening  every  defensible  posi 
tion  and  collecting  an  army  of  Egyptians, 
Libyans,  and  Greeks.  Pelusium  was  suc 
cessfully  defended  by  a  Greek  garrison 
against  the  Thebans  in  the  service  of  Ochus, 
until  Nicostratus,  the  leader  of  his  Argive 
mercenaries,  having  learnt  by  treachery  a 
means  of  getting  to  the  rear  of  the  main 
Egyptian  force  under  Nectanebes  which  was 
encamped  near  by,  not  only  executed  the 
manoeuvre  but  maintained  himself  by  defeat 
ing  the  Greek  garrison  of  a  fortress  which 
sallied  forth  to  oppose  him.  Then  the  king 
of  Egypt,  menaced  by  a  superior  army,  part 
ly  in  front  of  his  position  and  partly  in  its 
rear,  retreated  with  his  whole  field  force  to 
Memphis.  The  Greek  garrison  of  Pelusium 
surrendered  on  terms  to  their  fellow-country 
men,  and  the  garrisons  of  the  other  strong 
places  of  Lower  Egypt  followed  their  example. 
Xectanebes,  believing  that  he  could  not 
effectually  oppose  the  invader,  fled  to  Ethio 
pia  by  the  river.  Thus  Egypt  again  fell  into 
the  power  of  Persia  in  about  the  year  B.C. 
350,  according  to  the  best  authorities.  From 
that  time  until  our  own  days,  a  period  of 
twenty-two  centuries,  no  native  ruler  has- sat 
Dn  the. throne  of  Egypt,  in  striking  fulfil 


ment  of  the  prophecy,  "  there  shall  be  nc 
more  a  prince  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 

Ochus,  having  gained  possession  of  Egypt, 
signalized  his  success  by  outrages  which  it  is 
needless  here  to  relate.  lie  did  all  in  his 
power  to  insult  the  religious  feelings  of  the 
unhappy  Egyptians,  and  seems  to  have  gone 
beyond  Cambyses  in  his  furious  acts  of  bar 
barity.  After  a  few  years  of  Persian  rule 
which  are  a  blank  in  the  history  of  Egypt,  that 
country  passed  into  the  hands  of  Alexander 
the  Great  in  the  course  of  his  conquest  of 
the  empire  whereof  it  wras  a  province. 

From  the  time  of  Alexander  commences  a 
brighter  period  of  Egyptian  history,  although 
its  annals  are  those  of  Greek  sovereigns  and 
it  witnessed  the  decay  of  Egyptian  nation 
ality.  As  the  enemy  and  vanquisher  of  the 
Persians,  Alexander  was  received  in  Egypt 
(B.  c.  332)  as  a  deliverer.  The  Persian  gov 
ernor  had  not  forces  sufficient  to  oppose 
him,  and  the  cities  opened  their  gates  to  him 
without  even  a  show  of  resistance.  Alexan 
der  visited  Memphis,  founded  Alexandria, 
and  went  on  pilgrimage  to  the  oracle  of 
Jupiter  Ammon,  manifesting  on  every  oc 
casion  the  greatest  respect  for  the  Egyptian 
religion.  He  then  organized  the  govern 
ment  of  the  country,  and  departed  to  com 
plete  his  subjugation  of  the  Persian  empire. 
For  the  remainder  of  his  short  reign,  Egypt 
continued  undisturbed,  and  though  not  well 
governed  in  his  absence,  enjoyed  greater 
happiness  and  security  than  it  had  for  a  long 
antecedent  period. 

On  the  division  of  Alexander's  empire,  the 
government  of  Egypt  fell  to  the  share  of 
Ptolemy,  the  son  of  Lagus,  afterwards  sur- 
named  Soter,  one  of  his  favorite  generals 
(B.  c.  323).  He  was  content  for  the  present 
to  govern  in  the  name  of  Amdhajus  or  Ari- 
doeus,  the  feeble  successor  of  Alexander,  but 
did  not  neglect  to  get  together  an  efficient 
army  by  which  to  maintain  his  position. 
Xot  long  after  he  reached  Egypt  the  intes 
tine  troubles  of  Gyrene  enabled  him  to  annex 
it  to  his  government,  and  about  the  same 
time  he  made  another  stroke  of  policy.  The 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


261 


regent  Perdiccas  having  despatched  the  body 
of  Alexander  from  Babylon  in  order  that  it 
should  be  buried  in  Macedonia,  Ptolemy  met 
the  important  charge  in  Syria,  and  having 
gained  to  his  side  the  general  who  escorted 
it,  carried  it  to  Memphis  until  a  tomb  should 
be  fit  for  its  reception  at  Alexandria.  Per 
diccas,  irritated  at  Ptolemy's  having  thus 
gained  possession  of  Alexander's  body,  which 
was  in  this  manner  a  source  of  war  after  it  had 
ceased  to  contain  the  ambitious  soul,  marched 
against  Egypt  to  punish  the  governor.  After 
an  encounter  near  Pelusium,  in  which  Pto 
lemy  had  the  advantage,  Perdiccas  outman 
oeuvred  him  by  a  night  march  towards  Mem 
phis,  but  was  afterwards  worsted  in  endeav 
oring  to  cross  the  Kile  near  that  city.  Many 
of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  invading  force 
now  deserted  to  Ptolemy,  and  Perdiccas  was 
assassinated  by  his  officers.  On  this  the 
army,  with  which  were  not  only  Philip  Ar- 
rhidtEus,  but  Alexander  JEgus,  the  heir- 
presumptive  to  the  uhrone,  submitted  to 
Ptolemy,  who  allowed  it  to  depart  to  Mace 
donia,  having  appointed  two  guardians  for 
the  king  and  prince.  The  governor  of  Egypt, 
pursuing  his  advantage,  sent  an  army  which 
reduced  Phoenicia  and  Ccele-Syria  ;  and 
probably  it  was  at  this  time  that  he  subdued 
Palestine.  After  a  period  of  prosperity 
which  was  spent  in  adorning  the  new  city  of 
Alexandria  with  magnificent  buildings,  and 
settling  the  details  of  government  with  a 
view  to  the  benefit  of  the  country,  Ptolemy 
was  called  upon  to  defend  Egypt  against  the 
threatened  invasion  of  Antigonus.  Syria 
and  Pho3nicia  were  subjugated  by  the  King 
of  Asia  (B.C.  315 — 314),  but  in  the  next  year 
Ptolemy  quelled  an  insurrection  in  Gyrene, 
and  reduced  Cyprus,  in  which  he  had  before 
established  a  footing.  Having  sailed  from 
Cyprus,  he  made  a  hasty  inroad  in  which  he 
inflicted  some  loss  on  Antigonus  by  taking 
cities  on  the  coasts  of  northern  Syria  and 
Cilicia,  and  returned  by  sea  to  Alexandria. 
En  the  following  year  (B.C.  312)  he  advanced 
into  Palestine  r.nd  routed  the  forces  of  Demet 
rius,  the  son  of  Antigonus,  at  Gaza  Ptelemy 


thus  regained  Phoenicia  ;  and  Seleucus,  who 
had  been  forced  to  flee  to  him,  was  restored 
to  his  government  of  Babylonia.    Antigonus 
now    marched   against  Ptolemy  from  Asia 
Minor,  but  the  latter  retired   into  Egypt, 
leaving  his  opponent  the  dangerous  task  of 
invading  that  country.     After  having  failed 
in  two  attacks  on  Petra,  Antigonus  retreated, 
and  a  peace  was  concluded  by  which  Ptole 
my  resigned  Palestine  to  him.    The  death  of 
Alexander  yEgus  in  the  same  year  rendered 
Ptolemy   altogether  independent,   although 
he  did  not  assume  the  title  of  king,  except 
on  the  Egyptian  monuments,  until  B.C.  306. 
All  his  earlier  sculptures  bear  the  names  oi 
Philip    Arrhidseus   and    Alexander    ^Egus, 
and  the  rest  his  own  as  king,  none  having  been 
found  with  an  inferior  title ;  and  it  is  therefore 
reasonable  to  conclude  that  he  assumed  in  the 
hieroglyphic  inscriptions  the  regal  style  imme 
diately   on  the  death  of  Alexander   ^Egus. 
Ptolemy  soon  after  that  event  led  an  army 
against   the   territory   of    Antigonus,   from 
whom  he   took  many  places  in  Syria   and 
Caria,  as  well  as  the  island  of  Cos ;  but  he 
soon  met  with  a  signal  reverse,  for  Demet 
rius  engaging  his  fleet  with  an  inferior  force, 
off  Salamis  of  Cyprus,  almost  annihilated  it, 
Ptolemy  himself  escaping,  though  his   son 
Leontiscus,  as  well  as  his  brother  Menelaus, 
thus  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands.     By  this 
victory  Cyprus  came  into  the  possession  ol 
Demetrius.     Elated  by  this  success,  Antigo 
nus   marched  against    Egypt   with   a  large 
army,  but  was  repulsed,  and  retired  as  be 
fore  without  having  effected  anything.     Pto 
lemy  then  assumed  the  offensive,  regained 
Ccele-Syria,    and  having   united  his  forces 
with  those  of  Lysimachus,    Cassander,  and 
Seleucus,  joined  battle   at  Ipsus   with  the 
forces   of    Antigonus   and    Pyrrhus.      The 
latter  were  routed,  and  Antigonus,  the  most 
formidable  opponent  of  Ptolemy,  fell  in  the 
battle.     Having  ruled  in  comparative  peace 
for  several  years  after  this  decisive  victory, 
Ptolemy  abdicated  in  favor  of  his  son  Phila- 
delphus.     His  character  was  that  of  a  pru 
dent  prince,  generally  merciful,  of  moderate 


202 


HISTOEY  OF   THE  WOULD. 


ambition,  and  rarely  guilty  of  political  in 
justice.  He  warmly  patronized  literature, 
the  sciences,  and  the  fine  arts,  and  showed 
an  enlightened  disposition  by  granting  the 
Jews  privileges  which  induced  them  to 
settle  in  great  numbers  at  Alexandria. 

Ptolemy,  surnamedPhiladelphus(B.c.  285), 
inherited  a  kingdom  that  comprised  not 
Egypt  alone,  but  the  south  coast  of  Asia  Mi 
nor,  much  of  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Cyprus, 
which  had  been  recovered  in  B.C.  295.  But 
after  his  father's  death,  which  occurred  B.C. 
283,  the  first  of  those  internecine  struggles 
that  disgrace  the  history  of  the  Ptolemies 
broke  out.  The  king's  half-brother  Magas, 
governor*  of  Gyrene,  revolted,  and  a  war 
commenced,  which  after  some  years'  contin 
uance,  was  concluded  by  a  treaty  by  which 
the  daughter  of  Magas  was  to  marry  the  son 

o  o  «/ 

of  Philadelphia,  and  to  receive  as  a  dowry 
the  reversion  of  the  possessions  of  her  father, 
to  whom  she  was  the  sole  heir.  The  death 
of  Magas  soon  followed,  and  Gyrene  was 
after  a  time  restored  to  Egypt.  Two  other 
brothers  of  Philadelphia  were  subsequently 
put  to  death  on  different  occasions  by  him  on 
the  ground  of  treason,  of  which  one  of  them 
wan  certainly  guilty.  In  the  eleventh  year 
of  Philadelphia  he  sent  an  embassy  to  Rome 
to  congratuate  the  republic  on  having  repel 
led  Pyrrhus,  and  to  make  a  treaty ;  and  an 
embassy  from  the  People  visited  .Egypt  in 
return.  Except  the  struggle  with  Magas, 
the  rule  of  Philadelphia  was  almost  un 
marked  by  war.  A  contest  with  Antiochus 
II.,  king  of  Syria,  ended  in  a  treaty  by  which 
he  took  to  wife  Berenice  the  daughter  of 
Philadelphia,  who  acquired  no  military  re 
nown.  His  long  reign  was  rather  distin 
guished  by  the  erection  or  completion  of 
magnificent  buildings,  and  the  advance  of 
trade  by  the  formation  or  repair  of  ports 
and  stations,  and  the  completion  of  the  cele 
brated  Pharos  of  Alexandria.  He  followed 
his  father's  example  in  patronizing  men  of 
.etters,  painteis,  sculptors,  and  the  professors 
of  science,  and  continued  to  favor  the  Jews. 
Nevertheless  his  private  character  cannot 


claim  our  admiration.  Without  being  war 
like,  he  was  cruel,  as  towards  his  unfortunate 
brothers,  and  in  the  destruction  of  his  G  aul- 
isli  mercenaries,  which,  however  politic,  was 
most  barbarous.  He  was  luxurious  and 
licentious  in  his  manners,  and  seems  to  have 
owed  his  reputation  of  a  great  king  rather  tc 
circumstances  than  to  character. '  In  no 
sense  did  he  ever  show  himself  heroic,  and 
had  his  dominions  been  seriously  endangered 
he  would  probably  have  left  us  little  cause  to 
respect  him  as  a  warrior  or  a  statesman. 
Having  ruled  thirty-eight  yefirs  he  left  his 
kingdom  to  his  eldest  son  Ptolemy,  sur- 
named  Euergetes. 

Ptolemy  Euergetes  was  at  the  beginning 
of  his  reign  (B.C.  247)  called  to  take  an  active 
part  by  the  trouble  that  befell  his  sister 
Berenice,  the  wife  of  Antiochus  II.,  king  of 
Syria.  That  sovereign  having  repudiated 
her,  and  taken  back  his  first  wife  Laodice, 
was  murdered  by  the  latter,  whose  eldest 
son,  Seleucus  II.,  assumed  the  reins  of 
power.  By  his,  or  rather  his  mother's  or 
ders,  Berenice  and  her  son  were  slain,  before 
Euenretes  could  afford  them  succour.  Euer- 

O 

getes,  however,  avenged  his  sister  in  a  bril 
liant  expedition,  by  which  he  secured  much 
of  Syria  and  Asia  Minor.  Afterwards  So- 
leiicus  attacked  Ptolemy,  but  was  routed  by 
his  forces  and  those  of  his  rebellious  brother 
Antiochus  Ilierax.  The  latter,  however, 
when  fortune  deserted  him  sought  refuge 
with  Ptolemy,  by  whom  he  was  kept  in  cus 
tody  until  he  made  his  escape  and  perished 
in  his  flight.  The  king  of  Egypt  next  con 
ducted  an  expedition  into  Ethiopia,  where  he 
made  extensive  conquests.  But  notwith 
standing  these  warlike  actions,  Ptolemy  con 
tinued  the  generous  patronage  his  prede 
cessors  had  extended  to  literature  and  science, 
and  was  specially  attentive  in  improving  the 
great  temples  of  Egypt,  or  adding  others  to 
them.  These,  like  all  the  edifices  of  the 
country,  excepting  those  of  Alexandria,  were 
in  the  native  style  of  architecture,  which, 
although  it  had  undergone  some  changes 
was  still  that  of  the  time  of  the  Pharaohs 


HISTOEY    OF    THE    WOKLD. 


263 


His  temples  and  those  of  the  other  Ptole 
mies  and  Cnesars,  excel  many  of  the  more 
ancient  in  size,  though  far  inferior  to  them 
both  in  architectural  beauty  and  in  the  exe 
cution  of  their  sculptures.  But  they  were 
not  wholly  raised  by  royal  munificence,  for 
large  contributions  from  various  cities,  and 
even  from  foreign  countries,  aided  in  their 
construction.  This  circumstance,  however, 
affords  a  strong  evidence  of  the  wealth  of 
the  subjects,  and  the  freedom  which  they 
enjoyed. 

The  reign  of  Ptolemy  Philopator,  the 
eldest  son  and  successor  to  Euergetes,  com 
menced  with  an  act  of  infamy,  in  the  mur 
der  of  his  mother  Berenice,  his  brother 
Magas,  and  his  uncle  Lysimachus.  An- 
tiochus  (III)  the  Great  soon  attempted  to 
break  the  power  of  Egypt  in  Syria,  and  re 
duced,  by  treachery  and  by  force,  the  chief 
possessions  of  Ptolemy  in  that  country,  Phoe 
nicia,  and  Palestine.  Philopator  having  col 
lected  his  forces,  marched  with  75,000  men 
against  the  enemy,  who  now  threatened 
Egypt,  A  battle,  before  which  the  soldiers 
of  Ptolemy  had  been  encouraged  by  the  ex 
hortations  of  Arsinoe  the  queen,  was  fought 
at  Raphia,  on  the  boundary,  and  the  army 
of  Antiochus  was  signally  defeated.  A 
treaty  was  soon  concluded,  by  which  the 
idng  of  Syria  resigned  his  newly  acquired 
territories.  At  Jerusalem,  and  after  his  re 
turn  to  Egypt,  Ptolemy  treated  the  Jews  in 
a  cruel  manner,  but  afterwards  stayed  the 
persecution.  Towards  the  close  of  his  reign 
he  murdered  Arsinoe,  his  sister  and  queen, 
and  died,  worn  out  by  his  vices,  and  unre- 
gretted  by  his  subjects.  "With  no  good 
quality  but  a  respect  for  letters  and  science, 
Philopator's  character  was  marked  by  cruelty 
of  the  basest  description,  and  by  the  greatest 
debauchery,  and  with  him  began  the  decline 
of  the  Greek  kingdom  of  Egypt. 

Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  the  son  of  Philopator, 
was  yet  a  child  when  he  succeeded  his  father 
(B.  c.  205).  His  reign  was  ushered  in  by  a 
serious  riot,  in  which  the  guilty  minister  and 
favorites  of  the  late  kim*  fell  victims  to  the 


vengeance  of  the  people.  This  disturb  Lnce 
was  followed  by  a  graver  danger,  for  An 
tiochus  the  Great,  Ving  of  Syria,  and  Philip 
IV.,  of  Macedonia,  formed  an  alliance  in 
order  to  strip  the  young  king  of  his  posses 
sions.  Antiochus  defeated  the  forces  ot 
Ptolemy,  and  speedily  acquired  Coele-Syria 
and  Phoenicia,  as  well  as  Judea,  being  sup 
ported  by  the  Jews,  who  had  hitherto  been 
governed  by  the  kings  of  Egypt.  In  this 
juncture  those  who  ruled  Egypt  for  the 
young  king  requested  the  Roman  people  to 
become  his  guardians,  now  that  the  very 
existence  of  the  kingdom  was  threatened  by 
such  formidable  enemies.  The  senate  of 
Rome  did  not  hesitate  to  accept  a  trust 
which  promised  so  greatly  to  forward  their 
ambitious  views,  and  having  recently  over 
thrown  Hannibal  and  crushed  the  power  of 
Carthage,  they  felt  able  to  support  their 
client  against  the  kings  of  Syria  and  Mace 
donia.  Accordingly,  they  despatched  mes 
sages  to  those  sovereigns  commanding  them  to 
abstain  from  attacking  Ptolemy's  dominions, 
and  Marcus  Lepidus,  one  of  their  ambassa 
dors,  became  Ptolemy's  guardian.  Antiochus 
did  not,  however,  desist  from  his  enterprise ; 
but  being  at  length  intimidated  by  a  second 
warning  of  the  displeasure  of  Rome,  he 
entered  into  a  treaty  with  Egypt,  promising 
his  daughter  to  the  young  king,  with  the 
conquered  territory  for  a  marriage  portion. 
Before  Epiphanes  had  attained  his  majority, 
the  native  Egyptians  revolted,  and  were  not 
reduced  without  a  severe  contest.  They 
stood  a  siege  in  the  town  of  Lycopolis,  in 
the  Delta,  but  the  place  was  at  length  cap 
tured  and  the  rebels  subdued.  In  the  year 
B.  c.  196,  the  king  was  declared  to  be  of  a<n3, 

/  Ci  O      J 

and  was  crowned  at  Memphis.  To  com 
memorate  this  event,  as  well  as  the  privileges 
which  had  been  granted  by  the  king  to  tlut 
people,  and  particularly  to  the  priesthood, 
the  priests  issued  a  decree,  of  which  copies 
carved  on  stone,  were  placed  in  the  temples. 
One  of  these  copies  was  fortunately  discover 
ed  during  the  French  occupation ;  arid,  bear 
ing  an  inscription  in  Greek  as  weJ  as  in 


204 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


hieroglyphic  and  enchorial,  it  furnished  Eu 
ropean  scholars  with  the  means  of  interpret 
ing  the  ancient  characters  of  Egypt.  This 
tablet,  which  is  now  in  the  British  Museum, 
bears  the  name  of  the  "Rosetta  Stone." 
Three  years  after  his  coronation,  Cleopatra, 
the  daughter  of  Antiochus,  was  married  to 
Ptolemy,  in  fulfilment  of  the  treaty  previous 
ly  concluded ;  but  her  promised  marriage- 
portion  of  Judea,  Ccele-Syria,  and  Phoenicia, 
was  never  given  up  by  the  king  of  Syria, 
who  appears  to  have  warred  against  Ptolemy 
as  soon  as  he  became  his  son-in-law.  The 
king  of  Egypt  made  scarcely  an  exertion  to 
recover  his  provinces,  and  at  length  fell  a 
victim  to  poison,  having  reigned  twenty -four 
years  with  indolence,  incapacity,  and  cruelty. 
Ptolemy  Philcinetor  came  to  the  throne  of 
his  father  while  yet  a  child  (B.  c.  181),  and 
Egypt  had  again  a  minor  for  its  sovereign. 
'  His  mother  Cleopatra,  who  was  worthy  of 
her  father  Antiochus  the  Great,  governed 
the  country  for  the  young  king,  and  main 
tained  peace  with  her  brothers  Seleucus  IV. 
and  Antiochus  IY.  Epiphanes,  kings  of  Syria. 
Ptolemy,  after  a  few  years,  had  the  misfortune 
to  lose  his  mother,  and  then,  through  the 
headstrong  poacy  of  his  ministers,  to  become 
involved  in  a  war  with  the  king  of  Syria. 
Antiochus  soon  inarched  against  Egypt, 
routed  the  army  of  Ptolemy  near  Pelusium, 
took  Memphis  and  gained  possession  of  the 
person  of  the  king.  His  younger  brother  as 
sumed  the  sovereignty  at  Alexandria,  taking 
the  name  of  Euergetes  II.,  although  he  was 
usually  known  afterwards  as  Physcon,  an  ap 
pellation  which  he  received  on  account  of  the 
bloated  appearance  which  his  intemperate 
habits  had  given  him.  Antiochus  besieged 
the  new  king  in  Alexandria,  but  ambassa 
dors  from  Rome  having  arrived  during  the 
siege  compelled  him  to  withdraw,  retaining 
nothing  but  Pelusium,  which  he  garrisoned 
with  a  strong  force.  He  took  away  great 
spoil,  so  that  the  expedition  cannot  be  re 
garded  as  having  been  whollv  fruitless.  On 
the  departure  of  the  invader,  Philometor 
and  Euergetes  made  peace  with  one  another, 


determining  to  rule  jointly,  and  Cleopatra 
their  sister,  who  had  taken  part  with  Euer 
getes,  became  the  queen  of  Philometor.  lu 
the  following  year  (B.  c.  168)  the  restless 
Antiochus  again  invaded  the  kingdom  of  his 
nephews,  while  his  fleet  subjugated  Cyprus, 
but  after  penetrating  into  the  heart  of  Egypt, 
was  forced  to  retreat  as  before  by  the  Roman 
ambassadors.  ]STot  long  after  this,  strife 
again  arose  between  the  brothers,  and  Phys 
con  having  expelled  Philometor,  the  lattei 
carried  his  case  before  the  Roman  senate 
That  council  decided  to  restore  Philometoi 
to  all  his  dominions  excepting  Cyrene,  which 
they  assigned  to  Physcon.  In  the  ensuing 
year,  however,  Physcon  went  to  Rome  to  re 
quest  the  senate  to  reconsider  their  decision 
and  grant  him  Cyprus  which  was  now  in  his 
brothers  hands,  and  to  this  petition  they  as 
sented.  Philometor,  however,  would  not 
obey  this  order,  and  the  Romans  ultimately 
renounced  their  alliance  with  him,  and  com 
manded  his  ambassadors  to  leave  the  city  in 
five  days.  In  the  meantime  Gyrene  had 
risen  against  Physcon,  and  when  he  had  sub 
dued  the  people  with  difficulty,  he  again 
visited  Rome  to  prosecute  his  cause. 
Strengthened  by  a  fresh  decision  of  the 
senate,  and  otherwise  aided  by  that  body, 
Physcon,  having  raised  an  army,  attempted 
to  subdue  Cyprus.  His  brother  opposed  him 
in  person,  leading  the  Egyptian  forces,  and 
having  defeated  him,  forced  him  to  surrender. 
Philometor  most  generously  restored  Cyrene 
to  Physcon,  and  granted  him  other  territories 
in  the  place  of  Cyprus ;  thus  showing  ex 
traordinary  clemency  to  which  the  histoiy  of 
the  time  scarcely  affords  a  parallel,  not  less 
remarkable  than  the  courage  with  which  he 
refused  to  obey  an  unjust  decision  of  the 
Roman  senate.  Philometor  was  next  in 
volved  in  war  with  Demetrius  Soter,  king  of 
Syria,  and  lent  his  support  to  Alexander 
Balas,  who  slew  his  adversary  in  battle. 
Having,  however,  discovered  that  Alexander 
was  engaged  in  plotting  against  him,  Philo 
metor  aided  Demetrius  Nicator  in  overthrow- 
his  father's  enemy.  In  a  decisive  battle 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


2G5 


Ptolemy  fell,  having  been  carried  by  his 
horse  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy's  forces, 
and  thus  terminated  his  long  ai.d  chequered 
reign.  If  not  a  great  king,  he  was  certainly 
a  good  one,  brave  without  cruelty,  and  mer 
ciful  without  weakness.  Literature  and 
science  flourished  under  his  protection,  and 
magnificent  temples  were  raised,  or  partly 
built,  during  his  rule.  JSTot  the  least  remark 
able  proof  of  his  enlightenment  was  the  fa 
vor  he  showed  the  Jews,  one  event  in  whose 
history  must  not  be  passed  by  without  notice. 
When  Judea  passed  from  the  hands  of  the 
Ptolemies  into  those  of  the  Seleucidse,  cer 
tain  of  the  Jews  continued  to  hold  with  the 
former,  not  forgetting  the  favors  they  had 
received  from  some  of  the  kings  of  Egypt. 
Onias,  the  high  priest,  and  many  others  hav. 
ing  been  expelled  Jerusalem  for  this  par 
tiality,  took  refuge  with  the  king  of  Egypt, 
who  granted  them  land  near  lleliopolis,  and 
permitted  them  to  raise  there  a  temple  for 
their  own  worship.  This  contributed  greatly 
to  strengthen  the  Egyptian  Jews  as  a  party, 
and  their  importance  did  not  cease  until  the 
temple  was  closed,  not  long  after  the  destruc 
tion  of  that  of  Jerusalem. 

The  reign  of  Physcon  (B.C.  146)  presents  a 
dark  contrast  to  that  of  his  predecessor.  He 
immediately  took  the  crown  from  his  broth 
er's  son  and  rightful  successor,  who  had  been 
proclaimed  king  by  his  mother  Cleopatra. 
Having  married  her,  Physcon  put  her  son  to 
death  on  the  very  day  of  the  nuptials ;  and 
the  greatest  barbaritv  was  shown  towards 
his  subjects.  He  next  repudiated  his  wife  to 
marry  his  niece  and  step-daughter,  her 
younger  daughter  Cleopatra  Cocce.  At 
length,  the  people,  indignant  at  his  cruelty 
and  oppression,  rose  and  forced  the  tyrant  to 
take  refuge  in  Cyprus.  His  repudiated 
queen,  Cleopatra  was  set  up  in  his  stead,  and 
he  revenged  himself  by  murdering  the  son 
he  had  by  her.  The  queen  and  the  Egyp 
tians  sent  an  army  to  oppose  one  which 
Physcon  had  dispatched  against  them,  but 
their  force  was  defeated  on  the  eastern  bor 
der  of  Egvpt.  Cleopatra  sought  aid  of  De- 

•u 


metrius  II.,  king  of  Syria,  who  had  married 
her  eldest  daughter ;  but  that  prince  was  un 
able  effectually  to  assist  her,  being  recalled, 
after  he  had  marched  to  Egypt,  by  a  revolt 
at  Antioch.  The  queen  had  no  resource  but 
to  flee  to  Syria,  and  Physcon  recovered  his 
throne.  He  soon  found  occasion  to  punish 
Demetrius,  by  setting  up  an  impostor,  Alex 
ander  Zebina,  who  defeated  and  put  to  death 
the  king  of  Syria.  Ptolemy  then  made 
peace  with  Cleopatra,  who  came  again  to 
Egypt,  and  was  honorably  treated  as  the 
sovereign's  sister  and  former  queen.  He 
then  supported  Antiochus  Grypus  in  regain 
ing  his  father's  kingdom  by  the  overthrow 
of  Alexander.  At  last  his  lono-  reiffn  came 

O  O 

to  a  close,  to  the  great  joy  of  his  subjects ; 
and  Egypt  was  relieved  from  one  who  was 
perhaps  the  wTorst  sovereign  who  ever  ruled 
that  unhappy  country.  He  was  ambitious, 
extremely  cruel,  intemperate,  and  debauched ; 
and,  though  not  an  enemy  to  literature, 
could  not  pardon  the  political  offences  of  its 
professors. 

Ptolemy  Lathyrus  succeeded  his  father 
(B.C.  117),  ruling  jointly  with  his  mother,  the 
ambitious  and  cruel  Cleopatra  Cocce.  The 
kingdom  of  Cyrene  had  been  already  given 
by  Physcon,  at  his  death,  to  his  natural  son 
Ptolemy  Apion;  and  the  island  of  Cyprus 
was  given  to  Ptolemy  Alexander,  the 
younger  brother  of  Lathyrus,  who  after 
wards  made  it  a  monarchy.  Cleopatra  next 
expelled  Lathyrus,  because  he  would  not  be 
governed  by  her,  and  he  took  possession  of 
the  kingdom  of  Cyprus,  while  Alexander 
gained  the  throne  of  Egypt  (B.C.  107). 
Lathyrus  was  soon  invited  to  support  cities 
on  the  coast  of  Palestine  against  Alexander 
Jannseus,  the  king  of  Judea,  and  he  conduct 
ed  a  successful  campaign,  in  which  he  de 
feated  the  army  of  Jannreus  in  a  sanguinary 
conflict.  His  mother  Cleopatra,  however, 
having  taken  vigorous  measures,  and  ac 
companied  one  of  her  armies  into  Palestine, 
checked  the  successes  of  Lathyrus,  and 
ultimately  both  sovereigns  retired  to  theii 
own  dominions.  The  armies  of  Cleopatra 


2GG 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WOULD. 


were  led  by  two  Jewish  generals,  Chelcias 
and  Ananias.  Ptolemy  Alexander,  finding 
that  he  possessed  nothing  but  the  shadow  of 
sovere  ^nty,  fled  from  Egypt.  Cleopatra  en- 
deavoied  to  persuade  him  to  return,  while 
she  laid  a  plot  for  his  life,  whijh  he  met  with 
a  counter-plot,  i.id,  as  he  arrived  in  Egypt, 
his  mother  was  murdered.  After  a  brief 
rule  the  parricide  was  driven  out  by  the 
Alexandrians,  and  at  length  slain  in  a  com 
bat  with  the  fleet  of  Choereas,  an  admiral  of 
Lathyrus.  Little  need  be  said  of  the  charac 
ter  of  Cleopatra  Cocce,  and  that  of  her 
younger  son  Alexander  I.,  but  that  the  former 
was  as  strong  in  character  as  the  latter  was 
weak,  while  both  excelled  in  wickedness. 
The  history,  indeed,  of  the  later  Ptolemies 
and  Selucidaa  presents  an  appalling  picture 
of  cruelty  and  vice,  to  which  we  can  scarcely 
find  a  parallel. 

Ptolemy  Lathyrus  was  recalled  from  Cy 
prus  to  fill  the  throne  left  vacant  at  his 
brother's  flight  (B.C.  89.)  The  most  memor 
able  event  of  this  part  of  his  reign  was  the 
revolt  of  Upper  Egypt.  The  misrule  of  the 
preceding  sovereigns  had  aroused  the  natives 
to  make  a  fresh  effort  for  their  independ 
ence.  Ptolemy  marched  against  them,  de 
feated  them  in  battle,  and  laid  siege  to  the 
ancient  city  of  Thebes,  their  stronghold. 
The  insurgents  offered  a  desperate  resistance, 
and  for  three  years  was  the  city  beleagured 
in  vain.  At  last  it  was  taken,  and  the 
bravery  of  its  defenders  punished  by  its  being 
sacked  and  destroyed.  Even  the  temples 
were  not  spared ;  and  while  we  deplore  the 
damages  that  they  sustained  during  the  siege 
and  at  the  razing  of  the  town,  we  are  not 
displeased  to  find  such  records  of  a  noble  re 
sistance  in  structures  commemorating  the  an- 

O 

cient  glories  of  the  race.  Kothing  else 
worthy  of  notice  marked  the  later  years  of 
Lathyrus,  who  left  the  reputation  of  an  able 
and  warlike,  but  cruel  king. 

The  daughter  of  Lathyrus  and  widow  of 
his  brother  Alexander,  Cleopatra  or  Berenice, 
succeeded  her  father  (B.C.  82) ;  but  her  rule 
was  of  very  short  duration,  for  her  step-son, 


Ptolemy  Alexander  II.,  was  sent  from  Kerne 
by  Sylla  to  assume  the  crown  and  marry 
Cleopatra.  On  the  day  of  the  nuptials  ho 
murdered  the  unhappy  queen,  after  she  had 
governed  about  half  a  year.  This  crime 
aroused  the  indignation  of  the  king's  guards, 
who  deservedly  punished  it  with  death.  It 
is  most  probable  that  this  was  the  Ptolemy 
who  left  his  kingdom  to  the  Roman  people, 
whose  patronage  he  had  enjoyed,  by  his  will ; 
but  motives  of  policy  prevented  their  grasp 
ing  at  once  at  the  prize.  Ptolemy  I^eus 
Dionysius,  commonly  known  by  the  surname 
which  was  given  him  of  Auletes,  or  the  Flute- 
player,  next  ascended  the  throne  (B.C.  81). 
The  first  part  of  his  rule  was  passed  in  tran 
quillity,  but  he  earned  the  dislike  of  his  sub 
jects  by  a  vicious  and  disorderly  life,  until, 
in  the  twenty-fourth  year  of  his  reign,  he 
found  himself  obliged  to  flee  from  E,°;ypt 
(B.C.  58).  The  immediate  cause  was  perhaps 
the  seizure  of  Cyprus  by  the  Romans,  who 
dispossessed  his  brother  Ptolemy,  king  of 
that  island,  and  made  his  dominions  a  Ro 
man  province.  The  Egyptian?,  incensed  at 
this  exercise  of  grasping  ambition,  pressed 
Auletes  to  demand  the  island,  which  had 
been  ruled  by  the  preceding  kings  of  Egypt, 
or  a  prince  of  the  family,  and,  in  the  event 
of  a  denial,  to  declare  war  against  the 
Romans.  On  the  king's  refusal  to  adopt  this 
line  of  policy,  a  revolt  was  excited,  and  he 
fled  to  Rome  from  Alexandria.  Immediately 
after  the  king  had  left,  his  wife  and  daughter. 
Cleopatra  Tryphnena  and  Berenice,  were 
chosen  to  succeed  him  as  joint  sovereigns. 

After  having  ruled  for  a  year,  Cleopatra 
died,  and  Berenice  married  Seleucus,  sur- 
named  Cybiosactes,  or  the  Scullion,  the  son 
of  Antiochus  Grypus.  lie  was  soon  murder 
ed,  by  his  wife's  orders;  and  she  took  a 
second  husband,  Archelaus,  who  pretended 
to  be  a  son  of  Mithradates  the  Great,  king 
of  Pont  us.  Having  reigned  two  years  more, 
she  lost  her  power  and  her  life  on  her  father's 
restoration,  which  thus  happened :  Auletei 
had  previously  learned  by  experience  tha 
the  *reat  Roman  aristocrats  were  not  iusensi 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


261 


Ke  to  the  effects  of  bribery,  and  on  reaching 
Rome  he  occupied  himself  in  securing  by 
this  means  the  interest  of  the  chief  senators. 
Aithongh  he  was  thus  far  successful,  various 
difficulties  arose  which  prevented  his  gaming 
the  assistance  of  a  Roman  army  until  his  ex 
ile  had  lasted  for  three  years,  which  he  spent 
at  Rome  and  Ephesus.  He  then  went  to 
Syria,  being  strongly  recommended  by  Pom- 
pey  to  the  proconsul  Gabinius,  and  supported 
his  proposals  with  an  enormous  bribe  of  ten 
thousand  talents.  Gabinius,  taking  the  king 
with  him,  marched  against  Egypt,  defeated 
the  army  which  opposed  his  passage,  subju 
gated  the  country,  and  restored  Auletes,  who 
at  once  put  his  daughter  to  death.  In  this 
expedition,  Mark  Antony  served  as  an  officer 
of  Gabinius,  and  thus  visited  the  country 
which  was  to  witness  his  future  greatness 
and  fall.  From  this  time  Ptolemy  Auletes 
ruled  without  opposition  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  the  year  B.C.  51.  He  left 
his  kingdom  to  the  joint  government  of  his 
eldest  children,  Cleopatra  and  Ptolemy, 
whose  rights  he  trusted  to  the  protection  of 
the  Roman  people.  Pothinus,  the  governor 
of  Effvpt,  did  not,  however,  scruple  to  set 
aside  Cleopatra,  and  make  Ptolemy  sole 
sovereign  under  his  tutelage.  Cleopatra,  al 
though  but  about  twenty  years  of  age,  acted 
at  once  with  a  vigor  that  was  worthy  of  the 
better  times  of  the  Ptolemies;  and  having 
fled  into  Syria,  succeeded  in  bringing  to 
gether  an  army,  with  which  she  advanced 
to  Egypt  in  the  second  or  third  year  after 
her  father's  death.  Ptolemy's  army  was 
sent  to  Pelusium  to  oppose  her  entrance, 
and,  at  this  important  juncture,  Pompey, 
fleeing  from  the  fatal  field  of  Pharsalia,  land 
ed  on  the  Egyptian  shore,  and  put  himself 
in  the  hands  of  Ptolemy's  ministers.  For 
getful  of  the  benefits  which  Auletes  had  re 
ceived  from  the  great  Roman  in  his  exile, 
and  in  defiance  of  their  plighted  words,  they 
murdered  the  guest — affording  by  this  crime 
one  of  the  many  instances  of  the  utterly  cor 
rupt  state  of  the  ruling  class  at  that  period. 
Caesar  had  lost  no  time  in  pursuing  his  van 


quished  rival ;  and  not  long  after,  disem 
barked  with  a  small  but  efficient  force  of 
four  thousand  men  at  Alexandria.  Being 
now  rid  of  his  fears  of  Pompey,  he  set  him 
self  to  arrange  the  affairs  of  Egypt.  The 
army  led  by  Achillas,  which  he  had  sent 
against  Cleopatra,  returned  to  Alexandria, 
and  closely  invested  that  part  of  the  city 
which  was  held  by  Caesar's  force.  A  san 
guinary  contest  ensued,  in  the  course  of 
which  the  famous  Library  perished  by  fire, 
and  thus  the  learning  which  had  formed  the 
chief  ornament  of  the  capital  received  a  fatal 
blow.  Notwithstanding  the  smallness  of  his 
army,  Caesar  was  able  to  maintain  his 
position,  and  was  strengthened  by  the  arrival 
of  Cleopatra,  who  reached  Alexandria  in 
disguise,  having  left  her  army  near  Pelusium. 
The  attractions  of  the  young  queen  had  at 
once  engaged  Caesar  in  her  favor,  and  he 
had  determined  to  make  her  sole  ruler,  to 
the  prejudice  of  her  brother.  Ptolemy,  feel 
ing  himself  to  be  unjustly  used,  determined 
to  regain  the  throne  by  arms;  and  a  war 
ensued,  which  lasted  for  several  months,  un 
til,  on  the  arrival  of  reinforcements  to 
Caesar's  army,  the  young  king  was  vanquish 
ed,  and  perished  by  drowning  in  an  engage 
ment,  probably  near  the  sea-coast.  ]STot  long 
after  this,  Caesar  left  Egypt,  having  estab 
lished  the  power  of  Cleopatra,  with  whom  he 
associated  in  the  government  her  young 
brother  Ptolemy,  who  was  then  betrothed  to 
her  at  a  tender  age.  Egypt  was  so  thorough 
ly  reduced  to  order  by  these  measures  that 
Cleopatra  did  not  fear  to  leave  the  country, 
and  reside  for  a  time  at  Rome  with  Caesar, 
whence  she  returned  subsequently  to  his 
murder.  Shortly  afterwards,  it  is  believed 
—but  this  is  not  certain — she  put  young 
Ptolemy,  her  brother  and  nominal  husband, 
to  death,  fearing  that  he  would  become  toa 
powerful  for  her.  Cleopatra  did  not  take 
any  decided  part  in  the  struggle  for  her 
power  which  followed  the  murder  of  Ce^sar, 
and  on  the  fall  of  Brutus  and  Cassius, 
Antony  summoned  her  to  Tarsus,  to  explain 
this  ambiguous  course.  Mark  Antony  was 


2G8 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


as  easily  vanquished  as  Caesar  had  been  by 
the  captivating  queen  of  Egypt.  Thencefor 
ward  Antony  and  Cleopatra  ruled  together, 
and  the  events  of  this  period  -belong  rather 
to  Roman  history  than  to  Egyptian.  The 
chief  part  of  this  time,  in  which  a  great  em 
pire  might  have  been  consolidated,  was  spent 
by  Antony  in  pleasure  and  vice ;  and  by  de 
grees  he  lost  his  influence  over  his  fellow- 
countrymen,  which  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  politic  Octavianus.  Defeated  in  the  one 
naval  fight  at  Actiurn  (B.C.  31),  Antony  was 
forsaken  by  his  former  courage,  and  fled  with 
Cleopatra  to  Egypt.  When  Octavianus  in 
vaded  the  country,  they  offered  no  adequate 
resistance  ;  and  both,  in  despair,  perished  by 
their  own  hands — Antony,  partly  because 
Cleopatra  had  given  out  that  she  was  dead, 
Cleopatra,  partly  because  Antony  had  per 
ished  ;  but  both,  also,  to  escape  that  treat 
ment  which  they  knew  they  wrould  receive 
at  the  hands  of  their  heartless  conqueror. 
So  ended  the  great  Dynasty  of  the  Lagidse, 
after  having  endured  for  nearly  three  hun 
dred  years.  Cleopatra  wras  not  unworthy  to 
be  the  last  of  that  great  line,  whose  virtues 
and  faults  she  combined  in  a  high  degree. 
In  person  she  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
very  beautiful,  but  rather  excelling  in  grace 
of  manner  and  every  winning  art.  Busts 
and  coins  would  lead  us  to  the  former  suppo 
sition,  and  the  latter  would  naturally  follow. 
Her  knowledge  was  extensive,  she  was  ac 
quainted  with  many  languages.  Literature 
and  science  met  with  her  encouragement; 
and  she  endeavored  to  restore  the  Library 
of  Alexandria,  by  having  transported  thither 
the  rival  collection  of  the  kings  of  Pergamus. 
Ambition  was  her  ruling  passion,  and  to  it 
she  sacrificed  her  maidenly  honor  and  the 
ties  of  relationship.  Although  she  was 
famous  for  the  luxury  of  her  court,  it  is  most 
probable  that  she  maintained  that  manner 
of  life  rather  to  govern  those  who  governed 
the  world,  and  to  display  her  magnificence, 
than  for  pleasure's  sake.  The  princess  who 
rulti  1,  not  alone  the  affections,  but  the  fierce 
wil.s  of  Julius  Caesar  and  Mark  Antony; 


who  upheld  a  tottering  monarchy,  and  made 
those  who  subdued  it  raise  it  to  an  empire ; 
who  fell  at  last  through  the  strange  weakness 
of  Antony,  and  the  treachery  of  his  follow 
ers,  and  feared  not  to  die  by  her  own  hand, 
must  take  rank  among  the  greatest  of  his 
torical  characters.  The  Romans,  who  are 
ever  ungenerous  to  their  enemies,  paint  her 
character  in  dark  colors,  hating  her  because 
she  governed  their  fairest  provinces  and  their 
most  renowned  generals.  But  if  we  remem 
ber  in  what  court  she  was  trained,  and  con 
sider  the  manners  of  that  time  and  country  ; 
if  we  extend  to  her  faults  that  indulgence 
that  many  have  granted  to  those  of  Ccesar 
and  Antony ;  if  we  recollect  her  love  of 
learning,  and  have  paced  the  stately  temples 
which  she  raised,  we  shall  acknowledge  her 
one  of  the  greatest  sovereigns  of  the  ancient 
world,  not  inferior  to  Catherine  of  Russia, 
who,  in  a  Christian  country  and  an  enlight 
ened  age,  committed  the  same  crimes,  but 
met  not  with  the  same  condemnation.  Her 
death  itself,  praiseworthy  according  to  the 
religion  of  those  days,  was 

"  well  done,  and  fitting1  for  a  princess 

Descended  of  so  many  royal  kings." 

When  Egypt  thus  fell  into  the  power  of 
Augustus  its  condition  may  be  likened  tc 
what  it  was  wrhen  Alexander  acquired  pos 
session  of  the  country.  The  internecine 
wars  and  misrule  of  the  latter  Ptolemies  had 
gradually  lessened  the  good  which  their  pre 
decessors  of  the  same  line  had  effected.  Tax 
ation  had  increased,  commerce  had  dwindled ; 
and  in  one  particular  the  future  of  Egypt 
was  yet  darker,  for  the  three  centuries  of 
Greek  rule  had  tended  to  weaken  Egyptian 
nationality,  by  making  the  natives  either 
Greeks  or  slaves.  If  Greeks,  they  Ecarcely 
looked  to  Egypt  as  their  country ;  if  slaves, 
they  had  no  higher  hopes  than  fo:  a  mild 
ruler.  The  system  of  government  which 
Augustus  introduced  was  not  one  tending  to 
better  the  province  and  its  inhabitants.  It 
seems  to  have  been  framed  so  as  to  crush 
national  feeling  among  either  the  Egyptians 
or  the  Greeks  settled  in  Egypt,  and  to  pro 


HISTOET  OF  THE  WOELD. 


269 


vent  the  Roman  prefect  who  governed  the 
country  from  making  use  of  its  resources  to 
render  himself  independent ;  and,  at  the 
same  time,  so  as  to  carry  out  these  objects 
without,  as  far  as  possible,  diminishing  the 
productiveness  of  the  province.  The  picfec- 
ture  and  the  most  important  of  the  inferior 
offices  were  given  to  Romans  alone,  the  rest 
were  held  by  Greeks  and  Egyptians.  The 
country  was  garrisoned  and  protected  by 
two  legions,  part  of  which  was  stationed  be 
yond  the  frontiers,  and  by  a  small  force  of 
German  horse.  The  new  rulers  at  first  imi 
tated  their  predecessors,  in  causing  temples 
to  be  built,  or  in  adding  to  those  which  were 
already  raised ;  but  after  the  second  century 
of  Roman  government,  these  and  other  pub 
lic  edifices  were  comparatively  neglected. 

uElius  Gallus,  a  prefect  of  Egypt  under 
Augustus,  made  an  unfruitful  expedition 
against  Arabia  Felix,  but  was  afterwards 
more  fortunate  in  punishing  an  inroad  of 
the  Ethiopians.  Gallus  not  only  defeated 
the  invaders,  but  in  his  pursuit  penetrated 
to  Napata,  the  capital  of  Candace,  their 
queen,  and  captured  that  city.  From  this 
time  no  events  of  interest  mark  the  history 
of  the  province  until  the  reign  of  Yespasian. 
Under  him  the  JCAVS  of  Egypt  met  with 
several  persecutions.  They  had  previously 
been  embroiled  with  the  Greeks  at  Alexan 
dria,  and  had  been  on  one  occasion  cruelly 
treated  for  refusing  to  worship  the  statue  of 
Caligula.  But  in  the  reign  of  Yespasian 
their  temple,  which  Onias  had  founded,  was 
closed,  and  they  did  not  escape  some  share 
of  the  treatment  which  their  fellow-country 
men  in  Judea  received  at  the  hands  of  the 
Romans.  In  Trajan's  reign  they  revolted 
(A.D.  115-117),  and  were  not  subdued  until 
much  blood  had  been  shed.  Hitherto  they 
had  held  equal  privileges  with  the  Greek  in 
habitants,  but  at  this  period  they  forfeited 
these  advantages,  and  were  afterwards  con 
sidered  to  be  no  better  than  the  native  Egyp 
tians.  In  the  next  reign  the  Emperor 
Hadrian,  during  his  inspection  of  the  pro 
vinces,  visited  Egypt,  as  well  as  on  a  subse 


quent  occasion.  He  endeavored  to  benefit 
the  people  by  (as  he  himself  says)  renewing 
their  old  privileges  and  granting  new  ones. 

After  various  troubles,  principally  occa< 
sioned  by  the  turbulence  of  the  Alexandrians 
and  the  inroads  of  barbarous  tribes,  a  serious 
rebellion  distinguished  the  reign  of  Marcus 
Aurelius.  The  prefect  of  Egypt,  Avidius 
Cassius,  having  suppressed  a  serious  revolt, 
assumed  the  purple  (A.D.  175),  and  was  ac 
knowledged  as  emperor  by  the  armies  of 
Syria  and  Egypt.  On  the  approach  of  Mar 
cus  Aurelius,  the  usurper  was  slain  by  his  ad 
herents,  and  liis  party  at  once  gave  way,  and 
were  treated  by  the  emperor  with  the  utmost 
clemency.  Not  many  years  afterwards, 
Pescennius  Niger,  who  commanded  the 
forces  in  Egypt,  was  proclaimed  emperor  in 
the  place  of  the  murdered  Pertinax ;  but, 
after  a  short  rule,  was  overthrown  by  his 
rival  Severus.  The  new  emperor,  perhaps 
because  Niger  was  chosen  by  the  Roman 
army  rather  than  by  the  Egyptian  people, 
did  not  use  severity  towards  the  province ; 
on  the  contrary,  when  he  visited  it  he  be 
stowed  great  privileges  upon  the  Alexan 
drians.  Nevertheless,  his  reign  was  marked 
by  the  first  persecution  of  the  Christians  of 
Egypt,  the  prelude  to  many  others.  AL 
though  we  cannot  be  sure  when  Christianity 
was  introduced  into  Egypt,  it  early  obtained 
a  numerous  body  of  followers  there,  and  by 
this  period  included  among  their  number 
many  of  the  learned  and  the  powerful.  The 
schools  of  Alexandria  had  gradually  declined 
from  the  days  of  the  earlier  Ptolemies,  until 
they  had  become  the  homes  of  sophistry  and 
magic  arts ;  but  now  the  doctrines  of  the 
new  religion  raised  a  fresh  class  of  learned 
men,  and  the  very  pagans  gained  knowledge 
by  endeavoring  to  oppose  them.  In  the 
next  reign  a  great  calamity  befel  the  Alex 
andrians,  for  Caracalla,  in  revenge  for  an 
affront  which  they  had  offered  him,  signal 
ized  his  visit  by  a  wholesale  massacre  of  the 
unfortunate  citizens,  and  by  other  acts  of 
tyranny.  Another  persecution  of  the  Chris 
tians  occurred  in  the  leign  of  Trajanus 


270 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


Decius  (A.D.  250) ;  and  about  the  same  period 
commenced  those  theological  disputes  which 
henceforward  form  the  most  remarkable  sub 
jects  of  the  1 Jstory  of  Egypt  until  the  Mus 
lim  conquest.  During  the  troublous  reign 
of  Gallienus,  JEmilianus  was  proclaimed  em 
peror  by  the  troops  at  Alexandria ;  but  after 
governing  a  short  time  with  decision  and  ac 
tivity,  he  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner 
by  the  general  of  the  forces  of  Gallienus. 
At  the  close  of  his  reign,  Zenobia,  the  am 
bitious  queen  of  Palmyra,  attempted  to  wrest 
Egypt  from  the  Romans ;  but,  although  suc 
cessful  in  a  battle  with  the  emperor's  forces, 
her  army  was  unable  to  gain  possession  of 
the  country.  Two  years  subsequently,  Ze 
nobia  reduced  Egypt  to  her  rule,  a  little  be 
fore  her  overthrow  by  Aurelian.  Not  long 
afterwards  Egypt  rose  against  Aurelian,  and 
Firmus,  who  seems  to  have  been  elevated  to 
the  dangerous  dignity  by  the  native  popula 
tion,  was  proclaimed  emperor.  In  order  to 
subdue  this  powerful  rival,  Aurelian  led  an 
an  army  against  him  ;  and  succeeded  in  ac 
complishing  his  overthrow.  Probus,  who 
had  governed  Egypt  for  Aurelian  and  Taci 
tus,  was  chosen  by  the  troops  in  Egypt,  at 
the  death  of  the  latter  sovereign,  as  his  suc 
cessor,  and  speedily  acquired  the  rest  of  the 
empire. 

The  reign  of  Diocletian  ushers  in  a  more 
prosperous  period  of  Roman  history,  when 
stern  military  despots  knew  how  to  curb  the 
turbulent  soldiery,  who  had  been  so  long 
used  to  make  and  unmake  kings;  but  to 
Egypt  the  time  of  his  rule  was  one  of  great 
misfortunes,  marked  by  a  serious  rebellion 
and  a  terrible  persecution.  Early  in  his 
reign  (A.D.  288)  Egypt  revolted,  and  Achilles 
was  raised  to  the  purple.  A  long  struggle 
ensued,  which  was  only  terminated  by  the  ar 
rival  of  Diocletian,  who  took  the  strongholds 
of  the  rebels,  and  reduced  the  country  or  at 
least  the  greater  part  of  it  to  obedience. 
The  chief  of  the  insurgents,  however  was  not 
taken,  and  having  again  raised  his  standard 
after  the  emperor's  departure,  he  gained  pos- 
Eession  of  Ak  xandria.  The  revolt  was  of  so 


important  a  character,  that  Diocletian  return 
ed  to  Egypt  to  quell  it.  Achilles  having 
shut  himself  up  in  Alexandria,  made  a  de 
termined  resistance  ;  but  at  length  the  city 
was  taken,  and  with  his  life  he  paid  tho 
penalty  of  his  daring.  Several  years  after 
this,  the  cruel  emperor  published  that  famous 
edict  against  the  Christians  (A.D.  303),  which 
caused  one  of  the  hottest  of  the  persecutions 
which  tried  the  faith  and  awakened  the  zeal 
of  the  early  church.  The  events  of  that 
time  of  suffering  belong  to  ecclesiastical 
history,  but  it  should  be  mentioned  here  that 
from  the  commencement  of  this  reign  (A.D. 
284),  which  they  call  the  JEra  of  Martyrs, 
the  Coptics  reckon  their  chronology,  looking 
back  to  this  as  the  heroic  period  of  the 
church  in  Egypt.  Their  traditions  and  his 
tory  alike  are  full  of  narratives  of  the  con 
stancy  of  the  holy  men  and  women,  of  the 
monks  and  virgins,  who  suffered  at  this  time, 
and  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy. 
Would  that  the  Coptic  church — which  has 
seldom  fallen  short  of  the  early  days  of 
Christianity  in  steadfast  adherence  to  its  pro 
fession  amidst  many  persecutions — had  not 
lost  the  spiritual  character  of  the  primitive 
church.  With  the  accession  of  the  politic 
Constantino  the  persecution,  which  had  con 
tinued  until  then  with  greater  or  less  viru 
lence,  came  to  a  close,  and  the  Christians  re 
covered  their  liberty,  and  were  able  even  to 
hold  themselves  above  the  pagans.  Then 
commenced  the  great  Arian  controversy, 
which  was  the  means  of  bringing  forward 
the  zeal  and  abilities  of  St.  Athanasius,  the 
greatest  archbishop  of  Alexandria.  Arms, 
who  was  a  presbyter  of  the  church  of 
Alexandria,  having  first  broached  those 
doctrines  which  have  since  been  known  by 
his  name,  a  controversy  arose  which  was  re 
ferred  to  Constantino.  The  emperor  wrote 
such  a  letter  as  one  wculd  write  who  adopted 
Christianity  as  a  matter  of  expediency,  and 
desired  to  use  the  church  .as  a  political  wea 
pon.  He  desired  the  disputants  to  cease  from 
those  questions,  as  though  men  of  strong  will 
or  firm  belief  could  thus  keep  their  con- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


271 


victions  t3  themselves,  and  refrain  from 
propagating  their  opinions  or  defending 
their  faith.  The  contest  continued,  and  it 
became  necessary  to  call  a  general  council  at 
Nicsea  (A.D.  325),  where  Arius  and  his  party 
were  condemned.  Subsequently,  however, 
Arius  appealed  to  Constantine,  who  com 
manded  St.  Athanasius  (now  archbishop  of 
Alexandria)  to  re-admit  him  into  the  church. 
St.  Athanasius  refused,  and  after  some  years 
was,  by  the  emperor's  influence,  driven  from 
his  see  and  from  Egypt.  He  returned  after 
the  death  of  Constantine,  being  supported  by 
Constantine  II.,  but  was  afterwards  again 
deposed  by  a  council  held  by  Constantius 
II.  The  feelings  of  the  orthodox  and  the  re 
monstrances  of  Constans  induced  Constantius 
to  restore  St.  Athanasius  to  the  archiepisco- 
pate;  but  when  that  emperor  had  become 
monarch  of  all  his  father's  dominions  he  de 
termined  to  remove  the  obnoxious  church 
man,  and  forced  him,  after  a  manly  resist 
ance,  to  escape  from  a  post  where  he  could 
no  longer  continue  without  a  prospect  of  be 
ing  dragged  thence  by  the  soldiery.  An 
Arian,  George,  was  after  a  while  forcibly  in 
stalled  in  the  vacant  chair,  and  the  orthodox 
experienced  a  cruel  persecution.  On  the  ac 
cession  of  Julian  the  Apostate,  George  fell  a 
victim  to  the  fury  of  a  pagan  mob,  and  St. 
Athanasius  returned  to  his  see;  but  by  an 
order  of  the  emperor  he  was  again  banished. 
During  the  reign  of  Julian,  the  Christians  of 
Egypt,  although  not  actually  persecuted,  were 
treated  with  contempt,  and  ah1  was  done  that 
could  tend  to  weaken  them  and  strengthen 
the  pagan  party.  By  Jovian  St.  Athanasius 
was  again  recalled,  but  in  the  following  reign 
(that  of  Yalens)  he  was  once  more  deposed  ; 
but  the  emperor,  probably  yielding  to  the 
strong  feeling  of  the  people,  who  would  have 
taken  up  arms  to  restore  him,  soon  recalled 
him.  At  length  he  died  in  peace  among  his 
flock,  and  his  memory  is  yet  revered  through 
out  Christendom,  as  that  of  one  of  the 
stoutest  upholders  of  the  faith  in  a  time  of 
great  troubles.  His  firmness  in  refusing  to 
obey  the  emperors  against  his  conscience,  his 


moderation  in  abstaining  from  maintaining 
himself  by  raising  the  people,  his  care  for  his 
flock  whether  among  them  or  absent,  and  h'd 
patience  when  persecuted,  all  claim  our  ad 
miration,  and  show  us  how  it  was  that  the 
Egyptians  supported  him  with  such  an  entire 
devotion.  The  emperor  Yalens  appointed 
an  Arian,  Lucius,  in  his  stead,  and  the  ortho 
dox  again  suffered  a  persecution  at  the  hands 
of  their  opponents,  supported  by  the  au 
thority  of  the  state. 

By  Theodosius  I.  orthodoxy  was  not  only 
restored,  but  paganism  was  abolished.  The 
enforcement  of  the  latter  part  of  his  cele 
brated  edict  caused  disturbances  at  Alex 
andria,  and  the  Christians  seem  to  have  ex 
ercised  their  power  with  somewhat  of  cruelty ; 
but  before  we  condemn  them,  we  should  re 
member  what  abominations  had  been  prac 
ticed  under  the  name  of  religion  by  the 
Greco-Egyptians.  At  this  time,  however,  it 
is  very  clear  that  much  had  already  been  done 
to  corrupt  the  simplicity  of  the  church  in 
Egypt,  and  in  particular  monasticism  had 
been  carried  to  an  extraordinary  extreme. 
This  is  not  the  place  in  which  to  combat  that 
institution,  but  it  may  be  asserted  without 
fear  of  controversy,  that  when  a  large  pro 
portion  of  the  population  of  a  country  take 
the  monastic  vows,  and  fleeing  from  active 
life,  establish  themselves  not  as  solitaries, 
but  in  settlements  whether  in  the  desert  or 
in  tracts  otherwise  uninhabited,  we  may 
fairly  question  the  healthy  condition  of  the 
church,  and  apprehend  the  injury  to  the  state 
wliich  has  arisen  from  such  practices  in  Tar- 
tary  and  China  as  well  as  other  countries. 
During  the  weak  reign  of  Arcadius,  Egypt 
was  agitated  by  religions  strife,  between 
those  who  held  anthropomorphite  doctrines, 
and  the  smaller  party  which  maintained  the 
opinions  of  Origen.  In  the  next  reign,  that 
of  Theodosius  II.,  the  archbishop  Cyril  and 
his  adherents  disgraced  themselves  by  perse 
cutions  of  the  Jews  and  pagans.  The  for 
mer  were  expelled  from  Alexandria,  and  the 
latter  maltreated,  especially  Hypatia  the 
daughter  of  Theon,  distinguished  for  her 


272 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


beauty  as  well  as  for  her  learning,  vrhom 
the  clergy  inhumanly  murdered,  with,  it  is 
said,  Cyril's  connivance  or  approval.  To 
such  lengths  was  intolerance  carried  by 
ascetic  zeal. 

Under  the  empero*  Marcian,  the  serious  re 
ligious  dispute  whicl.  caused  the  separation 
of  the  Coptic  church  attained  its  height. 
Dioscurus,  the  archbishop  of  Alexandria, 
supported  a  priest  of  the  name  of  Eutyches, 
who  had  been  excommunicated  for  asserting 
the  Monophysite  doctrine  of  the  Egyptians. 
Indignant  at  this  interference,  the  Greek 
bishops  called  an  oecumenical  council  at 
Chalcedon,  and  not  only  condemned  the 
Monophysites,  but  put  Dioscurus  and  those 
who  held  the  same  opinions  beyond  the  pale 
of  the  church  (A.D.  451).  A  new  archbishop 
of  Alexandria,  Proterius,  was  installed  by 
force  of  arms,  and  not  without  a  vigorous  re 
sistance,  but  after  the  emperor's  death  he 
was  murdered  by  the  people  of  Alexandria. 
The  Monophysites  were,  however,  again  put 
down,  and  for  a  time  the  orthodox  party  re 
mained  in  undisturbed  possession  of  the  su 
preme  authority.  The  Emperor  Basiliscus, 
himself  a  Monophysite,  restored  the  Egyp 
tian  party  to  power  ;  but  on  his  death,  two 
years  afterwards,  troubles  recommenced ; 
after  a  time,  however,  the  Alexandrians 
triumphed,  and  Zeno  granted  them  the  right 
of  choosing  their  own  patriarch. 

The  commencement  of  the  Byzantine 
empire,  which  is  rather  a  chronological  epoch 
than  a  turning  point  in  history,  caused  no 
changes  in  the  condition  of  Egypt.  The 
first  sovereign,  Anastasius,  did  not  disturb  the 
ecclesiastical  system  which  he  found  in  force, 
and  the  Egyptian  or  Jacobite  party  were  un 
molested  during  his  reign.  Although  thus 
exempt  from  ecclesiastical  troubles  of  any 
magnitude,  Egypt  was  a  prey  to  the  forces 
of  an  invader.  The  Persians  (A.D.  501) 
ravaged  the  country  and  menaced  Alexandria, 
but  being  manfully  opposed,  retired  at  length, 
leaving  cruel  traces  of  their  pillage.  In  the 
reign  of  Justin  I.,  troubles  in  the  church 
again  arose,  the  emperor  desiring  to  establish 


an  orthodox  archbishop,  and  the  strife  thus 
kindled  continued  throv.gh  his  reign.  Jus 
tinian  L,  although  he  showed  himself  in 
many  respects  an  able  sovereign,  had  not 
the  wisdom  to  see  that  a  tyrannical  policy  in 
religious  matters,  could  only  tend  to  estrange 
his  Egyptian  subjects.  Accordingly  he  ap 
pointed  an  orthodox  or  Melchite  bishop,  who 
was  followed  by  another  ;  but  the  latter  was 
expelled  by  the  Alexandrians.  Upon  this 
the  emperor  sent  Apollinarius  as  patriarch 
and  prefect,  with  an  armed  force  by  which  to 
establish  himself.  By  opposing  violence  to 
violence  he  succeeded  in  putting  down  his 
opponents,  but  his  conduct  would  not  have 
been  justifiable  in  a  governor  and  was 
atrocious  in  a  churchman.  The  reign  of 
Justinian  I.  is  further  marked  by  the  final 
closing  of  the  philosophic  schools  throughout 
the  empire,  and  the  departure  of  the  last  of 
that  long  line  of  learned  men  to  whose  in 
dustry  we  owe  so  much. 

The  first  event  of  great  importance  after 
this  wras  the  invasion  and  subjugation  of 
Egypt  by  the  forces  of  Chosroes,  or  Khusroo 
Parvez,  in  the  reign  of  Ilcraclius.  In  the 
course  of  those  brilliant  campaigns  by  which 
the  king  of  Persia  stripped  Ileraclius  of  all  his 
eastern  provinces  as  far  as  the  Bosphorus  itself, 
one  of  his  armies  entered  Egypt  and  reduced 
the  country  without  opposition  (A.D.  G1C). 
This  success  was  owing  no  less  to  the  enmity 
of  the  Jacobites  for  the  Melchites  than  to 
the  weakness  of  the  empire,  as  was  the 
subsequent  Muslim  conquest.  The  Persians 
had  the  good  sense  to  perceive  that  their  rule 
would  be  strengthened  by  favoring  the  native 
party,  and  accordingly  they  raised  a  Jacobite, 
Benjamin,  to  the  patriarchate  from  the  office 
of  bishop  of  the  Alexandrian  Monophysites. 
After  a  few  years  of  peaceful  government, 
reverses  overtook  the  Per  sans,  and  Egypt 
asain  fell  under  the  dominion  of  Ileraclius, 

c">  ' 

who  restored  the  Orthodox  party,  but  before 
the  close  of  his  reign  the  country  was  con 
quered  by  the  Arabs,  and  was  never  again  a 
province  of  the  Byzantine  empire. 

A  review  of  the  history  of  Egypt  undia 


HISTOEY    OF    THE    WOELD. 


273 


the  Romans  presents  a  melancholy  prospect 
of  rapid  decline,  with  scarcely  a  single  time 
of  prosperity  to  enlighten  its  dreariness. 
The  main  cause  of  this  must  have  been  the 
national  character  of  the  Romans,  who,  al 
though  they  conquered  bravely,  held  firmly, 
and  governed  wisely,  cared  alone  for  the  out 
ward,  welfare  of  the  provinces.  They  sought 
not  to  inquire  into  the  early  history  and  for 
mer  greatness  of  a  state  they  ruled,  except 
to  draw  out  its  physical  resources  and  in 
crease  its  commercial  activity.  Thus  they 
did  nothing  to  raise  the  character  of  the  na 
tive  Egyptians,  whose  affections  were  still 
occupied  with  the  story  of  their  former 
power  and  the  remains  of  their  ancient  re 
ligion.  While  the  Romans  thus  neglected 
the  Egyptians,  policy  made  them  treat  the 
Greeks  but  little  better,  except  that  they  al 
lowed  them  somewhat  greater  privileges, 
probably  to  make  their  influence  balance 
that  of  the  far  more  numerous  Egyptians,  and 
thus  aid  in  maintaining  a  divided  interest  in 
the  country.  In  addition  to  this,  Egypt  was 
weakened  by  the  exactions  of  the  governors 
and  other  officials.  Internal  causes,  more 
over,  had  no  little  share  in  producing  the  de 
cline  of  the  country.  The  people  of  Alex 
andria,  uniting  the  discontent  of  the  inhabi 
tants  of  a  degraded  capital,  with  the  ambition 
of  men  of  letters,  and  the  restlessness  of  an 
active  commercial  population,  were  constant 
ly  involved  in  dissensions  among  themselves 
and  with  their  rulers,  which  became  graver 
with  the  decline  of  the  empire ;  while  the 
native  Egyptians,  more  and  more  oppressed 
and  subject  to  the  incursions  of  nomad  tribes, 
relapsed  into  barbarism,  but  regained  some 
what  of  their  ancient  courage.  Hence  arose 

o 

revolts  which  were  quelled  with  difficulty, 
and  which  had  they  been  directed  by  mili 
tary  genius  and  supported  by  an  undivided 
people,  would  have  restored  the  independence 
of  Egypt.  "When  Christianity  acquired  the 
ascendancy,  religious  contests  took  the  place 
of  political  strife,  until  they  became  inti 
mately  connected  with  politics  in  the  resist 
ance  of  the  Egyptians  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
35 


orthodox.  Then  national  spirit  was  aroused, 
and  the  Greek  and  Roman  parties,  now  form 
ed  into  one,  had  to  oppose  the  feeling  of  the 
whole  country.  The  emperors  generally 
acted  with  a  short-sighted  policy,  and  sup 
ported  the  foreign  minority  by  employing 
force.  It  was  found  necessary  to  entrust  the 
protection  of  the  country  to  Greek  or  Roman 
soldiers  alone,  and  thus  when  first  the  army 
of  Ivlmsroo  and  then  that  of  'Omar  invaded 
Egypt,  hatred  for  the  Greeks,  and  the  ina 
bility  to  defend  themselves,  rendered  its  sub 
jugation  comparatively  easy. 

In  the  year  639  of  our  era,  the  eighteenth 
of  the  Flight,  Egypt  was  invaded  by  the 
Muslims  under  the  celebrated  'Amr  Ibn- 
El-'As.  Entering  the  country  from  Syria,  at 
the  head  of  only  4000  men,  he  besieged 
Pelusium,  and  took  it  after  thirty  days. 
This  town  was  still  considered  the  key  of  Egypt 
on  the  Syrian  frontier,  and  its  capture  was 
therefore  an  important  advantage  which 
opened  the  country  southwards  to  the  Arab 
general.  He  marched  thence  to  'Eyn-Shems, 
the  ancient  Heliopolis,  where  he  found  the 
Greeks  collected  in  force,  and  commanded  by 
John  Mukowkis,  the  governor  of  Memphis, 
a  native  Egyptian.  They  offered  a  vigorous 
defence,  but  were  put  to  the  route,  and  'Amr 
advanced  to  the  banks  of  the  Kile  and  laid 
siege  to  Egyptian  Babylon,  a  fortress  of  great 
strength,  and  garrisoned  by  a  Roman  legion. 
Here  he  received  a  reinforcement  of  4000 
Muslims,  and  after  a  protracted  siege  of 
seven  months,  he  took  the  place  by  assault. 
In  an  enemy's  country,  and  far  from  all.  sup 
plies,  the  small  army  of  the  Arabs  was  still 
in  a  critical  position,  and  unable  to  push  on 
against  the  capital,  Alexandria,  when  the 
enmity  of  rival  Christians  and  the  perfidy  of 
Mukowkis  decided  the  balance  in  their  favor. 
The  persecutions  which  the  Copts  had  suf 
fered  had  greatly  embittered  them  against 
the  Greeks ;  and,  as  Gibbon  observes,  had 
"converted  a  sect  into  a  nation,  and  alienated 
Egypt  from  their  religion  and  goveinment." 
Mukowkis,  who  governed  Memphis,  was  in 
heart  a  Monophysite,  and  had  also  withheld 


274 


HISTOKY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


the  tribute  due  at  Constantinople  ;  and  both 
he  and  his  Coptic  brethren,  after  the  first  re 
sistance,  hailed  the  new  invaders  as  their  de 
liverers  from  t)  e  Greek  yoke.  On  the  fall 
of  Babylon  they  entered  into  a  treaty  with 
the  Arabs,  engaging  to  pay  to  them  a  poll- 
tax  of  two  deenars  on  every  adult  male,  and 
agreeing  to  furnish  them  with  supplies  and 
assistance  while  completing  the  subjugation 
of  the  country.  Having  concluded  this 
treaty,  and  founded  the  city  of  El-Fustat,  on 
the  site  of  his  first  encampment  on  the  banks 
of  the  Kile,  with  the  mosque  known  by  his 
name,  'Amr  marched  against  Alexandria; 
and  after  overcoming  many  obstacles,  and 
disputing  the  whole  way  with  the  Greeks, 
who  conducted  their  retreat,  in  the  face  of 
a  victorious  army,  with  great  ability,  in 
twenty-two  days  he  appeared  before  it. 
Fresh  warriors  continued  to  arrive  from  Syria 
to  strengthen  the  besieging  force ;  but  the 
defence  was  as  obstinate  as  the  attacks  of  the 
Muslims  were  brilliant,  and  was  protracted 
for  fourteen  months.  At  length,  on  the  22d 
December,  640,  the  metropolis  of  Egypt,  the 
first  city  of  the  East,  capitulated ;  but  it  is 
said  that  this  conquest  was  only  achieved  with 
the  sacrifice  of  23,000  Muslims.  Abu-1-Farag 
relates  that  'Amr,  wishing,  at  the  earnest  re 
quest  of  John  the  Grammarian,  to  spare  the 
famous  Library,  wrote  to  the  Khaleefeh 
'Omar,  asking  his  instructions  respecting  it ; 
and  that  he  answered :  "  As  to  the  books  you 
have  mentioned,  if  they  contain  what  is 
agreeable  with  the  book  of  God,  then  the  book 
of  God  is  sufficient  without  them ;  and  if 
they  contain  what  is  contrary  to  the  book  of 
God,  there  is  no  need  of  them ;  so  give  or 
ders  for  their  destruction."  The  historian 
adds  that  they  were  burned  in  the  public 
baths  of  the  city,  and  in  the  space  of  six 
months  were  consumed.  The  conquest  of  the 
rest  of  Egypt  was  soon  effected  and  the  vari 
ous  strongholds  successively  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  conquerors. 

'Amr  governed  the  country  with  much 
wisdom  for  four  years,  but  was  dismissed  by 
'Othman,  who  appointed  in  his  place  Abel- 


Allah  Ibn-Abee-Sarh.  The  latter  reduced 
Alexandria,  which  had  teen  retaken  by  the 
Emperor  Constans  II.,  and  pushed  his  con 
quests  beyond  Africa  Propria.  He  died  at 
Ascalon,  in  the  year  35,  having  governed 
eleven  years.  His  successor's  rule  was  short, 
and  the  next  viceroy,  Mohammed,  son  of 
tho  Khaleefeh  Aboo-Bekr,  on  assuming  the 
reins  of  government,  acted  with  such  tyranny 
towards  the  followers  of  'Othman,  thatMu'- 
awiyeh  was  compelled  to  dispatch  'Amr  to 
Egypt  with  a  force  from  Syria,  and  a  great 
battle  was  fought  between  the  two  armies  of 
Muslims,  in  wliich  'Amr  was  again  victori 
ous.  As  a  reward  for  this  service,  he  was  a 
second  time  appointed  governor  of  Egypt, 
and  he  died  there  in  the  year  42. 

From  this  time  to  A.D.  8G8,  or  for  rather 
more  than  two  centuries,  Egypt  was  govern 
ed  by  a  succession  of  viceroys,  appointed  by 
the  Khaleefehs  of  Damascus  and  Baghdad. 
Their  period  was  distinguished  by  intestine 
troubles,  and  a  constant  change  of  rulers,  re 
sulting  from  the  caprice  of  the  Khaleefehs. 
or  the  vicissitudes  of  their  fortunes.  Here 
we  may  mention,  that  shortly  after  the  over 
throw  of  the  Umawee  Dynasty  of  Damascus, 
and  the  accession  of  the  House  of  Abbas, 
which  ruled  at  Baghdad,  the  city  of  El-Askar, 
immediately  to  the  north-east  of  El-Fustat, 
was  founded,  and  the  seat  of  government  re 
moved  thither.  The  site  is  without  the  walls 
of  modern  Cairo,  and  is  marked  by  extensive 
mounds  of  rubbish. 

In  A.D.  868  (A.IT.  254)  Ahmad,  the  son  of 
Tooloon,  a  Turkish  slave  who  held  a  high 
office  at  Baghdad,  was  appointed  governor 
of  the  province  of  Misr  by  the  Khaleefeh  El- 
Moatezz,  and  not  long  after  of  that  of  Alex 
andria  also,  by  his  successor  El-Muhtedee. 
After  a  rule  of  about  a  year  as  viceroy,  in 
self-defence  he  threw  of  his  temporal  alle 
giance  to  the  Khaleefeh  and  proclaimed  him 
self  sovereign  of  Egypt ;  but  at  the  same 
time  he  endeavored  to  avoid  a  complete  rup 
ture  by  continuing  the  prayer  for  the  Prince 
of  the  Faithful  in  the  mosques,  and  the  men 
tion  of  his  name  on  the  coins  which  he 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


275 


Btruck.  Later  in  his  reign,  however,  he  for 
bade  the  mention  of  the  Khaleefeh's  brother 
and  colleague,  El-Muwaffik,  in  the  prayers 
and  state-documents  of  Egypt,  and  El-Muh- 
tcdee;  who  was  a  weak  prince,  was  prevailed 
on  to  denounce  him  publicly  as  a  traitor  from 
the  pulpits  throughout  his  dominions.  Yet 
that  he  secretly  favored  him  is  proved  by  his 
vain  attempt  to  escape  to  Egypt  from  the 
tyranny  of  his  warlike  brother.  Ahmad 
founded  the  Dynasty  of  the  Benee-Tooloon, 
which  lasted  for  a  period  of  thirty-seven 
years,  and  consisted  of  princes  of  his  own 
family.  He  built  the  royal  city  of  El-Katae', 
between  El-Askar  and  Mount  Mukattam, 
enriched  it  with  splendid  buildings  and  con 
stituted  it  the  seat  of  his  government.  Its 
site  is  now  covered  with  ruins,  only  his 
great  mosque  remaining,  a  proud  example  of 
his  wealth  and  magnificence,  still  the  largest 
mosque  of  Cairo,  and  curious  as  presenting 
the  earliest  specimens  of  the  pointed  arch. 
The  reign  of  this  vigorous  and  wise  prince 
was  remarkable  for  prosperity  at  home  and 
conquests  abroad.  He  took  El-Barkah,  and 
in  Syria,  captured  Ilims,  Hamah,  and  Alep 
po  ;  after  which  he  proceeded  to  Aritioch, 
and  the  governor  refusing  to  surrender,  he 
took  that  city  by  storm.  He  then  advanced 
towards  Tarsus,  but  his  supplies  failing,  he 
was  compelled  to  retire.  About  five  years 
later  Bedr-ed-Deen  Lulu,  his  deputy,  and 
governor  of  Aleppo,  Kinnasreen,  and  Ilims 
in  Syria,  and  of  Diyar  Mudar  in  Mesopota 
mia,  revolted  and  entered  into  a  league  with 
El-Muwaffik.  It  was  apparently  in  an  ex 
pedition  against  this  rebel  that  Ahmad  died, 
at  Antioch. 

Khumaraweyh,  on  the  death  of  his  father, 
was  appointed  his  successor  by  the  army,  he 
being  then  twenty  years  old,  in  the  days  of 
El-Moatemid  bi-llah,  and  he  inherited  a  king 
dom  extending  from  the  Euphrates  to  Nubia. 
He  fought  a  battle  with  the  forces  of  the 
Khaleefeh,  commanded  by  a  son  of  El-Mu- 
waffik  (afterwards  the  Khaleefeh  El-Moate- 
did),  between  Damascus  and  Ramleh ;  in 
which  his  army  gained  the  victory,  although, 


he  himself  fled  the  scene  of  action  in  a  panic, 
and  his  troops  continued  the  fight  without 
him.  Some  years  afterwards  he  made  an 
incursion  into  the  Greek  territory,  and  died 
in  the  following  year.  It  is  said  that  he  was 
fearful  of  assassination ;  to  avoid  which  he 
had  trained  a  lion  to  guard  him  when  asleep. 
His  fears  were  justified ;  for  he  was  put  tc 
death  by  his  women,  or,  according  to  some, 
by  his  eunuchs,  at  Damascus. 

His  son,  Geysh  Abu-1-Asakir,  succeeded 
him.  This  prince  was  killed  in  about  eight 
months  ;  his  youth,  which  rendered  him  un 
fit  to  govern,  occasioned  his  fall ;  for  he  had 
discarded  from  his  society  those  who  were  in 
favor  with  his  father,  and  associated  with 
none  but  worthless  men.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  brother,  Haroon,  the  principal  events 
of  the  period  of  whose  rule  were  a  great 
tempest  and  earthquake  in  Egypt,  and  a 
treaty  which  he  concluded  with  the  Khaleefeh, 
by  which  the  provinces  of  Awasim  and  Kin 
nasreen  were  ceded  to  him.  He  reigned 
upwards  of  eight  years,  but  gave  himself  up 
to  pleasure,  and  was  put  to  death  by  his 
uncles  Sheyban  and  'Adee,  sons  of  the  found 
er  of  the  dynasty,  the  former  of  whom 
usurped  the  government.  In  the  meantime, 
at  the  instigation  of  the  generals  of  Haroon, 
Mohammed  Ibn-Suleyman,  a  scribe  of  Lulu, 
advanced  against  him  with  a  numerous  and 
heavily  -  equipped  army.  Sheyban  went 
forth  to  meet  him  with  all  the  forces  he 
could  muster,  but  numbers  of  his  troops 
deserted  to  the  invader,  and  he  was  soon 
overthrown.  Mohammed  Ibn  -  Suleyman 
burned  El-Katae'  and  sacked  El-Fustat,  re 
ducing  the  women  to  slavery,  committing 
many  atrocities,  and  exiling  the  family  of 
Ahman  Ibn-Tooloon,  with  all  their  adherents. 

Having  thus  completed  his  conquest,  and 
restored  the  province  of  Egypt  to  the  House 
of  Abbas,  Ibn-Suleyman  yielded  the  gov 
ernment  to  'Eesa  Ibn-En-ISTosharee,  appoint 
ed  by  El-Muktefee.  He  died  in  292,  and 
was  followed  by  Tekeen  El-Gezeree,  under 
whose  rule  Egypt  was  invaded  by  the  forces 
of  Abd- Allah  El-Mahdee,  first  prince  of  the 


27G 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Dynasty  of  the  Fatimees  (or  Fawatim,  that 
being  the  plural  of  Fatimee),  which  had  suc 
ceeded  the  Benee-Aghlab  in  the  dominion 
of  Northern  Africa.  His  general,  Hubasheh, 
having  taken  El-Barkah,  advanced  with  an 

O  ' 

army  of  100,000  men  to  Alexandria,  where 
Tekeen,  re-enforced  with  troops  from  El-Irak, 
gave  him  battle,  and  defeated  him  in  a  san 
guinary  conflict.  In  the  following  year  he 
was  succeeded  by  Abu-1-IIasan-Zekee  El- 
Aawar  Er-Roomee,  in  whose  time  El-Mahdee 
again  attempted  the  conquest  of  Egypt  with 
an  army  under  the  command  of  his  son,  Abu-1- 
Kasim  Mohammed ;  Alexandria  fell  into  his 
hands  in  307  ;  its  inhabitants  fled  to  Misr,  and 
the  governor  entrenched  himself  in  El-G  eezeh, 
on  the  opposite  or  western  bank  of  the  Kile, 
and  shortly  afterwards  died.  In  this  emer 
gency  Tekeen  was  reinstated  in  his  office. 
lie  immediately  strengthened  El-Geezeh  with 
a  second  moat,  and  intercepted  the  forces  of 
El-Mahdee  by  the  river;  and  being  re-en 
forced  by  3000  men  from  Baghdad,  under 
Moonas  the  Eunuch,  he  gave  battle  to  Abu- 
1-Kasim  in  the  Feiyoom  and  at  Alexandria, 
and  drove  him  back  to  El-Barkah.  After 
rendering  this  important  service,  Tekeen  was 
again  recalled,  and  Ililal  Ibn-Bedr  appointed 
governor;  but  the  troops  revolting,  and 
much  sedition  and  rapine  ensuing,  he  was 
once  more  despatched  to  Egypt,  where  he 
remained  until  his  death  in  the  year  321. 

He  was  followed  by  Mohammed  El-Ikh- 
sheed  Ibn-Tagliag  Aboo-Bekr  El-Farghanee, 
afterwards  the  founder  of  the  Dynasty  of  the 
Ikhsheedees,  who  was  almost  immediately 
superseded  by  another  governor;  and  for 
one  year  more  Egypt  continued  to  be  a  prov 
ince  of  the  Khaleefehs  of  Baghdad.  In  the 
year  323  El-Ikhsheed  again  succeeded  to  the 
government.  About  this  time  little  remain 
ed  to  the  Khaleefeh  of  his  once  broad  em 
pire  beyond  the  province  of  Baghdad,  and 
even  there  his  power  was  but  nominal,  for 
Er  Raik  there,  as  well  as  in  Wasit  and  El- 
Basrah,  held  the  entire  authority.  Khoozis- 
tan,  Persia,  Kerman,  Rei,  Ispahan,  El-Mosil, 
and  the  provinces  of  Mesopotamia,  were 


either  in  a  state  of  revolt,  or  nearly  or  whol 
ly  lost  to  him.  Spain  was  governed  by  the 
Dynasty  of  Umeiyeh,  and  Africa  by  that  of 
El-Mahdee ;  and  we  have  seen  the  distracted 
state  of  Egypt  since  the  fall  of  the  Benee- 
Tooloon.  El-Ikhsheed  availed  himself  of 
these  circumstances  to  throw  off  his  alle 
giance,  and  possessed  himself  of  Egypt  and 
Syria ;  continuing,  however,  to  acknowledge 
the  spiritual  supremacy  of  the  Khaleefeh. 
Shortly  after  he  defeated  the  forces  of  El- 
Mahdee,  who  had  again  made  an  inroad  into 
the  country :  and  in  327  he  was  confirmed 
in  liis  government  by  Er-Radee.  In  the  fol 
lowing  year  Er-Raik  subdued  a  great  part 
of  Syria,  and,  having  taken  Damascus,  ad 
vanced  to  the  frontier  of  Egypt,  where,  after 
a  very  severe  engagement,  he  was  utterly 
routed,  and  pursued  by  the  troops  of  El- 
Ikhsheed  as  far  as  Damascus.  There,  how 
ever,  the  fortune  of  war  turned  against  El- 
Ikhsheed,  and  for  a  time  he  was  deprived  of 
the  province  of  Syria,  though  he  subsequent 
ly  regained  possession  of  it.  During  his 
reign,  the  Khaleefehs  of  Baghdad  were 
daily  losing  power,  and,  in  the  year  333,  El- 
Muktefee  wrote  to  him  lamenting  his  miser 
able  state  :  whereupon  El-Ikhsheed  immedi 
ately  repaired  to  him  at  Eakkah  with  valu 
able  presents,  and  offered  him  assistance, 
and  an  asylum  in  Egypt.  About  this  time, 
also,  he  conducted  a  war  with  various  suc 
cess  against  Seyf-ed-Dowleh  of  Ilamadari, 
who  had  attacked  Syria.  He  died  at  Damascus! 
in  334,  in  the  GGth  year  of  his  age,  and  waa 
buried,  as  were  all  the  princes  of  his  dynasty 
after  him,  in  the  mosque  of  'Omar  at  Jeru 
salem. 

Of  Ei-Ikhsheed's  two  sons  and  successors, 
Abu-1-Kasim  and  Abu-1-Hasan'Alee,  little  is 
known;  their  weczeer  Kafoor,  a  black 
eunuch,  being  the  actual  ruler.  In  the  reign 
of  the  former,  in  the  year  343,  a  great  fire 
occurred  in  El-Fustat,  which  destroyed  1700 
houses  and  much  merchandise.  Kafoor  suc 
ceeded  to  the  throne  *n  355,  and  was  acknow 
ledged  throughout  Egypt,  Syria,  and  the 
Higaz.  He  ruled  with  great  ability,  and 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


277 


was  a  patron,  of  literature  ;  his  name  is  cele 
brated  by  the  poet  El-Mutanebbee,  who  was 
his  boon  companion,  and  whom,  as  well  as 
other  learned  men,  he  rewarded  with  mag 
nificent  presents.  On  his  death  internal  dis 
sensions  respecting  the  succession  of  Abu-1- 
Fowaris,  a  son  of  'Alee,  presented  a  favor 
able  opportunity  to  the  Fatimee  Khaleefeh 
to  renew  the  oft-repeated  invasions  of  Egypt. 

Hitherto,  with  few  exceptions,  the  most 
notable  of  which  are  the  reigns  of  Ibn-Too- 
loon,  Ivhumaraweyh,  El-Ikhsheed,  and  Ka- 
foor,  the  Muslim  rulers  of  Egypt  had  not 
much  benefited  the  country,  or  rescued  it 
from  the  anarchy  and  troubles  in  wrhich  it 
had  become  involved  under  the  Lower  Em 
pire.  But  the  incidents  of  the  time  are  so 
little  known  as  to  have  been  deemed  worthy 
of  more  mention  in  this  article  than  perhaps 
their  importance  would  otherwise  warrant. 
From  the  period  at  which  we  have  now  ar 
rived,  however,  the  annals  of  Egypt  contain 
much  important  matter,  and  are  so  closely 
interwoven  with  the  events  of  the  Crusades 
as  to  render  them  deeply  interesting  to  the 
student  of  European  history.  The  rise  of 
the  schismatic  Khaleefehs  of  Africa  is  a  re 
markable  episode  in  the  early  days  of  El- 
Islam,  and  most  of  the  princes  of  that  dynasty 
were  not  unworthy  of  their  successors,  the 
renowned  Salah-ed-Deen  and  his  family,  or 
of  the  Memlook  Sultans. 

In  the  year  358  El-Mo'izz  li-cleeni-llah,  the 
fourth  Fatimee  Khaleefeh,  equipped  a  large 
and  wrell-armed  force,  with  a  formidable 
body  of  cavalry,  the  whole  under  the  com 
mand  of  Abu-l-lloseyn  Gohar  el-Kaid,  a  na 
tive  of  Greece,  and  a  slave  of  his  father  El- 
Mansoor.  Tliis  general,  on  his  arrival  near 
Alexandria,  received  a  deputation  from  the 
inhabitants  of  El-Fustat,  charged  to  negotiate 
a  treaty.  The  overtures  were  favorably 
entertained,  and  the  conquest  of  the  country 
•seemed  probable  without  bloodshed.  But, 
while  the  conditions  were  being  ratified,  the 
Ikhsheedees  prevailed  on  the  people  to  re 
voke  their  offer,  and  the  ambassadors  on 
their  return  were  themselves  compelled  to 


seek  safety  in  flight.  Gohar  lost  no  time  in 
pushing  forward.  Before  El-Geezeh  a  par 
tial  combat  took  place :  several  clays  were 
passed  in  skirmishes,  and  at  length  ho  forced 
the  passage  of  the  Kile  a  few  miles  south  of 
that  town,  at  the  head  of  his  troops.  Here 
the  Ikhsheedes  offered  a  brave  resistance; 
the  greater  part  were  left  dead  on  the  field, 
and  the  remainder,  taking  what  valuables 
they  could  carry  off,  fled  from  El-Fustat. 
The  former  mediators  were  now  brought  to 
intercede  for  the  inhabitants  and  the  women 
of  the  fallen  dynasty,  and,  to  the  honor  ot 
the  African  general,  it  is  related  that  they 
were  pardoned,  and  the  city  was  peaceably 
occupied.  The  submission  of  the  rest  of 
Egypt  was  secured  by  this  victory ;  and  all 
the  Higaz,  including  the  holy  cities,  and  El~ 
Yemen,  speedily  acknowledged  the  authority 
and  supremacy  of  the  Fatimee  El-Mo'izz. 
In  the  year  359  Syria  was  also  added  to  his 
dominions,  but  shortly  after  was  overrun  by 
the  Ivarmatees ;  the  troops  of  El-Mo'izz  met 
with  several  reverses,  Damascus  was  taken, 
and  those  lawless  freebooters,  joined  by  the 
Ikhsheedees,  advanced  to  'Eyn-Shems.  In 
the  meanwhile  Gohar  had  fortified  El-Iva- 
hireh  (the  new  capital  which  he  had  founded 
immediately  north  of  El-Fustat),  and  taken 
every  precaution  to  repel  the  invaders:  a 
bloody  battle  was  fought  on  Friday,  the  1st 
of  Rabeea  el-Owwal,  in  the  year  361,  before 
the  city  walls,  without  any  decisive  result. 
On  the  following  Sunday,  however,  Gohar 
obtained  a  great  victory  over  the  enemy, 
who  experienced  a  reverse  more  complete 
than  any  he  had  before  suffered,  and  the 
camp  and  baggage  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
conqueror. 

At  the  earnest  solicitations  of  his  lieuten 
ant,  who  had  ruled  Egypt  both  ably  and 
justly,  with  almost  absolute  authority,  El- 
Mo'izz  at  length  determined  to  remove  his 
court  to  his  new  kingdom.  In  Ramadan 
362,  he  entered  El-Kahireh,  bringing  with 
him  the  bodies  of  his  three  predecessors,  and 
vast  treasure.  El-Mo'izz  reigned  about  two 
years  in  Egypt,  dying  in  the  year  365.  He 


278 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


is  described  as  a  warlike  and  ambitious 
prince,  but,  notwithstanding,  he  was  especi 
ally  distinguished  for  justice,  and  was  fond 
of  learning.  He  showed  great  favor  to  the 
Christians,  especially  to  Severus,  Bishop  of 
El-Ashmooneyn.  and  the  Patriarch  Ephrem ; 
and  under  his  orders,  and  with  his  assistance, 
the  church  of  the  Mu'allakah,  in  Old  Misr, 
was  rebuilt.  lie  executed  many  useful 
works  (among  others  rendering  navigable 
the  Tanitic  branch  of  the  Nile,  which  is  still 
called  the  canal  of  El-Mo'izz),  and  occupied 
himself  in  embellishing  El-Kahireh.  Gohar, 
when  he  founded  that  city,  built  the  great 
mosque  named  El-Azhar,  the  university  of 
Egypt,  which  to  this  day  is  crowded  by 
students  from  all  parts  of  the  Muslim  world. 
The  principal  event  of  his  reign  in  Egypt 
was  the  second  irruption  of  Hasan  the  Kar- 
matee.  The  enemy,  as  on  the  former  occa 
sion,  reached  'Eyn-Shems ;  but  now  he  gain 
ed  more  advantage  over  the  African  troops. 
Although  twice  defeated  in  different  parts 
of  Egypt,  and  constantly  harassed  in  his  ad 
vance,  the  capital  was  closely  besieged  by 
him,  and  its  defenders  were  driven  across  the 
fosse.  Thus  straitened,  El-Mo'izz  had  re 
course  to  stratagem,  and  succeeded  in  bribing 
Hasan  Ibn-El-Garrah  (who  with  the  body 
of  the  tribe  of  Tei,  fought  with  the  Karma- 
tees)  to  desert  them  in  the  heat  of  the  next 
battle.  The  result  of  this  plan  was  success 
ful,  and  again  Hasan  was  defeated  and  com 
pelled  to  flee.  This  event,  which  occurred 
in  the  year  363,  relieved  Egypt  of  another 
invader,  an  ally  of  Hasan,  by  name  Abd- 
Allah  Ibn-' Obey d- Allah  (formerly  governor 
of  Syria  under  Kafoor),  and  obtained  for 
the  arms  of  El-Mo'izz  various  successes  in 
Syria. 

El-'Azeez  Aboo-Mansoor  luzar,  on  his 
Doming  to  the  throne  of  his  father,  immedi 
ately  despatched  an  expedition  against  the 
Turkish  chief  El-Eftekeen,  who  had  taken 
Damascus  a  short  time  previously.  Gohar 
again  commar.ied  the  army,  and  pressed  the 
siege  of  that  city  so  vigorously  that  the 
enemy  called  to  their  aid  the  Karmatees. 


Before  this  united  army  he  retired  by  little 
and  little  to  Ascalon,  where  he  prepared  to 
stand  a  siege ;  but,  being  reduced  to  great 
straits,  he  purchased  his  liberty  with  a  largo 
sum  of  money.  On  his  return  from  this 
disastrous  campaign,  El-'Azeez  took  the  com 
mand  in  person,  and,  meeting  the  enemy  at 
Ramleh,  was  victorious  after  a  bloody  battle, 
while  El-Eftekeen,  being  betrayed  into  hi? 
hands,  was  with  Arab  magnanimity  received 
with  honor  and  confidence,  and  ended  his 
days  in  Egypt  in  affluence.  El-'Azeez  fol 
lowed  his  father's  example  of  liberality.  It 
is  even  said  that  he  appointed  a  Jew  his 
wezeer  in  Syria,  and  a  Christian  to  the  same 
post  in  Egypt.  These  acts,  however,  nearly 
cost  him  his  life,  and  popular  tumult  obliged 
him  to  disgrace  both  these  officers.  After  a 
reign  of  twenty-one  years,  of  great  internal 
prosperity,  he  died  (A.II.  386)  in  a  batli  at 
Bilbeys,  while  preparing  an  expedition 
against  the  Greeks,  who  were  ravaging  his 
possessions  in  Syria. 

Though  El-'Azeez  was  distinguished  for 
moderation  and  mildness,  his  son  and  suc 
cessor  rendered  himself  notorious  by  very 
opposite  qualities.  El-Hakim  bi-amri-llah 
Aboo-'Alee  Mansoor  began  his  reign,  accord 
ing  to  Muslim  historians,  with  much  wis 
dom,  but  afterwards  acquired  a  character  for 
impiety,  cruelty,  and  unreasoning  extrava 
gance,  by  which  he  has  been  rendered  odious 
to  posterity.  He  is  described  as  possessing 
at  once  "  courage  and  boldness,  and  coward 
ice  and  timorousness,  a  love  for  learning  and 

<TJ 

vindictiveness  towards  the  learned,  an  incli 
nation  to  righteousness,  and  a  disposition  to 
slay  the  righteous ; "  and  this  character  is 
fully  borne  out  by  his  many  extravagances. 
Of  his  cruelty  numerous  anecdotes  are  told 
us,  especially  in  the  discharge  of  his  functions 
as  Mohtesib,  or  "  regulator  of  the  markets 
and  of  the  weights  and  measures,"  an  office 
which  he  assumed,  and  in  which  he  became 
the  terror  of  the  inhabitants.  But  his  cruel 
ty  was  surpassed  by  his  impiety.  He  arro 
gated  to  himself  divinity,  commanded  his 
subjects  to  rise  at  the  mention  of  his  name 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


in  the  congregational  prayers  (an  edict  which 
was  obeyed  even  in  the  holy  cities  Mekkeh 
:md  El-Medeeneh),  and  altered  his  name, 
which  signifies  "  governing  by  the  command 
of  God,"  to  El-IIakim  bi-amru,  or  "govern 
ing  by  his  own  command."  He  is  most  fa 
mous  in  connection  with  the  Druses,  a  sect 
which  he  founded,  and  which  still  holds  him 
in  veneration,  and  believes  in  his  future  re 
turn  to  the  earth.  He  had  thus  made  him 
self  obnoxious  to  all  classes  of  his  subjects, 
when,  in  the  year  397,  he  nearly  lost  his 
throne  by  foreign  invasion.  Hisham,  sur- 
named  Aboo-Iiakwak,  a  descendant  of  the 
house  of  Umeiyeh  in  Spain,  took  the  province 
of  El-Barkah,  with  a  considerable  force,  and 
subdued  Upper  Egypt.  The  Khaleefeh, 
aware  of  his  danger,  immediately  collected 
his  troops  from  every  quarter  of  the  kingdom, 
and  marched  against  the  invader,  whom, 
after  severe  fighting,  he  defeated  and  put  to 
flight.  Hisham  himself  was  taken  prisoner, 
paraded  in  El-Kahireh,  with  every  aggrava 
tion  of  cruelty,  and  put  to  death.  El-Hakim 
having  by  vigorous  measures  thus  averted 
this  danger,  Egypt  continued  to  groan  under 
his  tyranny  until  the  year  411,  when  he  fell 
by  domestic  treachery.  His  sister,  Seyyidet- 
el-Mulook,  had,  in  common  with  the  rest  of 
his  subjects,  incurred  his  displeasure ;  and, 
being  fearful  for  her  life,  she  secretly  and  by 
night  concerted  measures  with  the  Emeer 
Seyf-ed-Dowleh,  chief  of  the  guard,  who  very 
readily  agreed  to  her  plans.  Ten  slaves, 
bribed  by  500  deenars  each,  having  received 
their  instructions,  went  forth  on  the  appoint 
ed  day  to  the  desert  tract  south-east  of  El- 
Kahireh,  where  El-Hakim,  unattended,  was 
in  the  habit  of  riding,  and  waylaid  him  near 
the  village  of  Hulwan,  where  they  put  him 
to  death. 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Edh-Dhahir 
bi-llah  Abu-1-Hasan  'Alee,  who  ruled  with 
justice  and  moderation  for  nearly  sixteen 
years.  In  414  Aleppo  was  taken  by  Salih 
son  of  Mardas  ;  and  although  he  was  defeat 
ed  and  slain  by  an  Egyptian  force  sent  against 
him,  a  son,  Shibl-ed-Dowleh  Aboo-Kamil 


279 


,  yet  retained  possession  of  that  city. 
At  this  time  also  Hasan,  of  the  tribe  of  Tei 
before  mentioned,  had  made  himself  master 
of  Eamleh  ;  and  indeed  from  this  Khaleefeh's 
reign  we  may  date  the  decline  of  the  Eati- 
mee  power,  especially  in  Syria. 

In  the  year  427,  El-Mustansir  bi-llah 
Aboo-Temeem  Ma'add  came  to  the  throne 
at  the  age  of  seven  years.  His  reign  occu 
pied  a  long  period,  rendered  memorable  by 
the  unparalleled  troubles  which  befel  Egypt. 
It  commenced  prosperously  with  the  defeat 
and  death  of  Shibl-ed-Dowleh.  Aleppo  wag 
taken,  the  submission  of  the  rest  of  Syria  fol 
lowed  ;  and  the  general  who  had  conducted 
the  expedition  against  that  province  assumed 
its  government.  On  his  death,  Mo'izz-ed- 
Dowleh,  a  brother  of  Shibl-ed-Dowleli,  re 
took  Aleppo  ;  but  the  various  fortunes  of 
this  prince  and  his  nephew  Mahmood,  from 
this  time,  and  during  the  calamities  of  Egypt, 
are  too  complicated  and  subordinate  to  claim 
a  place  here.  In  the  western  provinces,  the 
rebel  El-Mo'izz  (the  third  successor  of  Yocsuf 
Ibn-Zeyree,  who  was  appointed  governor  on 
the  conquest  of  Egypt),  was  punished  by  an 
irruption  of  wild  Arab  tribes  in  the  pay  of 
El-Mustansir. 

In  the  year  450,  the  Fatimee  Kaleefeh  was 
publicly  prayed  for  in  Baghdad;  a  remark 
able  event,  of  which  the  immediate  cause 
was  briefly  as  follows  :  Abu-1-Harith  Arslan 
El-Besaseeree,  a  powerful  Turkish  chief 
exercising  unbounded  authority  in  that  city, 
had  fallen  into  disgrace,  and  received  sup 
plies  of  men  and  money  from  the  Khaleefeh 
of  Egypt  ;  and  while  Togrul-Beg  espoused 
the  cause  of  the  Abbasee  Khaleefeh,  his  bro 
ther  Ibraheem  Eynal  revolted,  joined  El- 
Besaseeree,  and  defeated  Togrul-Beg.  El 
Besaseeree  entered  Baghdad,  in  which  the 
combat  continued  to  rage;  and  the  unfortu 
nate  city  was  devastated  by  massacre  and 
pillage.  El-Mustansir  was  solemnly  declared 
Prince  of  the  Faithful,  and  the  insignia  of 
the  legitimate  Khaleefeh  were  sent  to  Cairo. 
The  success  of  El-Besaseeree,  however,  waa 
but  transient  :  Togrul-Beg  had,  in  the  mean 


280 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


time,  defeated  and  killed  his  brother  Ibra- 
heera ;  he  then  entered  Baghdad  in  Dhu-1- 
Kaadah  451 ;  and  having  despatched  a  force 
against  El-Besaseeree,  the  latter  fell  in  a 

C*  7 

battle  near  El-Koofeh. 

A  persecution  of  the  Christians  of  Alex 
andria  occurred  about  this  time ;  and  in  454 
commenced  a  desolating  struggle  between 
the  Blacks  and  the  Turks,  both  of  whom 
had  become  numerous  in  Egypt.  The  for 
mer  were  succoured  by  the  mother  of  El- 
Mustansir,  herself  a  negress,  while  the  com 
mand  of  the  latter  was  taken  by  Nasir-ed- 
Dowleh  Ibn-IIamdan,  a  general  of  El-Mus- 
tansir,  more  than  once  governor  of  Damas 
cus,  and  at  this  period  governor  of  Lower 
Egypt.  To  this  man's  unscrupulous  am 
bition  was  due  much  of  the  trouble  which 
ensued.  After  many  battles  the  Turks  suc 
ceeded  in  destroying  the  power  of  their  ad 
versaries,  and  their  leader  assumed  almost 
absolute  authority,  while  they  not  only  ex 
torted  from  the  Khalecfeh  immense  sums  of 
money  and  treasure,  but  even  rifled  the 
tombs  of  his  predecessors  for  the  valuables 
which  they  contained.  At  the  same  time 
the  bulk  of  the  valuable  library  of  the  Fati- 
mees  was  dispersed  by  these  brigands.  But 
the  very  power  of  Nasir-ed-Dowleh  threaten 
ed  his  overthrow.  His  sense  of  security  in 
his  position  rendered  him  regardless  of  the 
support  of  the  Turks ;  and  when  at  length 
his  schemes  for  the  deposition  of  El-Mustansir 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis,  a  large  portion 
of  the  army  declared  against  him.  Defeated 
and  driven  from  the  metropolis,  he  succeed 
ed  in  possessing  himself  of  Lower  Egypt,  and 
a  terrible  civil  war  raged  between  the  con 
tending  parties.  But  an  even  heavier  cala 
mity  afflicted  Egypt.  For  seven  successive 
years  the  inundation  of  the  Nile  failed,  and 
with  it  almost  the  entire  subsistence  of  the 
country,  while  the  rebels  intercepted  supplies 
of  grain  from  the  north.  El-Makreezee  in 
forms  us  that  El-Askar  and  El-Katae  were 
depopulated,  and  that  half  the  inhabitants 
of  El-Fustat  perished,  while  <n  El-Kahireh 
itself  the  people  we-e  reduced  Lo  the  direst 


straits.  Bread  was  sold  for  14  dirhems  the 
Ib.  loaf ;  and  ah1  provision  being  exhausted, 
the  worst  horrors  of  famine  followed.  The 
wretched  people  resorted  to  cannibalism,  and 
organised  bands  kidnapped  the  unwary  pas 
senger  in  the  desolate  streets,  principally  by 
means  of  ropes  furnished  witlr  hooks,  and  let 
down  from  the  latticed  windows.  In  the 
year  4G2,  the  famine  reached  its  height.  It 
was  followed  by  a  pestilence ;  and  in  the 
midst  of  these  horrors,  Nasir-ed-Dowleh  ad 
vanced  on  Cairo  at  the  head  of  an  enormous 
army :  he  was  induced  to  withdraw  by  the 
promise  of  large  concessions,  only  to  repeat 
the  attack,  and  finally  to  make  himself  mas 
ter  of  the  city,  after  having  inflicted  a  signal 
defeat  on  the  Khaleefeh,  who  became  only 
the  nominal  ruler  of  Egypt;  a  condition 
which  lasted  until  the  assassination  of  this 
powerful  rebel  in  the  year  405. 

While  these  events  were  occurring  in 
Egypt,  Syria  was  in  a  continual  state  of  an 
archy  and  war.  A  distinguished  general,  the 
Erneer  cl-Guyoosh  Bedr-ed-Deen  El-Gemalee, 
held  the  government  of  Damascus  during 
these  time  ;  and  now  El-Mustansir  wrote,  re 
calling  him  to  assume  the  office  of  Wexeer 
of  Egypt.  On  the  condition  of  being  allow 
ed  to  bring  with  him  a  veteran  force,  he, 
happily  for  the  country,  obeyed  the  sum 
mons,  and  to  his  talents  was  owing  the  re 
storation  of  order,  and  even  prosperity  which 
followed.  By  a  massacre  of  Emeers  at  a 
grand  banquet  shortly  after  his  arrival,  and 
by  numerous  executions,  he  subdued  all 
opposition  in  the  capital ;  and  in  a  series  of 
brilliant  victories  annihilated  the  savage 
hordes  who  infested  the  country  throughout 
its  whole  extent,  having  either  been  called  to 
the  aid  of  the  contending  parties,  or  volun 
tarily  taken  advantage  of  the  universal  anar 
chy  to  commit  their  lawless  ravages. 

In  concluding  this  necessarily  extended 
notice  of  the  reign  of  El-Mustansir,  the  in 
vasion  of  Atseez  with  an  army  of  Turkumans, 
Kurds,  and  Arabs,  in  the  year  469,  must  be 
just  mentioned.  Spreading  devastation 
around  them,  they  encamped  near  Cairo ; 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


281 


and  in  the  first  engagement  defeated  the 
forces  of  El-Gemalee ;  but  fortune  favoring 
him  in  a  second  battle,  the  enemy  was  total 
ly  routed  with  immense  carnage. 

ElMustansir  reigned  60  years,  and  died 
in  the  year  45 7.  He  was  a  weak  prince, 
solely  given  up  to  pleasure.  El-Gemalee  had 
governed  with  almost  absolute  authority  and 
great  ability,  for  a  period  of  20  years,  dying 
only  a  few  days  before  the  Khaleefeh.  While 
admiring  El-Gemalee's  talents,  we  cannot 
but  condemn  his  seventy.  He  built  the 
mosque  which  gives  its  name  to  the  moun 
tain  immediately  S.  E.  of  the  citadel  of 
Cairo  (Gebel-El-Guyooshee),  and  the  second 
wall  of  El-Kahireh,  with  its  three  principal 
gates,  Bab-Zuweyleh,  Bab-en-lSTasr,  and  Bab- 
el-Futooh.  These  gates,  which  are  very 
fine  specimens  of  architecture,  are  said  to  be 
the  work  of  three  Greek  brothers. 

El-Mustaalee  bi-llah  Abu-1-Kasim  Ahmad 
succeeded  his  father  ;  but  a  son  of  El-Gema 
lee,  El-Afdal,  had  the  principal  management 
of  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom.  This  Kha- 
leefeh's  reign  is  memorable  for  the  First 
Crusade.  El-Afdal  had  taken  Jerusalem 
from  the  Turks  in  the  year  1098 ;  and  a  few 
months  later  it  yielded  to  the  Crusaders, 
ifter  a  siege  of  40  days.  El-Afdal  arrived 
shortly  after  its  fall  with  a  re-enforcement 
of  20,000  men,  but  he  was  defeated  in  the 
battle  of  Ascalon.  Later,  an  Egyptian  army, 
commanded  by  Saad-ed-Dowleh,  was  worsted 
by  Baldwin,  Count  of  Edessa,  and  the  gen 
eral  was  killed  in  the  action.  From  this 
period,  with  the  exception  of  some  efforts 
made  in  the  next  reign,  in  the  time  of  Salah- 
ed-Deen  (the  Saladin  of  the  Crusades),  Egypt 
was  too  much  occupied  with  intestine  troub 
les  to  equip  expeditions  against  the  various 
parties  who  now  struggled  for  the  possession 
of  Syria.  El-Mustaalee  died  in  the  year  495. 
lie  is  stated  to  have  been  a  Sunnee — a 
strange  anomaly  in  a  dynasty  of  Shiya'ees. 

His  son  El-A'mir  bi-ahkami-llah  Aboo'- 
Alee  Mansoor,  came  to  the  throne  at  the  age 
of  five  years,  and  until  his  arrival  at  man 
hood,  the  government  was  conducted  by  EV- 
Sfi 


Afdal.  The  first  act  of  the  Khaleefeh,  how 
ever,  on  talcing  it  into  his  own  hands,  was 
tr  put  his  minister  to  death,  and  appoint 
in  his  stead  a  man  whose  wickedness  obliged 
him  to  imprison  him  and  afterwards  con 
demn  him  to  death.  The  rule  of  El-  'Amir 
was  chiefly  remarkable  for  his  impiety  and 
tyranny,  and  for  the  successes  of  the  Crusad 
ers,  who,  having  reduced  many  of  the  prin 
cipal  coast-towns  in  Syria,  meditated  the 
conquest  of  Egypt,  and  crossed  the  frontier, 
but  were  deterred  from  the  prosecution  of 
their  enterprise  by  the  illness  of  Baldwin, 
whose  death  took  place  at  El-Areesh,  on  his 
way  back  to  Jerusalem.  El-A'mir  was  put 
to  death  in  524,  at  the  town  of  El-Geezeh,  it 
is  said  by  partisans  of  El-Afdal,  whose  son 
then  usurped  the  entire  government,  setting 
up,  as  Khaleefeh,  El-Hafidh  li-deeni-llah 
Abd-El-Megeed,  a  grandson  of  El-Mustansir 
(El-A'mir  having  left  no  male  issue),  but 
without  the  usual  ceremonies  of  installation. 
This  wezeer,  Aboo-'Alee  Ahmad,  even  for 
bade  the  mention  of  El-Hafidh  in  the  public 
prayer,  and  inserted  his  own  name  in  his 
stead.  He  perished  in  a  popular  tumult, 
roused  by  his  extortions  and  arbitrary  rule, 
and  El-Hafidh  was  duly  declared  Khaleefeh, 
and  received  the  oath  of  allegiance.  After 
the  death  of  Ahmad,  he  successively  ap 
pointed  three  other  Wezeers ;  but  these 
proving  equally  refractory,  he  at  length  dis 
pensed  with  that  office  altogether.  He 
reigned  nearly  20  years.  The  licentiousness 
of  his  son  and  successor,  Edh-Dhafir  bi-aadai- 
llah  Aboo-Hansoor  Isma'eel,  occasioned  his 
death  in  four  years  and  seven  months  at  the 
hand  of  his  Wezeer  El- Abbas. 

El-Faiz  bi-llah  Abu-1-Kasim  'Eesa  Ibn- 
'Alee  was,  on  his  accession,  only  five  years 
of  age,  and  the  history  of  his  times  presents 
merely  the  contentions  of  rival  Wezeers,  of 
whom  the  chief  were  El-Melik  Es-Salih 
Tatae  Ibn-Ruzzeyk,  and  his  competitor  El- 
Abbas,  before  named.  The  latter  finding 
his  power  failing,  gathered  together  the 
wealth  he  had  amassed,  and  fled  to  Syria, 
where  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Crusaders, 


282 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WOULD. 


who  stripped  him  of  all  that  h"  had,  and  de 
tained  him  a  prisoner.  Even  yually  he  was 
given  up  to  Tatae,  and  crucified  over  the 
gates  of  the  palace. 

El-Faiz  died  in  the  year  555,  and  El-A'did 
li-deeni-llah  Aboo-Mohammed  Abd- Allah,  a 
grandson  of  El-Hafidh,  and  the  last  of  the 
Fatimee  Khaleefehs,  was  raised  to  what  was 
then  but  the  shadow  of  a  throne,  the  entire 
power  being  in  the  hands  of  Tatae,  who  by 
his  oppression  and  cruelty  well-high  rendered 
El-'A'did,  by  nature  benevolent  and  wise,  as 
tyrannical  as  himself.  He  was  assassinated 
by  the  secret  orders  of  the  Khaleefeh,  and 
the  latter  to  conceal  his  agency  in  this  act, 
installe  1  his  son  El-'A'did  in  his  place.  At 
this  time  the  well-known  Shawir  was  gover 
nor  of  the  Sa'eed  (or  Upper  Egypt),  a  post 
next  in  importance  to  that  of  prime  minis 
ter.  During  the  next  three  reigns  the  Wezeers 
had  been  rapidly  increasing  in  power ;  and 
the  annals  of  the  period  are  entirely  occupied 
with  the  rise  and  fall  of  potent  grandees,  all 
eager  for  a  post  which  conferred  on  its  pos 
sessor  the  supreme  authority.  At  length,  in 
the  reign  of  this  unfortunate  prince,  they 
consummated  the  ruin  of  the  dynasty,  and 
overwhelmed  themselves  in  its  fall.  In  555, 
El-'Axdil  dispossessed  Shawir  of  his  govern 
ment,  and  the  latter  had  immediate  recourse 
to  arms,  marched  against  his  enemy,  and 
succeeded  in  putting  him  to  death.  lie  then 
constituted  himself  Wezeer,  but  in  his  turn 
was  compelled  to  flee  from  a  more  powerful 
rival,  Ed-Dirgham.  Noor-ed-Decn,  the  sul 
tan  of  Damascus,  received  the  fugitive  with 
favor ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  next  year  (559) 
despatched  an  army  to  Egypt,  under  the 
command  of  Asad-ed-Deen  Sheerkooh,  to 
reinstate  him.  In  the  meantime  Ed-Dirgham 
had  been  busy  putting  to  death  the  great 
men  of  the  empire ;  and  having  thus  weak 
ened  his  power,  he  offered  but  a  feeble  resis 
tance,  was  overthrown  in  a  battle  near  the 
tomb  of  the  sepyideh  Nefeeseh,  on  the  S.  of 
Cairo,  and  Shawir  was  restored.  No  sooner, 
however,  was  this  effected,  than  he  forgot  j 
the  engagement  into  which  he  had  entered 


with  Noor-ed-Deen,  and  threw  off  his  alle 
giance  to  him.  Sheerkooh  retired  to  thf. 
Sharkeeyeh,  and  occupied  the  town  of  Bil- 
beys,  and  thence  threatened  Shawir.  In  this 
position  of  affairs  the  latter  had  recourse  to 
the  Crusaders,  who  willingly  responded  tc 
his  call,  and  Amaury,  king  of  Jerusalem, 
arrived  with  a  considerable  force.  With 
these  allies,  Shawir  besieged  his  former  pro 
tector  in  Bilbeys,  until  hearing  of  Noor-ed- 
Deen's  successes  over  the  Franks  in  Syria, 
they  negotiated  a  peace,  and  permitted 
Sheerkooh  to  withdraw  from  Egypt.  About 
two  years  later,  ]S"oor-ed-Deen,  determined 
on  punishing  the  treachery  of  Shawir.  again 
sent  Sheerkooh  into  Egypt  with  a  great  army, 
and  accompanied  by  his  nephew,  the  famous 
Salah-ed-Deen.  Shawir  again  sought  to 
strengthen  himself  by  an  alliance  with 
Amaury,  from  whom  he  received  the  first 
intelligence  of  the  meditated  invasion.  Ap 
prised  of  their  knowledge  of  his  movements, 
Sheerkooh  changed  his  course  from  Bilbeys, 
entered  the  valley  of  the  Nile  at  some  dis 
tance  above  Cairo,  and,  crossing  the  river, 
marched  northwards  to  El-Geezeh.  Here 
he  endeavored  to  raise  the  people  against 
Shawir  and  his  infidel  confederates  ;  and  had 
in  some  measure  succeeded  when  the  supe 
rior  forces  of  the  enemy  compelled  him  to 
retreat  southwards  as  far  as  El-Babeyn,  near 
Ashmooneyn,  where  he  risked  an  engage 
ment,  and  gained  a  complete  victory.  This 
success  opened  to  the  invaders  the  greater 
part  of  Egypt,  and  Alexandria  itself  fell 
into  their  hands.  Salah-ed-Deen  was  placed 
in  that  city  with  a  numerous  garrison,  and 
his  uncle  departed  to  subdue  the  rest  of 
Egypt.  The  Crusaders,  however,  at  once 
closely  invested  Alexandria,  and  so  pressed 
the  siege  for  three  months,  as  to  oblige 
Sheerkooh  to  come  to  its  relief.  An  honor 
able  compromise  was  affected,  by  which  the 
Syrians  agreed  to  resign  their  conquests  and 
evacuate  Egypt.  But  fresh  troubles  were  in 
store  for  this  unfortunate  country.  Amaury, 
irritated  at  the  result  of  a  campaign  in 
which  he  had  only  lost,  determined  on  ar 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WOBLP. 


283 


expedition  against  his  recent  ally ;  and,  en 
tering  Egypt,  took  Bilbeys,  putting  its  in 
habitants  to  the  sword,  and  laid  siege  to  El- 
Kahireh,  his  course  being  marked  by  the 
most  dreadful  barbarities.  On  his  approach, 
the  ancient  city  of  El-Fustat  was  set  on  fire 
by  order  of  the  TVezeer,  to  prevent  it  falling 
into  the  enemy's  hands,  and  it  continued 
burning  somewhat  more  than  fifty  days.  El- 
'A'did  now  earnestly  sought  the  aid  of  jSToor- 
ed-Dcen  ;  and  that  monarch,  actuated  by  re 
ligious  zeal  against  the  Franks,  who  had 
already  felt  his  power  in  Syria,  and  by  the 
desire  of  conquest,  once  more  despatched 
Sheerkooh.  In  the  meantime  negotiations 
had  been  opened  with  Amaury  to  raise  the 
siege  of  El-Kahireh,  on  payment  of  an  enor 
mous  sum  of  money ;  while,  however,  the 
conditions  were  yet  unfulfilled,  the  approach 
of  the  Syrian  army  induced  him  to  retreat 
in  all  haste.  Sheerkooh  and  Salah-ed-Deen 
entered  the  capital  in  great  state,  were  re 
ceived  with  honor  by  the  Khaleefeh,  and 
with  obsequiousness  by  the  perfidious  Shawir, 
who  was  contriving  a  plot  which  was  fortu 
nately  discovered,  and  for  which  lie  paid 
with  his  head.  Sheerkooh  was  then  appoint 
ed  TVezeer  by  El-'A'did,  but  dying  very 
shortly,  he  was  succeeded  in  that  dignity  by 
Salah-ed-Deen. 

Of  the  short  period  which  elapsed  before 
Salah-ed-Deen'B  assumption  of  the  title  of 
Sultan,  a  few  words  will  suffice.  One  of  his 
first  acts  was  to  put  to  death  the  chief  of  the 
Eunuchs,  and  a  revolt  of  the  Blacks  resulted ; 
a  combat  took  place  in  El-Kahireh,  in  the 
street  called  Beyn-el-Kasreyn;  and  the  malcon 
tents  being  worsted,  the  disturbances  were 
quelled.  Baha-ed-Deen  Karakoosh,  a  white 
eunuch,  who  afterwards  played  a  prominent 
part  in  the  reign  of  Salah-ed-Deen,  was  ap 
pointed  to  the  vacant  post.  This  gave  the 
Wezeer  great  influence  in  the  palace,  of 
which  he  judiciously  availed  himself.  In  56G 
we  hear  of  Amaury  with  Greek  allies  unsuc 
cessfully  besieging  Damietta;  and  in  the 
following  year,  Salah-ed-Deen  conducted  an 
expedition  against  the  Franks  to  Ascalon 


and  Ramleh;  after  which,  a  year  later,  he 
took  Eyleh.  In  567,  by  order  of  Noor-ed- 
Deen,  he  suppressed  the  name  of  El-'A'did 
in  the  congregational  prayers,  and  substituted 
that  of  the  Abbassee  Khaleefeh ;  a  masterly 
stroke  of  policy  to  secure  the  adhesion  of  the 
orthodox  Muslims.  The  last  of  the  Fatimees 
was  lying  dangerously  ill,  and  his  relations 
concealed  from  him  his  degradation.  He  died 
without  the  knowledge  of  it,  and  with  him 
perished  an  illustrious  but  unfortunate  dy 
nasty. 

Salah-ed-Deen  was  thus  relieved  of  the 
most  serious  obstacle  on  his  way  to  the  throne  ; 
yet  he  dared  not  throw  off  his  allegiance  to 
the  Sultan  of  Damascus,  but  prudently 
waited  for  a  favorable  opportunity.  J^oor- 
ed-Deen's  suspicions  were  already  aroused, 
and  he  died  while  secretly  preparing  to  pro 
ceed  in  person  to  Egypt.  Salah-ed-Deen  al 
most  immediately  proclaimed  himself  Sultan 
of  Egypt,  and  inaugurated  his  reign  with  a 
series  of  brilliant  successes.  "With  the  con 
quest  of  El-Mo'izz,  Egypt  again  took  an  iin 
portant  place  among  the  nations;  and  by 
the  wars  of  Salah-ed-Deen  it  became  the 
nucleus  of  a  great  empire.  But  military 
glory  was  not  the  sole  aim  of  that  prince  and 
his  successors  ;  and  the  patronage  they  con 
tinned  to  extend  to  letters  and  the  arts  had 
the  most  beneficial  effect  upon  the  civilization 
of  the  country. 

Salah-ed-Deen,  whose  full  appellation  was 
El-Melik  En-lSTasir,  Salah-ed-Deen  Yoosuf 
Ibn  Eiyoob  acquired  his  greatest  renown  by 
his  campaigns  against  the  Crusaders  in  Sy 
ria.  As  these  belong,  however,  more  pro 
bably  to  the  history  of  those  wars  than  to 
that  of  Egypt,  they  will  be  more  briefly 
noticed  in  this  place  than  would  otherwise 
be  necessary.  The  youth  of  El-Melik  E«- 
Salih  Isma'eel,  the  son  and  successor  of 
Noor-ed-Deen,  and  the  conseq  lent  confusion 
which  prevailed  in  his  dominions,  gave 
Salah-ed-Deen  a  fair  pretext  to  occupy  Dam 
ascus,  as  the  guardian  of  the  young  prince, 
and  enable  him  to  wrest  from  him  his  kingdom. 
He  thus  considerably  enlarged  his  territory, 


284 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


made  himself  master  of  a  great  portion  of 
Syria,  and  cor.tir.ued  to  consolidate  his  power 
in  those  parts  until  the  year  573  (A.D.  1178), 
when  Philip,  Count  of  Flanders,  laid  siege 
to  Antioch,  and  Salali-e  1-Deen  entered  Pal 
estine.  The  latter  having  encamped  before 
Ascalon,  his  troops  ravaged  the  neighboring 
country,  and  set  fire  to  Joppa,  until  at  length 
Baldwin  (surnamed  the  Leper),  king  of  Jeru 
salem,  issued  from  Ascalon  and  gave  him 
battle.  The  result  was  disastrous  to  Salah- 
ed-Deen ;  his  army  was  totally  routed,  and 
he  himself  fled  alone  on  a  dromedary.  After 
this,  however,  he  gained  some  partial  advan 
tages  over  the  Christians;  and  a  terrible 
famine  induced  him,  two  years  later,  to  con 
clude  a  truce  with  the  King  of  Jerusalem,  and 
retire  to  Egypt. 

In  the  year  576  he  again  entered  Syria 
and  made  war  on  Kilij  Arslan,  the  Seljuk 
Sultan  of  Anatolia,  and  on  Leon,  King  of 
Armenia — the  Cilicio -Armenian  kingdom, — 
b:>th  of  whom  were  forced  to  make  terms  of 
peace.  Xot  long  after  his  return,  Salah-ed- 
Deen  departed  from  Egypt  (A.II.  578),  to 
prosecute  a  war  with  the  Crusaders  in  which 
neither  side  desired  peace.  Their  hostility 
was  aggravated  by  the  following  circum 
stances:  a  vessel  bearing  1500  pilgrims  had 
been  wrecked  near  Damietta,  and  its  passen 
gers  captured ;  and  to  the  remonstrances  of 
the  King  of  Jerusalem,  the  Sultan  replied 
by  complaining  of  the  constant  inroads  made 
by  Renaud  de  Chatillon.  At  this  time,  the 
latter  turbulent  chief  undertook  an  expedi 
tion  against  Eyleh,  and  for  this  purpose  con 
structed  boats  at  Karak,  and  conveyed  them 
on  camels  to  the  sea;  but  his  flotilla  was 
repulsed,  and  the  siege  raised  by  a  fleet  sent 
thither  by  El-'A'dil,  the  brother  of  Salah-ed- 
Deen,  and  then  his  viceroy ;  and  a  second 
attempt  was  still  more  unfortunate — the 
Christian  captives  on  that  occasion  were  sac 
rificed  in  the  valley  of  Mina.  Having 
threatened  Karak,  Salah-ed-Deen  encamped 
a*  Tiberias,  and  ravaged  the  territory  of  the 
Franks:  he  then  besieged  Beyroot,  but  in 
rain;  and  thence  turned  his  arms  against 


Mesopotamia,  and  subdued  that  country,  but 
the  city  of  El-Mosil  successfully  resisted  him. 
In  the  meanwhile,  the  Crusaders  contented 
themselves  with  miserable  forays  across  the 
enemy's  borders,  and  made  no  serious  pre 
parations  for  the  return  of  their  redoubtable 
antagonist.  The  latter  having  been  almost 
everywhere  successful  in  Mesopotamia,  took 
Tell-Khalid,  and  'Eyn-Tab,  in  Syria,  and  ob 
tained  possession  of  Aleppo ;  he  again  be 
sieged  Karak,  ravaged  the  territory  of  Sama 
ria,  and  later  received  the  fealty  of  the  lord 
of  El-Mosil,  but  not  the  keys  of  the  city. 

In  the  year  1186  of  our  era,  war  again 
broke  out  between  Salah-ed-Deen  and  tho 
Crusaders.  The  Sultan  had  respected  a  truce 
into  which  he  had  entered  with  Baldwin  the 
Leper,  and  Renaud,  before  named,  was  the 
first  to  break  it.  The  capture,  by  the  latter, 
of  a  rich  caravan,  enraged  Salah-ed-Deen, 
who  dispatched  orders  to  all  his  lieutenants 
and  vassals,  summoning  them  to  assist  in  the 
"Holy  War;"  and  he  marched  (A.D.  1187) 
from  Damascus  to  Karak,  and  there  laid 
close  siege  to  Renaud ;  at  the  same  time  a 
large  body  of  cavalry  under  the  command  of 
his  son,  El-Afdal,  advanced  on  ISTazareth ; 
and  here  a  body  of  130  knights  hospitallers 
and  templars,  seconded  by  a  few  hundred 
foot-soldiers,  and  encouraged  by  the  heroic 
Jacques  de  Maille,  marshal  of  the  Temple, 
by  their  devotion,  immortalized  their  mem 
ory.  Only  the  grand  master  of  the  Temple 
and  two  of  his  knights  escaped  from  the  un 
equal  struggle.  Soon  after,  Salah-ed-Deen 
approached  in  person,  at  the  head  of  an  army 
of  80,000  men ;  and  the  Christians  with 
their  whole  force  encountered  him  on  the 
shore  of  the  lake  of  Tiberias.  The  result 
of  the  battle  which  ensued  was  the  heaviest 
blow  which  had  yet  fallen  on  the  Crusaders. 
Weakened  by  thirst,  shaken  by  the  flight  of 
a  part  of  their  troops  on  the  second  day  of 
combat,  and  overwhelmed  by  numbers,  the 
knights  fought  with  desperate  courage,  but 
at  length  were  forced  to  the  hills  of  Hit- 
teem.  A  multitude  fell  in  this  jloody  figlit 
and  among  the  prisoners  were  Guy  de  Lusig 


HISTOEY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


285 


nan  (the  King  of  Jerusalem  and  successor  of 
Baldwin),  with  his  brother  and  Renaud  de 
Chatillon.  The  number  of  prisoners  is  al 
most  incredible  ;  and  the  massacre  of  many 
of  them  is  an  indelible  stain  on  the  glory  of 
the  generally  merciful  Salah-ed-Deen.  Tibe 
rias,  Ptolemais  (Acre),  Xabulus,  Jericho, 
Ramleh,  Caesarea,  Arsoor,  Joppa,  Beyroot, 
and  many  other  places,  successively  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  conqueror.  Tyre  resisted 
his  attacks ;  but  Ascalon  surrendered  on  fav 
orable  terms,  and  the  fall  of  Jerusalem 
crowned  these  victories.  The  great  clem 
ency  of  Salah-ed-Deen  on  this  occasion  is 
chronicled  by  Christian  historians,  though  it 
is  but  slightly  mentioned  by  the  Muslims, 
who  took  offence  at  the  favor  shown  to  the 
enemies  of  their  faith. 

After  these  events  Tyre  was  again  besieg 
ed  ;  and  when  about  to  capitulate,  was  for 
tunately  relieved  by  the  arrival  of  Conrad, 
son  of  the  Marquis  of  Montferrat,  and  the 
valiant  defence  of  the  town  wearied  Salah- 
nl-Deen,  who  turned  his  arms  against  Tri 
poli  ;  but  here  he  met  with  no  better  suc 
cess.  Bohemond,  Prince  of  Antioch,  and  at 
that  time  possessor  of  Tripoli  also,  was,  how 
ever,  glad  to  obtain  a  truce  of  eight  months ; 
and  some  strongholds  (among  others  Karak) 
were  taken.  But  now  the  fortune  of  war 
turned  against  the  Sultan.  The  ever-memo 
rable  siege  of  Acre,  maintained  with  equal 
constancy  by  both  Christians  and  Muslims, 
.asted  upwards  of  two  years,  and  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  whole  Western  World. 
At  length  the  immense  reinforcements  re 
ceived  by  the  besiegers,  and  the  presence  of 
Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  of  England,  and  of 
Philip  II.  of  France,  enabled  them  to  over 
come  all  resistance,  and  the  standards  of  the 
Cross  floated  on  the  ramparts  of  the  city.  A 
horrible  act  of  barbarity  was  here  perpe 
trated,  2700  Muslim  captives  were  massa 
cred  in  cold  blood,  in  consequence  of  Salah- 
ed-Deen's  having  failed  to  fulfill  the  terms 
of  the  capitulation  ;  and  the  palliative  plea 
of  the  heat  of  an  assault  cannot  be  urged  in 
extenuation  of  this  enormity.  Richard  has 


been  accused  of  being  its  author ;  but  Mi- 
chaud  believes  with  reason  that  it  was  de 
cided  on  in  a  council  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
Crusade.  On  another  occasion,  however,  thai 
king  was  certainly  guilty  of  similar  cruelty. 

After  a  period  of  repose  and  debauchery, 
the  army  of  the  Crusaders,  commanded  by 
Richard,  directed  its  march  towards  Jerusa 
lem.  Salah-ed-Deen  harassed  his  advance 
on  every  point,  rendered  the  cities  and 
strongholds  defenceless,  and  ravaged  the 
country.  Richard,  nevertheless,  was  ever 
victorious ;  his  presence  struck  terror  into 
the  Muslims,  and  he  gained  a  signal  victory 
over  the  Sultan  in  the  battle  of  Arsoor.  But 
dissensions  among  the  chiefs  of  his  army, 
and  the  uncertain  temper  of  the  commander 
himself,  debarred  the  Crusaders  from  the 
attainment  of  their  great  object,  the  deliver 
ance  of  the  holy  city ;  and  when  all  the 
coast  from  Joppa  to  Tyre  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  Christians,  and  the  army  of  Salah-ed- 
Deen  was  threatened  with  disorganization,  a 
treaty  was  concluded,  and  Richard  set  sail 
on  his  return  to  England.  The  glory  ac 
quired  by  Salah-ed-Deen,  and  the  famous 
campaigns  of  Coeur  de  Lion,  have  rendered 
the  Third  Crusade  the  most  memorable  in 
history,  and  shed  a  lustre  on  the  arms  of 
both  Muslims  and  Christians  greater  than 
they  ever  attained  in  these  wars,  either  be 
fore  or  afterwards. 

Salah-ed-Deen  died  about  a  year  after  the 
conclusion  of  this  peace  (A.H.  589,  or  1193 
of  our  era)  at  Damascus,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven  years.  Ambition  and  religious  zeal 
appear  to  have  been  his  ruling  passions  ;  he 
was  courageous,  magnanimous,  and  merci 
ful  ;  possessed  of  remarkable  military  talents, 
and  great  control  over  himself.  His  gener 
osity,  on  almost  every  occasion,  to  the  van 
quished,  combined  with  his  faithful  observ 
ance  of  his  passed  word,  are  lauded  by  the 
historians  of  the  Crusades ;  the  former 
brought  on  him  much  obloquy  among  his 
own  fierce  soldiers,  and  is  a  trait  in  his  char 
acter  which  is  worthy  of  note  in  the  annals 
of  a  time  when  this  virtue  was  extremely 


2S6 


H1STOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


rare.  "While  engaged  in  the  conduct  of  his 
continual  wars,  he  was  not  unmindful  of  the 
welfare  of  Egypt,  and  during  his  reign  many 
public  works  were  executed.  Of  these  we 
may  mention  especially  the  citadel  of  Cairo, 
with  the  magnificent  buildings  which,  until 
very  recently,  it  contained ;  the  third  wall 
of  the  city ;  and  the  repair  of  the  great 
canal  called  the  Bahr  Yoosuf,  a  very  import 
ant  and  useful  work.  From  the  year  578, 
until  the  period  of  his  death,  he  had  not  en 
tered  Egypt ;  but  his  brother  El-'Adil,  and 
other  princes  of  his  family,  successively  gov 
erned  that  country,  and  the  Eunuch  Kara- 
koosh,  who  also  defended  Acre,  held  a  large 
share  of  authority. 

On  the  death  of  Salah-ed-Deen,  his  exten 
sive  dominions  were  divided  chiefly  among 
his  sons,  and  Egypt  fell  to  the  lot  of  one  of 
them,  El-Melik  El-Azeez  Imad-ed-Deen  Abu- 
t-Fet-h'Othman.  The  grandees  supported 
his  claim  to  the  throne,  and  he  proved  him 
self  worthy  of  their  choice.  In  conjunction 
with  El-'Adil,  we  find  him  warring  against 
the  leaders  of  the  Fourth  Crusade.  lie 
reigned  five  years  and  ten  days,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  El-Mansoor  Moham 
med  ;  his  uncle  El-Afdal  being  compelled  to 
relinquish  the  government  of  Damascus  and 
assume  the  regency  of  Egypt.  Disagree 
ment  among  the  sons  of  Salah-ed-Deen  had 
occurred  soon  after  that  monarch's  death, 
and  now  hastened  the  rise  of  El-'Adil,  who, 
by  his  military  talents  and  other  remarkable 
qualities,  had  excited  the  fears  of  even  his 
brother.  With  the  view  of  checking  his 
growing  ascendancy,  El-Afdal  formed  an 
alliance  against  him  with  Edh-Dhahir,  the 
Lord  of  Aleppo,  and  besieged  liim  in  Da 
mascus  ;  but  coming  to  strife,  they  raised 
the  siege  early  in  596.  This  attempt  proved 
fatal  to  the  power  of  El-Afdal.  He  was  pur 
sued  to  Egypt,  in  his  turn  besieged  in  El- 
Kahireh,  forced  to  flee,  and  El-'Adil  was 
proclaimed  Sultan.  Having  dethroned  El- 
Mansoor,  he  speedily  recovered  Damascus 
from  the  hands  of  the  confederate  brothers, 
and  Syria  with  Egypt  acknowledged  his  su 


premacy.  El-'Adil  is  especially  known  by 
his  opposition  to  the  Fourth  and  Sixth  Cru 
sades,  the  former  of  which  took  place  before 
his  accession  to  the  throne.  He  repulsed 
the  Christians  near  Nabulus,  captured  Joppa, 
and  encountered  the  enemy  between  Tyre 
and  Sidon.  He  was  there  defeated  with 
heavy  loss,  and  Sidon,  Laodicea,  Gibleh,  and 
Beyroot  were  taken.  But  the  Crusaders 
wasted  their  strength  before  the  fortress  of 
Thoron.  El-'Adil  raised  the  sie^e  of  that 

o 

place,  and  although  afterwards  he  met  with 
a  reverse  near  Joppa,  his  adversaries  bought 
a  dear  victory ;  and,  having  come  to  terms 
of  peace,  they  returned  to  Europe.  In  the 
year  COO  (A.D.  1204)  he  departed  to  Syria 
with  the  object  of  securing  Jerusalem  against 
threatened  attacks,  and  concluded  a  truce 
which  he  offered  to  renew  when  about  to  ex 
pire  ;  and  to  prove  his  good  faith,  strength 
ened  that  offer  by  promising  to  cede  ten  cas 
tles  to  the  Christians.  These  overtures  were 
refused,  and  the  Muslim  army  drove  the 
newly  arrived  king  of  Jerusalem,  Jean  de 
Brienne,  back  to  Europe.  Those  who  re 
mained  then  professed  their  willingness  to 
accede  to  conditions  of  peace,  and  we  do  not 
acrain  hear  of  El-'Adil  in  Palestine  until  614 

o 

(A.D.  1218),  when  he  was  once  more  called 
thither  to  oppose  the  Crusades  ;  but  a  serious 
invasion  of  Egypt:  by  these  troublesome  ad 
venturers  hastily  recalled  its  king,  and  ho 
died  of  grief,  it  is  said,  on  hearing  of  the  ad 
vantages  gained  by  them. 

El-Kamil  immediately  came  to  the  throne, 
and  took  the  most  energetic  measures  for  the 
protection  of  his  kingdom.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  Franks  besieged  Damietta  both  by 
Bea  and  land ;  and  notwithstanding  every 
effort  for  the  relief  of  the  place,  its  garrison 
was  forced  to  capitulate.  El-Kamil  sum 
moned  to  his  aid  the  princes  of  his  family, 
and  with  every  available  man  watched  the 
enemy's  movements.  Flushed  with  success, 
Jean  de  Brienne  commenced  his  march  on 
the  capital ;  and  with  the  characteristic  care 
lessness  of  the  Crusaders,  he  took  no  meas- 
;  ures  to  secure  supplies.  His  advance  was 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


287 


Btopped  at  the  junction  of  the  canal  of  Ash- 
moon  with  the  Nile,  where  he  found  El-Ka- 
mil  in  a  very  strong  position.  Encamped 
:n  the  opposite  shore,  the  invaders  depended 
for  supplies  on  Damietta  and  its  immediate 
district ;  but  the  inundation  of  the  Nile 
gradually  obstructed  land-carnage,  and  El- 
Kamil  skilfully  availed  himself  of  this  nat 
ural  ally,  caused  boats  to  be  carried  overland 
to  the  enemy's  rear,  and,  thus  cut  off  by 
land  water,  they  were  compelled  to  attempt 
a  retreat.  At  Beyramoon,  however,  all  fur 
ther  progress  was  found  to  be  impossible — 
the  inundation  had  covered  the  level  coun 
try,  and  the  Sultan's  boats  blockaded  the 
Nile.  They  surrendered,  and  evacuated  Da 
mietta,  but  not  before  Egypt  had  suffered 
severely  from  the  ravages  they  committed. 
The  city  of  El-Mansoorah  was  founded  on 
the  site  of  El-Kamil's  camp,  and  commemo 
rates  his  energy  and  sagacity.  The  Seventh 
Crusade  was  invited  by  the  same  Sultan  who 
had  thus  suffered  by  an  invasion  of  the 
Franks.  In  A.D.  1228,  El-Kamil  invoked 
the  aid  of  Frederick  II.  against  his  brother 
El-Muadhdham,  Lord  of  Damascus,  and,  in 
consequence  of  this  alliance,  Jerusalem,  with 
Bethlehem  and  the  places  between  it  and 
Joppa  and  Acre,  Nazareth  and  the  territory 
of  Thoron  and  Sidon,  with  its  dependencies, 
was  ceded  to  Frederick  on  the  20th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1229.  Between  these  two  monarchs 
existed  the  most  friendly  relations,  present 
ing  a  curious  spectacle  in  the  midst  of  the 
intrigues  and  hatred  of  their  subjects  for 
each  other,  and  endangering  their  popular 
ity  and  even  their  lives.  After  various  ex 
peditions  against  his  brother  and  his  succes 
sors,  El-Kamil  gained  possession  of  Damas 
cus,  and  died  there  in  the  year  635  (A.D. 
1238).  lie  was  distinguished  by  military 
talents,  and  rare  moderation,  and  was  also  a 
learned  man,  a  patron  of  the  arts,  and  a 
good  king. 

His  son  El-Melik  El-'Adil  the  Younger, 
was  declared  Sultan  of  Egypt  and  Syria, 
with  the  consent  of  the  nobles,  and  he  speed 
ily  banished  those  ministers  whose  counsels 


he  feared,  and  appointed  creatures  of  his 
own.  Oppressed  by  his  tyranny,  and  im 
poverished  by  his  extravagance,  the  people 
called  his  brother  Es-Salih  Negm-ed-Deen 
Eiyoob  to  the  throne ;  and  he  deposed  and 
imprisoned  El-'Adil  in  the  year  637,  and,  to 
replenish  his  exhausted  treasury,  ordered  all 
who  had  received  presents  from  the  late  Sul 
tan  to  restore  them  to  his  successor.  In  the 
next  year  serious  disturbances  broke  out  in 
Syria  ;  Sah'h  'Imad-ed-Deen,  who  had  taken 
Damascus  in  the  reign  of  El-'Adil,  formed 
an  alliance  with  the  Franks,  and  purposed 
the  conquest  of  Egypt :  the  hostile  armies 
met  at  Acre,  and  the  Muslim  soldiers  of 
'Imad-ed  Deen  deserting  to  the  banner  of 
Es-Salih  Eiyoob,  the  Franks  were  routed 
Negotiations  for  peace  were  then  attempted, 
but  these  failing,  the  Franks  were  again  in 
duced  to  take  the  field  by  the  cession  of  Je 
rusalem  and  other  places.  The  king  of 
Egypt,  on  his  part,  called  to  his  assistance 
the  Kharesmees,  who  took  Jerusalem  and 
overran  Syria.  In  the  next  campaign  they 
were  joined  by  the  army  of  Es-Salih,  undei 
the  command  of  his  favorite  slave  Beybars, 
who  was  destined  to  play  a  conspicuous  part 
in  Egyptian  history.  The  allied  army  met 
the  Franks,  eager  to  aveno-e  themselves  on 

'  O  O 

the  Kharesmees  for  the  horrible  atrocities  of 
which  they  had  been  guilty  in  the  preceding 
campaign,  and  willingly  joined  by  the  Mus 
lim  princes  of  Damascus,  Hims  and  Karak  ; 
on  the  first  day  the  battle  rao;ed  with  un- 

v  O 

abated  fury  from  daybreak  to  sunset,  and 
was  continued  on  the  morrow  until  the 
prince  of  Hims,  having  lost  2000  men,  gave 
way  and  fled  towards  Damascus.  The  Chris 
tians  maintained  the  unequal  fight  with  great 
constancy,  and  were  only  vanquished  after 
the  greater  number  had  fallen.  In  these  en 
counters  30,000  men  (either  Christians  or 
Muslims)  were  either  killed  or  taken  prison 
ers.  Various  successes  followed  this  victory, 
Jerusalem  was  taken  by  the  Egyptians,  and 
Es-Salih  laid  siege  to  Damascus  in  person. 
The  city  having  capitulated  on  favorable 
conditions,  his  fierce  allies,  enraged  at  the 


288 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


loss  of  pillage,  quarrelled  with  him,  and  soon 
after  joined  his  rebellious  subjects.  Damas 
cus  was  reduced  to  the  direst  straits,  but 

n^ain  fortune  favored  Es-Salih.   lie  hastened 
o 

from  Egypt,  whither  he  had  returned,  and 
totally  defeated  the  enemy.  Other  advan 
tages  were  gained  by  his  commander  Fakhr- 
ed-Deen  over  the  Franks  in  the  ensuing 
year. 

Although  attacked  by  illness,  the  Sultan 
was  once  more  called  to  Syria  to  quell  fresh 
troubles;  but  at  Damascus  news  reached 
him  of  the  threatened  invasion  of  Egypt 
by  the  Crusaders  under  St.  Louis,  and  he 
traveled  back  in  great  suffering  from  his 
malady.  Damietta,  which  he  rightly  judged 
would  be  the  first  point  of  attack,  was 
strengthened  and  well  stored,  and  its  de 
fence  was  intrusted  to  Faklir-ed-Deen.  On 
Friday,  June  4,  A.D.  1249,  the  French  an 
chored  before  the  place,  and  the  next  day 
landed  opposite  the  camp  of  the  Egyptian 
general,  who  offered  but  slight  opposition, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  next  night  betrayed 
his  trust  and  retreated  southwards.  His 
army  was  precipitately  followed  by  the  en 
tire  population  of  Damietta,  and  thus  this 
important  town  with  its  stores  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  invaders  without  a  blow. 
Fakhr-ed  Deen  nearly  lost  his  life  for  this 
act  of  cowardice,  and  54  of  his  principal 
officers  were  put  to  death.  In  the  meantime 
the  Sultan's  illness  gradually  increased,  but 
nevertheless  he  caused  himself  to  be  remov 
ed  to  the  town  of  El-Mansoorah,  which  he 
fortified,  and  there  he  expired  on  Nov.  21, 
at  the  age  of  forty-four,  and  after  a  reign  of 
ten  years.  He  it  was  who  introduced  the 
Bahree  Memlooks,  a  body  of  Turkish  slaves, 
who  composed  his  body-guard,  and  eventu 
ally  usurped  the  supreme  power.  Their 
name  Bahree  (or  "  of  the  river")  originated 
in  their  being  trained  and  quartered  on  the 
island  of  Er-Rodah,  where  the  Sultan  had 
built  a  palace. 

The  French  were  advancing  southwards, 
and,  notwithstandii  g  the  precautions  of 
Shcger-ed-Durr  (the  widow  of  Es-Salih,  who 


assumed  the  regency),  were  apprised  of  lh« 
death  of  the  Sultan.  Many  partial  actions 
took  place  on  the  march,  and  on  Dec.  19, 
their  army  appeared  before  El-Mansoorah, 
the  scene  of  the  disaster  of  Jean  de  Brienne. 
Skirmishing  continued  until  Shrove  Tuesday, 
when,  a  traitor  having  shown  the  enemy  a 
ford  over  the  canal  of  Aslnnoon,  they  sur 
prised  the  camp  and  town.  Very  severe 
fighting  ensued,  Fakhr-ed-Deen  fell  early  in 
the  struggle,  and  the  place  was  nearly  lost, 
when  the  Bahree  Memlooks  led  by  Beybars 
furiously  charged  the  assailants,  and  com 
pletely  turned  the  fortune  of  the  day.  The 
morrow  witnessed  another  battle,  also  disas 
trous  to  the  Crusaders,  and  a  succession  of 
misfortunes  followed.  Tooran  Shah,  on  hear 
ing  of  the  death  of  his  father,  traveled  in  all 
haste  from  Mesopotamia  to  Egypt,  and  hav 
ing  reached  the  camp,  assumed  the  command. 
He  had  recourse  to  the  stratagem  which  had 
proved  so  successful  under  the  direction  of 
El-Kamil,  and  cut  off  the  supplies  of  the 
enemy.  This,  coupled  with  disease,  soon  re 
duced  St.  Louis  to  great  straits,  and  he  sent 
to  propose  a  truce,  but  not  coming  to  terms 
he  determined  on  retreating  to  Damietta.  A 
memorable  conflict  took  place  by  land  and 
water,  and  St.  Louis  with  his  troops  surren 
dered  themselves  prisoners  of  war. 

Tooran  Shah  now  gave  himself  up  to  de 
bauchery,  offended  his  nobles  by  bestowing 
his  favors  only  on  certain  creatures  whom  he 
had  brought  with  him  from  Mesopotamia, 
and  alarmed  the  queen  by  forcing  her  to 
render  him  an  account  of  his  father's  wealth. 
Shegcr-ed-Durr  appealed  to  the  Memlooks, 
a  conspiracy  was  formed,  and  the  Sultan  was 
attacked  in  his  palace.  He  fled  to  a  pleasure 
tower  built  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  which 
was  set  on  fire  in  the  presence  of  his  army, 
the  wretched  Ir.ng,  from  the  summit,  in  vain 
promising  to  abdicate.  lie  perished  miser 
ably,  and  his  unburied  corpse  lay  for  many 
days  on  the  bank.  On  his  accession  he  had 
strangled  a  brother,  and  his  fate  deserves  no 

O  / 

pity. 

Shcirer-cd-Durr  (vulgarly  called  Shegeret- 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


289 


cd-Durr),  herself  a  slave,  and  the  first  of  the 
Dynasty  of  the  Bahree,  or  Turkish  Mem- 
looks,  succeeded  to  the  throne ;  and  'Izz-ed- 
Deen  Eybek  was  appointed  commander  of 
the  forces.  After  many  delays,  St.  Louis 
agreed  to  pay  400,000  livres  as  a  ransom  for 
himself  and  army,  200,000  to  be  paid  in 
Egypt,  and  the  remainder  on  the  fulfillment 
of  certain  stipulations  at  Acre;  Damietta 
was  surrendered  and  Egypt  evacuated.  Thus 
ended  the  last  invasion  of  Egypt  by  the 
Crusaders.  Sheger-ed-Durr,  in  order  to 
strengthen  herself  on  the  throne,  shortly 
after  married  the  Emeer  Eybek,  and  caused 
him  to  be  proclaimed  Sultan,  with  the  title 
of  El-Melik  El-Mo'izz,  in  the  year  648.  The 
followers  of  Es-Salih,  however,  obliged  him 
to  associate  with  himself  in  the  sovereignty 
a  young  prince  of  the  family  of  Eiyoob,  El- 
Melik  El-Ashraf  Mudhaffar-ed-Deen  Moosa. 
En-Nasir,  Salah-ed-Deen  Yoosuf,  a  son  of 
El-'Azeez,  invaded  Egypt,  and  after  many 
combats  was  driven  back  to  Syria  ;  but  the 
country  continued  in  a  very  unsettled  state. 
The  chief  of  the  adherents  of  the  fallen  dy 
nasty  was  arrested  by  Eybek ;  and  Beybars, 
with  other  leading  men,  having  repaired  to 
the  citadel  to  demand  satisfaction,  his  bloody 
head  was  thrown  to  them  from  the  ramparts, 
and  in  terror  they  fled  to  Syria.  El-Ashraf 
was  then  cast  into  prison,  and  there  he  died. 
But  Eybek  soon  roused  the  jealousy  of  his 
beautiful  and  ambitious  wife ;  and  he  was 
assassinated  by  her  orders.  In  her  turn  she 
was  beaten  to  death,  not  many  days  after,  by 
the  wooden  clogs  of  the  female  slaves  of 
another  wife  of  Eybek,  and  her  corpse  was 
exposed  for  three  days  in  the  moat  of  the 
citadel. 

El-Melik  El-Mansoor  Noor-ed-Deen  'Alee, 
son  of  Eybek,  was  now  raised  to  the  throne, 
and  Beybars  being  apprised  of  the  death  of 
his  rival  attempted  to  regain  his  power  in 
Egypt ;  but  Kutz,  the  viceroy  of  Eybek  and 
also  of  his  son,  attacked  and  routed  him ; 
and  he  soon  after  deposed  El-Mansoor,  and 
declaied  himself  Sultan.  El-Melik  El-Mud- 
haff'ar  Kutz  began  his  reign  by  putting  to 
37 


death  El-Mansoor,  and  Sharaf-ed  Deen,  the 
able  minister  of  the  last  Eiyoobee  kings,  and 
of  the  first  of  this  dynasty.  A  reign  thus 
cruelly  commenced  ended  tragically.  Kutz 
was  diverted  from  these  severe  measures  by 
the  advance  of  Hulagu,  grandson  of  Genghis- 
Khan,  who  with  a  formidable  army,  overran 
El-'Irak  and  Syria.  By  great  efforts  Kutz 
raised  a  considerable  force  and  marched  to 
meet  him.  The  intelligence  of  the  death  of 
the  Mongol  emperor  had,  however,  in  the 
meantime  recalled  Hulagu,  who  left  Ket- 
bugha  to  encounter  the  Egyptian  Sultan. 
The  battle  declared  in  favor  of  the  latter, 
and  Syria  was  restored  to  his  rule.  Return 
ing  in  triumph  to  Egypt,  he  was  assassinated 
on  the  frontier  by  Beybars,  in  the  year  658, 
and  this  Memlook  (who  had  but  recently 
fought  under  his  banner  against  Tatars)  was 
forthwith  chosen  by  the  Emeers  to  be  his 
successor. 

The  brilliant  reign  of  El-Melik  Edh-Dha- 
hir  Beybars  El-Bundukkaree  is  so  perplexed 
and  full  of  incident  as  to  render  a  concise 
account  of  it  very  difficult.  It  commenced 
with  the  reduction  of  a  revolt  in  Syria.  The 
rebels  were  supported  by  a  Tatar  army  un 
der  Hulagu,  but  Beybars  was  everywhere 
victorious,  and  Damascus  surrendered  at  dis 
cretion.  Having  subdued  all  opposition  in 
this  quarter,  he  endeavored  to  improve  the 
condition  of  Egypt,  abolished  the  exorbi 
tant  imposts  under  which  the  people  groan 
ed,  and  welcomed  to  his  court  Ahmad,  son 
of  the  Khaleefeh  Edh-Dhahir,  who  was  de 
clared  Prince  of  the  Faithful  with  the  title 
of  El-Mustansir  bi-llah,  and  furnished  with 
a  small  force,  by  which  he  hoped  to  estab 
lish  himself  in  Baghdad.  He  was,  however, 
repulsed  by  the  Tatars  and  put  to  death. 
The  succeeding  line  of  Khaleefehs,  possessed 
of  spiritual,  but  no  temporal  authority,  re 
mained  at  the  court  of  the  Memlook  Sultans 
until  the  Turkish  conquest.  Erom  this  time, 
Beybars  continued  to  extend  and  confirm  his 
rule.  His  first  expedition  was  to  Syria 
against  the  Christians,  and  the  Church  of  the 
Nativity  at  Nazareth  was  destroyed.  Thence 


290 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


he  wont  to  the  fortified  town  of  Karak, 
which  had  more  than  once  resisted  the  at 
tacks  of  Salah-ed-Deen,  but  opened  its  gates 
to  the  Memlook  conqueror,  and  its  territory 
was  added  to  his  dominions.  A  great  scar 
city  afflicted  Cairo  in  602,  and  Bey  bars  threw 
open  the  government  stores,  and  strove  in 
every  way  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  his 
subjects. 

In  GG3,  he  again  entered  Syria,  and  took 
Cresarea  and  Ursoof ;  and  in  the  next  year 
he  commenced  a  series  of  campaigns  against 
the  Christians,  notwithstanding  the  earnest 
remonstrances  of  the  kings  of  France,  of  Ar- 
ragon,  and  of  Armenia.  To  raise  the  neces 
sary  funds  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  he 
took  occasion  of  the  occurrence  of  many 
incendiary  fires  in  Cairo,  during  his  absence 
on  this  war,  to  mulct  their  co-religionists  of 
the  sum  of  500,000  deenars,  ostensibly  to  re 
pair  the  damage  caused  by  these  fires.  He 
threatened  Acre,  and  took  Safad;  and  re 
lieved  from  the  apprehensions  caused  by  the 
advance  of  the  Tatars  by  the  death  of  Hula- 
gu,  and  the  retreat  of  his  army,  Beybars 
despatched  a  force  which  effected  the  con 
quest  of  Armenia,  and  penetrated  to  the 
borders  of  Anatolia ;  a  transient  success 
which  was  speedily  annulled  by  the  advent 
of  Abaka  Khan,  the  son  of  Ilulagu.  In  the 
next  war,  Beybars  again  attacked  the  Chris- 
tions,  burning  their  churches  and  enslaving 
the  people.  He  took  Antioch,  with  horrible 
carnage,  advanced  to  Hims,  and  Hamah,  and 
thence  returned  to  Cairo.  After  a  campaign 
against  the  Tatars,  he  ravaged  the  country 
around  Acre  (which  place  appears  to  have 
been  the  constant  object  of  his  attack)  and 
the  "  Assassins,"  so  long  the  terror  of  dynas 
ties,  submitted  to  his  power.  About  this 
time  the  Tatars  renewed  their  inroads  and 
beseiged  Bey  rah  ;  and  in  the  year  671  Bey 
bars  took  the  field  against  them  with  two 
armies,  one  commanded  by  himself  in  person, 
the  other  by  Ivala-'oon  El-Elfee.  In  the  bat 
tle  of  Beyrah  the  Sultan  was  completely 
victorious,  and  the  Tatars  fled  to  the  moun 
tains  of  Kurdistan.  In  consequence  of  this 


victory,  Armenia  again  fell  into  his  hands, 
and  was  given  up  to  pillage.  Abaka-Klian 
afterwards  was  again  repulsed  at  Beyrah. 
Xubia  also  about  this  time  acknowledged 
the  authority  of  Beybars.  He  died  at  Dam 
ascus  in  the  year  6T6,  after  another  expedi 
tion  against  Anatolia,  attended  with  various 
success,  in  which  the  Tatars  were  leagued 
against  him.  Great  military  talents,  coupled 
with  the  most  indefatigable  activity,  Beybars 
certainly  possessed,  but  he  used  his  conquests 
unmercifully ;  on  many  occasions  he  ravag 
ed  whole  provinces,  and  sacked  many  towns, 
putting  great  numbers  of  the  inhabitants  to 
the  sword.  The  melancholy  annals  of  the 
Crusades  bear  ample  testimony  to  this  fact ; 
and  while  the  example  of  other  monarch?, 
and  of  the  Franks  themselves,  may  be  urged 
as  some  palliation,  nevertheless  his  barbarity 
remains  an  indelible  blot  on  his  character. 
In  Egypt  he  endeavored  to  reform  abuses 
and  suppress  vice;  and  numerous  public 
wrorks  were  executed  by  his  orders.  Darm 
etta  was  razed  and  rebuilt  farthe:  inland  ; 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Nile  was  protected  by 
a  boom  against  sudden  invasion.  He  repair 
ed  the  fortifications  of  Alexandria,  and  the 
Pharos,  the  mosque  El-Azhar  in  Cairo,  and 
the  walls  of  the  citadel,  and  built  the  great 
mosque  known  by  his  name  to  the  north  of 
the  city. 

The  son  and  successor  of  Beybars,  El-Melik 
Es-Sa'eed  Barakeh  Khan,  was  exiled  after  a 
short  reign,  and  a  younger  brother,  El'A'dil 
Selamish,  raised  to  the  throne  ;  Kala-oon  El- 
Elfee  acting  as  regent.  This  Memlook  had 
married  a  daughter  of  Beybars,  and  was 
consequently  nearly  allied  to  the  Sultan.  He, 
nevertheless,  conspired  against  him,  and  was 
soon  proclaimed  king  by  the  title  of  El-Mclik 
El-Mansoor.  Distinguished  in  former  wars, 
he  achieved  many  successes  during  his  reign 
of  ten  years.  On  his  accession  he  despatch 
ed  an  army  to  reduce  disturbances  in  Syria, 
and  took  Damascus.  Peace  was  thus  estab 
lished  in  that  province  ;  and  in  the  year  680, 
he,  in  person,  defeated  a  very  superior  force 
of  Tatars,  and  raised  the  siego  of  Rahabeh, 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOBLD. 


291 


Later  in  his  reign  (in  the  year  688)  he  be 
sieged  Tripoli,  which  for  nearly  two  centu 
ries  had  been  in  the  possession  of  the  Chris 
tians,  and  was  very  rich  and  flourishing. 
The  town  was  sacked,  and  its  unfortunate 
inhabitants  put  to  the  sword.  His  memory 
is  still  preserved  in  Cairo  by  his  hospital  and 
mad-house,  adjoining  his  fine  mosque  in  the 
principal  street  of  the  city.  This  charitable 
institution  he  is  said  to  have  founded  for  ex 
piation  of  great  severity  towards  the  citizens, 
in  enforcing  an  obnoxious  edict.  His  son, 
El-Ashraf  Khaleel,  rendered  himself  famous 
by  the  siege  and  capture  (in  the  year  690)  of 
Acre,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Crusaders  in 
Syria,  Many  thousands  of  its  inhabitants 
were  massacred  ;  and  10,000  who  presented 
themselves  before  the  Sultan  and  demanded 
quarters  were  slaughtered  in  cold  blood.  He 
also  took  Erzeroom  in  691,  and  two  years 
after  was  assassinated  in  Egypt. 

El-Melik  En-Nasir  Mohammed,  another 
son  of  Kala-oon,  succeeded  him  at  the  age 
of  nine  years.  The  regent  Ketbugha,  how 
ever,  followed  the  example  of  Kala-oon,  and 
usurped  the  sovereignty,  with  the  title  of  El- 
Melik  El-'A'dil.  Pestilence  and  famine 
were  followed  by  wrar  writh  the  Tatars,  who 
again  ravaged  Syria.  Ketbugha  despatched 
an  army  against  them,  but  the  valor  of  his 
troops  was  unable  to  withstand  overpower 
ing  numbers,  and  Lateen  Kala-oons,  gover- 

O  /  O  '    <-J 

nor  in  Syria,  was  driven  into  Egypt  with  an 
immense  crowd  of  fugitives.  Ketbugha  was 
deposed  on  the  allegation  that  he  had  not 
commanded  in  person,  and  El-Melik  El- 
Mansoor  Lageen  was  elevated  in  his  stead. 
In  little  more  than  two  years  this  king  fell 
in  a  conspiracy.  His  character  was  amiable, 
and  he  deserved  a  better  return  for  the 
equity  and  kindness  he  showed  to  his  sub 
jects. 

A  short  period  of  confusion  then  ensued, 
during  which  an  Emeer  was  proclaimed  king. 
En-Kasir  Mohammed,  however,  was  at  length 
recalled  from  his  exile  at  Karak,  and  elected 
Sultan  in  the  year  698.  Having  firmly  es 
tablished  himself  in  Egypt,  he  led  an  army 


against  Tatars,  but  met  with  a  severe  reverse 
in  the  plains  of  Hims ;  a  second  expedition 
proved  more  fortunate,  and  this  general, 
then  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  gained  a 
bloody  and  decisive  victory  over  the  enemy 
near  Damascus,  in  the  year  Y02.  The  battle- 
lasted  three  days ;  during  the  first  two,  tho 
result  was  not  decisive,  although  En-lSfasiY 
held  the  field  ;  on  the  third  day  the  Tatars 
were  utterly  routed  and  pursued  for  many 
hours.  The  Sultan  on  his  entry  into  Cairc 
after  this  achievement,  was  preceded  by  160C 
prisoners,  each  one  carrying  the  head  of  a 
comrade  slain  in  the  combat,  and  1000  other 
heads  wrere  borne  on  lances  in  the  procession. 
En-Xasir  reigned  until  the  year  70S,  when 
he  went  to  Karak  and  voluntarily  abdicated 
he  had  long  struggled  against  the  control  of 
two  powerful  Emeers,  Bey  bars  and  Silar 
and  in  despair  of  throwing  oif  their  ascen 
dancy,  he  then  openly  yielded  the  reins  oi 
government  to  those  who  had  long  really 
held  them.  Since  this  prince's  accession,  the 
Christians  and  Jews  of  Egypt  suffered  the 
most  severe  persecution  (excepting  that  of 
El-Hakim)  which  had  yet  befallen  them. 
In  the  year  700,  they  were  ordered  to  wear, 
respectively,  blue  and  yellow  turbans,  and 
forbidden  to  ride  on  horses  or  mules,  or  to 
receive  any  government  employment.  The 
people  took  advantage  of  these  measures  to 
destroy  many  churches  and  synagogues.  The 
churches  continued  shut  for  about  a  year  ; 
but  some  of  those  wiiich  had  been  destroyed 
were  afterwards  rebuilt  at  the  request  of 
Lascaris  and  other  princes.  Another  event 
of  this  period  was  a  great  earthquake  which 
half  ruined  Cairo,  giving  it  the  appearance 
of  a  city  demolished  by  a  siege ;  Alexandria 
and  other  towns  of  Egypt,  as  well  as  Syria, 
also  suffered  from  it  considerably. 

On  the  abdication  of  En-Nasir,  El-Melik  El- 
Mudhaffar-Rukn-ed-Deen  Beybars  was  sa 
luted  Sultan ;  but  ere  long  En-Nasir  recovered 
his  courage,  and  having  collected  an  army, 
marched  to  Damascus,  where  he  was  ac 
knowledged,  and  thence  to  Egypt,  entering 
Cairo  without  opposition.  El-MudhafFar  had 


292 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


fled  at  his  approach,  and,  never  a  favorite  of 
the  people,  he  was  attacked,  on  his  exit  from 
the  metropolis,  by  a  crowd  of  the  citizens, 
who  loaded  him  with  abuse,  and  pelted  him 
with  stones.  En-Nasir  now  for  the  third 
time  ascended  the  throne  of  Egypt,  and  took 
the  entire  authority  into  his  own  hands. 
The  remainder  of  his  life  was  a  period  of 
profound  peace,  during  which  he  occupied 
himself  in  improving  his  dominions,  and  in 
embellishing  Cairo.  But  another  persecution 
of  the  Christians  occurred  in  721,  and  all 
the  principal  churches  in  Egypt  were  de 
stroyed  by  certain  fanatical  Muslims.  The 
Sultan  threatened  a  general  massacre  of  the 
inhabitants  of  El-Kahireh  and  El-Fustat ;  the 
Christians,  however,  took  revenge  themselves 
by  setting  fire  to  very  many  mosques  and 
houses  in  the  metropolis ;  much  tumult  en 
sued,  and  many  Christians  and  Muslims  were 
executed.  The  threats  of  the  mob  compelled 
En-Nasir  to  permit  the  people  to  murder  and 
plunder  any  Christian  whom  they  might 
meet  in  the  streets ;  and  the  oppressive  rules 
before  enacted  were  rigorously  enforced,  and 
made  even  more  degrading. 

The  sons  of  En-Nasir  followed  him  in  suc 
cession,  but  the  reigns  of  most  of  them  were 
short  and  troublous.  El-Melik  El-Mansoor 
Seyf-ed-Deen  Aboo-Bekr,  El-Ashraf  'Ala-ed- 
Deen  Koojook,  En-Nasir  Shihab-ed-Deen 
Ahmad,  Es-Salih  'Imad-ed-Deen  Isma'eel, 
El-Ivamil  Zeyn-ed-Deen  Shaaban,  and  El- 
Mudhaffar  Zeyn-ed-Deen  Ilaggee,  were  only 
raised  to  the  throne  to  be  either  exiled  or 
put  to  death.  After  these,  the  Sultan  Hasan 
deserves  notice.  He  was  deposed  by  his 
brother,  Es-Salih  Salah-ed-Deen  —  whose 
minister  was  Sheykhoon,  a  man  well  known 
to  students  of  Egyptian  subjects ;  but  he  soon 
regained  his  authority,  reigned  seven  years, 
and  at  length  fell  by  the  swords  of  his  Mem- 
looks  in  the  splendid  mosque  which  he  built 
in  the  open  space  beneath  the  citadel  of 
Cairo.  Four  more  Memlook  kings  bring  the 
history  to  the  accession  of  a  new  dynasty, 
that  of  the  Circassians.  These  were  E*.- 
Mansoor  Nasir-ed-Deen  Ilaggee  (son  of  E . 


Mudliaffar),  deposed  in  six  months ;  El-Ash 
raf  Shaaban  (son  of  Hasan),  an  unfortunate 
prince,  whose  reign  passed  away  amid  the 
struggles  of  the  now  too  powerful  Emeers, 
by  whom  he  was  ultimately  strangled ;  his 
son,  El-Mansoor  'Ala-ed-Deen,  the  victim  of 
similar  troubles,  and  in  whose  time  the  cele 
brated  Barkook  rose  to  the  regency ;  and  Es- 
Salih  Ilaggee,  a  brother  of  the  last  king. 
Exiled  by  Barkook,  who  was  proclaimed 
Sultan,  he  unsuccessfully  endeavored  to  re 
cover  his  throne  in  the  year  784,  and  in  TOO 
was  restored,  but  he  was  soon  once  more  de 
throned,  and  this  time  with  the  loss  of  his 
life,  by  Barkook. 

The  Sultan  Edh-Dhahir  Seyf-ed-Deen 
Aboo  Sa'eed  Barkook  was  now  undisputed 
master  of  Egypt.  He  was  the  first  prince 
of  the  Dynasty  of  Burgee  or  Circassian  Mem- 
looks.  As  the  preceding  dynasty  was  found 
ed  by  the  Turkish  Memlooks  of  Es-Salih 
Eiyoob,  so  this  dynasty  was  composed  of  the 
Circassian  slaves  whom  those  kings  from 
time  to  time  bought  with  the  view  of 
strengthening  their  power.  They  wrere 
originally  placed  in  garrison-towns,  and 
hence  their  name  Ifurgee,  signifying  "  of  a 
tower  or  castle."  It  is  worthy  of  remark, 
that,  while  many  of  the  Sultans  of  both  these 
dynasties  held  an  insecure  tenure  of  power, 
many  of  the  former  met  with  a  violent  death, 
but  few  of  the  latter.  The  reign  of  Barkook 
is  memorable  for  his  war  with  Teemoor,  01 
Teemoor-lang,  commonly  called  by  us  Tamer 
lane,  who  had  extended  his  conquests  to 
wards  his  dominions,  but  found  him  not  un 
prepared,  for  he  had  foreseen  the  threatened 
danger.  In  the  year  795,  Kara  Yoosuf,  lord 
of  El-Medeeyeh,  and  Ahmad  Ibn-Uweys, 
Sultan  of  Baghdad,  fled  to  his  court  for  suc 
cour.  The  inhabitants  of  Edessa  had  been 
put  to  the  sword,  and  Aleppo  was  menaced 
with  a  similar  catastrophe,  when  Barkook,  at 
the  head  of  his  army,  came  to  its  relief.  Ah 
mad  was  reinstated  in  Baghdad,  as  a  vassal 
of  Barkook,  whose  name  appeared  on  the 
coinage  ;  and  soon  after  Bayezeed,  commonly 
called  by  us  Bajazet,  conducted  a  treaty  with 


H1STOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


293 


the  Sultan  of  Egypt.  The  conquest  of  India 
diverted  Teeinoor  from  his  projects  in  Syria, 
but  Barkook  continued  vigilant,  and  by  every 
means  Bought  to  insure  the  safety  of  his  king 
dom.  He  died  suddenly  in  801,  much  be 
loved  by  his  subjects,  and  regarded  by  less 
powerful  chiefs  as  their  strongest  bulwark 
against  the  Tatar  monarch.  He  was  called 
"Sheykh"  for  his  wisdom  and  learning,  and 
combined  with  these  qualities  those  of  a 
skillful  general  and  a  good  king.  He  was 
active,  wary,  and  provident ;  and  possessed 
the  military  talents  of  Beybars,  without  his 
severity.  He  seems  to  have  been  fond  of 
riches  and  display,  and  he  certainly  left  his 
treasury  in  a  very  flourishing  condition,  be 
sides  much  wealth  in  stores,  slaves,  horses 
and  the  like. 

His  son,  El-Melik  En-Nasir  Abu-s-Sa'adat 
Farag,  fell  a  prey  to  intestine  troubles  and 
the  inroads  of  the  invader.  He  had  over 
come  a  revolt  of  the  governor  of  Syria,  when 
Teemoor  again  threatened  that  province. 
Kara  Yoosuf  and  Ahmad  sought  refuge  with 

o  o 

the  son  of  their  former  protector,  and  Farag's 
refusing  to  betray  his  guests  gave  occasion  to 
the  enemy  to  continue  the  war ;  a  battle  was 
fought,  Farag  was  defeated,  Aleppo  and 
Ilims  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victor,  and 
the  Egyptian  forces  returned  and  were  con 
centrated  in  Egypt.  Intimidated,  however, 
by  the  fall  of  his  ally  Bayezeed,  Farag  sent 
an  embassy  to  Teemoor  with  presents  and 
offers  of  amity,  and  at  length  concluded  a 
peace  at  the  sacrifice  of  territory.  Teemoor 
died  in  the  year  807  (A.D.  1405),  and  Farag 
was  preparing  an  expedition  to  recover  his 
Syrian  possessions,  when  he  was  surprised  in 
Ms  palace  by  an  insurrection,  headed  by  his 
brother,  'Abd-el-'Azeez,  and  compelled  to 
take  to  flight.  The  people,  believing  that 
he  had  perished,  proclaimed  El-Mansoor 
'Abd-el-'Azeez  his  successor.  In  the  space 
:>f  less  than  three  months,  however,  he  was 
deposed  in  favor  of  Farag.  who  thenceforth 
reigned  at  Damascus,  until  the  Khaleefeh 
El-Musta'een  bi-llah,  at  the  instigation  of 
the  Erneer  Sheykh  El-Mahmoodee,  who  had 


raised  an  army,  boldly  declared  himself  Sul 
tan,  by  an  appeal  to  religion  gained  numbers 
to  his  side,  instituted  criminal  proceedings 
against  Farag  on  the  plea  of  the  exactions 
which  he  had  been  forced  to  levy  for  the 
conduct  of  the  war  against  Teemoor,  and  ac 
complished  his  death.  He  was  beheaded  in 
the  month  of  Safar  in  the  year  815,  and  his 
corpse  was  left  unburied.  Abu-l-Mahasin 
gives  him  the  character  of  an  extravagant, 
cruel,  and  voluptuous  king. 

El-Musta'een  bi-llah,  with  the  title  of  El- 
Melik  El-' A'dil  Abu-1-Fadl,  began  his  reign 
well ;  but  he  had  appointed  El-Mahmoodee 
his  "Wezeer  as  a  reward  for  his  services,  and 
this  powerful  and  vigorous  chief  soon  obliged 
him  to  abdicate,  and  eventually  exiled  him 
to  Alexandria,  where  he  passed  the  remain 
der  of  his  days. 

El-Melik  El-Mu-eiyad  Abu-n-Nasr  Sheykh 
El-Mahmoodee  (originally  a  Memlook  of  Bar 
kook' s)  waged  three  successful  wars  in  Syria, 
in  the  first  of  which  he  was  guilty  of  a  breach 
of  faith  in  putting  to  death  the  governor  of 
Damascus  and  part  of  the  garrison  of  that 
city,  after  they  had  surrendered  on  promise 
of  safety.  He  reigned  peacefully  in  Egypt, 
and  his  name  is  recorded  as  thai  of  a  kins: 

O 

who  studied  the  happiness  of  his  subjects 
and  favored  the  learned,  who  counted  him 
among  their  number.  But  he  was  avaricious ; 
although  we  might  judge  the  contrary  from 
his  beautiful  mosque,  and  the  elegant  min 
arets  over  the  Bab-Zuweyleh,  in  Cairo,  which 
are  among  the  chief  ornaments  of  the  city. 

Three  kings  followed  in  rapid  succession : 
El-Mudhaffar  Ahmad,  a  son  of  El-Mu-eiyad, 
under  two  years  of  age  at  his  accession  ; 
Edh-Dhahir  Tatar  and  his  infant  son,  Es- 
Salih  Mohammed,  who  was  deposed  by  Bar- 
sabay  Ed-Dukmakee.  This  Memlook  as 
sumed  the  title  of  El-Melik  El-Ashraf,  and 
worthily  continued  the  prosperous  reign  of 
El-Mu-eiyad.  In  power  and  virtue  he  ranks 
second  only  to  Barkook  among  al  I  the  kings 
of  this  dynasty.  He  is  known  in  Eui  :>pean 
history  by  his  expedition  in  827  against  John 
III.,  king  of  Cyprus,  who  became  his  vassal ; 


294 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


and  by  tl  e  part  lie  took,  about  seven  years 
later,  in  t  ae  dissensions  of  the  court  of  Savoy 
and  the  government  of  Cyprus.  He  ruled 
for  sevei-teen  years,  with  great  clemency, 
and  died  in  841.  El-'Azeez  Yoosuf,  his  son, 
was  deposed  by  El-Mansoor  Aboo-Sa'eed 
Jakmak  El-'Ala-ee,  a  good  prince,  and  a 
patron  of  the  learned.  After  a  peaceful 
reign  he  abdicated  at  the  age  of  about  eighty 
years  in  favor  of  his  son,  El-Mansoor  Abu-s- 
Sa'adat  'Othman,  who  was  overthrown  by 
the  intrigues  of  the  Khaleefeh  El-Kaim  bi- 
amri-llah,  and  was  succeeded  by  an  aged 
Memlook,  El-Ashraf-Abu-n-Xasr  Eynal  El- 
'Ala-ee  En-Xasiree,  followed  by  his  son,  El- 
Mu-eiyad  Shihab-ed-Deen  Abu-1-Fet-h  Ah 
mad.  Edh-Dhahir  Seyf-ed-Dcen-Khoshka- 
dam,  a  Greek  by  birth,  superseded  him, 
reigning  himself  for  seven  years,  with  equity 
and  benignity ;  presenting  a  contrast  to  the 
cruelty  and  oppression  of  his  appointed  suc 
cessor,  Edh-Dhahir  Aboo-Sa'eed  Bilbay  El- 
'Ala-ee,  which  caused  the  latter's  foil  and 
the  elevation  of  the  Sultan  Aboo-Sa'eed 
Temerbeg  Edh-Dhahiree,  who,  in  his  turn, 
was  deposed  to  make  room  for  El-Ashraf 
Kait  Bey,  a  prince  who  deserves  especial 
notice  for  his  struggles  with  the  Turks, 
svhereby  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  that  peo 
ple  was  deferred  for  a  few  years.  After  a 
period  of  quiet  which  followed  his  accession, 
he  was  alarmed  by  the  victory  gained  by 
Mohammed  II.  over  his  ally  the  King  of 
Persia,  and  posted  a  considerable  force  on 
the  frontier  of  Syria.  The  successes  of  the 
conqueror' of  Constantinople  made  him  desire 
to  abdicate ;  but  the  Emeers  prayed  him  to 
defend  his  rights,  and  he  consequently  pre 
pared  for  the  war.  The  death  of  Moham 
med,  and  the  dissensions  between  Bayezeed 
II.  and  Jem  (or  Zizim)  temporarily  relieved 
him  of  these  apprehensions.  The  fall  of 
Jem,  however,  and  his  arrival  at  the  Egyp 
tian  court,  implicated  Kait  Bey  in  the  quar 
rel  ;  and  on  the  final  overthrow  of  this  prince 
he  made  sure  of  a  war  with  the  more  fortu 
nate  Bayezeed,  and  himself  began  aggres 
sive  measures,  intercepted  the  Turkish  cara 


van  of  Pilgrims,  and  an  ambassador  from 
India  who  was  on  his  way  to  Constantinople 
with  presents,  and  took  Tarsus  and  Adaneh. 
A  remonstrance  from  Bayezeed  was  answered 
by  a  successful  attack  on  his  Asiatic  com 
mander,  'Ala-ed-Dowleh.  In  the  meantime 
Tarsus  and  Adaneh  were  recovered  from 
him;  but  the  Emeer  El-Ezbekee,  to  whom 
was  entrusted  the  conduct  of  all  future  wars, 
being  despatched  against  these  towns,  retook 
them,  defeated  an  army  sent  to  chastise  him, 
and  annexed  Karamania.  Another  force 
was  speedily  equipped,  and  took  the  field  in 
803 :  conditions  of  peace  were  refused,  and 
considerable  success  attended  the  Turkish 
arms.  El-Ezbekee  was,  therefore,  again 
ordered  to  Syria ;  a  Turkish  squadron  con 
veying  troops  was  dispersed,  and  at  Tarsus 
he  gave  battle.  The  result  was  at  first  unfa 
vorable  to  the  Memlooks,  whose  commander, 
however,  rallied  them  under  cover  of  night, 
and  succeeded  in  surprising  and  totally  de 
feating  the  Turks.  Long  negotiations  fol 
lowed  this  victory  ;  and  at  length  Kait  Bey, 
who  was  always  most  anxious  for  peace, 
ceded  the  disputed  towns  of  Tarsus  and 
Adaneh,  and  secured  repose  during  the  rest 
of  his  days.  He  died  in  901,  having  desig 
nated  El-Melik  En-lSTasir  Abu-s-Sa'adat  Mo 
hammed  as  his  successor.  This  weak  and 
barbarous  king  was  put  to  death  after  four 
years,  during  which  he  was  deposed,  and 
Kansooh,  surnamed  Khamsameeyeh,  and 
Edh-Dhahir  Abu-n-Nasr  Kansooh  were  suc 
cessively  installed.  The  first  reigned  but 
eleven  days,  and  the  latter  abdicated  after 
five  months  of  great  difficulty  and  danger 
On  the  death  of  En-Xasir,  El-Ashraf  Kan- 
sooh  Janbalat  was  elevated  to  the  throne 
but  six  months  sufficed  to  accomplish  his  fall, 
and  he  was  fortunate  in  preserving  his  life. 
The  next  Sultan,  El-Melik  El-'A'dil  Toornan 
Bey,  was  acknowledged  both  in  Egypt  and 
Syria.  He,  however,  was  overthrown  and 
killed  in  a  few  months. 

The  Memlooks  now  compelled  Kansooh 
El-Ghooree  to  assume  the  dangercns  dignity, 
with  the  title  of  El-Melik  El-Ashraf.  Tliia 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


295 


prince  very  unwillingly  yielded.  His  pre 
vious  life  shows  him  to  have  been  both 
virtuous  and  learned  ;  and  he  proved  him- 
Belf  to  be  an  able  ruler.  After  an  unsuccess 
ful  expedition  against  the  Portuguese  in  the 
East,  he  reigned  in  peace  until  the  year  915, 
when  Kurkood,  the  father  of  Seleem  I.,  the 
Turkish  Sultan,  obtained  his  protection  and 
assistance.  Events  similar  to  those  which 
accompanied  tae  end  of  Jem  followed  ;  and 
Seleem  availed  himself  of  a  pretext  to  de 
clare  war  against  Egypt.  The  first  reverse 
which  the  Egyptians  suffered  occurred  to  an 
army  commanded  by  'Ala-ed-Dowleh,  for 
merly  defeated  by  Kait  Bey,  but  now  in  the 
pay  of  El-Ghooree.  The  winter  wras  passed 
by  the  latter  in  preparing  energetically  for 
the  inevitable  struggle,  and  in  the  spring  he 
advanced  in  person.  Seleem,  on  his  part, 
reduced  the  last  place  in  the  hands  of  the 
Egyptians  in  'Aladowleeyeh,  and  pretended 
to  march  towards  Persia ;  but  at  the  same 
time  he  sent  to  demand  of  El-Ghooree 
wherefore  he  opposed  his  passage,  and  com 
manded  in  person  on  the  frontier.  El-Ghoo 
ree  replied,  that  his  wras  merely  an  army  of 
observation,  and  that  he  was  desirous  of 
mediating  between  Seleem  and  Isma'eel 
Shah.  Seleem,  however,  rapidly  advanced, 
refused  to  listen  to  an  attempt  at  negotiation, 
and  was  met  by  El-Ghooree  on  the  plain  of 
Marj-Dabik,  near  Aleppo.  A  long  and  sangui 
nary  battle  ensued,  and  victory  declared  for 
neither  side,  until  Kheyr  Bey,  commanding 
the  right  wing,  and  El-Ghazalee,  over  the 
left  of  the  Egyptian  army,  basely  deserted  to 
the  enemy  with  their  troops.  The  centre 
then  gave  way  and  fled  in  utter  confusion, 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the  Sultan  to 
rally  them.  He  was  trampled  to  death  by 
his  routed  cavalry,  while  (according  to  some) 
in  the  act  of  prayer.  This  event  took  place 
on  the  26th  of  Regeb  922  (A.D.  1517).  With 
his  death  Egypt  lost  her  independence.  The 
shattered  remains  of  the  army  collected  in 
Cairo.  Tooman  Bey,  a  nephew  of  the  de 
ceased  king,  was  elected  Sultan,  and  at  once 
determined  on  every  resistance  to  the  con 


queror.  His  general  in  Syria,  El-Ganbardee, 
disputed  the  road  with  Seleem  step  by  step, 
and  Tooman  Bey  awaited  his  arrival  neai 
Cairo.  Between  El-Khankah  and  the  metro 
polis,  at  the  village  of  Er-Reydaneeyeh,  the 
opposing  armies  joined  battle,  on  the  29th  of 
Zu-1-IIeggeli.  The  fall  of  a  favorite  general, 
Sinan  Pasha,  infuriated  the  Turks,  and  the 
brilliant  bravery  of  the  Memlooks  availed 
them  not.  Immense  numbers  of  them  were 
slain  by  their  enemies  in  the  pursuit,  and 
the  survivors  reunited  in  Cairo.  El-Ganbar 
dee,  however,  sacrificed  his  fame  by  joining 
the  victor.  The  Turkish  army  paused  for 
rest ;  and  time  wras  thus  given  to  Tooman 
Bey  to  hire  Arabs  at  a  great  cost  to  replenish 
his  thinned  ranks.  Seleem  now  passed  to 
the  west  of  Cairo.  A  night  surprise  con 
ducted  by  Tooman  failed,  but  he  succeeded 
in  putting  to  the  sword  a  great  many  Turks 
He  fortified  himself  in  the  city,  and  a  house- 
to-house  combat  ensued,  the  Memiooks  de 
fending  every  foot  with  the  energy  of 
despair;  the  citadel  fell  by  assault,  and  tla 
unfortunate  Tooman  effected  his  escape  to 
wards  Alexandria ;  but  on  the  way  he  wa? 
taken  by  Arabs,  given  up  to  El-Ganbavdee 
and  another,  and  brought  in  chains  to  Seleem, 
who  at  first  received  him  with  honor,  but 
afterwards  falsely  accused  him  of  conspiring 
against  him,  and,  with  the  cruelty  and  per 
fidy  characteristic  of  his  race,  crucified  him 
over  the  Bab-Zuweyleh,  the  place  of  execu 
tion  for  common  malefactors.  Thus  miser 
ably  perished  the  last  independent  ruler  of 
Egypt,  who  possessed  the  best  qualities  of 
his  line,  and  \vhose  noble  defence  of  his  king 
dom  would  have  secured  to  him  the  com 
miseration  of  any  but  a  Turk. 

In  reviewing  the  period  during  whhh 
Egypt  was  governed  by  independent  Mus  :'m 
princes,  it  is  necessary  to  consider  the  spirit 
of  the  times  and  the  people  over  w  horn  they 
ruled.  They  succeeded  to  tlm  government 
of  countries  worn  out  by  incessant  warfare, 
overrun  by  savage  hordes,  and  debased  by 
the  rule  of  the  Lower  Empire.  Egypt  had 
long  struggled  against  the  slavery  to  which 


2i)fi 


HISTORY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


it  had  been  condemned,  and  the  history  of 
the  last  three  dynasties  of  Pharaohs  evinces 
the  patriotism  which  yet  animated  her  peo 
ple.  But  the  successive  tyranny  of  the  Per 
sians,  the  Greeks,  and  the  Romans,  appears 
to  have  annihilated  their  nationality,  and 
when  the  Arabs  invaded  the  country,  tfeese 
causes,  combined  with  religious  strife,  in 
duced  them  to  afford  the  conquerors  every  as 
sistance  in  their  power.  But  the  changeful 
rule  of  the  lieutenants,  and  the  troubles  of  the 
Khalecfehs,  debarred  Egypt  (excepting  dur 
ing  the  reigns  of  some  kings  of  the  dynasties 
of  the  Benee  -  Tooloon  and  the  Ikhshee- 
deeyeh)  from  profiting  by  the  enlightenment 
of  tlie  race  who  held  dominion  over  it,  until 
the  conquest  by  the  Fatimees.  The  Khalee- 
felis  of  that  dynasty  contributed  in  a  great 
degree  to  restore  to  Egypt  some  portion  of  its 
ancient  prosperity,  and  with  the  House  of 
Eiyoob  it  attained  its  greatest  military  glory 
under  the  Muslims  ;  but  the  edifices  erected 
during  the  rule  of  the  two  dynasties  of  Mem- 
look  kings,  the  libraries  collected  in  Cairo  at 
that  period,  and  the  learned  men  who  then 
flourished,  would  point  to  it  as  the  age  in 
which  literature  and  the  arts  were  cultivated 
with  the  most  success ;  a  sure  evidence  of  the 
internal  prosperity  of  any  country.  This  is 
the  more  surprising  when  we  consider  the 
state  of  Syria,  which  had  long  before  their 
accession  fallen  a  prey  to  intestine  wars,  and 
the  ravages  of  the  Tatars,  rhe  Crusaders, 
and  other  invaders ;  and  also  bear  in  mind 
the  constitution  of  their  government,  in  which 
the  more  powerful  chiefs  were  constantly 
aiming  at  the  supreme  authority ;  and  the 
practice  of  purchasing  Memlooks,  and  rear 
ing  them  in  the  households  of  the  great  to 
enable  thoir  masters  to  maintain  their  ascend 
ancy,  augmented  the  number  of  these  aspir 
ants  to  the  throne.  These  slaves  were,  unlike 
the  Barhees  (who  were  the  Turkish  Mem- 
looks  of  the  Eiyoobee  Sultan,  Es-Salih  ISTegm- 
sd-Deen),  chiefly  Circassians,  who  afterwards 
composed  the  Second  Dynasty,  the  Burgee. 
Many  of  the  Memlook  Sultans  rivaled  in 
military  achievements  the  great  Salah-ed- 


Deen,  and  even  penetrated  further  than  ha 
in  their  foreign  expeditions.  In  Cairo  are 
preserved  the  finest  specimens  of  Arab 
architecture,  almost  all  dating  during  the 
period  comprised  under  the  domination  of  the 
two  Memlook  Dynasties  :  the  libraries  of  the 
mosques,  and  private  collections  of  that  city, 
though  grievously  injured  since  the  Turkish 
conquest,  are,  or  very  recently  were,  the  best 
and  most  considerable  of  those  of  Egypt  or 
Syria ;  and,  as  before  remarked,  the  Tfni 
versity  El-Azhar  is  still,  owing  to  the  foster 
ing  care  of  these  Sultans,  the  principal  seat 
of  learning  of  the  Eastern  world.  Some 
have  endeavored  to  give  a  history  of  Egypt 
after  the  European  model,  with  accounts  of 
the  state  of  commerce,  taxation  and  the  like, 
under  the  Muslims ;  but  those  only  who  have 
read  the  Arab  histories  of  this  and  other 
countries  can  appreciate  the  general  fallacy 
of  these  conclusions,  and  perceive  in  them 
that  common  failing  of  modern  authors,  a 
desire  to  throw  a  new  light  on  history,  rather 
than  state  only  as  much  as  the  materials  war 
rant. 

It  would  be  tedious  and  unprofitable  to 
follow  the  details  of  Turkish  misrule  and 
tyranny  which  are  from  this  time  presented 
to  the  student  of  Egyptian  history.  Al 
though  Seleem  destroyed  the  power  of  the 
Memlooks,  he  thought  fit  to  appoint  twenty- 
four  Beys  over  the  military  provinces  of 
that  number  into  which  he  divided  Egypt, 
subject  to  the  supreme  control  of  a  Pasha, 
whose  council  was  formed  of  seven  Turkish 
chiefs  (ojaklees),  while  one  of  the  Beys  held 
the  post  of  Sheykh  el-Beled,  or  Governor  of 
the  Metropolis ;  an  officer  who  became  an 
object  of  hatred  to  the  other  chiefs.  Eor 
nearly  two  centuries  the  successive  Pashas 
were  mostly  obeyed ;  but  the  ambition  of  be 
coming  Sheykh  el-Beled  was  the  fmitful 
cause  of  intrigue  and  murder.  The  Mem- 
looks  who  then  held  power  in  Egypt  were 
called  the  Ghuzz,  that  being  the  name  of  the 
tribe  to  which  they  are  said  to  have  at  first 
generally  belonged ;  and  they  continually 
bought  slaves,  of  Circassian  or  Georgian  race 


HISTOEY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


297 


to  supply  the  place  of  children,  for  they  did 
not  intermarry  with  natives  of  Egypt,  and 
women  of  more  northern  climates  are  gene 
rally  either  barren  or  bear  sickly  offspring  in 
that  country.  Thus  they  lacked  the  surest 
source  of  power ;  few  possessed  any  family 
ties;  but  at  the  same  time  the  slaves  in 
general  were  remarkably  faithful  to  their 
patrons.  At  the  expiration  of  the  period 
before  mentioned,  the  Beys  gradually  in 
creased  in  power,  until  the  authority  of  the 
Pasha  was  almost  nominal,  and  the  govern 
ment  became  a  military  oligarchy ;  this 
brings  us  to  the  rise  of  the  celebrated  'Alee 
Bey.  lie  was  created  Sheykh  el-Beled  in 
the  year  1177;  but  having  revenged  himself 
on  an  old  enemy  who  had  assassinated 
'Alee's  master,  to  whom  he  owed  his  eleva 
tion  to  the  rank  of  Bey,  he  shortly  after  fled 
to  Syria,  and  took  refuge  with  the  governor 
of  Jerusalem,  and  thence  went  to  Acre, 
where  the  Sheykh  Dhahir  became  his  friend ; 
and  that  same  year  he  returned  to  Cairo  in 
hia  former  capacity  of  Sheykh  el-Beled.  In 
1179  his  enemies  again  compelled  him  to 
flee,  and  he  betook  himself  this  time  to  El- 
Yemen,  once  more  to  return  to  Egypt ;  after 
which  he  gained  increased  power.  His  fa 
vorite  Memlook,  Mohammed  Aboo-Dhahab, 
proved  ungrateful,  and,  while  enjoying  the 
highest  power,  entered  into  a  conspiracy 
against  Ms  life  ;  but  after  receiving  the  pre 
sents  of  the  hostile  Beys,  he  denounced  them 
to  his  master,  who  would  not  listen  to  warn 
ings  of  his  meditated  treachery. 

In  the  year  1182,  the  Porte  demanded  the 
assistance  of  'Alee  Bey  in  the  Russian  war ; 
an  order  which  he  was  about  to  obey,  when 
he  was  apprised  of  the  departure  of  a  mes 
senger  with  a  firman,  demanding  his  head, 
he  having  been  falsely  accused  at  Constanti 
nople  of  intending  to  aid  the  Russians  and 
throw  off  his  allegiance.  He  caused  the 
bearer  of  this  order  to  be  waylaid  and  put  to 
death,  and  having  possessed  himself  of  the 
firman,  he  convened  the  Beys,  showed  them 
the  document,  and  aided  by  those  of  his  own 
household,  persuaded  the  council  to  expel 
3fi 


the  Pasha,  and  declare  Egypt  independent. 
The  Sheykh  Dhaliir  took  part  in  this  rebel 
lion,    and    the    Pasha    of   Damascus    was 
beaten  by  him  between  Mount  Lebanon  and 
Tiberias.     A  period  of  good  but  vigorous 
government     and    of   tranquility  followed 
these  events  in  Egypt,  notwithstanding  the 
very  heavy  imposts  levied  for  the  replenish 
ment  of  the  treasury ;  and  'Alee's  generals 
gained    for    him    extended  power   abroad. 
Mohammed  Aboo-Dhahab  was  despatched  to 
Arabia,  and    entered  Mekkeh,  where    the 
Shereef    was    deposed,   and   another    Bey 
traversed  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Red  Sea. 
After  the  expedition  to  Arabia,  Mahommed 
Bey  marched  into  Syria  to  assist  the  Sheykh 
Dhahir  against  the  Porte,  and  the  co-opera 
tion  of  the  Russians  was  demanded.     A  suc 
cessful  campaign  terminated  before  the  walls 
of    Damascus,    the     siege    of   which     waa 
abandoned  when  nearly  brought  to  a  close, 
and  Mohammed  Bey  returned  with    large 
forces  to   Egypt.      This  man,  loaded  with 
benefits  by  his  patron,  now  openly  rebelled  ; 
and  being  joined  by  'Alee's  enemies,  at  the 
head  of  whom  was  Isma'eel,  chief  of  the 
guard  (who  was  sent  against  him  and  went 
over  to  his  side),  he  advanced  on  Cairo,  and 
'Alee  escaped  to   his  steady  ally,  Sheykh 
Dhahir,  the  prince  of  Acre.     These  events 
took  place  in  the  year  1186.     Mahommmed 
Bey  was  then  declared    Sheykh    el-Beled. 
'Alee  Bey  in  the  meanwhile,  in  conjunction 
with  his  ally,  gained  various  advantages  in 
Syria,  and,  on   the  information  that  his  re 
turn  was  desired  in  Egypt,  he  collected  a 
small  force,  assisted   by  Sheykh  Dhahir  and 
a  Russian  squadron,  and  determined  on  at 
tempting  to  recover  his  power.     He,  how 
ever,  fell  into  an   ambuscade  near  Es-Sali- 
heeyeh,  and  was  wounded  by  one  of  his  Mem- 
looks  named  Murad  (afterwards  Murad  Bey), 
carried  to  the  citadel,  and  poisoned  by  Mo 
hammed  Bey.     Thus  terminated  the  career 
of   the   famous   'Alee   Bey,   a   man   whose 
energy,  talents,  and  ambition  bear  a  strong 
resemblance  to  those   of    the   late    viceroy 
Mohammed  'Alee. 


2U8 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


Mohammed  Bey  Aboo-Dhabab  continued 
Sheykh  el-Beled,  tendered  his  allegiance  to 
the  Porte,  and  was  invested  with  the  pashalic. 
He  then  entered  Syria,  and  severely  chas 
tised  Sheykh  Dhahir,  taking  Gaza,  Joppa, 
and  Acre  itself.  Joppa  was  taken  by  assault, 
and  suffered  a  massacre  of  its  inhabitants, 
and  Acre  was  pillaged.  At  the  latter  place 
the  Pasha  suddenly  died.  His  mosque  in 
Cairo  is  the  latest  fine  specimen  of  Arab 
architecture,  and  is  not  unworthy  of  its  bet 
ter  days. 

The  chief  competitors  for  power  were 
now  Isma'eel,  Ibraheem,  and  Murad,  the  first 
of  whom  was  speedily  expelled,  the  contest 
continuing  between  the  two  latter  Beys. 
Ibrateem  at  length  succeeded  in  causing 
himself  to  be  proclaimed  Sheykh  el-Beled, 
and  Murad  contented  himself  with  the  office 
of  Emeer  el-IIagg,  or  chief  of  the  pilgrims  ; 
but  this  arrangement  was  not  destined  to  be 
of  long  continuance ;  a  violent  quarrel  re 
sulted  in  a  recourse  to  arms,  and  that  again 
in  a  peace  of  three  years'  duration,  during 
which  the  two  Beys  held  an  equal  sway.  In 
the  year  1200  the  Porte  despatched  Hasan 
Capitan  (properly  Kapoodan)  Pasha  (or  High 
Admiral)  with  a  Turkish  force,  to  reduce  the 
turbulent  Memlooks  to  obedience,  and  to 
claim  the  annual  tribute.  Murad  Bey  was 
defeated  at  Er-Rahmaneeyeh,  and  the  Turks 
advanced  to  Cairo,  desolating  the  country 
and  acting  according  to  their  almost  invari 
able  practice  on  such  occasions.  The  metro 
polis  opened  its  gates  to  Hasan  Pasha,  who 
determined  on  pursuing  the  Beys  to  Upper 
Egypt,  whither  he  despatched  a  large  por 
tion  of  his  army,  and  a  sanguinary  conflict 
took  place.  But  a  war  with  Russia  recalled 
this  commander  to  Constantinople.  Isma'eel 
was  again  created  Sheykh  el-Beled,  and  he 
held  that  post  until  the  terrible  plague  of 
the  year  1205,  in  which  he  perished,  and 
hence  it  is  commonly  called  the  "  Plague  of 
Isma'eel."  His  death  caused  the  return  of 
Ibraheem  and  Murad ;  and  eight  years  after 
intelligence  of  the  arrival  at  Alexandria  of 
a  French  army  of  36,000  nen,  commanded 


|  by  General  Bonaparte,  united  these  chiefs  in 
I  a  common  cause. 

On  the  18th  May,  1798  (A.II.  1212),  this 
expedition,  consisting  of  thirteen  sail  of  the 
line,  six  frigates,  and  twelve  vessels  of  a 
smaller  size,  sailed  from  Toulon,  and  made 
the  coast  of  Egypt  on  the  1st  July.  The 
troops  were  landed  near  Alexandria,  and  the 
city  fell  by  assault  on  the  5th  of  that  month. 
The  French  conquest  and  occupation  of 
Egypt  belong  to  European  history;  a  re 
capitulation  of  the  principal  events  of  the 
period  will  therefore  suffice  in  this  place. 
The  Memlooks  affected  to  despise  their 
antagonist,  and  hastened  to  chastise  him  :  at 
Shibirrees  they  attacked  the  French,  and 
were  repulsed ;  but,  nothing  discouraged, 
they  collected  all  their  forces,  exceeding 
G0,000  men,  under  the  command  of  Murad, 
and  intrenched  themselves  at  Embabeh,  op 
posite  Cairo.  Here  was  fought  the  battle 
which  has  been  dignified  with  the  name  of 
that  of  the  Pyramids.  European  tactics 
completely  bewildered  the  Memlooks,  their 
famous  cavalry  was  received  on  the  bayonets 
of  the  French  squares,  a  galling  fire  of  grape 
and  musketry  mowed  down  their  ranks,  and 
of  this  great  army  only  about  2500  horse 
escaped  with  Murad  Bey,  while  15,000  men 
of  all  arms  fell  on  the  field  of  battle.  Hav 
ing  made  himself  master  of  Cairo,  Bonaparte 
despatched  General  Desaix  to  effect  the  con 
quest  of  Upper  Egypt,  and  the  success  of 
the  Eastern  expedition  seemed  secured.  But, 
ten  days  after  the  victory  of  Embabeh,  the 
battle  of  the  Nile  annihilated  the  French 
fleet  in  Aboo-Keer  Bay,  and  most  material 
ly  influenced  the  future  conduct  of  the  war. 
On  this  point  Napoleon  himself  says,  "  The 
loss  of  the  battle  of  Aboukir  had  a  vast  in 
fluence  on  the  affairs  of  Egypt,  and  even  on 
those  of  the  whole  world  ;  if  the  French 
fleet  had  been  saved,  the  expedition  to  Syria 
would  have  encountered  no  obstacles,  the 
siege-train  would  hcwe  been  transported 
safely  and  easily  across  the  desert,  and  St. 
Jean  d'Acre  would  not  have  stopped  the 
French  army.  P'lt  the  French  fleet  being 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


299 


destroyed,  the  divan  was  encouraged  to  de 
clare  war  against  France."  The  army  lost  a 
great  support,  its  position  in  Egypt  was 
totally  changed,  and  Napoleon  had  to  re 
nounce  forever  the  hope  of  seating  the  French 
power  in  the  East  by  the  triumph  of  the 
Egyptian  expedition.  The  disastrous  expe 
dition  ir  to  Syria,  undertaken  for  the  pur 
pose  of  :  frustrating  the  efforts  of  Sir  Sidney 
Smith  before  Alexandria,  and  of  Jezzar 
Pasha,  who  was  advancing  from  Acre,  still 
further  obscured  Napoleon's  prospects  in  the 
East,  and  the  victory  soon  after  obtained  by 
him  over  the  Ottoman  army  at  Aboo-Keer, 
the  second  defeat  of  Murad  Bey,  and  vari 
ous  successes  over  the  Turks,  enabled  the 
French  general  Kleber  (Napoleon  having  left 
for  Europe  after  the  first  of  these  events)  to 
set  on  foot  negotiations  for  an  honorable 
evacuation  of  the  country.  But  when  the 
convention  was  already  signed,  and  the 
French  were  about  to  quit  Cairo,  Lord  Keith 
signified  to  Kleber  that  Great  Britain  would 
not  consent  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  ;  and 
although  this  refusal  was  afterwards  rescind 
ed,  Kleber  considered  that  the  withdrawal 
came  too  late ;  he  totally  defeated  70,000 
men  under  the  Grand  Vezeer  at  Heliopolis, 
and  returned  to  Cairo  to  quell  an  insurrec 
tion  of  the  inhabitants.  This  distinguished 
officer  was  about  this  time  assassinated  in  the 
garden  of  his  palace  by  a  fanatic,  who  was 
impaled  in  the  great  square  (then  a  lake) 
called  the  Ezbekeeyeh,  in  Cairo,  and  mis 
erably  lingered  for  the  space  of  three  days 
before  death  put  an  end  to  his  sufferings. 
Under  Kleber's  administration,  Egypt  began 
to  resume  its  former  prosperity  ;  by  his  con 
ciliatory  and  good  government,  much  preju 
dice  against  the  French  was  overcome  ;  by 
ceding  a  part  of  Upper  Egyyt  to  Murad, 
he  gained  the  good  will  of  that  chief,  who 
gave  him  no  cause  to  regret  this  politic  step  ; 
while  under  hisauspces  the  "  savans  "  of  the 
Institute  collected  the  valuable  mass  of  in 
formation  embodied  in  the  "  Great  French 
Work." 

On  the  death  of  Kleber,  General  Menou 


succeeded  to  the  command,  and  although  he 
afterwards  conducted  the  defence  of  the 
country  with  much  valor,  yet,  to  his  injudic 
ious  administration,  and  his  want  of  military 
talent,  we  must  mainly  ascr.be  the  deter 
mination  of  the  British  government  to  at 
tempt  the  expulsion  of  the  French  from 
Egypt,  and  the  rapid  success  of  the  cam 
paign  that  ensued.  On  the  2d  of  March, 
1801,  an  army  under  Sir  Ralph  Abcrcromby 
arrived  in  Aboo-Keer  Bay  and  made  a  good 
landing  in  the  face  of  a  well-disposed  French 
force,  which  offered  every  possible  resistance. 
The'  memorable  battle  of  Alexandria,  in 
which  Abercromby  fell,  decided  the  fate  of 
the  war.  A  bold  march,  executed  with  tal 
ent,  effected  the  capitulation  of  Cairo  ;  Alex 
andria  surrendered  on  the  1st  of  September, 
and  the  French  sailed  from  the  shores  of 
Egypt  in  the  course  of  that  month.  General 
Hutchinson  had  taken  the  command  of  the 
English  expedition,  afterwards  reinforced  by 
a  detachment  from  India  under  General 
Baird  ;  and  the  army  of  the  Grand  Yezeer, 
and  that  of  the  Capi tan-Pasha,  with  the 
troops  of  Ibraheem  Bey  (Murad  having  died 
of  the  plague),  had  co-operated  in  the  meas 
ures  which  led  to  the  evacuation  of  the  coun 
try  by  Menou. 

The  history  now  requires  that  we  should 
mention  the  early  career  of  a  man  who  subse 
quently  ruled  the  destinies  of  Egypt  for  a 
period  of  nearly  forty  years.  The  late  vice 
roy  of  Egypt,  Mohammed  'Alee  Pasha, 
was  born  in  the  year  of  the  Flight,  1182 
(A.D.  1768-9),  at  Cavalla,  a  small  seaport 
town  of  Albania.  On  the  death  of  his  fa 
ther,  in  early  life,  he  was  brought  up  in  the 
house  of  the  governor  of  the  town,  who,  as  a 
reward  for  military  prowess,  gave  him  his 
daughter  in  marriage.  By  her  he  had,  it  is 
said,  his  three  eldest  sons,  Ibraheem,  Too- 
soon,  and  Isma'eel.  Having  attained  the 
rank  of  buluk  bashee  (or  head  of  a  body  of 
infantry),  he  became  a  dealer  in  tobacco, 
until,  in  his  thirty-third  year,  he  was  de 
spatched  with  his  patron's  son,  'Alee  Agha, 
and  300  men,  the  contingent  furnished  by 


300 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


his  native  place,  with  the  Turkish  expedi 
tion  against  the  French  in  Egypt ;  and  soon 
after  his  arrival  in  that  country  he  succeeded, 
on  the  return  of  'Alee  Agha,  to  the  com 
mand,  with  the  nominal  rank  of  been-bashee 
(or  chief  of  a  thousand  men). 

Soon  after  the  evacuation  of  Egypt  by  the 
French,  that  unfortunate  country  became  the 
scene  of  more  severe  troubles,  in  consequence 
of  the  unwarrantable  attempts  of  the  Turks 
to  destroy  the  power  of  the  Ghuzz.  In  defi 
ance  of  promises  to  the  English  government, 
orders  were  transmitted  from  Constantinople 
to  Hoseyn  Pasha,  the  Turkish  High  Admi 
ral,  to  ensnare  and  put  to  death  the  princi 
pal  Beys.  Invited  to  an  entertainment,  they 
were,  according  to  the  Egyptian  contempo 
rary  historian  El-Gabartee,  attacked  on  board 
the  flag-ship ;  Sir  Robert  Wilson  and  M. 
Mengin,  however,  state  that  they  were  fired 
on,  in  open  boats,  in  the  bay  of  Aboo-Keer. 
They  oft'ered  a  heroic  resistance,  but  were 
overpowered  and  made  prisoners,  while  Mo 
hammed  Bey  El-Menfookh,  'Osman  Bey  Et- 
Tamburgee,  'Osman  Bey  El-Ashtar,  Moham 
med  Bey  El-IIasanee,  Murad  Bey  the  Young 
er,  and  Ibraheem  Kikhya  Es-Sennaree  (a 
black),  were  among  the  killed.  Some,  in 
cluding  the  afterwards  -  celebrated  'Osman 
Bey  El-Bardeesee,  escaped  in  a  boat,  and 
sought  refuge  with  the  English,  who  at  that 
time  occupied  Alexandria.  General  Ilutch- 
inson,  informed  of  this  treachery,  immedi 
ately  assumed  threatening  measures  against 
the  Turks,  and  in  consequence,  the  killed, 
wounded  and  prisoners  were  given  up  to 
him.  Such  was  the  commencement  of  the 
disastrous  struggle  between  the  Memlooks 
and  the  Turks. 

Mohammed  Khusruf  was  the  first  Pasha 
after  the  expulsion  of  the  French.  The  form 
of  government,  however,  was  not  the  same 
as  that  before  the  French  invasion  ;  for  the 
Ghuzz  were  not  reinstated.  The  Pasha,  and 
through  him,  the  Sultan  endeavored  on  sev 
eral  occasions  either  to  ensnare  them,  or  to 
beguile  them  into  submission ;  but  their  ef 
forts  faLing,  M  :hammed  Khusruf  took  the 


field,  and  a  Turkish  detachment  14,000  str  Dng 
despatched  against  them  to  Demenhoor, 
whither  they  had  descended  from  Upper 
Egypt,  wras  defeated  by  a  small  force  under 
El-Elfee.  Their  ammunition  and  guns  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Memlooks. 

In  March,  1803,  the  British  evacuated 
Alexandria,  and  Mohammed  Bey  El-Elfee 
accompanied  them  to  England  to  consult  re 
specting  the  means  to  be  adopted  for  restor 
ing  the  former  power  of  the  Ghuzz.  About 
six  weeks  after,  the  Arnaoot  (or  Albanian) 
soldiers  in  the  service  of  Khusruf  tumultu- 
ously  demanded  their  pay,  and  surrounded 
the  house  of  the  Defterdar,  who  in  vain  ap 
pealed  to  the  Pasha  to  satisfy  their  claims 
The  latter  opened  fire  from  the  artillery  of 
his  palace  on  the  insurgent  soldiery  in  the 
house  of  the  Defterdar,  across  the  Ezbekee- 
yeh.  The  citizens  of  Cairo,  accustomed  to 
such  occurrences,  immediately  closed  their 
shops^  and  the  doors  of  the  several  quarters, 
and  every  man  who  possessed  any  weapon 
armed  himself.  The  tumult  continued  all 
the  day,  and  the  next  morning  a  body  of 
troops  sent  out  by  the  Pasha  failed  to  quell 
it.  Tahir,  the  commander  of  the  Albanians, 
then  repaired  to  the  citadel,  gained  admit 
tance  through  an  embrasure,  and  having  ob 
tained  possession  of  it,  began  to  cannonade 
the  Pasha  over  the  roofs  of  the  intervening 
houses,  and  then  descended  with  guns  to  the 
Ezbekeeyeh,  and  laid  close  siege  to  the  pal 
ace.  On  the  following  day,  Mohammed 
Khusruf  made  good  his  escape  with  his  wo 
men  and  servants  and  his  regular  troops,  and 
fled  to  Damietta  by  the  river.  This  revolt 
marks  the  commencement  of  the  rise  of  Mo 
hammed  'Alee  to  power  in  Egypt,  and  of 
the  breach  between  the  Arnaoots  and  Turks 
which  ultimately  led  to  the  expulsion  of  the 
latter. 

Tahir  Pasha  assumed  the  government,  but 
in  twenty-three  days  he  met  with  his  death 
from  exactly  the  same  cause  as  that  of  the 
overthrow  of  his  predecessor.  He  jefused 
the  pay  of  certain  of  the  Turki- h  troops,  and 
was  immediately  assassinated.  A  desperate 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


301 


conflict  ensued  between  the  Albanians  and 
Turks ;  and  the  palace  was  set  on  fire  and 
plundered.  The  masters  of  Egypt  were  now 
eplit  into  these  two  factions,  animated  with 
the  fiercest  animosity  against  each  other. 
Mohammed  'Alee  became  the  head  of  the 
former,  but  his  party  was  the  weaker,  and 
he  therefore  entered  into  an  alliance  with 
Ibraheem  Bey  and  'Osman  Bey  El-Bardee- 
see.  A  certain  Ahmad  Pasha,  who  was 
about  to  proceed  to  a  province  in  Arabia,  of 
which  he  had  been  appointed  governor,  was 
raised  to  the  important  post  of  Pasha  of 
Egypt,  through  the  influence  of  the  Turks, 
and  the  favor  of  the  Sheykhs  ;  but  Moham 
med  'Alee,  who  with  his  Albanians  held  the 
citadel,  refused  to  assent  to  their  choice  ;  the 
Memlooks  moved  over  from  El-Geezeh,  and 
Ahmad  Pasha  betook  himself  to  the  mosque 
of  Ez-Zahir,  which  the  Erench  converted 
into  a  fortress.  He  was  compelled  to  sur 
render  by  the  Albanians  ;  the  two  chiefs  of 
the  Turks  who  killed  Tahir  Pasha  were  taken 
with  him  and  put  to  death,  and  he  himself 
was  detained  a  prisoner.  In  consequence  of 
the  alliance  between  Mohammed  'Alee  and 
El-Bardeesee,  the  Albanians  gave  the  citadel 
over  to  the  Memlooks  ;  and  soon  after,  these 
allies  marched  against  Khusruf  Pasha,  who 
having  been  joined  by  a  considerable  body 
of  Turks,  and  being  in  possession  of  Dami- 
etta,  was  enabled  to  offer  an  obstinate  resist 
ance.  After  much  loss  on  both  sides,  he 
was  taken  prisoner  and  brought  to  Cairo ; 
but  he  was  treated  with  much  respect.  The 
victorious  soldiery  sacked  the  town  of  Da- 
mietta,  and  were  guilty  of  the  barbarities 
usual  with  them  on  such  occasions. 

A  few  days  later,  'Alee  Pasha  El-Tarabu- 
lusoe  landed  at  Alexandria  with  an  imperial 
firman  constituting  him  Pasha  of  Egypt,  and 
threatened  the  Beys,  who  now  were  virtual 
masters  of  Upper  Egypt,  as  well  as  of  the 
capital  and  nearly  the  whole  of  Lower  Egypt. 
Mohammed  'Alee  and  El-Bardeesee  therefore 
descended  to  Rosetta,  which  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  a  brother  of  'Alee  Pasha,  and 
having  recovered  the  town  and  captured  its 


commander,  El-Bardeesee  purposed  to  pro 
ceed  against  Alexandria  ;  but  the  troops  re 
quired  arrears  of  pay  which  it  was  not  in  hia 
power  to  give,  and  the  Pasha  had  cut  the 
dyke  between  the  lakes  of  Aboo-Keer  and 
Mareotis,  thus  rendering  the  approach  tc 
Alexandria  more  difficult.  El-Bardeesee  and 
Mohammed  'Alee  therefore  returned  to  Cai 
ro.  The  troubles  of  Egypt  were  now  in 
creased  by  insufficient  inundation,  and  great 
scarcity  prevailed,  aggravated  by  the  exor 
bitant  taxation  to  which  the  Beys  were  com 
pelled  to  resort  in  order  to  raise  money  tc 
pay  the  troops ;  while  murder  and  rapine 
prevailed  to  a  frightful  extent  in  the  capital, 
the  riotous  soldiery  being  under  little  or  no 
control.  In  the  meantime,  'Alee  Pasha,  who 
had  been  behaving  in  an  outrageous  manner 
towards  the  Franks  in  Alexandria,  received 
a  khatt-i-shereef  from  the  Sultan,  which  he 
sent  by  his  secretary  to  Cairo.  It  announced 
that  the  Beys  should  live  peaceably  in  Egypt, 
with  an  annual  pension,  each,  of  fifteen  purses 
and  other  privileges,  but  that  the  govern 
ment  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Pasha. 
To  this  the  Beys  assented,  but  with  consider 
able  misgivings ;  for  they  had  intercepted 
letters  from  'Alee  to  the  Albanians,  endeav 
oring  to  alienate  them  from  their  side  to  his 
own ;  to  these,  deceptive  answers  were  re 
turned,  and  he  was  induced  by  them  to  ad 
vance  towards  Cairo,  at  the  head  of  2500 
men.  The  forces  of  the  Beys,  with  the  Al 
banians,  encamped  near  him  at  Shalakan, 
and  he  fell  back  on  a  place  called  Zufeyteh. 
They  next  seized  his  boats  conveying  soldiers, 
servants,  and  his  ammunition  and  baggage  ; 
and,  following  him,  they  demanded  where 
fore  he  brought  with  him  so  numerous  a 
body  of  men,  in  opposition  to  usage  and  to 
their  previous  warning.  Finding  they  would 
not  allow  his  troops  to  advance,  forbidden 
himself  to  retreat  with  them  to  Alexandria, 
and  being  surrounded  by  the  enemy,  he 
would  have  hazarded  a  battle,  but  his  men 
refused  to  fight.  He,  therefore,  repaired  to 
the  camp  of  the  Beys,  and  his  army  was  com 
pelled  to  retire  to  Syria.  In  the  hands  of 


302 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


the  Beys,  'Alee  Pasha  again  attempted  treach 
ery.  A  korsemar.  was  seen  to  leave  his  tent 
one  night  at  full  gallop ;  he  was  the  bearer 
of  a  letter  to  'Osman  Bey  Hasan,  the  gover 
nor  of  Kine.  This  offered  a  fair  pretext  to 
the  Momlooks  to  rid  themselves  of  a  man 
whose  antecedents,  and  his  present  conduct, 
proved  him  to  be  a  perfidious  tyrant.  He 
was  sent  under  a  guard  of  forty-five  men 
towards  the  Syrian  frontier ;  and  about  a 
week  after,  news  was  received  that  in  a  skir 
mish  with  some  of  his  own  soldiers  he  had 
fallen  mortally  wounded. 

The  death  of  'Alee  Pasha  produced  only 
temporary  tranquillity ;  in  a  few  days  the 
return  of  Mohammed  Bey  El-Elfee  (called 
the  Great  or  Elder),  from  England,  was  the 
signal  for  fresh  disturbances,  which,  by  split 
ting  the  Ghuzz  into  two  parties,  accelerated 
their  final  overthrow.  The  jealousy  which 
existed  between  El-Elfee  and  the  other  most 
powerful  Bey,  El-Bardeesee,  has  been  before 
mentioned.  The  latter  was  now  supreme 
among  the  Ghuzz,  and  this  fact  considerably 
heightened  their  old  enmity.  While  the 
guns  of  the  citadel,  those  at  Masr  El-'Atee- 
kah,  and  even  those  of  the  palace  of  El-Bar 
deesee,  were  thrice  fired  in  honor  of  El-El 
fee,  preparations  were  immediately  com 
menced  to  oppose  him.  His  partisans  were 
collected  opposite  Cairo,  and  El-Elfee  the 
Younger  held  El-Geezeh  ;  but  treachery  was 
among  them  ;  Hoseyn  Bey  El-Elfce  was  as 
sassinated  by  emissaries  of  El-Bardeesee,  and 
Mohammed  'Alee,  with  his  Albanians,  gained 
possession  of  El-Geezeh,  which  was,  as  usual, 
given  over  to  the  troops  to  pillage.  In  the 
meanwhile  El-Elfee  the  Great  embarked  at 
Kosetta ;  and  not  apprehending  opposition, 
was  on  his  way  to  Cairo,  when  a  little  south 
of  the  town  of  Manoof  he  encountered  a 
party  of  Albanians,  and  with  difficulty  made 
his  escape.  He  gained  the  eastern  branch 
of  tl  e  Nile,  but  the  river  had  become  dan 
gerous,  and  he  fled  to  the  desert.  There  he 
had  several  hair-breadth  escapes,  and  at  last 
accreted  himself  among  a  tribe  of  Arabs  at 
Ras-el-Wadee.  A  change  in  the  fortune  of 


El-Bardeesee,  however,  favored  his  plans  for 
the  future.  That  chief,  in  order  to  satisfy 
the  demands  of  the  Albanians  for  their  pay, 
gave  orders  to  levy  heavy  contributions  from 
the  citizens  of  Cairo  ;  and  this  new  oppres 
sion  roused  them  to  rebellion.  The  Alba 
nians,  alarmed  for  their  safety,  assured  the 
populace  that  they  would  not  allow  the  or 
der  to  be  executed ;  and  Mohammed  'Alee 
himself  caused  a  proclamation  to  be  made  to 
that  effect.  Thus  the  Albanians  became  the 
favorites  of  the  people,  and  took  advantage 
of  their  opportunity.  Three  days  later  they 
beset  the  house  of  the  aged  Ibraheem  Bey, 
and  that  of  El-Bardeesee,  both  of  whom  ef 
fected  their  escape  with  considerable  diffi 
culty.  The  Hemlocks  in  the  citadel  directed 
a  fire  of  shot  and  shell  on  the  houses  of  the 
Albanians  which  were  situated  in  the  Ezbe- 
keeyeh ;  but  on  hearing  of  the  flight  of  their 
chiefs,  they  evacuated  the  place  ;  and  Mo 
hammed  'Alee,  on  gaining  possession  of  it, 
once  more  proclaimed  Mohammed  Khusruf 
Pasha  of  Egypt.  For  one  day  and  a  half 
he  enjoyed  the  title  ;  the  friends  of  the  late 
Tahir  Pasha  then  accomplished  his  second 
degradation,  and  Cairo  was  again  the  scene 
of  terrible  enormities,  the  Albanians  revel 
ling  in  the  houses  of  the  Memlook  chiefs, 
whose  hareems  met  with  no  mercy  at  their- 
hands.  These  events  were  the  signal  for  the 
reappearance  of  El-Elfee. 

The  Albanians  now  invited  Ahmad  Pasha 
Khursheed  to  assume  the  reigns  of  govern 
ment,  and  he  without  delay  proceeded  from 
Alexandria  to  Cairo.  The  forces  of  the  par 
tisans  of  El-Bardeesee  were  ravaging  the 
country  a  few  miles  south  of  the  capital,  and 
intercepting  the  supplies  of  corn  by  the 
river  :  a  little  later  they  passed  to  the  north 
of  Cairo,  and  successfully  took  Bilbeys  and 
Kalyoob,  plundering  the  villages,  destroying 
the  crops,  and  slaughtering  the  herds  of  the  in 
habitants.  Cairo  was  itself  in  a  state  of  tumult, 
suffering  severely  from  a  scarcity  of  grain 
and  the  heavy  exactions  of  the  Pasha  to 
meet  the  demands  of  his  turbulent  troops,  at 
that  time  augmented  by  a  Turkish  detach- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD 


303 


ment.  The  shops  were  closed,  and  the  un 
fortunate  people  assembled  in  great  crowds, 
crying  Ya  Leteef!  Ya  Lateef!  "Oh  gra 
cious  i'God]  !"  El-Elfee  and  'Osman  Bey 
Hasan  had  professed  allegiance  to  the  Pasha ; 
but  they  soon  after  declared  against  him,  and 
they  were  now  approaching  from  the  south  ; 
and  having  repulsed  Mohammed  'Alee,  they 
took  the  two  fortresses  of  Tura.  These  Mo 
hammed  'Alee  speedily  retook  by  night  with 
4000  infantry  and  cavalry;  but  the  enter 
prise  was  only  partially  successful.  On  the 
following  clay  the  other  Memlooks  north  of 
the  metropolis  actually  penetrated  into  the 
suburbs ;  but  a  few  days  later  were  defeated 
in  a  battle  fought  at  Shubra,  with  heavy  loss 
on  both  sides.  This  reverse  in  a  measure 
united  the  two  great  Memlook  parties, 
though  their  chiefs  remained  at  enmity. 

El-Bardeesee  passed  to  the  south  of  Cairo, 
and  the  Ghuzz  gradually  retreated  towards 
Upper  Egypt.  Thither  the  Pasha  despatched' 
three  successive  expeditions  (one  commanded 
by  Mohammed  'Alee),  and  many  battles  were 
fought,  but  without  decisive  result. 

At  this  period  another  calamity  befel 
Egypt ;  about  3000  Delees  arrived  in  Cairo 
from  Syria.  These  troops  had  been  sent  for 
by  Khursheed  in  order  to  strengthen  himself 
against  the  Albanians ;  and  the  events  of 
this  portion  of  the  history  afford  sad  proof 
of  their  ferocity  and  brutal  enormities,  in 
which  they  far  exceeded  the  ordinary  Turkish 
soldiers  and  even  the  Albanians.  Their  ar 
rival  immediately  recalled  Mohammed  'Alee 
and  his  party  from  the  war,  and  instead  of 
aiding  Khursheed,  was  the  proximate  cause 
of  his  overthrow. 

Cairo  was  ripe  for  revolt ;  the  Pasha 
was  hated  for  his  tyranny  and  extortion,  and 
execrated  for  the  deeds  of  his  troops,  -espe 
cially  those  of  the  Delees :  the  Sheykhs  en 
joined  the  people  to  close  their  shops,  and 
the  soldiers  clamored  for  pay.  At  this  junc 
ture  a  firman  arrived  from  Constantinople 
conferring  on  Mohammed  'Alee  the  pashalic 
of  Jiddeh ;  but  the  occurrences  of  a  few 
days  raised  Urn  to  that  of  Egypt. 


On  the  12th  of  Safar  A.II.  1220  (May  1805) 
the  Sheykhs,  with  an  immense  concourse  of 
the  inhabitants,  assembled  in  the  house  of 
the  Kadee  ;  and  the  'Ulama,  amid  the  pray 
ers  and  cries  of  the  people,  wrote  a  full 
statement  of  the  heavy  wrongs  which  they 
had  endured  under  the  administration  of  the 
Pasha.  The  'Ulama,  in  answer,  were  de 
sired  to  go  to  the  citadel ;  but  they  were 
apprised  of  treachery ;  and  on  the  follow- 
ing  day,  having  held  another  council  at  the 
house  of  the  Kadee,  they  proceeded  to  Mo 
hammed  'Alee,  and  informed  him  that  the 
people  would  no  longer  submit  to  Khursheed. 
"  Then  whom  will  ye  have  ?"  said  he.  "  We 
will  have  ihee"  they  replied,  "  to  govern  us 
according  to  the  laws ;  for  we  see  in  thy 
countenance  that  thou  art  possessed  of  jus 
tice  and  goodness."  Mohammed  'Alee 
seemed  to  hesitate,  and  then  complied,  and 
wTas  at  once  invested.  On  this,  a  bloody 
struggle  commenced  between  the  two  Pashas : 
Cairo  had  before  experienced  such  conflicts 
in  the  streets  and  over  house-tops,  but  none 
so  severe  as  this.  Khursheed,  being  inform 
ed  by  a  messenger  of  the  insurrection,  im 
mediately  laid  in  stores  of  provisions  and 
ammunition,  and  prepared  to  stand  a  siege 
in  the  citadel.  Two  chiefs  of  the  Albanians 
joined  Ms  party,  but  many  of  his  soldiers 
deserted.  Mohammed ' Alee's  great  strength 
lay  in  the  devotion  of  the  citizens  of  Cairo, 
who  looked  on  him  as  their  future  deliverer 
from  their  afflictions ;  and  great  numbers 
armed  themselves,  advising  constantly  W'ith 
Mohammed  'Alee,  having  the  seyyid  'Omar 
and  the  Sheykhs  at  their  head,  and  guarding 
the  town  at  night.  On  the  19th  of  the  same 
month,  Mohammed  'Alee  besieged  Khur 
sheed.  Entrenchments  were  raised,  and  the 
lofty  minaret  of  the  mosque  of  the  Sultan 
Hasan  was  used  as  a  battery  from  wrhence 
to  fire  on  the  citadel;  while  guns  were  also 
posted  on  the  mountain  in  its  rear.  After 
the  siege  had  continued  many  days,  Khur 
sheed  gave  orders  to  cannonade  and  bom 
bard  the  town;  and  for  six  days  his  com 
mands  were  executed  with  little  interruption, 


304 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


the  citadel  itself  also  lying  between  two  fires. 
Mohammed  'Alec's  position  at  this  time 
was  very  critical ;  his  troops  became  mutinous 
for  their  pay ;  the  Silahdar,  who  had  com 
manded  one  of  the  expeditions  against  the 
Ghuzz,  advanced  to  the  relief  of  Khursheed ; 
and  the  latter  ordered  the  Delces  to  march 
to  his  assistance.  The  firing  ceased  on  the 
Friday,  but  recommenced  on  the  eve  of 
Saturday,  and  lasted  until  the  next  Friday. 
On  the  day  following,  news  came  of  the  ar 
rival  at  Alexandria  of  a  messenger  from 
Constantinople.  The  ensuing  night  in  Cairo 
presented  a  curious  spectacle ;  many  of  the 
inhabitants  gave  way  to  rejoicing,  in  the 
hope  that  this  envoy  would  put  an  end  to 
their  miseries,  and  fired  off  their  weapons  as 
they  paraded  the  streets  with  bands  of  music. 
The  Silahdar,  imagining  the  noise  to  be  a 
fray,  marched  in  haste  towards  the  citadel ; 
while  its  garrison  sallied  forth,  and  com 
menced  throwing  up  entrenchments  in  the 
quarter  of  'Arab-el-Yesar,  but  were  repulsed 
by  the  armed  inhabitants  and  the  soldiers 
stationed  there  ;  and  during  all  this  time, 
the  cannonade  and  bombardment  from  the 
citadel,  and  on  it  from  the  batteries  on  the 
mountain,  continued  unabated. 

The  envoy  brought  a  firman  confirming 
Mohammed  'Alee,  and  ordering  Khursheed 
to  repair  to  Alexandria,  there  to  await  fur 
ther  orders ;  but  this  he  refused  to  do,  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  been  appointed  by  a 
khatt-i-shereef.  The  firing  ceased  on  the 
following  day,  but  the  troubles  of  the  people 
were  rather  increased  than  assuaged ;  mur 
ders  and  robberies  were  daily  committed  by 
the  soldiery,  the  shops  were  all  shut,  and 
some  of  the  streets  barricaded.  While  these 
scenes  were  being  enacted,  El-Elfee  was  be 
sieging  Demenhoor,  and  the  other  Beys  were 
returning  towards  Cairo,  Khursheed  having 
called  them  to  his  assistance. 

Soon  after  this,  a  squadron  under  the  com 
mand  of  the  Turkish  High  Admiral  arrived 
in  Aboo-Keer  Bay,  with  dispatches  confirm 
atory  of  the  firman  brought  by  the  former 
envoy,  ar.d  authorizing  Mohammed  'Alee  to 


continue  to  discharge  the  functions  cf  gover 
nor  for  the  present.  Khursheed  at  first  re 
fused  to  yield ;  but  at  length,  on  condition 
that  his  troops  should  be  paid,  he  evacuated 
the  citadel,  and  embarked  for  Rosetta. 

Mohammed  'Alee  now  possessed  the  title 
of  Governor  of  Egypt,  but  beyond  the  walla 
of  Cairo  his  authority  wras  everywhere  dis 
puted  by  the  Beys,  who  were  joined  by  the 
army  of  the  Silahdar  of  Khursheed;  and 
many  Albanians  deserted  from  his  ranks. 
To  replenish  his  empty  coffers  he  was  also 
compelled  to  levy  exactions,  principally  from 
the  Copts.  An  attempt  was  made  to  ensnare 
certain  of  the  Beys,  who  were  encamped 
north  of  the  metropolis.  On  the  17th  of 
August  1805,  the  dam  of  the  canal  of  Cairo 
was  to  be  cut,  and  some  chiefs  of  Mohammed 
'Aloe's  party  wrote,  informing  them  that  he 
would  go  forth  early  on  that  morning  with 
most  of  his  troops  to  witness  the  ceremony, 
inviting  them  to  enter  and  seize  the  city ; 
and,  to  deceive  them,  stipulating  for  a  cer 
tain  some  of  money  as  their  reward.  The 
dam,  however,  was  cut  early  in  the  preced 
ing  night,  without  any  ceremony.  On  the 
following  morning,  these  Beys,  with  their 
Memlooks,  and  a  very  numerous  body,  broke 
open  the  gate  of  the  suburb  El-lloseyneeyeh, 
and  gained  admittance  into  the  city  from  the 
north,  through  the  gate  called  Bab-el-Futooh. 
They  marched  along  the  principal  streets  for 
some  distance,  with  kettle-drums  behind  each 
company,  and  were  received  with  apparent 
joy  by  the  citizens.  At  the  mosque  called 
the  Ashrafeeyeh  they  separated,  one  party 
proceeding  to  the  Azhar  and  the  houses  of 
certain  Sheykhs,  and  the  other  continuing 
along  the  main  street,  and  through  the  gate 
called  Bab-Zuweyleh,  where  they  turned  up 
towards  the  citadel.  Here  they  were  fired 
on  by  some  soldiers  from  the  houses ;  and 
with  this  signal  a  terrible  mo^acre  com 
menced.  Falling  back  toward.:  their  com 
panions,  they  found  t-ie  bye-streets  closed ; 
and  in  that  part  of  the  main  thorough-fare 
called  Beyn-el-Kasreyn,  they  were  suddenly 
placed  between  two  fires.  Thus  shut  up  in 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


305 


a  narrow  street,  some  sought  refuge  in  the 
collegiate  mosque  El-Barkookeeyeh,  while 
the  remainder  fought  their  way  through  their 
enemies,  and  escaped  over  the  city  walls  with 
the  loss  of  their  horses.  Two  Memlooks  had, 
in  the  meantime,  succeeded,  by  great  exer 
tions,  in  giving  the  alarm  to  their  comrades 

/  O  O 

in  the  quarter  of  the  Azhar,  who  escaped  by 
the  eastern  gate  called  Bab-el-Ghureiyib.  A 
horrible  fate  awaited  those  who  had  shut 
themselves  up  in  the  Barkookeeyeh :  they 
begged  for  quarters  and  surrendered,  were 
immediately  stripped  nearly  naked,  and 
about  fifty  were  slaughtered  on  the  spot  ; 
and  about  the  same  number  were  dragged 
away,  with  every  brutal  agravation  of  their 
pitiful  condition,  to  Mohammed  'Alee. 
Among  them  were  four  Beys,  one  of  whom, 
driven  to  madness  by  Mohammed  'Alee's 
mockery,  asked  for  a  drink  of  water ;  his 
hands  were  untied,  that  he  might  take  the 
bottle,  but  he  snatched  a  dagger  from  one  of 
the  soldiers,  and  rushed  at  the  Pasha,  and 
fell,  covered  with  wounds.  The  wretched 
captives  were  then  chained,  and  left  in  the 
court  of  the  Pasha's  house ;  and  on  the  fol 
lowing  morning  the  heads  of  their  comrades 
who  had  perished  the  day  before  were  skin 
ned,  and  stuffed  with  straw,  before  their 
eyes.  One  Bey  and  two  others  paid  their 
ransom,  and  were  released;  the  rest,  without 
exception,  were  tortured  and  put  to  death  in 
the  course  of  the  ensuing  night.  Eighty- 
three  heads  (many  of  them  those  of  French 
men  and  Albanians)  were  stuffed,  and  sent 
to  Constantinople,  with  a  boast  that  the 
Mem  look  chiefs  were  utterly  destroyed. 
Thus  ended  Mohammed  'Alee's  first  massa 
cre  of  his  too  confiding  enemies. 

The  Beys,  after  this,  appear  to  have  de 
spaired  of  regaining  their  ascendancy ;  most 
of  them  retreated  to  Upper  Egypt,  and  an 
attempt  at  compromise  failed.  El-Elfee  of 
fered  his  submission,  on  the  condition  of  the 
cession  of  the  Feiyoom  and  other  provinces ; 
but  this  was  refused,  and  that  chief  gained 
two  successive  victories  over  the  Pasha's 
troops,  many  of  whom  deserted  to  him. 
39 


At  length,  in  consequence  of  the  remon 
strances  of  the  English,  and  a  promise  made 
by  El-Elfee  of  1500  purses,  the  Porte  con 
sented  to  reinstate  the  twenty-four  Beys,  and 
to  place  El-Elfee  at  their  head;  but  this 
measure  met  with  the  opposition  of  Moham 
med' Alee,  and  the  determined  resistance  of  the 
majority  of  the  Memlooks,  who,  rather  than 
have  El-Elfee  at  their  head,  preferred  their 
present  condition  ;  for  the  enmity  of  El-Bar- 
deesee  had  not  subsided,  and  he  commanded 
the  voice  of  most  of  the  other  Beys.  In 
pursuance  of  the  above  plan,  a  squadron 
under  Salih  Pasha,  shortly  before  appointed 
High  Admiral,  arrived  at  Alexandria  on  the 
1st  of  July  1806,  with  3000  regular  troops, 
and  a  successor  to  Mohammed  'Alee,  who 
was  to  receive  the  pashalic  of  Salonica.  This 
wily  chief  professed  his  willingness  to  obey 
the  commands  of  the  Porte  ;  but  stated  that 
his  troops,  to  whom  he  owed  a  vast  sum  of 
money,  opposed  his  departure.  He  induced 
the  'Ulama  to  sign  a  letter,  praying  the  Sul 
tan  to  revoke  the  command  of  reinstating 

O 

the  Beys  ;  persuaded  the  chiefs  of  the  Alba 
nian  troops  to  swear  allegiance  to  him,  and 
sent  2000  purses  contributed  by  them  to 
Constantinople.  El-Elfee  was  at  that  time 
besieging  Demenhoor,  and  he  gained  a  sig 
nal  victory  over  the  Pasha's  troops ;  but  the 
dissensions  of  the  Beys  destroyed  their  last 
chance  of  a  return  power.  El-Elfee  and  his 
partisans  were  unable  to  pay  the  sum  prom 
ised  to  the  Porte;  Salih  Pasha  received 
plenipotentiary  powers  from  Constantinople, 
in  consequence  of  the  letter  from  the  'Ulama  ; 
and,  on  the  condition  of  Mohammed  'Alee's 
paying  4000  purses  to  the  Porte,  it  was  de 
cided  that  he  should  continue  in  his  post, 
and  the  reinstatement  of  the  Beys  was  aban 
doned.  Fortune  continued  to  favor  the 
Pasha.  In  the  following  month,  El-Bardee- 
see  died,  aged  forty-eight  years;  and,  soon 
after,  a  scarcity  of  provisions  excited  the 
troops  of  El-Elfee  to  revolt.  That  Bey  very 
reluctantly  raised  the  siege  of  Demenhoor, 
being  in  daily  expectation  of  the  arrival  of  an 
English  army ;  and  at  the  village  of  Shubra- 


306 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WORLD. 


rnent  lie  was  ut:acked  by  a  sudden  illness,  and 
died  on  the  30th  of  January  1807,  aged  fifty 
five  years.  Thus  was  the  Pasha  relieved  of  his 
two  most  formidable  enemies  ;  and,  shortly 
after,  he  defeated  Shaheen  Bey,  with  the 
loss,  to  the  latter,  of  his  artillery  and  bag 
gage,  and  300  men  killed  or  taken  prisoners. 

On  the  17th  of  March  1807,  a  British  fleet 
appeared  oif  Alexandria,  having  on  board 
nearly  5000  troops,  under  the  command  of 
General  Fraser ;  and  the  place,  being  disaf 
fected  towards  Mohammed  'Alee,  opened  its 
gates  to  them.  Here  they  first  heard  of  the 
death  of  El-Elfee,  upon  whose  co-operation 
they  had  founded  their  chief  hopes  of  suc 
cess  ;  and  they  immediately  despatched  mes 
sengers  to  his  successor,  and  to  the  other 
Beys,  inviting  them  to  Alexandria.  The 
British  resident,  Major  Misset,  having  repre 
sented  the  importance  of  taking  Eosetta  and 
Er-Rahmaneeyeh,  to  secure  supplies  for  Al 
exandria,  General  Fraser,  with  the  concur 
rence  of  the  Admiral,  Sir  John  Duckworth, 
detached  the  31st  regiment  and  the  Chas 
seurs  Britanniques,  under  Major-General 
"Wauchope  and  Brigadier-General  Meade,  on 
this  service;  and  these  troops  entered Roset- 
ta  without  encountering  any  opposition ;  but 
as  soon  as  they  had  dispersed  among  the  nar 
row  streets,  the  garrison  opened  a  deadly  fire 
on  them  from  the  latticed  windows  and  roofs 
of  the  houses.  They  effected  a  retreat  on 
Aboo-Keer  and  Alexandria,  after  a  very 
heavy  loss  of  185  killed  and  262  wounded  ; 
General  "Wauchope  and  three  officers  being 
among  the  former,  and  General  Meade  and 
seventeen  officers  among  the  latter.  The 
heads  of  the  slain  were  fixed  on  stakes,  on 
each  side  of  the  road  crossing  the  Ezbekee- 
yeh  in  Cairo. 

Mohammed  'Alee,  meanwhile,  was  con 
ducting  an  expedition  against  the  Beys  in 
Upper  Egypt,  and  he  had  defeated  them 
near  Asyoot,  when  he  heard  of  the  arrival 
of  the  British.  In  great  alarm  lest  the  Beys 
should  join  them,  especially  as  they  were  far 
north  of  his  position,  he  immediately  sent 
messengers  to  his  r.va^,  promising  to  comply 


with  all  their  demands,  if  they  shou.nl  join  in 
expelling  the  invaders;  and  this  proposal 
being  agreed  to,  both  armies  marched  to 
wards  Cairo  on  opposite  sides  of  the  river. 

To  return  to  the  unfortunate  British  expe 
dition.  The  possession  of  Rosetta  being 
deemed  indispensable,  Brigadier-General 
Stewart  and  Colonel  Oswald  were  despatched 
thither,  with  2500  men.  For  thirteen  days 
a  cannonade  of  that  town  was  continued  with 
out  effect ;  and  on  the  20th  of  April,  news 
having  come  in  from  the  advanced  guard  at 
El-Hamad  of  large  reinforcements  to  the  be 
sieged,  General  Stewart  was  compelled  to 
retreat ;  and  a  dragoon  was  despatched  to 
Major  Macleod,  commanding  at  El-Hamad, 
with  orders  to  fall  back.  The  messenger, 
however,  was  unable  to  penetrate  to  the 
spot ;  and  the  advanced  guard — consisting 
of  a  detachment  of  the  71st,  two  companies 
of  the  78th,  one  of  the  35th,  and  De  Rolles' 
legiment,  with  a  picquet  of  dragoons,  the 
whole  mustering  733  men — was  surrounded, 
and  after  a  gallant  resistance,  the  survivors, 
who  had  expended  all  their  ammunition,  be 
came  prisoners  of  war.  General  Stewart  re 
gained  Alexandria  with  the  remainder  of  his 
force,  Laving  lost,  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing,  nearly  900  men.  Some  hundreds 
of  Britieh  heads  were  now  exposed  on  stakes 
in  Cairo,  and  the  prisoners  were  marched  be 
tween  these  mutilated  remains  of  their 
countrymen. 

The  Beys  became  divided  in  their  wishes; 
one  party  being  desirous  of  co-operating  with 
the  British,  the  other,  with  the  Pasha, 
These  delays  proved  ruinous  to  their  cause  ; 
and  General  Fraser,  despairing  of  their  as 
sistance,  evacuated  Alexandria  on  the  14th 
of  September.  From  that  date  to  the  spring 
of  1811,  the  Beys  from  time  to  time  relin 
quished  certain  of  their  demands ;  the  Pasha 
on  his  part  granted  them  what  before  had 
been  withheld ;  the  province  of  the  Feiyoom, 
and  part  of  those  of  El-Geezeh  and  Benee- 
Suweyf,  were  ceded  to  Shaheen ;  and  a  great 
portion  of  the  Sa'eed,  on  the  condition  of  pay 
ing  the  land-tax,  to  the  others.  Mary  of  them 


HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD. 


307 


took  up  their  abode  in  Cairo,  but  tranquillity 
was  not  secured ;  several  times  they  met  the 
Pasha's  forces  in  battle,  and  once  gained  a 
signal  victory.  Early  in  the  year  1811,  the 
preparations  for  an  expedition  against  the 
Wahhabees  in  Arabia  being  complete,  all 
the  Memlook  Beys  then  in  Cairo  were  invited 
to  the  ceremony  of  investing  Mohammed 
'Alee's  favorite  son,  Toosoon,  with  a  pelisse, 
and  the  command  of  the  army.  As  on  the 
former  occasion,  the  unfortunate  Memlooks 
fell  into  the  snare.  On  the  1st  of  March, 
Shaheen  Bey  and  the  other  chiefs  (one  only 
excepted)  repaired  with  their  retinues  to  the 
citadel,  and  were  courteously  received  by  the 
Pasha.  Having  partaken  of  coffee,  they 
formed  in  procession,  and,  preceded  and  fol 
lowed  by  the  Pasha's  troops,  slowly  descended 
the  steep  and  narrow  road  leading  to  the 
great  gate  of  the  citadel ;  but  as  soon  as  the 
Memlooks  arrived  at  this  gate,  it  was  sudden 
ly  closed  before  them.  The  last  of  those 
who  made  their  exit  before  the  gate  was  shut 
were  Salih  Koosh  and  his  Albanians.  To 
these  troops  their  chief  now  made  known 
the  Pasha's  orders  to  massacre  all  the  Mem- 
looks  within  the  citadel:  therefore,  having 

'  o 

returned  by  another  way,  they  gained  the 
summits  of  the  walls  and  houses  that  hem  in 
the  road  in  which  the  Memlooks  were  incar 
cerated,  and  some  stationed  themselves  upon 
the  eminences  of  the  rock  through  which  that 
road  is  partly  cut.  Thus  securely  placed, 
they  commenced  a  heavy  fire  on  their  de 
fenceless  victims;  and  immediately  the 
troops  who  closed  the  procession,  and  who 
had  the  advantage  of  higher  ground,  follow 
ed  their  example.  Of  the  betrayed  chiefs, 
many  were  laid  low  in  a  few  moments ;  some, 
dismounting,  and  throwing  off  their  outer 
robes,  vainly  sought,  sword  in  hand,  to  return, 
and  escape  by  some  other  gate.  The  few 
who  regained  the  summit  of  the  citadel  ex 
perienced  the  same  cruel  fate  as  the  rest  (for 
those  whom  the  Albanian  soldiers  made 
prisoners  met  with  no  mercy  from  their 
chiefs  or  from  Mohammed  'Alee),  but  it  soon 
became  imi/Dssible  for  any  to  retrace  their 


steps  even  so  far ;  the  road  was  obstructed 
by  the  bleeding  bodies  of  the  slain  Memlooks, 
and  their  richly  caparisoned  horses,  and  their 
grooms.  Four  hundred  and  seventy  Mem- 
looks  entered  the  citadel ;  and  of  these,  very 
few,  if  any,  escaped.  One  of  these  is  said  tc 
have  been  a  Bey.  According  to  some,  he 
leaped  his  horse  from  the  ramparts,  and 
alighted  uninjured,  though  the  horse  was 
killed  by  the  fall;  others  say  that  he  wa? 
prevented  from  joining  his  comrades,  and 
discovered  the  treachery  while  waiting  with 
out  the  gate.  He  fled,  and  made  his  way  to 
Syria.  This  massacre  was  the  signal  for  an 
indiscriminate  slaughter  of  the  Memlooks 
throughout  Egypt,  orders  to  this  effect  being 
transmitted  to  every  governor  ;  and  in  Cairo 
itself,  the  houses  of  the  Beys  were  giver 
over  to  the  soldiery,  who  slaughtered  all  their 
adherents,  treated  their  women  in  the  most 
shameless  manner,  and  sacked  their  dwellings. 
During  the  two  following  days,  the  Pasha 
and  his  son  Toosoon  rode  about  ^he  streets, 
and  endeavored  to  stop  these  atrocious  pro 
ceedings  ;  but  order  was  not  restore!  until 
500  houses  had  been  completely  pillaged.  In 
extenuation  of  this  dark  blot  -on  Mohammed 
'Alee's  character,  it  has  been  urged  that  he 
had  received  the  order  for  the  destruction  of 
the  Memlooks  from  Constantinople,  whither 
the  heads  of  the  Beys  were  sent.  It  may  be 
answered  to  this  plea,  that  on  other  occasions 
he  scrupled  not  to  defy  the  Porte. 

A  remnant  of  the  Memlooks  fled  to  Nubia, 
and  a  tranquillity  was  restored  to  Egypt  to 
which  it  had  long  been  unaccustomed,  and 
which  has  rarely  been  interrupted  since.  In 
the  year  following  the  massacre  the  unfor 
tunate  exiles  were  attacked  by  Ibraheem 
Pasha,  the  eldest  son  of  Mohammed  'Alee, 
in  the  fortified  town  of  Ibreem,  in  Nubia. 
Here  the  want  of  provisions  forced  them  to 
evacuate  the  place ;  a  few  who  surrendered 
were  beheaded,  and  the  rest  went  further 
south  arid  built  the  town  of  New  Doneola 

O  * 

where  the  venerable  Ibraheem  Bey  died  in 
1816,  at  the  age  of  eighty.  As  their  num 
bers  thinned,  they  endeavored  to  maintain 


808 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


their  little  power  by  training  sonic  hundreds 
of  blacks ;  but  again,  on  the  approach  of 
Isma'eel,  another  son  of  the  Pasha  of  Egypt, 
sent  "with  an  army  to  subdue  Nubia  and  Sen 
na;,  some  returned  to  Egypt  and  settled  in 
Cairo,  while  the  rest,  amounting  to  about 
100  persons,  fled  in  dispersed  parties  to  the 
countries  adjacent  to  Sennar. 

Moliammed  'Alee  being  undisputed  mas 
ter  of  Egypt,  at  the  reiterated  commands  of 
the  Porte,  despatched,  in  1811,  an  army  of 
8000  men,  including  2000  horse,  under  the 
command  of  Toosoon  Pasha,  against  the  Wah- 
habees.  After  a  successful  advance,  this  force 
met  with  a  serious  repulse  at  the  pass  of 
Safra  and  Judeiyideh,  and  retreated  to 
Yembo'.  In  the  following  year  TOOSOOH, 
having  received  reinforcements,  again  as 
sumed  the  offensive,  and  captured  El-Me- 
dceneh,  after  a  prolonged  siege.  He  next 
took  Jiddeh  and  Mekkeh,  defeating  the 
AVahhabees  beyond  the  latter  place,  and  cap 
turing  their  general.  But  some  mishaps  fol 
lowed,  and  Mohammed  'Alee,  who  had  de 
termined  to  conduct  the  war  in  person,  left 
Egypt  for  that  purpose  in  the  summer  of 
1813.  In  Arabia  he  encountered  serious 
obstacles  from  the  nature  of  the  country  and 
the  harassing  mode  of  warfare  adopted  by 
his  adversaries.  His  arms  met  with  various 
fortune  ;  but  on  the  whole  his  forces  proved 
superior  to  those  of  the  enemy.  He  led  a 
successful  expedition  in  the  Hijaz,  and  on  the 
conclusion  of  a  treaty  with  the  Wahhabee 
chief,  'Abd- Allah,  in  1815,  lie  returned  to 
Egypt  on  hearing  of  the  escape  of  Napoleon 
from  Elba. 

He  now  confiscated  the  lands  belonging  to 
private  individuals,  merely  allowing  them  a 
pension  for  life,  and  attempted  to  introduce 
the  European  system  of  military  tactics.  A 
formidable  mutiny,  however,  broke  out  in 
the  metropolis,  the  Pasha's  life  was  en 
dangered,  and  he  sought  refuge  by  night  in 
the  citadel,  while  the  soldiery  committed 
many  acts  of  plunder.  The  revolt  was  re 
duced  by  presents  to  the  chiefs  of  the  in 
surgents,  and  Mohammed  'Alee  very  honor 


ably  ordered  that  the  sufferers  by  the  lata 
disturbances  shou.Ai  receive  compensation 
from  the  treasury.  The  project  of  the  "  Xi- 
zam  Gedeed,"  as  the  European  system  is 
called  in  Egypt,  wras,  in  consequence  of  this 
commotion,  abandoned  for  a  time. 

Soon  after  Toosoon  returned  to  Egypt, 
but  Mohammed  'Alee,  dissatisfied  with  the 
treaty  which  had  been  concluded  with  the 
TTahhabees,  and  with  the  nonfulfillment  of 
certain  of  its  clauses,  determined  to  send 
another  army  to  Arabia,  and  to  include  in  it 
the  soldiers  who  had  recently  proved  unruly. 
This  expedition,  under  Ibraheem  Pasha,  left 
in  the  autumn  of  181G.  After  several  unim 
portant  advantages,  Ibraheem  sat  down  be 
fore  the  town  of  Er-Rass  ;  but  three  months' 
exertions  proving  unavailing,  he  raised  the 
siege,  with  the  loss  of  nearly  half  his  army. 
Notwithstanding,  he  advanced  on  the  cap 
ital,  Ed-Dir'eeyeh,  by  slow  but  sure  steps. 
The  last  place  before  reaching  that  city 
offered  a  brave  resistance,  and  Ibraheem,  in 
revenge,  caused  all  its  inhabitants  to  be  put 
to  the  sword,  excepting  a  number  of  women 
and  children,  the  former  of  whom  were 
spared  not  from  motives  of  pity.  Ed-Dir' 
eeyeh  fell  after  a  five  months'  siege,  in  the 
course  of  which  an  explosion  destroyed  the 
whole  of  the  besiegers'  powder ;  and  had  the 
Wahhabees  been  aware  of  the  extent  of  the 
disaster,  few,  we  may  believe,  would  have 
escaped  to  tell  the  tale.  'Abd- Allah,  their 
chief,  was  taken,  and  with  his  treasurer  and 
secretary  was  sent  to  Constantinople,  where, 
in  spite  of  Ibraheem's  promise  of  safety,  and 
of  Mohammed  'Alee's  intercession  in  their 
favor,  they  were  paraded  and  put  to  death. 
At  the  close  of  the  year  1819,  Ibraheem  re 
turned  to  Cairo,  having  conquered  all  pre 
sent  opposition  in  Arabia,  but  without  hav 
ing  broken  the  spirit  of  the  "Walihabees. 

The  Pasha,  since  his  return  from  Arabia, 
had  turned  his  attention  to  the  improvement 
of  the  manufactures  of  Egypt,  and  engaged 
very  largely  in  commerce.  The  results  of 
these  attempts  are  stated  in  other  places,  but 
the  important  work  of  digging  the  new  canal 


HISTORY  OP  THE  WOULD. 


309 


of  Alexandria,  called  the  Mahmoodeeyeh, 
must  here  be  again  mentioned.  The  old  ca 
nal  had  long  fallen  into  decay,  and  the 
necessity  of  a  safe  channel  between  Alexan 
dria  and  the  Nile  was  much  felt.  Such  was 
the  object  of  the  canal  then  excavated,  and 
it  has  on  the  whole  well  answered  its  pur 
pose  ;  but  the  sacrifice  of  life  was  enormous, 
and  the  labor  of  the  unhappy  Fellahs  was  forc 
ed.  Towards  the  accomplishment  of  a  favorite 
project,  the  formation  of  the  Nizam  Gedeed, 
a  force  was  ordered  to  the  southern  frontier 
of  Egypt,  and  the  conquest  of  Sennar  was 
contemplated  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  dis 
affected  troops  and  to  obtain  a  sufficient 
number  of  captives  to  form  the  nucleus  of 
the  new  army.  The  forces  destined  for  this 
service  were  led  by  Isma'eel,  then  the  young 
est  son  of  Mohammed  'Alee ;  they  consisted 
of  between  four  and  five  thousand  men, 
Turks  and  Arabs,  and  were  despatched  in 
the  summer  of  1820.  Nubia  at  once  sub 
mitted,  the  Shageeyeh  Arabs  immediately 
beyond  the  province  of  Dongola  were  worst 
ed,  and  Sennar  was  reduced  without  a  battle. 
Mohammed  Bey,  the  Defterdar,  with  an 
other  force  of  about  the  same  strength,  was 
then  sent  by  Mohammed  'Alee  against  Kur- 
dnfan  with  a  like  result,  but  not  without  a 
hard-fought  engagement.  In  1822,  Isma'eel 
was,  with  his  retinue,  put  to  death  by  an 
Arab  chieftain  by  name  Nimr ;  and  the 
Defterdar,  a  man  infamous  for  his  cruelty, 
assumed  the  command  in  those  provinces, 
and  exacted  terrible  retribution  from  the  in 
nocent  inhabitants. 

In  the  years  1821  and  1822  Mohammed 
'Alee  despatched  both  ships  and  men  (the 
latter  about  7000  or  8000  Albanians  and 
Turks)  to  the  Morea,  Cyprus,  and  Candia,  to 
aid  the  Porte  in  reducing  the  Greek  insur 
rection  ;  and  he  continued  to  take  part  in 
that  struggle,  his  fleet  being  engaged  at  Na- 
varino,  until  the  English  insisted  on  the 
evacuation  of  the  Morea,  in  1828,  by  Ibra- 
heem  Pasha.  In  the  latter  of  the  two  years 
before  mentioned  (1822),  an  army  of  disci 
plined  troops  was  at  length  organized  :  8000 


men  (chiefly  slaves,  from  Sennar  and  Kur- 
dufan)  were  trained  by  French  officers  at 
Aswan.  Of  the  vast  numbers  seized  in  the 
countries  above  named,  many  died  on  the 
way :  those  who  were  not  eligible  were,  with 
the  women,  sold  in  Cairo,  and  in  the  re 
mainder  were  incorporated  many  Fellahs. 
Colonel  Seve  (now  Suleyman  Pasha),  a 
Frenchman  who  afterwards  became  a  Mus 
lim,  superintended  their  organization  ;  great 
numbers  of  the  Blacks  died  of  hypochondria, 
but  the  Egyptians  proved  very  good  troops. 
Many  thousands  were  pressed  in  consequence, 
and  they  now  constitute  the  bulk  of  the 
army.  In  1823  the  new  conscripts  amounted 
to  24,000  men,  composing  six  regiments  of 
infantry,  each  regiment  consisting  of  five 
battalions  of  800  men,  and  the  battalions  of 
eight  companies  of  100  men. 

In  1824,  a  native  rebellion  of  a  religious 
character  broke  out  in  Upper  Egypt,  headed 
by  one  Ahmad,  an  inhabitant  of  Es-Sali- 
meeyeh,  a  village  situate  a  few  miles  above 
Thebes.  He  proclaimed  himself  a  prophet, 
and  was  soon  followed  by  between  20,000 
and  30,000  insurgents,  mostly  peasants,  but 
some  deserters  from  the  Nizam,  for  that 
force  was  yet  in  a  half  organized  state,  and 
in  part  declared  for  the  impostor.  The  in 
surrection  was  crushed  by  Mohammed  'Alee, 
and  about  one-fourth  of  Ahmad's  followers 
perished,  but  he  himself  escaped  and  was 
never  after  heard  of.  Few  of  these  unfor 
tunates  possessed  any  other  weapon  than  the 
long  staff  (Nebboot)  of  the  Egyptian  peasant ; 
still  they  offered  an  obstinate  resistance,  and 
the  combat  resembled  a  massacre.  In  the 
same  year  war  was  once  'more  made  on  the 
"Wahhabees,  who  had  collected  in  consider 
able  numbers.  The  2d  regiment  was  sent 
on  this  service,  and  it  behaved  in  a  very 
creditable  manner. 

But  the  events  of  the  war  with  the  Porto 
are  perhaps  the  most  important  of  the  life  of 
Mohammed  'Alee.  The  campaign  of  1831 
had  ostensibly  for  its  object  the  castigation 
of  'Abd-Allah,  Pasha  of  Acre  :  the  invadin» 

O 

force  consisted  of  six  regiments  of  infantry. 


310 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


four  of  cavalry,  four  field-pieces,  and  a  great 
er  number  of  siege-guns,  the  whole  under 
the  command  of  Ibraheein  Pasha,  while  the 
fleet,  conveying  provisions,  ammunition,  &c., 
was  to  accompany  the  army  by  sea.  The 
terrible  cholera  of  1831,  however,  stayed  the 
expedition  when  it  was  on  the  eve  of  depart 
ing  ;  5000  of  its  number  died,  and  it  was  not 
until  early  in  October  of  the  same  year  that 
it  started.  Little  opposition  was  encountered 
on  the  way  to  Acre,  whither  Ibraheem  had 
gone  by  sea,  and  that  place  was  invested  on 
the  29th  of  November.  The  artillery  of  the 
besieged  wri>  well  served ;  an  assault  in  the 
following  February  was  repulsed,  and  the 
cold  and  rain  of  a  Syrian  winter  severely 
tried  the  Egyptian  troops.  A  second  as 
sault  in  like  manner  failed,  and  Ibraheem 
\vas  called  away  to  repel  'Osman  Pasha,  gov 
ernor  of  Aleppo.  The  latter,  however, 
hastily  decamped  without  giving  him  battle, 
and  Ibraheem,  deeming  this  advantage  suffi 
cient,  retraced  his  steps  towards  Acre.  He 
then  pushed  the  siege  with  fresh  vigor,  and 
stormed  the  city  on  the  27th  of  May :  1400 
men  fell  in  the  breach,  and  the  garrison  was 
found  to  be  reduced  to  about  400  men.  The 
fall  of  Acre  was  followed  by  negotiation. 
Mohammed  'Alee  evinced  a  disposition  for 
peace,  but  demanded  the  government  of 
Syria,  and  the  Porte,  in  consequence,  de 
nounced  him  as  a  traitor.  On  his  part,  Ibra 
heem  pushed  his  successes :  Damascus  was 
evacuated  at  his  approach,  and  the  battle  of 
Hims,  fought  on  the  8th  of  July  1832,  de 
cided  the  superiority  of  the  Egyptian  army, 
and  the  advantage  of  disciplined  troops  over 
an  irregular  force,  although  very  dispropor 
tionate  in  numbers.  The  enemy  composed 
the  advanced  guard  of  the  Turkish  army, 
30,000  strong,  and  the  Egyptians  numbered 
only  16,000  men. 

After  this  victory,  Ibraheem  marched  to 
Hamah,  and  thence  to  Aleppo  (which  had 
just  before  closed  its  gates  against  the 
Turkish  general  -  in  -  chief,  lioseyn  Pasha, 
whose  troops  became  rapidly  disorganized), 
forced  the  defiles  of  Beylan,  and  pursue  I  the 


fugith  e  Turks  to  Adaneh.  About  the  sair  e 
time  an  Egyptian  squadron  had  chased  the 
Sultan's  fleet  into  Constantinople.  Diplomacy 
was,  at  this  point,  again  resorted  to,  but  with 
out  any  result ;  the  Sultan  depended  on  hia 
fleet  to  protect  the  capital,  and  determined 
to  risk  another  engagement  with  the  victori 
ous  enemy.  The  charge  of  this  venture  was 
entrusted  to  Resheed  Pasha,  the  Grand 
Yezeer.  In  the  mean  time,  Ibraheem  Pasha 
had  gained  the  pass  of  Taurus,  and  having 
beaten  the  Turks  at  Oulou-Kislak,  he  hesi 
tated  not  to  give  battle  to  Resheed  Pasha  at 
the  head  of  about  60,000  men,  his  own  army 
being  less  than  half  that  strength  ;  the  bat 
tle  of  Ivonyeh,  on  the  plains  of  Anatolia, 
proved  utterly  disastrous  to  the  Porte  :  in  the 
confusion  of  the  fight,  and  the  darkness  of  a 
thick  day,  the  Grand  Yezeer  was  made  pris 
oner,  his  army  routed,  and  Constantinople  was 
within  six  marches  of  the  victor,  without  an 
army  to  oppose  his  passage.  The  capital  of 
the  Ottoman  Empire,  in  eminent  danger  by 
sea  and  land,  was  then  intrusted  to  the  keep 
ing  of  its  hereditary  enemy,  as  the  last  re 
source  of  the  Sultan  Mahmood,  and  a  Rus 
sian  fleet  and  army  were  sent  thither.  Ne 
gotiations  were,  in  consequence,  opened,  and 
on  the  14th  of  May,  1833,  a  treaty  was  con 
cluded  between  Mahommed  'Alee  and  the 
Porte,  by  which  the  whole  of  Syria,  and  the 
district  of  Adaneh  were  ceded  to  the  former 
on  condition  of  his  paying  tribute.  "With  this 
terminated  the  war,  but  not  the  animosity  of 
the  Sultan.  Ibraheem,  by  excessive  firmness 
and  rigor,  speedily  restored  security  and 
tranquillity  to  the  greater  part  of  Syria  ;  but 
some  years  later,  the  attempt  of  Mahmood 
to  get  the  better  of  his  vassal,  and  the  con 
sequent  disaster  experienced  by  his  arms 
at  Nezeeb,  entailed  fresh  complications,  and 
the  interference  of  Great  Britain  ended  in 
the  restoration  of  Syria  to  the  Porte  in 
1841.  The  political  motives  which  actuated 
the  Great  Powers  at  this  time  and  in  1831 
need  not  here  be  discussed  ;  and  the  opera 
tions  on  the  coast  of  Syria,  the  bombardment 
of  Acre,  and  the  blockade  of  Alexandria, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


311 


are  familiar  to  most  newspaper  readers.  It 
is  undoubtedly  true  that  Mohammed  'Alee 
placed  all  his  reliance  on  the  co-operation  of 
France,  arid  to  its  desertion  of  his  cause,  and 
.his  confidence  in  its  assistance,  either  morally 
or  physically,  must  be  ascribed  the  unfortu 
nate  issue  of  the  war.  That  the  Syrians,  in 
general,  preferred  the  rule  of  Mohammed 
Alee  to  the  tyranny  of  Pashas  appointed 
from  Constantinople  may  be  safely  averred ; 
but  we  cannot  close  this  account  of  his  pos 
session  of  that  province  without  animadvert 
ing  on  the  horrible  cruelties  perpetrated  by 
Ibraheem  Pasha,  or  warning  our  readers  not 

*  o 

to  give  credence  to  the  unmeasured  praise 
bestowed  by  many  on  the  Egyptian  troops 
there  engaged.  Conceding  that  they  were 
superior  soldiers  to  the  Turks,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  they  were  veterans,  dis 
ciplined  and  led  by  French  officers,  and  an 
able  general :  their  opponents  were  destitute 
of  any  European  discipline,  badly  officered, 
and  discouraged  by  the  disasters  in  Greece. 
It  has,  moreover,  been  stated  on  good 
authority,  that  Ibraheem  owed  much  of  his 
success  tc  the  placing  of  artillery  in  the  rear 
of  his  troops,  with  orders  to  fire  on  them 
should  they  show  symptoms  of  wavering. 

After  the  peace  of  1841,  Mohammed 
'Alee  gave  up  all  grand  political  projects,  and 
solely  occupied  himself  in  improvements, 
real  or  imaginary,  in  Egypt.  He  continued 
to  prosecute  his  commercial  speculations 
and  manufacturing,  educational,  and  other 
schemes.  The  barrage  of  the  Nile,  still  un 
completed,  was  commenced  by  his  direction, 
and  in  1848,  he  visited  Constantinople,  where 
he  received  the  rank  of  Vezeer.  In  the  year 
1848,  however,  symptoms  of  imbecility  ap 
peared,  and  after  a  short  space  Ibraheem  was 
declared  his  successor.  But  his  rule  was 
very  short.  In  about  two  months  he  died  ; 
and,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty, 
A.bbas,  a  son  of  Toosoon,  and  the  eldest  repre 
sentative  of  the  family,  succeeded  to  the 
pashalic.  This  miserable  voluptuary,  and 
withal  bigoted,  though  ignorant,  Muslim, 
utterly  neglected  the  affairs  of  government 


and  solely  consulted  his  own  gratification. 
He  died  suddenly,  and  as  some  assert 
mysteriously,  in  July  of  the  year  1854 
and  the  next  Viceroy  was  Sa'eed  Pasha,  the 
fourth  son  of  Mohammed'  Alee.  He  died  in 
1863,  and  the  office  fell  to  Ismail  Pasha,  the 
fifth  of  the  dynasty.  Under  his  rule  and 
that  of  his  predecessor  the  material  improve 
ments  of  the  west  have  been  introduced  into 
Egypt ;  railroads  connect  the  principal  cities, 
and  the  opera  and  theatres  of  Cairo  and 
Alexandria  offer  to  the  stranger  the  latest 
novelties  of  Paris.  The  present  viceroy 
has  visited  all  the  European  courts,  and  ho 
is  an  active  promoter  of  the  great  Suez 
Canal. 

Mohammed  'Alee  survived  Ibraheem,  and 
died  on  the  3d  of  August  1849.  Many  and 
conflicting  have  been  the  opinions  entertain 
ed  of  this  remarkable  man  ;  for  such  at  least 
all  acknowledge  him  to  have  been.  His 
massacre  of  the  Memlooks  has  been  th»i 
great  point  of  attack  by  his  enemies;  but 
that,  as  well  as  many  other  of  his  acts,  must 
be  ascribed  to  his  boundless  aml&ition,  not  to 
innate  cruelty  ;  for  he  has  proved  himself  to 
be  adverse  to  unnecessary  bloodshed.  That 
he  really  esteemed  European  civilization  may 
be  doubted ;  but  his  intelligent  mind  could 
not  fail  to  perceive  that  therein  lay  his  great 
strength,  and  of  this  he  availed  himself  with 
consummate  ability.  To  his  firm  government 
Egypt  is  indebted  for  the  profound  tran 
quillity  which  it  has  long  been  its  good  for 
tune  to  enjoy :  a  traveler  of  any  nation  or 
faith  may  traverse  it  in  its  length  and 
breath  with  greater  safety  than  almost  any 
other  country  out  of  Western  Europe  ;  and 
the  display  of  fanaticism  has  been  rigorous 
ly  punished.  This  has  undoubtedly  increased 
the  hatred  of  the  Muslims  for  the  professors 
of  other  religions ;  but  we  may  hope  that  it 
will  eventually  produce  a  better  state  of  feel 
ing.  While,  however,  Egypt  has  benefited 
by  the  establishment  of  order,  the  pooplo 
have  suffered  more  severe  exactions.  The 
confiscation  of  private  lands  has  been  before 
mentioned :  to  that  arbitrary  act  must  be 


31-2 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WOULD. 


added  the  seizure  of  the  lands  of  the  mosques, 
the  imposition  of  heavy  taxation,  and  a  sys 
tem  of  merciless  impressment.  In  fact,  the 
condition  of  the  Egyptian  Fellah  has  rarely 
been  as  wretched  as  it  is  at  the  present  day. 
lie  also  misunderstood  the  real  resources  of 
Egypt,  which  are  certainly  agricultural ;  by  the 
much-lauded  introduction  of  cotton,  he  dealt 
a  severe  blow  to  native  produce ;  and  he  did 
more  to  injure  the  country  by  endeavoring 
to  encourage  manufacturing  industry,  and  by 
establishing  enormous  government  monopo 
lies,  a  measure  which  crushed  the  spirit  of  the 
agriculturists.  His  military  and  governing 
abilities  were  assuredly  very  great,  and  his 
career  is  almost  unequalled  in  Turkish  history. 
Had  it  not  been  for  the  intervention  of  Great 
Britain,  his  Syrian  successes  over  the  Porte 
would  probably  have  led  to  very  beneficial 
results,  by  rescuing  Egypt  from  the  wretched 
condition  of  a  Turkish  province.  But  the 
firman  of  1841,  entailed  the  loss  of  all  his 
military  power,  the  army  war,  reduced  to 
18,000  men,  and  the  navy  condemned  to  rot 
in  the  harbor  of  Alexandria,  while  Mo- 
hamed  'Alee,  failing  to  gain  the  great  object 
of  his  ambition,  the  establishment  of  an  in 
dependent  dynasty,  and  being  compelled  to 
look  on  his  then  living  family  as  his  only 
heirs,  thenceforth  confined  himself  to  mea 
sures  of  lesser  importance,  and  did  not 
prosecute  even  these  with  his  former  en 
ergy. 

The  most  important  event  in  the  modern 
history  of  Egypt,  is  the  completion  of  the 
Suez  Canal,  connecting  the  Ked  Sea  with 
the  Mediterranean.  This  work  was  project 
ed  ani  carried  out  entirely  by  the  French, 
and  its  successful  issue,  in  spite  of  the  diffi 
culties  which  had  been  before  considered  in 
surmountable,  was  due  to  the  skill  and  per 
severance  of  the  French  engineer  M.  de 
Lesseps.  The  formal  opening  was  celebra 
ted  on  the  16th  of  November,  18G9,  by  a 
dedication  with  relgious  exercises  accord 
ing  to  both  Mohammedan  and  Christian 
rites. 

The   ceremony  was  witnessed  by  a  great 


number  of  invited  guests  from  all  parts 
of  the  world,  including  the  Empress  of 
the  French,  the  Emperor  of  Austria  and 
the  crown  princes  of  Holland  and  Prus 
sia.  A  fleet  of  forty  steamers  with  the 
guests  onboard  afterward  passed  through  the 
canal,  proving  the  complete  practicability 
of  its  navigation. 

NUBIA  is  the  name  given  to  the  large  tract 
of  country  lying  south  of  Egypt  on  both 
sides  of  the  Kile.  The  most  remarkable  fea 
ture  of  this  region  are  the  magnificent  monu 
mental  remains  with  which  it  is  covered  along 
the  line  of  the  stream,  and  which  continue 
to  perpetuate  the  genius  and  power  of  the 
ancient  population  of  the  country  situated 
on  the  Upper  Nile.  In  these  temples,  carved 
out  of  the  solid  rock,  we  see  the  evidences 
of  a  first  rude  attempt  in  the  rough  excava 
tion  of  the  rock,  and  then  a  gradual  improve 
ment,  which  must  have  extended  through  a 
long  series  of  years  before  it  culminated  in 
the  highly-finished  sculptures  of  Abou-Sim 
boul.  But  in  surveying  these  wonders  the 
mind  is  insensibly  impressed  with  the  con 
clusion,  that  the  wealth  and  power  which 
produced  these  have  entirely  passed  away 
and,  that  if  new  worlds  have  risen,  we  have 
lost  old  nations,  and  that,  in  the  lapse  of  ages 
empires  themselves  vanish,  like  the  baseless 
fabric  of  a  vision,  leaving  scarcely  a  wreck 
or  trace  behind.  History  sheds  no  light  on 
events  and  characters  which  the  veil  of  three 
thousand  years  has  covered  with  impnetra- 
ble  obscurity ;  and  while  groping  our  way 
amid  temples  dedicated  to  gods,  and  struc 
tures  raised  in  honor  of  heroes,  whose  very 
names  sound  like  voices  from  the  dead,  we 
must  be  satisfied  with  the  conclusion,  that 
long  before  the  dawn  of  history  there  had  ex 
isted  in  that  singular  region  a  great  people 
whose  architectural  monuments  have  out 
lasted  their  learning,  their  philosophy,  and 
even  their  very  name. 

The  people  of  Nubia  are  generally  called  by 
the  Arabs  Barabra.  They  differ  considerably 
in  the  darkness  of  their  complexion  in  the 


HISTOEY    OF    THE    WOULD. 


313 


northern  and  southern  parts  of  the  country. 
They  are  generally  well-made,  strong,  and 
muscular,  and  have  tolerably  good  features. 
They  are  more  honest  than  the  Egyptians. 
Previous  to  1821  the  Nubians  were  inde 
pendent,  being  ruled  by  chiefs  of  their  own ; 
lv.it  in  that  year  they  were  brought  under 
the  power  of  Egyptian  pashas,  and  the  gov 
ernment  of  Nubia  is  now,  like  that  of  Egypt, 
a  military  despotism. 

The  ancient  history  of  ABYSSINIA  is  very 
imperfectly  known.  The  story  of  the  Abys- 
sinians,  that  their  country  is  the  Sheba  men 
tioned  in  Scripture  whose  queen  visited  Solo 
mon,  is  unworthy  of  credit ;  equally  so  is 
the  assertion  that  Solomon  had  a  son  by  that 
queen,  named  Menilebek,  from  whom  sprang 
the  Abyssinian  kings.  The  kingdom  of  the 
Auxumitas  flourished  in  Abyssinia,  in  the 
first  o:  %cond  century  of  our  era.  Its  chief 
town  was  Auxume,  whose  site  is  now  occu 
pied  by  the  modern  Axum  in  Tigre,  where 
many  vestiges  of  its  greatness  are  to  be 
found.  It  appears  that  at  this  time  the  arts 
of  the  Greeks  and  Egyptians  had  penetrated 
iato  the  country ;  and  we  find  the  Greek 
language  used  in  their  monumental  inscrip 
tions,  as  in  the  famous  monument  at  Axurn, 
executed  before  the  introduction  of  Christi 
anity,  in  which  the  king  calls  himself  "  son 
of  the  invincible  Mars."  In  the  year  522, 
the  Abyssinians,  under  the  command  of  their 
king  Elesbaan,  the  most  powerful,  and  the 
only  conquering  prince  that  occupied  the 
throne,  attacked  and  destroyed  the  kingdom 
of  the  Homerites,  on  the  opposite  coast  of 
the  Red  Sea.  Elesbaan  afterwards  resigned 
the  government,  and  ended  his  life  in  a  mon 
astery.  About  sixty  years  later,  the  Abys- 
Binians  were  expelled  from  Arabia,  and  from 
this  time  till  about  the  year  960,  we  have 
^ery  little  information  respecting  them  that 
can  be  depended  on.  About  the  latter  pe 
riod,  Queen  Judith,  a  Jewess  princess,  of 
more  than  manly  courage  and  ruthless  am 
bition,  conceived  the  bloody  design  of  mur 
dering  all  the  members  of  the  royal  family, 
40 


and  establishing  herself  in  their  stead.    Dur 
ing  the  execution  of  the  project,  the  infant 
king  was  carried  off  by  some  faithful  adhe 
rents,  and  conveyed  to  Shoa,  where  his  au 
thority  was    acknowledged;    while    Judith 
reigned  for  forty  years  over  the  rest  of  the 
kingdom,  and  transmitted  the  crown  to  her 
posterity.     In  1268,  however,  the  kingdom 
was  restored  to  the  royal  house,  in  the  per 
son  of  Icon  Amlac.    On  the  accession  of  this 
prince  the  royal  residence  was  removed  from 
Axum  to  Shoa,  and  the  Amharic  became  the 
language  of  the  court.     About  the  close  of 
the  15th  century,  the  Portuguese  missions 
into  Abyssinia  commenced,  and  were  con 
tinued  from  time  to  time,  till  Mendez,  by 
his   arrogance   and  cruelty,   brought   about 
their  expulsion.    This  Portuguese  Jesuit  had 
so  ingratiated  himself  with  the  Emperor  Lus- 
neius,  as  to  be  intrusted  with  the  manage 
ment  of  the  religious  affairs  of  the  country. 
The  emperor  himself  swore  obedience  to  the 
Roman  Pontiff,  and  commanded  his  people 
to   embrace   the  Roman  Catholic   religion. 
But  the  people  had  not  suffered  papal  tyr 
anny  sufficiently  long  to  submit  tamely  to 
the   inquisitorial  punishment  that   Mendez 
administered  to  the  recusants.     Civil  com 
motions  and  insurrections  were  the  conse 
quence,  till  at  length,  in  1631,  the  emperor 
freed  the  people  from  the  tyranny  of  Men 
dez,  by  granting  them  liberty  to  exercise  tho 
religion  they  preferred  ;  and  Basilides,  who 
succeeded  his  father  in  1632,  drove  Mendez 
and  the  whole  Jesuitical  persecutors  out  of 
the   country.     Abyssinia  then  became  the 
seat  of  anarchy  and  confusion,  occasioned  by 
the  encroachments  of  the  Gallas  from  with 
out,  and  the  contests  between  the  governors 
of  the  different  provinces  in   the  interior. 
Might  everywhere   triumphed   over  right  ; 
cities  and  villages  were  burned  down,  and 
the  inhabitants  driven  out  and  sold  for  slaves. 
In  these  circumstances,  the  king,  who  lived 
in  Gondar,  with  only  a  small  retinue  of  serv 
ants,  received  but  little  respect  or  obedience 
from  the  governors  of  the  different  provinces, 
each  of  whom  was  anxious  to  obtain  that 


314 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


title  for  himself,  and  was  only  prevented  by 
the  jealousy  jf  the  others.  The  result  of 
these  contents  has  been  that  Abyssinia,  as  a 
kingdom,  has  almost  ceased  to  exist.  Its 
latest  form  of  government  was  an  empire, 
with  hereditary  rulers,  who  consider  them 
selves  the  lineal  descendants  of  Solomon  and 
the  Queen  of  Sheba. 

The  war  between  England  and  Abyssinia 
in  1SG8,  arose  out  of  the  imprisonment  of  the 
English  consul  and  several  other  English 
residents  by  King  Theodore,  in  consequence 
of  what  he  considered  an  affront  offered  him 
by  the  English  government.  In  18G3  the 
King  entrusted  a  letter  to  Queen  Victoria  to 
Mr.  Cameron  the  consul,  asking  for  a  safe 
conduct  for  ambassadors  which  he  proposed 
to  send  to  England  in  compliance  with  a  treaty 
which  had  been  made.  Mr.  Cameron  took 
the  letter  and  then  went  to  visit  some  tribes 
which  were  hostile  to  Theodore,  and  while 
be  was  among  them  he  is  said  to  have  ex 
pressed  himself  very  strongly  against  the 
Abyssinian  government.  His  words  were 
reported  to  King  Theodore  by  an  interpreter, 
and  incensed  him  so  much  that  when  the 
consul  returned  without  the  reply  to  his  letter 
which  he  expected,  he  threw  him  into  prison 
together  with  a  missionary  and  other  Euro 
pean  residents.  Negotiations  were  immediate- 
lyopened  by  the  English  government  for  their 
liberation.  Mr.  Hormuzd  Rassam  a  Turk, 
but  an  English  subject,  was  sent  with  a  let- 
ler  asking  for  their  release.  lie  was  receiv 
ed  with  great  attention  ;  and  upon  presents 
being  offered,  the  King  agreed  to  liberate 
the  prisoners  if  the  Queen  would  send  him 
skilful  artisans  who  would  introduce  useful 
arts  into  his  country.  This  was  consented  to, 
but  in  consequence  of  neither  party  wishing 
to  1)0  the  first  to  fulfil  their  part  of  the  agree 
ment,  the  arrangement  was  not  carried  out, 
and  war  between  the  two  countries  ensued. 

The  first  part  of  the  English  army  landed 


towards  the  end  of  the  year  18G7.  Earl v  in 
1808  it  was  joined  by  the  commander  of  the 
expedition,  Sir  Robert  Napier.  The  begin 
ning  of  the  march  -was  slow  and  without  any 
noticeable  incidents,  the  route  was  difficult 
and  the  army  suffered  much  from  want  of 
water.  After  they  had  gone  about  half  way 
to  Magdala  the  capital,  they  advanced  more 
rapidly,  being  aided  by  a  native  chief  who 
was  one  of  the  most  powerful  enemies  of 
Theodore.  In  April  the  British  troops  had 
arrived  before  Magdala  without  having  en 
countered  any  resistance.  At  Magdala  Theo 
dore  had  his  court ;  the  place  was  defended 
by  a  fortress  armed  with  twenty-eight  guns, 
and  by  its  natural  position  should  have  been 
impregnable.  Upon  being  summoned  to  sur 
render,  Theodore  made  no  reply,  and  without 
waiting  for  the  attack  he  advanced  against 
the  enemy  who  were  fortified  in  strong  posi 
tions  in  front  of  Magdala.  ITe  was  driven 
back  with  the  loss  of  some  2000  killed  and 
wounded,  while  the  English  reported  their  loss 
as  only  sixteen  wounded.  The  next  day 
he  sent  all  the  prisoners  into  the  British 
camp.  Xapier,  however,  demanded  an  un 
conditional  surrender.  This  was  refused, 
ed,  and  when  the  truce  expired,  the  English 
army  attacked  Magdala.  By  the  treason  of 
some  of  the  chiefs  one  of  the  strongest  fort 
resses  immediately  yielded  to  the  assault, 
and  Theodore,  his  force  diminished  by  the 
desertion  of  many  of  his  supporters,  was  un 
able  to  hold  out.  He,  however,  fought  to 
the  last,  and  when  the  fort  surrendered,  he 
was  found  dead,  having  it  is  said  killed  him 
self. 

The  son  of  Theodore  was  among  the  cap 
tives,  and  was  taken  to  England  with  the 
intention  of  educating  him  with  a  view  to 
future  amicable  commercial  relations  between 
the  two  countries.  Upon  tne  withdrawal  of 
the  English  troops,  after  tne  war  Abyssinia 
fell  back  into  its  former  anarchy. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


315 


CARTHAGE. 


THE  beginning  ol  the  Carthaginian  his 
tory,  like  that  of  many  other  nations,  is 
obscure  and  uncertain.  In  the  seventh  year 
of  Pygmalion,  king  of  Tyre,  his  sister  Elisa, 
or  Dido,  is  said  to  have  fled  with  some  of  her 
companions  and  vassals  from  the  cruelty  and 
avarice  of  her  brother,  who  had  put  to  death 
her  husband  Siemens  in  order  to  obtain  pos 
session  of  his  wealth.  She  first  touched  at  the 
island  of  Cyprus,  where  she  met  with  a  priest 
of  Jupiter,  who  expressed  a  desire  of  attend 
ing  her ;  a  proposal  to  which  she  readily  con 
sented,  and  fixed  the  priesthood  in  his  family. 
At  that  time  it  was  a  custom  in  the  island  of 
Cyprus  for  the  young  women  to  go  on  certain 
stated  days,  before  marriage,  to  the  sea  side, 
there  to  look  for  the  arrival  of  strangers  on 
their  coasts,  in  order  to  prostitute  themselves 
for  gain,  that  they  might  thereby  acquire  a 
dowery.  Of  these  strange  damsels  the 
Tyrians  selected  eighty,  whom  they  carried 
along  with  them.  From  Cyprus  they  sailed 
directly  for  the  coast  of  Africa ;  and  at  last 
landed  safely  in  the  province  called  Africa 
Propria,  not  far  from  Utica,  a  Phoenician 
3ity  of  great  antiquity.  The  inhabitants  re 
ceived  their  countrymen  with  great  demon 
strations  of  joy,  and  invited  them  to  settle  in 
the  country.  The  common  fable  is  that  the 
Phoenicians  imposed  upon  the  Africans. 
They  desired  for  their  intended  settlement 
f>nly  as  much  ground  as  an  ox's  hide  would 
encompass.  This  request  the  Africans 
laughed  at ;  but  they  were  surprised  when, 
upon  their  granting  it,  they  saw  Elisa  cut  the 


hide  into  the  smallest  shreds,  by  whic'a  me;ms 
it  surrounded  a  large  territory,  in  which  she 
built  the  citadel  called  Byrsa.  The  learned, 
however,  are  now  unanimous  in  exploding 
this  fable  ;  and  it  is  certain  that  the  Car 
thaginians  for  many  years  paid  an  annual 
tribute  to  the  Africans  for  the  ground  they 
occupied. 

The  new  city  soon  became  populous  and 
flourishing  by  the  accession  of  the  neighbor 
ing  Africans,  who  resorted  thither  at  first 
with  a  view  of  traffic.  In  a  short  time  it 
became  so  considerable,  that  Jarbas,  a 
neighboring  prince,  thought  of  making  him 
self  master  of  it  without  any  effusion  of 
blood.  To  effect  this,  he  desired  that  an 
embassy  of  ten  of  the  most  noble  Carthagi 
nians  might  be  sent  to  him ;  and  upon  their 
arrival,  he  proposed  to  them  a  marriage 
with  Dido,  threatening  war  in  the  event  of 
refusal.  The  ambassadors,  being  afraid  to 
deliver  this  message,  told  the  queen  that 
Jarbas  desired  some  person  might  be  sent  to 
him  who  wTas  capable  of  civilizing  his  Afri 
cans,  but  that  there  was  no  possibility  of 
finding  any  of  her  subjects  who  would  leave 
his  relations  for  the  conversion  of  such  bar 
barians.  For  this  they  were  reprimanded  by 
the  queen,  who  told  them  that  they  ought  to 
be  ashamed  of  refusing  to  live  in  any  man 
ner  for  the  benefit  of  their  country ;  upon 
which  they  informed  her  of  the  true  nature 
of  their  message  from  Jarbas,  adding  that, 
according  to  her  own  decision,  she  ought  tc 
sacrifice  herself  for  the  good  of  her  country 


31G 


HIS1ORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


The  unhappy  queen,  rather  than  submit  to 
be  the  wife  of  such  a  barbarian,  caused  a 
funeral  pile  to  be  ere',  ted,  and  put  an  end  to 
her  life  with  a  dagger.  This  is  Justin's  ac 
count  of  the  death  of  queen  Dido ;  as  to 
Virgil's  account  of  her  amour  with  ./Eneas, 
it  is  obviously  fabulous,  and  was  so  consider 
ed  even  in  the  days  of  Macrobius. 

About  503  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ 
the  Carthaginians  entered  into  a  treaty  with 
the  Romans.  It  related  chiefly  to  matters  of 
navigation  and  commerce.  From  it  we  learn 
that  the  whole  island  of  Sardinia,  and  part 
of  Sicily  were  then  subject  to  Carthage  ;  that 
the  Carthaginians  were  very  well  accquaint- 
ed  with  the  coasts  of  Italy,  and  had  previous 
ly  made  some  attempts  upon  them  ;  and  that, 
even  at  this  early  period,  a  spirit  of  jealousy 
had  been  excited  between  the  two  republics. 
By  degrees  the  Carthaginians  extended  their 
power  over  all  the  islands  of  the  Mediter 
ranean,  Sicily  excepted ;  and  for  the  entire 
conquest  of  this  island  they  made  vast  pre 
parations  alrout  480  years  before  Christ. 
Their  army  consisted  of  300,000  men  ;  their 
fleet  was  composed  of  upwards  of  2000  men 
of  war  and  3000  transports  ;  and  with  such 
an  immense  armament  they  made  no  doubt 
of  conquering  the  whole  island  in  a  single 
campaign.  In  this,  however,  they  found 
themselves  miserably  deceived.  Ilamilcar, 
their  general,  having  landed  his  numerous 
forces,  invested  Himera,  a  city  of  consider 
able  importance,  and  carried  on  his  ap 
proaches  with  the  greatest  assiduity  ;  but  he 
was  at  last  attacked  in  his  trenches  by  Gelon 
and  Theron,  the  tyrants  of  Syracuse  and 
Agrigantum,  who  inflicted  on  the  Cartha 
ginians  one  of  tjie  greatest  overthrows  men 
tioned  in  history.  A  hundred  and  fifty  thou 
sand  were  killed  in  the  battle  and  pursuit, 
and  all  the  rest  taVen  prisoners,  so  that  of  so 
mighty  an  army  not  a  single  individual 
escaped.  Of  the  2000  ships  of  war,  and 
3000  transports  of  which  the  Carthaginian 
fleet  consisted,  eight  ships  only,  which  hap 
pened  to  be  out  at  sea,  made  their  escape,  and 
immediately  set  sail  for  Carthage;  but  these  i 


were  all  cast  away,  and  every  soul  perished, 
except  a  few  who  were  saved  in  a  small  boat, 
and  at  last  reached  Carthage  with  the  dismal 
news  of  the  total  loss  of  the  fleet  and  army. 
No  words  can  express  the  consternation  of 
the  Carthaginians  upon  receiving  the  news 
of  so  terrible  a  disaster.  Ambassadors  being 

c? 

immediately  dispatched  to  Sicily  with  orders 
to  conclude  a  peace  upon  any  terms,  they  put 
to  sea  without  delay,  and  landing  at  Syracuse, 
threw  themselves  at  the  conqueror's  feet,  beg 
ging  Gelon,  with  many  tears,  to  receive  theii 
city  into  favor,  and  grant  them  a  peace  on 
whatever  conditions  he  should  choose  to  pre 
scribe.  Gelon  granted  their  request  upon 
condition  that  Carthage  should  pay  him  2000 
talents  of  silver  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
the  war  ;  that  they  should  build  two  temples 
in  which  the  articles  of  treaty  might  be 
lodged  and  kept  as  sacred  ;  and  that  for  the 
future  they  should  wholly  abstain  from  hu 
man  sacrifices.  This  peace,  for  which  there 
existed  so  much  necessity,  was  not  thought 
too  dearly  purchased ;  and  to  show  their 
gratitude  for  Gelon's  moderation,  the  Car 
thaginians  complimented  his  wife  Demerata 
with  a  crown  of  gold  worth  a  hundred 
talents. 

From  this  time  we  find  little  mention  of 
the  Carthaginians  for  seventy  years.  During 
the  latter  period,  however,  they  greatly  ex 
tended  their  dominions  in  Africa,  and  like 
wise  shook  off  the  tribute  which  gave  them 
so  much  uneasiness.  They  had  also  warm 
disputes  with  the  inhabitants  of  Cyrene,  the 
capital  of  Cyrenaica,  about  a  regulation  of 
the  limits  of  their  respective  territories. 
The  consequence  of  these  disputes  was  a 
war,  which  reduced  both  nations  so  low  that 
they  consented  first  to  a  cessation  of  hos 
tilities,  and  then  to  a  peace.  At  last  it  was 
agreed  that  each  state  should  appoint  two  com 
missioner*,  who  should  set  out  from  their  re 
spective  cities  on  the  same  day,  and  that  the 
spot  on  which  they  met  should  be  the  bouTi- 
dary  of  both  states.  In  consequence  of  this, 
two  brothers  called  Philreni  were  sent  out 
from  Girthage,  and  advanced  with  great 


HISTOEY   OF    THE  WOELD. 


317 


celerity,  whilst  those  from  Gyrene  were 
rnucli  slower  in  their  motions.  Whether  this 
proceeded  from  accident,  or  design,  or  perfidy, 
we  are  not  certainly  informed ;  but  the  Cy- 
reneans,  finding  themselves  greatly  outstrip 
ped  by  the  Phikeni,  accused  them  of  breach 
of  faith,  asserting  that  they  had  set  out  be 
fore  the  time  appointed,  and  consequently 
that  the  convention  between  their  principals 
was  broken.  The  Philreni  desired  them  to 
propose  some  expedient  by  which  their  dif 
ferences  might  be  accommodated,  promising 
to  submit  to  it,  whatever  it  might  be.  The 
Cyreneans  then  proposed  either  that  the 
Philaeni  should  retire  from  the  place  where 
they  were,  or  that  they  should  be  buried 
alive  upon  the  spot.  With  this  last  condi 
tion  the  brothers  immediately  complied,  and 
by  their  death  gained  a  large  extent  of  ter 
ritory  for  their  country.  The  Carthaginians 
ever  afterwards  celebrated  this  as  a  most 
brave  and  heroic  action,  paid  the  brothers 
divine  honors,  and  endeavored  to  immortalize 
their  names  by  erecting  two  altars  there  with 
suitable  inscriptions  upon  them. 

About  the  year  before  Christ  412,  some 
disputes  happened  between  the  Egestines 
and  Selinuntines,  inhabitants  of  two  cities 
in  Sicily  ;  the  former  called  in  the  Cartha 
ginians  to  their  assistance,  and  occasioned  a 
new  invasion  of  Sicily  by  that  nation.  Great 
preparations  were  made  for  this  war ;  and 
Hannibal,  whom  they  had  appointed  as 
general,  was  empowered  to  raise  an  army 
equal  to  the  undertaking,  as  well  as  equip  a 
suitable  fleet.  They  also  appropriated  certain 
funds  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  war, 
intending  to  exert  their  whole  force  to  reduce 
the  island  to  subjection. 

The  Carthaginian  general  having  landed 
his  forces,  immediately  marched  to  Selinus. 
In  his  way  he  took  Emporium,  a  town 
situated  on  the  river  Mazara:  and  ha  vino- 

'  o 

arrived  at  Selinus  he  immediately  invested 
it.  The  besieged  made  a  very  vigorous  de 
fence  ;  but  at  last  the  city  was  taken  by 
Btorm,  and  the  inhabitants  were  treated  with 
the  utmost  cruelty.  All  were  massacred  by 


the  savage  conqueror,  except  the  women,  who 
fled  to  the  temples ;  and  these  escaped,  not 
through  the  merciful  disposition  of  the  Car 
thaginians,  but  because  it  was  feared  that,  if 
driven  to  despair,  they  would  set  fire  to  the 
temples,  and  by  that  means  consume  the  trea 
sure  they  expected  to  find  in  these  places. 
Sixteen  thousand  were  massacred;  2,250 
escaped  to  Agrigentum ;  and  the  women 
and  children,  about  5000  in  number,  were 
carried  away  into  captivity.  At  the  same 
time  the  temples  were  plundered,  and  the 
city  razed  to  the  ground.  After  the  reduc 
tion  of  Selinus,  Hannibal  laid  siege  tollimera, 
a  city  Avhich  he  desired  above  all  things  to 
become  master  of,  in  order  that  he  might  re 
venge  the  death  of  his  grandfather  Hamilcar, 
who  had  been  slain  before  it  by  Gelon.  His 
troops,  flushed  with  their  late  success,  be 
haved  with  undaunted  courage ;  but  finding 
that  his  battering  engines  did  not  answer  his 
purpose  sufficiently,  he  undermined  the  wall, 
supporting  it  with  large  beams  of  timber,  to 
which  he  afterwards  set  fire,  and  thus  laid 
part  of  it  flat  on  the  ground.  Notwithstand 
ing  this  advantage,  however,  the  Carthagini 
ans  were  several  times  repulsed  with  great 
slaughter ;  but  at  last  they  became  masters 
of  the  place,  and  treated  it  in  the  same  man 
ner  as  they  had  done  Selinus.  After  this, 
Hannibal,  dismissing  his  Sicilian  and  Italian 
allies,  returned  to  Africa. 

The  Carthaginians  were  now  so  much 
elated  that  they  meditated  the  reduction  of 
the  whole  island.  But  as  the  age  and  in 
firmities  of  Hannibal  rendered  him  incapable 
of  commanding  the  forces  alone,  they  joined 
in  commission  with  him  Imilcar,  the  son  of 
Ilanno,  one  of  the  same  family.  On  the 
landing  of  the  Carthaginian  army,  all  Sicily 
was  alarmed,  and  the  principal  cities  put 
themselves  into  the  best  state  of  defence 
they  were  able.  The  Carthaginians  imme 
diately  marched  to  Agrigentum,  and  began 
to  batter  the  walls  with  great  fury.  The  be 
sieged,  however,  defended  themselves  with 
incredible  resolution,  burnt  in  a  sally  all  the 
machines  raise d  against  their  city,  and  re- 


318 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


pulsed  the  enemy  with  great  slaughter.  In 
the  meantime,  the  Syracusians,  alarmed  at 
the  danger  of  Agrigentum,  sent  an  army  to 
its  relief.  On  their  approach  they  were  im 
mediately  attacked  by  the  Carthaginians; 
but  after  a  sharp  contest  the  latter  were  de 
feated,  and  forced  to  fly  to  the  very  walls  of 
Agrigentum,  with  the  loss  of  about  6000 
men.  Had  the  Agrigeiitine  commanders 
now  sallied  out  and  fallen  upon  the  fugi 
tives,  the  Carthaginian  army  must  in  all  pro 
bability  have  been  destroyed;  but,  either 
through  fear  or  corruption,  they  refused  to 
stir  out  of  the  place,  and  this  occasioned  its 
fall.  Immense  booty  was  found  in  the  city, 
and  the  Carthaginians  behaved  with  their 
usual  cruelty,  putting  all  the  inhabitants  to 
the  sword,  not  excepting  those  who  had  fled 
to  the  temples. 

The  next  attempt  of  the  Carthaginians 
was  intended  to  be  against  the  city  of  Gela; 
but  the  Geleans,  being  greatly  alarmed,  im 
plored  the  protection  of  Syracuse ;  and  at 
their  request,  Dionysius  was  sent  to  assist 
them  with  2000  foot  and  400  horse.  The 
Geleans  were  so  well  satisfied  with  his  con 
duct,  that  they  treated  him  with  the  highest 
marks  of  distinction ;  they  even  sent  am 
bassadors  to  Syracuse  to  return  thanks  for 
the  important  services  done  them  by  sending 
him  thither;  and  soon  afterwards  he  was 
appointed  generalissimo  of  the  Syracusan 
forces  and  those  of  their  allies,  against  the 
Carthaginians.  In  the  mean  time  Imilcar, 
having  razed  the  city  of  Agrigentum,  made 
an  incursion  into  the  territories  of  Gela  and 
Camarina,  which  he  ravaged  in  a  dreadful 
manner,  carrying  off  an  immense  quantity 
of  plunder,  which  filled  his  whole  camp.  He 
then  marched  against  the  city ;  but  though 
it  was  indifferently  fortified,  he  met  with  a 
vigorous  resistance,  and  the  place  held  out 
for  a  long  time  without  receiving  any  assist 
ance  from  its  allies.  At  last  Dionysius  came 
to  its  relief  with  an  army  of  50,000  foot 
and  1000  horse,  At  the  head  of  this  body 
he  attacked  the  Carthaginian  camp,  but  was 
repulsed  with  great  lo*3,  upon  wnica  he 


!  called  a  council  of  war,  the  result  of  whoso 
deliberations  was,  that  since  the  enemy  was 
so  much  superior  to  them  in  strength,  it 
would  be  highly  imprudent  to  put  all  to  the 
issue  of  a  battle,  and  that  the  inhabitants 
should  therefore  be  persuaded  to  abandon  the 
country,  as  the  only  means  of  saving  their 
lives.  A  trumpet  was  accordingly  sent  to 
Imilcar  to  desire  a  cessation  of  hostilities  until 
the  next  day,  in  order,  as  was  pretended,  to 
bury  the  dead,  but  in  reality  to  give  the  peo 
ple  of  Gela  an  opportunity  of  making  their 
escape.  About  the  beginning  of  the  night 
the  greater  part  of  the  citizens  left  the  place , 
and  Dionysius  himself  with  the  army  follow 
ed  them  about  midnight.  To  amuse  the 
enemy  he  left  2000  of  his  light  -  armed 
troops  behind  him,  commanding  them  to 
make  fires  all  night,  and  set  up  loud  shouts, 
as  though  the  army  still  remained  in  the 
town.  But  at  daybreak  this  body  took  the 
same  route  as  their  companions,  and  pursued 
their  march  with  great  celerity.  The  Car 
thaginians,  finding  the  city  deserted  by  al 
most  all  its  inhabitants,  immediately  entered 
it,  putting  to  death  such  as  remained  ;  after 
which  Imilcar,  having  thoroughly  plundered 
it,  moved  towards  Camarina.  The  inhabi 
tants  of  this  city  had  been  likewise  drawn 
off  by  Dionysius,  and  it  underwent  the  same 
fate  with  Gela. 

Notwithstanding  these  successes,  however, 
Imilcar,  finding  his  army  greatly  weakened, 
partly  by  the  casualties  of  war,  and  partly  by 
a  plague  which  broke  out  in  it,  sent  a  herald 
to  Syracuse  to  offer  terms  of  peace.  His 
unexpected  arrival  was  very  agreeable  to  the 
Syracusans,  and  a  peace  was  immediately 
concluded  upon  the  conditions  that  the  Car 
thaginians,  besides  their  ancient  acquisitions 
in  Sicily,  should  still  possess  the  countries  of 
the  Silicani,  the  Selinuntines,  the  Ilirnereans, 
and  Agrigentines ;  that  the  people  of  G  ela  and 
Camarina  should  be  permitted  to  reside  in 
their  respective  cities,  which,  however,  we^e 
to  be  dismantled,  upon  their  paying  an  an 
nual  tribute  to  the  Carthaginians ;  and  that 
all  the  Sicilians  should  preserve  their  inde- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


319 


pendenee,  except  the  Syracusans,  who  were 
to  continue  in  subjection  to  Dionysius. 

The  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  however,  had  con 
cluded  this  peace  with  no  other  view  than  to 
gain  time,  and  put  himself  in  condition  to 
attack  the  Carthaginian  territories  at  greater 
advantage.  Having  accomplished  his  object, 
he  acquainted  the  Syracusans  with  his  de 
sign,  and  they  immediately  approved  of  it ; 
upon  which  he  gave  up  to  the  fury  of  the 
populace  the  persons  and  possessions  of  the 
Carthaginians  who  resided  in  Syracuse,  and 
traded  there,  relying  on  the  faith  of  treaties. 
As  there  were  at  that  time  many  of  their 
ships  in  the  harbor,  laden  with  cargoes  of 
great  value,  the  people  immediately  plunder 
ed  them,  and  not  content  with  this,  ransack 
ed  their  houses  in  a  most  outrageous  manner. 
This  example  was  followed  throughout  the 
whole  island ;  and  in  the  mean  time  Diony 
sius  dispatched  a  herald  to  Carthage,  with  a 
letter  to  the  senate  and  people,  telling  them 
that,  if  they  did  not  immediately  withdraw 
their  garrisons  from  all  the  Greek  cities  in 
Sicily,  the  people  of  Syracuse  would  treat 
them  as  enemies.  "With  this  demand,  how 
ever,  he  did  not  allow  them  time  to  comply ; 
for,  without  waiting  for  any  answer  from 
Carthage,  he  advanced  with  his  army  to 
Mount  Eryx,  near  which  stood  the  city  of 
Motya,  a  Carthaginian  colony  of  great  impor 
tance,  which  he  immediately  invested.  But 
soon  afterwards,  leaving  his  brother  Leptines 
to  cany  on  the  attack,  he  proceeded  with 
the  greater  part  of  his  forces  to  reduce  the 
cities  in  alliance  with  the  Carthaginians.  He 
destroyed  their  territories  with  fire  and 
sword,  levelled  all  their  trees,  and  then  in 
vested  Egesta  and  Entella,  most  of  the  other 
towns  having  opened  their  gates  at  his  ap 
proach  ;  but  these  having  baffled  his  utmost 
efforts,  he  returned  to  Motya,  and  pushed  on 
the  siege  of  that  place  with  the  utmost 
vigor.  The  Carthaginians,  in  the  mean  time, 
though  alarmed  at  the  message  sent  them  by 
Dionysius,  and  reduced  to  a  miserable  condi 
tion  by  the  plague,  which  had  broken  out  in 
their  city,  did  not  despond,  but  dispatched 


officers  to  Europe,  with  considerable  sums, 
to  raise  troops  with  the  utmost  diligence. 
Ten  galleys  were  also  sent  from  Carthage  to 
destroy  all  the  ships  that  might  be  found  in 
the  harbor  of  Syracuse.  The  admiral,  accord 
ing  to  his  orders,  entered  the  harbor  during 
the  night,  without  being  discerned  by  the 
enemy ;  and  having  sunk  most  of  the  ships 
he  found  there,  returned  without  the  loss  of 
a  man.  Meantime  the  Motyans  defended 
themselves  with  incredible  vigor  whilst  their 
enemies,  desirous  of  revenging  the  cruelties 
exercised  upon  their  countrymen  by  the  Car 
thaginians,  fought  like  lions.  At  last  the 
place  was  taken  by  storm,  and  the  Greek 
soldiers  began  a  general  massacre,  which 
Dionysius  was  for  some  time  unable  to  re 
strain  ;  but  at  last  he  ordered  the  Motyans 
to  fly  to  the  Greek  temples,  which  they  ac 
cordingly  did,  and  a  stop  was  thus  put  to  the 
slaughter.  The  soldiers,  however,  took  care 
to  thoroughly  plunder  the  town,  in  which 
they  found  great  treasure. 

The  following  spring  Dionysius  invaded 
the  Carthaginian  territories,  and  made  an  at 
tempt  upon  Egesta ;  but  here  he  was  again 
disappointed.  The  Carthaginians  were 
greatly  alarmed  at  his  progress ;  but  next 
year,  notwithstanding  a  considerable  loss 
sustained  in  a  sea-fight  with  Leptines,  Himil- 
co  their  general  landed  a  powerful  army  at 
Panormus,  seized  upon  Eryx,  and  then  ad 
vancing  towards  Motya,  made  himself  master 
of  it  before  Dionysius  could  send  any  forces 
to  its  relief.  He  next  proceeded  to  Messana, 
which  he  likewise  besieged  and.  took  ;  after 
which  most  of  the  Siculi  revolted  from  Dio 
nysius. 

Notwithstanding  this  defection,  Dionysius, 
finding  that  his  forces  still  amounted  to 
30,000  foot  and  3000  horse,  advanced  against 
the  enemy.  At  the  same  time  Leptines  was 
sent  with  the  Syracusan  fleet  against  that  of 
the  Carthaginians,  but  with  positive  orders 
not  to  break  the  line  of  battle  upon  any  ac 
count  whatsoever.  Notwithstanding  these 
orders,  he  thought  proper  to  divide  his  fleet, 
and  the  consequence  was  that  he  suffered  a 


320 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


total  defeat,  above  100  of  the- Syracusan  gal 
leys  being  sunk  or  taken,  and  20,000  men 
killed  either  in  the  battle  or  in  the  pursuit. 
Dionysius,  disheartened  by  this  misfortune, 
returned  with  liu  army  to  Syracuse,  being 
afraid  that  the  Carthaginian  fleet  might  be 
come  master  of  that  city  if  he  advanced  to 
light  the  army.  On  the  other  and,  Ilimilco 
did  not  fail  immediately  to  invest  the  capi 
tal  ;  and  would  certainly  have  become  mas-, 
tcr  of  it,  and  consequently  of  the  whole 
island,  had  not  a  most  malignant  pestilence 
obliged  him  to  desist  from  all  farther  opera 
tions.  This  dreadful  malady  made  great 
havoc  among  his  forces  both  by  land  and 
Ben  ;  and,  to  complete  his  misfortunes,  Dio 
nysius  attacked  him  unexpectedly,  totally 
ruined  his  fleet,  and  made  himself  master  of 
his  camp. 

Ilimileo,  finding  himself  altogether  unable 
to  sustain  another  attack,  was  obliged  to  come 
to  a  private  agreement  with  Diouysius,  who 
for  300  talents  consented  to  permit  him  to 
escape  to  Africa  with  the  shattered  remains 
of  his  fleet  and  army.  The  unfortunate 
sreneral  arrived  at  Carthage  clad  in  mean 

o  ° 

and  sordid  attire,  where  he  was  met  by  a 
great  number  of  people  bewailing  their  sad 
and  inauspicious  fortune.  Ilimilco  joined 
them  in  their  lamentations ;  and  being  un 
able  to  survive  his  misfortunes,  put  an  end 
to  his  own  life.  Having  left  Mago  in  Sicily 
to  take  care  of  the  Carthaginian  interests  in 
the  best  manner  he  could,  this  person  treated 
all  the  Sicilians  subject  to  Carthage  with  the 
greatest  humanity  ;  and,  having  received  a 
considerable  number  of  soldiers  from  Africa, 
he  at  last  formed  an  army,  with  which  he 
ventured  a  battle.  But  in  this  lie  was  de 
feated,  and  driven  out  of  the  field,  with  the 
loss  of  800  men ;  which  obliged  him  to  de 
sist  from  further  attempts  of  that  nature. 

Notwithstanding  these  terrible  disasters, 
the  Carthaginians  could  not  refrain  from 

o 

making  new  attempts  upon  the  island  of  Si 
cily,  and  about  the  year  before  Christ  392 
Mago  landed  in  it  with  an  army  of  80,000 
men.  This  attempt,  however,  was  attended 


with  no  better  success  than  the  former  ones ; 
and  Dionysius  found  means  to  reduce  him  to 
such  straits  for  want  of  provisions,  that  he 
was  obliged  to  sue  for  peace,  which  lasted 
nine  years.  At  the  end  of  this  period  the 
war  was  renewed  with  various  success,  and 
continued  with  little  interruption  till  the  year 
before  Christ  376,  when  the  Syracusan  state 
being  rent  by  civil  dissensions,  the  Carthagi 
nians  thought  it  a  proper  time  to  exert  them 
selves,  in  order  to  become  masters  of  the 
whole  island.  They  fitted  out  a  great  fleet, 
and  entered  into  alliance  with  Icetas,  tyrant 
of  the  Leontini,  who  pretended  to  have  tak 
en  Syracuse  under  his  protection.  By  this 
treaty  the  two  powers  engaged  to  assist  each 
other  in  order  to  expel  Dionysius  II. ;  after 
which  they  were  to  divide  theislandbet\veen 
them.  The  Syracusans  applied  for  succors 
to  the  Corinthians,  who  readily  sent  them  a, 
body  of  troops  under  the  command  of  Timo- 
leon,  an  experienced  general.  By  a  strata 
gem  this  commander  succeeded  in  landing 
his  forces  at  Taurominium.  The  whole  of 
them  did  not  exceed  1200  in  number  ;  yet 
with  these  he  marched  against  Icetas,  who 
was  at  the  head  of  5000  men,  surprised  his 
army  at  supper,  put  300  of  them  to  the 
sword,  and  took  COO  prisoners.  Then  march 
ing  to  Syracuse,  he  penetrated  into  one  part 
of  the  town  before  the  enemy  had  any  no 
tice  of  his  approach.  Here  he  took  posf ,  and 
defended  himself  with  such  resolution,  that 
he  could  not  be  dislodged  by  the  united  :>ow- 
er  of  Icetas  and  the  Carthaginians. 

In  this  place  he  remained  for  some  time 
in  expectation  of  a  re -enforcement  from 
Corinth,  till  the  arrival  of  which  he  di  .  not 
judge  it  practicable  to  extend  his  conq  icsts. 
But  the  Carthaginians,  being  appriseo  that 
the  Corinthian  succors  were  detained  by 
tempestuous  weather  at  Thurium,  posted  a 
strong  squadron,  under  Ilanno  their  admiral, 
to  intercept  them  iT  their  passage  to  Sicily. 
That  commander,  however,  not  imagining 
the  Corinthians  would  attempt  a  passage  tc 
Sicily  in  such  a  stormy  season,  left  his  sta 
tion  at  Thurium,  and  ordering  his  seamen  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


321 


crown  themselves  with  garlands,  and  adorn 
their  vessels  with  bucklers  of  both  the  Greek 
and  Carthaginian  form,  sailed  to  Syracuse 
;.n  a  triumphant  manner.  Upon  his  arrival 
there,  he  gave  the  troops  in  the  citadel  to 
understand  that  he  had  taken  the  succors 
rimoleon  expected,  thinking  by  this  means 
to  intimidate  them  into  a  surrender.  But 
while  he  thus  trifled  away  his  time,  the 
Corinthians  marched  with  great  expedition 
to  Ehegium,  and,  taking  the  advantage  of 
a  gentle  breeze,  crossed  over  into  Sicily. 
Mago,  the  Carthaginian  general,  no  sooner 
received  information  of  the  arrival  of  this 
re-enforcement,  than  he  was  struck  with  ter 
ror  ;  and  though  the  whole  Corinthian  army 
did  not  exceed  4000  men,  he  soon  afterwards 
weighed  anchor,  in  spite  of  all  the  remon 
strances  of  Icetas,  and  set  sail  for  Africa. 
But  he  no  sooner  arrived,  than,  overcome 
with  remorse  and  shame  for  his  unparalleled 
cowardice,  he  laid  violent  hands  on  himself. 
His  body  was  hung  upon  a  gallows  or  cross, 
in  order  to  deter  succeeding  generals  from 
forfeiting  their  honor  in  so  flagrant  a  manner. 

O  o 

After  the  flight  of  Mago,  Timoleon  car 
ried  all  before  him.  He  obliged  Icetas  to 
renounce  his  alliance  with  the  state  of  Car 
thage,  nay  even  deposed  him,  and  continued 
his  military  preparations  with  the  greatest 
vigor.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Carthagi 
nians  prepared  for  the  ensuing  campaign 
with  the  utmost  alacrity.  An  army  of  70,- 
000  men  was  sent  over,  with  a  fleet  of  200 
ships  of  war  and  1000  transports  laden  with 
warlike  engines,  armed  chariots,  horses,  and 
all  other  sorts  of  provisions.  This  immense 
multitude,  however,  was  overthrown  on  the 
banks  of  the  Crimesus  by  Timoleon  ;  10,000 
were  left  dead  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  of 
these  more  than  3000  were  native  Carthao-i- 

O 

nians  of  the  best  families  in  the  city.  Above 
15,000  were  taken  prisoners ;  and  all  their 
baggage  and  provisions,  with  200  chariots, 
1000  coats  of  mail,  and  10,000  shields,  fell 
into  Timoleon's  hands.  The  spoil,  which 
consisted  chiefly  of  gold  and  silver,  was  so 
immense  that  the  whole  Sicilian  armv  was 
41 


occupied  three  "days  in  collecting  it  and 
stripping  the  slain.  After  this  signal  victo 
ry,  he  left  his  mercenary  forces  upon  the 
frontiers  of  the  enemy,  in  order  to  plunder 
and  ravage  the  country  ;  whilst  he  himself 
returned  to  Syracuse  with  the  rest  of  his 
army,  where  he  was  received  with  the  great 
est  demonstrations  of  joy.  Soon  afterwards, 
Icetas,  having  grown  weary  of  a  private 
station,  concluded  a  new  peace  with  the  Car 
thaginians,  and,  assembling  an  army,  ven 
tured  an  engagement  with  Timoleon ;  but 
in  this  he  was  utterly  defeated,  and  Icetas 
himself,  with  Eupolemus  his  son,  and  Euthy- 
mus  his  general  of  horse,  were  brought 
bound  to  Timoleon  by  their  own  soldiers. 
The  first  two  were  immediately  executed  aa 
tyrants  and  traitors,  and  the  last  murdered 
in  cold  blood ;  Icetas'o  wives  and  daughters 
were  likewise  cruelly  put  to  death  after  a 
public  trial.  In  a  short  time  afterwards, 
Mamercus,  another  of  the  Carthaginian  con 
federates,  was  overthrown  by  Timoleon,  with 
the  loss  of  2000  men.  These  misfortunes 
induced  the  Carthaginians  to  conclude  a 
peace  on  the  conditions  that  all  the  Greek 
cities  should  be  set  free ;  that  the  river  Haly- 
cus  should  be  the  boundary  between  the  ter 
ritories  of  both  parties ;  that  the  natives  of 
cities  subject  to  the  Carthaginians  should  be 
allowed  to  withdraw,  if  they  pleased,  to 
Syracuse  or  its  dependencies,  with  their  fam 
ilies  and  effects;  and  lastly,  that  Carthage 
should  not,  for  the  future,  give  any  assistance 
to  the  remaining  tyrants  against  Syracuse. 

About  316  years  before  Christ,  We  find 
the  Carthaginians  engaged  in  another  bloody 
war  with  the  Sicilians.  Sosistratus,  who  had 
usurped  the  supreme  autii^rity  at  Syracuse, 
having  been  forced  by  Agathocles  to  raise 
the  siege  of  Ehegium,  returned  with  hie 
shattered  troops  to  Sicily;  but,  soon  aftcj 
this  unsuccessful  expedition,  he  was  obliged 
to  abdicate  the  sovereignty  and  quit  Syra 
cuse.  With  him  were  expelled  above  000  of 
the  principal  citizens,  who  were  suspected  of 
having  formed  a  design  to  overt  inn  the  plan 
of  government  then  established  in  the  city 


322 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


As  S<  oistratus  and  the  exiles  thotiglit  them 
selves  ill  treated,  they  had  recourse  to  the 
Carthaginians,  who  readily  espoused  their 
pause.  Bnt  the  Syracusans,  having  recalled 
Agathocles,  who  had  before  been  banished 
by  Sosistratus,  appointed  him  Commander-in- 
chief  of  all  their  forces,  principally  on  ac 
count  of  the  known  aversion  he  bore  that 
tyrant.  The  war,  however,  did  not  then 
continue  long ;  for  Sosistratus  and  the  exiles 
were  quickly  received  again  into  the  city, 
and  peace  was  concluded  with  Carthage. 
The  people  of  Syracuse,  however,  finding 
that  Agathocles  wanted  to  make  himself  ab 
solute,  exacted  an  oath  from  him  that  he 
would  do  nothing  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
democracy.  But  notwithstanding  this  oath, 
Agathocles  pursued  his  purpose,  and,  by  a 
general  massacre  of  the  principal  citizens  of 
Syracuse,  raised  himself  to  the  throne.  For 
s:>me  time  he  was  obliged  to  keep  the  peace 
he  had  concluded  with  Carthage ;  but  at 
last,  finding  his  authority  established,  and  his 
subject  B  ready  to  second  his  ambitious  de 
signs,  he  paid  no  regard  to  treaties,  and  im 
mediately  made  war  on  the  neighboring 
states,  which  he  had  expressly  agreed  not  to 
do,  after  which  he  carried  his  arms  into  the 
very  heart  of  the  island.  In  these  expedi 
tions  he  was  attended  with  such  success,  that 
in  two  years  he  brought  into  subjection  all 
the  Greek  part  of  Sicily ;  and  when  this  was 
accomplished,  he  committed  great  devasta 
tions  in  the  Carthaginian  territories,  their 
general  Hamilcar  not  offering  to  give  him 
the  least  disturbance.  Conduct  so  perfidious 
greatly  incensed  the  people  of  those  districts 
against  Hamilcar,  whom  they  accused  before 
the  senate.  He  died,  however,  in  Sicily, 
and  Hamilcar  the  son  of  Gisco  was  appoint 
ed  to  succeed  him  in  the  command  of  the 
forces.  The  last  place  which  held  out  against 
Agathocles  was  Messana,  whither  all  the 
Syracusan  exiles  had  retired.  But  Pasiphi- 
lus,  Agathocles's  general  found  means  to 
cajole  the  inhabitants  into  a  treaty,  which 
Agathocles,  according  to  custom,  paid  no 
regard  to ;  and  as  soon  as  he  got  possession 


of  the  town  he  cut  ofl  all  rhose  who  had  op 
posed  his  government ;  for,  as  he  intended 
to  prosecute  the  war  with  the  utmost  vigor 
against  Carthage,  he  thought  it  a  point  of 
good  policy  to  destroy  as  many  of  his  Sieiliur 
enemies  as  possible. 

In  the  meantime  the  Carthaginians  having 
landed  a  powerful  army  in  Sicily,  an  en 
gagement  soon  ensued,  in  which  Agathocles 
was  defeated  with  a  loss  of  7000  men.  After 
this  defeat  he  was  obliged  to  shut  himself 
up  in  Syracuse,  which  the  Carthaginians  im 
mediately  invested,  and  most  of  the  Greek 
states  in  the  island  submitted  to  them. 

Agathocles,  seeing  himself  stripped  of  al 
most  all  his  dominions,  and  his  capital  itself 
in  danger  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  formed  a  design,  which,  were  it  not 
attested  by  writers  of  undoubted  authority, 
would  seem  absolutely  incredible.  This  was 
no  less  than  to  transfer  the  war  into  Africa, 
and  lay  siege  to  the  enemy's  capital,  it  a 
time  when  he  himself  was  besieged,  arid  oulj 
one  city  left  to  Um  in  all  Sicily.  Before  he 
departed,  however,  heiradeall  the  necessary 
preparations  for  the  defence  of  the  place,  and 
appointed  his  brother  Antandrus  governor. 
He  also  gave  permission  to  all  who  were  not 
willing  to  encounter  the  fatigues  of  a  siege 
to  retire  out  of  the  city.  Many  of  the  prin 
cipal  citizens  accepted  of  this  offer ;  but  they 
had  no  sooner  got  out  of  the  place  than  they 
were  cut  off  by  parties  posted  on  the  road 
for  that  purpose.  Having  seized  upon  their 
estates,  Agathocles  raised  a  considerable 
sum,  which  was  intended  in  some  measure  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  expedition.  He 
carried  with  him,  however,  only  fifty  talenta 
to  supply  his  present  wants,  being  well  as 
sured  that  he  should  find  in  the  enemy's 
country  whatever  was  necessary  for  his  sub 
sistence.  As  the  Carthaginians  had  a  much 
superior  fleet,  they  for  some  time  kept  the 
mout^i  of  the  harbor  blocked  up ;  but  at  last 
a  fair  opportunity  offered,  and  Agathocles 
weighing  anchor,  soon  got  clear  of  both  the 
port  and  city  of  Syracuse.  The  Carthagi 
nians  pursued  him  with  all  expedition ;  but 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


323 


notwithstanding  their  utmost  efforts,  Agatho- 
cles  kept  ahead,  and  landed  his  troops  with 
very  little  opposition. 

Soon  after  his  forces  had  disembarked, 
Agathocles  burnt  his  fleet,  in  order  that  his 
soldiers  might  behave  with  the  greater  reso 
lution,  when  they  saw  ah1  possibility  of  retreat 
cut  off.  lie  first  advanced  to  a  place  called 
the  Great  City,  which,  after  a  feeble  resist 
ance,  he  took  and  plundered.  He  then 
marched  to  Tunis,  which  surrendered  on  the 
first  summons ;  and  Agathocles  leveled  both 
places  with  the  ground. 

The  Carthaginians  were  at  first  thrown 
into  the  greatest  consternation.  But,  soon 
recovering  themselves,  the  citizens  took  up 
arms  with  so  much  alacrity,  that  in  a  short 
time  they  raised  an  army  of  40,000  foot  and 
1000  horse,  with  2000  armed  chariots,  and 
intrusted  the  command  to  Hanno  and  Ha- 
milcar,  two  generals  between  whom  there 
subsisted  a  great  animosity.  But  this  dis 
union  occasioned  the  defeat  of  their  whole 
army,  with  the  loss  of  their  camp,  although 
the  force  of  Agathocles  did  not  exceed  14,- 
000  men.  Among  the  rich  spoils  the  con 
queror  found  many  chariots  of  curious  work 
manship,  which  carried  20,000  pairs  of  fet 
ters  and  manacles  which  the  enemy  had  pro 
vided  for  their  expected  prisoners.  After 
this  defeat,  the  Carthaginians,  supposing 
themselves  to  have  fallen  under  the  displeas 
ure  of  their  deities  on  account  of  their  ne 
glecting  to  offer  in  sacrifice  children  of  noble 
families,  resolved  to  expiate  this  guilt.  Ac 
cordingly  two  hundred  children  of  the  first 
rank  were  sacrificed  to  their  gods,  besides 
three  hundred  other  persons  who  voluntarily 
offered  themselves  to  pacify  the  wrath  of 
these  sanguinary  deities. 

After  these  expiations  Ilamilcar  was  re 
called  from  Sicily.  "When  the  messengers 
arrived,  Ilamilcar  commanded  them  not  once 
to  mention  the  victory  of  Agathocles ;  but, 
on  the  conn  ary,  to  give  out  among  the  troops 
that  he  had  been  entirely  defeated,  his  forces 
cut  off,  ard  his  fleet  destroyed  by  the  Cartha 
ginians.  This  threw  the  Syracusans  into 


the  utmost  despair;  however,  one  Eiiryra- 
non,  an  Etolian,  prevailed  upon  Antandrus 
not  to  consent  to  a  capitulation,  but  to  stand 
a  general  assault.  Ilamilcar,  informed  of 
this,  prepared  his  battering  engines,  and 
made  all  the  necessary  preparations  foi 
storming  the  town  without  delay.  But  while 
matters  were  in  this  situation,  a  galley,  which 
Agathocles  had  caused  to  be  built  imme 
diately  after  the  battle,  got  into  the  harbor  of 
Syracuse,  and  informed  the  inhabitants  of 
the  victory  which  he  had  obtained.  Ilamil 
car,  observing  that  the  garrison  flocked  down 
to  the  port  on  this  occasion,  and  expecting 
to  find  the  walls  unguarded,  ordered  his  sol 
diers  to  erect  scaling  ladders,  and  begin  the 
intended  assault.  The  enemy  having  left  the 
ramparts  quite  exposed,  the  Carthaginians 
mounted  them  without  being  discovered,  and 
had  almost  possessed  themselves  of  a  portion 
situated  between  two  towers,  when  the  pa 
trol  discovered  them.  Upon  this  a  warn) 
contest  ensued ;  and  at  last  the  Carthagin 
ians  were  repulsed  with  loss.  Ilamilcar, 
therefore,  finding  it  in  vain  to  continue  the 
siege  after  such  glad  tidii:gs  had  revived  the 
spirits  of  the  Syracusans,  drew  off  his  forces, 
and  sent  a  detachment  of  5000  men  to  rein 
force  the  troops  in  Africa.  He  still,  how 
ever,  entertained  hopes  that  he  might  oblige 
Agathocles  to  quit  Africa,  and  return  to  the 
defence  of  his  own  dominions.  With  this 
view  he  spent  some  time  in  making  himself 
master  of  such  cities  as  had  sided  with  the 
Syracusans ;  and,  after  having  brought  all 
their  allies  under  subjection,  he  returned 
again  to  Syracuse,  hoping  to  surprise  it  in  a 
night  attack.  But  being  attacked  while  ad 
vancing  through  narrow  passes,  where  his 
numerous  army  had  not  room  to  act,  he  was 
defeated  with  great  slaughter,  taken  prisoner, 
carried  into  Syracuse,  and  put  to  death. 

In  the  meantime  the  Agrigent'nes,  finding 
that  the  Carthaginians  and  Sy  icusuns  had 
greatly  weakened  each  other  by  this  wrar, 
thought  it  a  proper  opportunity  for  attempt 
ing  to  gain  the  sovereignty  of  the  whcle  is 
land.  They,  therefore,  commenced  a  wai 


824 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


against  botli  parties  ;  and  prosecuted  it  with 
such  success,  that  in  a  short  time  they  wrested 
many  places  of  consequence  out  of  the  hands 
both  of  the  Syracusans  and  Carthaginians. 

In  Africa  the  tyrant  carried  every  thing 
before  him.  He  reduced  most  of  the  places 
of  any  importance  in  the  territory  of  Carth 
age  ;  and  hearing  that  Elymas  king  of  Libya 
had  declared  against  him,  he  immediately 
entered  Libya  Superior,  and  in  a  great  bat 
tle  overthrew  that  prince,  putting  to  the 
sword  a  considerable  part  of  his  troops,  and 
the  general  who  commanded  them  ;  after 
which  he  advanced  against  the  Carthaginians 
with  such  expedition,  that  he  surprised  and 
defeated  them  with  the  loss  of  two  thousand 
killed,  and  a  great  number  taken  prisoners. 
He  next  prepared  for  the  siege  of  Carthage 
itself ;  and,  with  a  view  to  this,  advanced  to 
a  post  within  five  miles  of  that  city.  On  the 
other  hand,  notwithstanding  the  great  losses 
they  had  already  sustained,  the  Carthagin 
ians  encamped  with  a  powerful  army  be 
tween  him  and  their  capital.  In  this  situa 
tion  Agathocles  received  advice  of  the  defeat 
of  the  Carthaginians  forces  before  Syracuse, 
and  also  the  head  of  Hamilcar  their  general ; 
upon  which  he  immediately  rode  up  to  the 
enemy's  camp,  and  showing  them  the  head, 
gave  them  an  account  of  the  total  destruc 
tion  of  their  army  before  Syracuse.  This 
threw  them  into  such  consternation,  that  in 
all  human  probability  Agathocles  would  have 
made  himself  master  of  Carthage,  had  not  an 
unexpected  mutiny  arisen  in  his  camp,  which 
gave  the  Carthaginians  time  to  recover  from 
their  terror. 

The  year  following  an  engagement  hap 
pened,  in  which  neither  party  gained  any 
great  advantage  ;  but  soon  afterwards,  the 
tyrant,  notwithstanding  all  his  victories,  found 
himself  unable  to  carry  on  the  war  alone  ; 
and  he,  therefore,  endeavored  to  gain  over 
to  his  interest  Ophelias,  one  of  the  captains 
cf  Alexander  the  Great.  In  this  he  succeed 
ed  perfectly ;  and  in  order  to  succor  his  new 
ally  the  more  effectually,  Ophelias  sent  to 
Athens  for  a  body  of  troops.  Having  com 


pleted  his  military  pieparntions,  Ophel  ae 
found  his  army  to  consist  of  10,000  foot  and 
600  horse,  all  regular  troops,  besides  100 
chariots,  and  a  body  of  10,000  men,  attended 
by  their  wives  and  children,  as  if  he  had 
been  going  to  plant  a  new  colony.  At  the 
head  of  these  forces  he  continued  his  march 
towards  the  position  of  Agathocles  for  eigh 
teen  days,  and  then  encamped  at  Automale, 
a  city  about  three  thousand  stadia  distant 
from  the  capital  of  his  dominions.  He  then 
advanced  through  the  Itegw  Syrtlca,  but 
found  himself  reduced  to  such  extremities, 
that  his  army  were  in  danger  of  perishing 
for  want  of  bread,  water,  and  other  provis 
ions.  They  were  also  greatly  annoyed  by 
serpents  and  wild  beasts,  with  which  that 
desert  region  abounded.  The  serpents  made 
the  greatest  havoc  among  the  troops  ;  for, 
being  of  the  same  color  as  the  earth,  and  ex 
tremely  venomous,  many  soldier?,  who  trod 
upon  them  without  seeing  them,  were  stung 
to  death.  At  last,  after  a  very  fatiguing 
march  of  two  months,  he  approached  the  po 
sition  of  Agathocles,  and  encamped  at  a 
small  distance,  to  the  no  small  terror  of  the 
Carthaginians,  who  apprehended  the  most 
fatal  consequences  from  this  junction.  Aga 
thocles  at  first  caressed  him,  and  advised 
him  to  take  all  possible  care  of  his  troops, 
who  had  undergone  so  many  fatigues,  but 
soon  afterwards  cut  him  off  by  treachery, 
and  then  by  fair  words  and  promises  per 
suaded  his  troops  to  serve  under  himself. 

Agathocles,  now  finding  himself  at  the 
head  of  a  numerous  army,  assumed  the  title 
of  king  of  Africa,  intending  soon  to  com 
plete  his  conquests  by  the  reduction  of  Carth 
age.  He  began  with  the  siege  of  Utica, 
which  was  taken  by  assault.  He  then  march 
ed  against  Hippo  Diarrhytus,  the  Biserta  of 
the  moderns,  which  was  also  taken  by  storm  ; 
and  after  this  most  of  the  people  bordering 
upon  the  sea-coasts,  and  even  those  who  in 
habited  the  inland  parts  of  the  country,  sub 
mitted  to  him.  But  in  the  midst  of  this 
career  of  success,  the  Sicilians  formed  an  as 
sociation  in  favor  of  liberty,  \vhich  obliged 


HISTORY  OF  THE    WORLD. 


325 


the  tyrant  to  return  home,  leaving  his  son 
Arehagathus  to  carry  on  the  war  in  Africa. 

Archagatlms,  after  his  father's  departure, 
gi  eatly  extended  the  African  conquests.  He 
sent  Eumachus  at  the  head  of  a  large  de 
tachment  to  invade  some  of  the  neighboring 
provinces,  whilst  he  himself,  with  the  greater 
part  of  his  army,  observed  the  motions  of  the 
Carthaginians.  Eumachus  passing  into  Nu- 
midia,  first  took  the  great  city  of  Tocas,  and 
conquered  several  of  the  Kumidian  cantons. 
Afterwards  he  besieged  and  took  Phillina, 
which  was  attended  with  the  submission  of 
the  Asphodelodians,  a  nation,  according  to 
Dioclorous,  as  black  as  the  Ethiopians.  He 
then  reduced  several  cities ;  and  being  at 
last  elated  with  his  good  fortune,  resolved 
to  penetrate  into  the  most  remote  parts  of 
Africa.  And  in  this  he  at  first  met  with 
success  ;  but  hearing  that  the  barbarous  na 
tions  were  advancing  in  a  formidable  body 
to  give  him  battle,  he  abandoned  his  con 
quests,  and  retreated  with  the  utmost  pre 
cipitation  towards  the  sea-coast,  after  having 
lost  a  great  number  of  men. 

This  unfortunate  expedition  produced  a 
great  revolution  in  the  affairs  of  Archaga 
thus.  The  Carthaginians,  informed  of  Eu 
machus'  bad  success,  resolved  to  exert  them 
selves  in  order  to  repair  their  former  losses, 
and  divided  their  forces  into  three  bodies ; 
one  of  these  they  sent  to  the  sea-coast,  to 
keep  the  towns  there  in  awe  ;  another  they 
dispatched  into  the  Mediterranean  parts,  to 
preserve  the  allegiance  of  the  inhabitants 
there ;  and  the  last  body  they  ordered  to 
Upper  Africa,  in  order  to  support  their  con 
federates  in  that  country.  Apprised  of  the 
motions  of  the  Carthaginians,  Archagatlms 
likewise  divided  his  forces  into  three  bodies. 
One  of  these  he  sent  to  observe  the  Cartha 
ginian  troops  on  the  sea-coast,  with  orders 
to  a  Ivance  afterwards  into  Upper  Africa ; 
another,  under  the  command  of  ^Eschrion, 
one  of  his  generals,  he  posted  at  a  proper 
distance  in  the  heart  of  the  country,  to  ob- 
eer'e  both  the  enemy  there  and  the  barbar 
ous  nations  ;  and  with  the  last,  which  he  led 


in  person,  he  kept  near  Carthage,  preserving 
a  communication  with  the  other  two,  in  order 
to  send  them  succors  or  recall  them,  as  tho 
exigency  of  affairs  might  require.  The  Car 
thaginian  troops  sent  into  the  heart  of  tho 
country  were  commanded  by  Hanno,  a  gen 
eral  of  great  experience,  who,  being  informed 
of  the  approach  of  ^Eschrion,  laid  an  ambus 
cade  for  him,  i;ito  which  he  was  drawn,  and 
cut  oif  with  4000  foot  and  200  horse.  Ilimil- 
co,  who  commanded  the  Carthaginian  forces 
in  Upper  Africa,  having  received  advice  of 
Eumachus's  march,  immediately  advanced 
against  him  ;  and  an  engagement  ensued,  in 
which  the  Greeks  were  almost  totally  cut  off. 
or  perished  with  thirst  after  the  battle  ;  for 
out  of  8000  foot  only  thirty,  and  of  800  horse 
only  forty,  had  the  good  fortune  to  make 
their  escape. 

Archagathus  having  received  the  melan 
choly  news  of  these  two  defeats,  immedi 
ately  called  in  the  detachments  he  had  sent 
out  to  harass  the  enemy,  which  w^ould  other 
wise  have  been  instantly  cut  off.  He  was 
however,  in  a  short  time  hemmed  in  on  aL 
sides,  reduced  to  the  last  extremity  for  want 
of  provisions,  and  ready  every  moment  to  be 
swallowed  up  by  the  numerous  forces  which 
surrounded  him.  In  this  deplorable  situa 
tion  Agathocles  received  an  express  from 
Archagathus,  acquainting  him  of  the  losses 
which  the  latter  had  sustained,  and  the  scar 
city  of  provisions  he  labored  under.  Upon 
this  the  tyrant,  leaving  the  care  of  the  Sici 
lian  war  to  one  Leptines,  got  out  of  the  har 
bor,  by  a  stratagem,  eighteen  Etruscan  ships 
which  came  to  his  assistance  ;  and  then  en 
gaging  the  Carthaginian  squadron  which  lay 
in  its  neighborhood,  took  five  of  their  ships, 
and  made  all  their  men  prisoners.  In  this 
way  he  became  master  of  the  port,  and  ?e 
cured  a  passage  into  it  for  the  merchants  c  f 
all  nations,  who  soon  restored  plenty  where 
the  famine  had  before  begun  to  make  great 
havoc.  Supplying  himself,  therefore,  with  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  necessaries  for  the  voy 
age  which  he  was  about  to  undertake,  he 
immediately  set  sail  for  Africa. 


326 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Upon  his  arrival  in  that  country,  Agatho 
cles  reviewed  his  forces,  and  found  them  to 
consist  of  6000  Greeks,  and  as  many  Sam- 
nitcs,  Celtes  and  Etruscans,  besides  10,000 
Africans  and  1500  horse.  As  he  found  his 
troops  in  a  state  hording  on  despair,  he 
thought  this  a  proper  time  for  offering  the 
enemy  hattle.  The  Carthaginians,  however, 
did  not  think  proper  to  accept  the  challenge, 
especially  as,  by  keeping  close  in  their  camp, 
where  they  had  plenty  of  every  thing,  they 
could  starve  the  Greeks  into  a  surrender 
w  ithout  striking  a  blow.  Upon  this,  Agatho- 
cles  attacked  the  Carthaginian  camp  with 
great  bravery,  made  a  considerable  impres 
sion  upon  it,  and  might  perhaps  have  car 
ried  it,  had  not  his  mercenaries  deserted 
him  almost  at  the  first  onset.  By  this  piece  of 
cowardice  he  was  forced  to  retire  with  pre 
cipitation  to  his  camp,  whither  the  Cartha 
ginians  pursued  him  very  closely,  doing 
great  execution  in  the  pursuit. 

The  next  night,  the  Carthaginians  sacri 
ficed  all  the  prisoners  of  distinction,  as  a 
grateful  acknowledgment  to  their  gods  for 
the  victory  they  had  gained.  "Whilst  they 
were  employed  in  this  inhuman  work,  the 
wind,  suddenly  rising,  carried  the  flames  to 
the  sacred  tabernacle  near  the  altar,  which 
was  entirely  consumed,  together  with  the 
general's  tent,  and  those  of  the  principal 
officers  adjoining  to  it.  A  dreadful  alarm 
was  raised  throughout  the  whole  camp,  which 
was  heightened  by  the  great  progress  of  the 
fire;  for  as  the  soldiers'  tents  consisted  of 
very  combustible  materials,  and  the  wind 
blew  in  a  most  violent  manner,  the  whole 
camp  was  almost  entirely  reduced  to  ashes ; 
and  many  of  the  soldiers,  endeavoring  to 
carry  off  their  arms  and  the  rich  baggage  of 
their  officers,  perished  in  the  flames.  Some 
of  those  who  made  their  escape  met  with  a 
fate  equally  unhappy ;  for  after  the  repulse 
of  Agathocles  the  Africans  deserted  him,  and 
were  at  that  instant  coming  over  in  a  body 
to  the  Carthaginians.  But  these  the  persons 
who  were  flying  from  the  flames  took  to  be 
the  whole  Sjracusan  army  advancing  in 


order  of  battle  to  attack  their  camp ;  upon 
which  a  dreadful  confusion  ensued,  some 
taking  to  their  heels,  while  others  fell  down 
in  heaps  one  upon  another,  and  many  en 
gaged  their  comrades,  mistaking  them  for 
the  enemy.  Five  thousand  men  lost  their 
lives  in  this  tumult,  and  the  rest  thought 
proper  to  take  refuge  within  the  walls  of 
Carthage ;  nor  could  the  appearance  of  day 
light  for  some  time  dissipate  their  apprel ten 
sions.  In  the  meantime  the  African  desert 
ers  observing  the  great  confusion  among  the 
Carthaginians,  and  not  knowing  the  mean 
ing  of  it,  were  so  terrified,  that  they  thought 
proper  to  return  to  the  place  from  which 
they  had  come.  The  Syracusans,  seeing  a 
body  of  troops  advancing  towards  them  in 
good  order,  concluded  that  the  enemy  were 
marching  to  attack  them,  and  therefore  im 
mediately  cried  out,  "  To  arms  !"  while  the 
flames  ascending  from  the  Carthaginian  camp 
into  the  air,  and  the  lamentable  outcries  pro 
ceeding  thence,  confirmed  them  in  this  opin 
ion,  and  greatly  heightened  their  confusion. 
The  consequence  was  much  the  same  as  in 
the  Carthaginian  camp  ;  for,  coming  to  bio  ^ 
with  one  another  instead  of  the  enemy,  they 
scarcely  recovered  their  senses  upon  the  re 
turn  of  light ;  and  the  intestine  tumult  prov 
ed  so  bloody  that  it  cost  Agathocles  foui 
thousand  men. 

This  last  disaster  so  disheartened  the  ty 
rant,  that  he  immediately  set  about  contriv 
ing  means  for  making  his  escape  privately, 
which  he  at  last  effected,  though  with  great 
difficulty.  After  his  departure  his  two  sons 
were  immediately  put  to  death  by  the  sol 
diers,  who,  choosing  a  leader  from  among 
themselves,  made  peace  with  the  Carthagin 
ians  upon  the  conditions  that  the  Greeks 
should  deliver  up  all  the  places  wrhich  they 
held  in  Africa,  on  receiving  from  them  three 
hundred  talents ;  that  such  of  them  as  were 
willing  to  serve  in  the  Carthaginian  array 
should  bo  kindly  treated  and  receive  the 
usual  pay  ;  and  that  the  rest  should  be  trans 
ported  to  Sicily,  and  have  the  city  of  Selinua 
allotted  for  their  habitation. 


HISTOEY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


817 


From  this  time  till  the  commencement  of 
their  first  "war  with  the  Romans,  we  find 
nothing  remarkable  in  the  history  of  the 
Carthaginians.  The  first  Prussic  "War,  as  it 
is  commonly  called,  began  about  255  B.C. 
The  details  of  its  origin  and  progress  will  be 
found  in  the  history  of  Rome. 

The  Carthaginians  were  no  sooner  freed 
from  this  sanguinary  and  expensive  war  than 
they  found  themselves  engaged  in  another 
of  the  most  dangerous  kind.  It  is  called  by 
ancient  historians  the  Libyan  War,  or  the 
War  with  the  Mercenaries.  The  principal 
cause  of  this  war  may  be  shortly  stated. 
When  Hamilcar  returned  to  Carthage,  he 
found  the  republic  so  much  impoverished, 
that,  far  from  being  able  to  give  these  troops 
the  largesses  and  rewards  promised  them,  it 
could  not  pay  them  their  arrears.  He  had 
committed  the  care  of  transporting  them  to 
one  Gisco,  an  officer  of  great  penetration, 
who,  as  if  he  had  foreseen  what  would  happen, 
did  not  ship  them  off  all  at  once,  but  in  small 
and  separate  parties,  in  order  that  those  who 
landed  first  might  be  paid  off  and  sent  home 
before  the  arrival  of  the  rest.  The  Cartha 
ginians,  however,  did  not  act  with  the  same 
prudence  as  Gisco.  As  the  state  was  almost 
entirely  exhausted  by  the  late  war,  and  the 
immense  sum  of  money  paid  to  the  Romans 
in  consequence  of  the  peace,  they  judged  it 
proper  to  endeavor  to  save  something  to  the 
public,  and  with  this  view  they  did  not  pay 
off  the  mercenaries  as  they  arrived,  thinking 
it  better  to  wait  till  they  had  all  arrived,  in 
the  hope  of  obtaining  some  remission  of  their 
arrears.  But,  being  soon  made  sensible  of 
their  error,  by  the  frequent  disorders  of 
which  these  barbarians  were  guilty  in  the 
city,  they  with  some  difficulty  prevailed  on 
the  officers  to  take  up  their  quarters  at  Sicca, 
and  canton  their  troops  in  that  neighborhood. 
To  induce  them  to  do  so,  however,  they  gave 
ihem  a  sum  of  money  for  their  present  sub 
sistence,  and  promised  to  comply  with  their 
demands  when  the  remainder  of  the  troops 
should  have  arrived  from  Sicily.  But  the 
troops,  being  wholly  immersed  in  idleness, 


to  which  they  had  long  been  strangers,  a 
neglect  of  discipline  ensued,  and  of  course  a 
petulant  and  licentious  spirit  immediately 
showed  itself.  They  were  now  determined 
not  to  acquiesce  in  receiving  their  bare  nay, 
but  to  insist  upon  the  rewards  which  Hamil-, 
car  had  promised  them,  and  even  to  compel 
the  state  of  Carthage  by  force  of  arms  to 
comply  with  their  demands.  The  senate  be 
ing  informed  of  the  mutinous  disposition  of 
the  soldiery,  dispatched  Hanno,  one  of  the 
sufFetes,  to  pacify  them.  Upon  his  arrival  at 
Sicca,  he  expatiated  largely  on  the  poverty 
of  the  state,  and  the  heavy  taxes  with  which 
the  citizens  of  Carthage  were  loaded ;  and, 
instead  of  answering  their  extravagant  ex 
pectations,  he  desired  them  to  be  satisfied 
with  receiving  part  of  their  pay,  and  to  re 
mit  the  remainder  in  consideration  of  the 
pressing  exigencies  of  the  republic.  But  the 
mercenaries,  highly  provoked  that  neither 
Hamilcar  nor  any  other  of  the  principal  offi 
cers  who  commanded  them  in  Sicily,  and 
who  were  the  best  judges  of  their  meril, 
made  their  appearance  on  this  occasion,  but 
only  Ilanno,  a  person  utterly  unknown,  and 
above  all  others  disagreeable  to  them,  im 
mediately  had  recourse  to  arms ;  and  assem 
bling  in  a  bodv,  to  the  number  of  20,000. 

o  «/  /  /  t 

they  advanced  to  Tunis,  and  immediately  en 
camped  before  that  city. 

The  Carthaginians,  being  greatly  alarmed 
at  the  approach  of  so  formidable  a  body  to 
Tunis,  made  large  concessions  to  the  merce 
naries,  in  order  to  bring  them  back  to  their 
duty ;  but,  far  from  being  softened,  the  lat 
ter  grew  more  insolent  upon  these  conces 
sions,  considering  them  as  the  effects  of  fear, 
and  therefore  became  altogether  averse  to 
thoughts  of  accommodation.  Making  a  vir 
tue  of  necessity,  the  Carthaginians  showed  a 
disposition  to  satisfy  them  in  all  points,  apt) 
agreed  to  refer  the  points  at  issue  to  the 
opinion  of  some  general  in  Sicily,  as  they  liad 
all  along  desired,  leaving  the  choice  of  such 
commander  entirely  to  the  soldiery  them 
selves.  Gisco  was  accordingly  pitched  upon 
to  mediate  this  affair,  the  mercenaries  believ 


328 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


ing  Ilamilcar  to  Lave  been  a  principal  cause 
of  the  ill  treatment  they  had  met  with,  since 
lie  never  appeared  amongst  them,  and  ac 
cording  to  the  general  opinion,  had  voluntarily 
resigned  his  commission.  Gisco  soon  arrived 
at  Tunis  with  money  to  pay  the  troops ;  and, 
after  conferring  with  the  officers  of  the  seve 
ral  nations  apart,  he  harangued  them  in 
such  a  manner,  that  a  treaty  was  upon  the 
point  of  being  concluded,  when  Spendius 
and  Matlios,  two  of  the  principal  mutineers, 
occasioned  a  tumult  in  every  part  of  the 
camp.  Spendius  was  by  nation  a  Cam- 
panian,  and  had  been  a  slave  at  Home, 
whence  he  fled  to  the  Carthaginians.  The 
apprehensions  lie  entertained  of  being  de 
livered  up  to  his  old  master,  by  whom  he  was 
sure  to  be  hanged  or  crucified,  prompted 
him  to  break  oif  the  accommodation.  Ma- 
thos  was  an  African,  and  free  born ;  but  as 
he  had  been  active  in  raising  the  rebellion, 
and  was  well  acquainted  with  the  implacable 
disposition  of  the  Carthaginians,  he  knew 
that  a  peace  must  infallibly  prove  his  ruin. 
He  therefore  joined  writh  Spendius,  and  in 
sinuated  to  the  Africans  the  danger  of  con 
cluding  at  that  juncture  a  treaty,  which  could 
not  but  leave  them  exposed  singly  to  the 
rage  of  the  Carthaginians.  This  so  incensed 
the  Africans,  who  were  much  more  numer 
ous  than  the  troops  of  any  other  nation,  that 
they  immediately  assembled  in  a  tumultuous 
manner,  and  the  foreigners  soon  joined  them, 
being  inspired  by  Spendius  with  an  equal 
degree  of  fury.  Nothing  was  now  to  be 
heard  but  the  most  lion-id  oaths  and  impre 
cations  against  Gisco  and  the  Carthaginians. 
Whoever  offered  to  make  any  remonstrance, 
or  lend  an  ear  to  temperate  counsels,  was 
stoned  to  death  by  the  enraged  multitude ; 
and  many  persons  lost  their  lives  for  attempt 
ing  to  speak,  before  it  could  be  known 
whether  they  were  in  the  interest  of  Spendi 
us  or  of  the  Carthaginians. 

In  the  midst  of  these  commotions  Gisco 
behaved  with  great  firmness  and  intrepidity, 
and  felt  no  methods  untried  to  soften  the 
officers  and  calm  the  minds  of  the  soldiery ; 


but  the  torrent  of  sedition  was  now  so  strcng, 
that  there  was  no  possibility  of  keeping  it 
within  bounds.  They  therefore  seized  upon 
the  military  chest,  dividing  the  monej 
among  themselves  as  part  payment  of  thcii 
arrears;  put  the  person  of  Gisco  under  a1! 
arrest ;  and  treated  him,  as  well  as  his  at 
tendants,  with  the  utmost  indignity.  Ma- 
thos  and  Spendius,  in  order  to  destroy  all 
hopes  of  an  accommodation  with  Carthage, 
applauded  the  courage  and  resolution  of 
their  men,  loaded  the  unhappy  Gisco  anO 
his  followers  with  irons,  and  formally  de 
clared  wrar  against  the  Carthaginians.  The 
cities  of  Africa  to  which  deputies  had  been 
sent  to  exhort  them  to  recover  their  liberty 
soon  came  over  to  them,  except  Utica  and 
Hippo  Diarrhytus.  And  the  army  being 
thus  greatly  increased,  they  divided  it  into 
two  parts,  with  one  of  which  they  moved  to 
wards  Utica,  whilst  the  other  marched  to 
Hippo,  in  order  that  both  places  might  be 
simultaneously  besieged.  The  Carthaginians, 
in  the  mean  time,  found  themselves  ready  te 
sink  under  the  pressure  of  their  misfortunes. 
After  they  had  been  harassed  twenty-four 
years  by  a  most  cruel  and  destructive  foreign 
war,  they  entertained  some  hopes  of  enjoy 
ing  repose.  The  citizens  of  Carthage  drew 
their  individual  subsistence  from  the  rents 
or  revenues  of  their  lands,  and  the  public 
expenses  from  the  tribute  paid  by  Africa ; 
all  which  they  were  not  only  deprived  of  at 
once,  but,  what  was  worse,  had  it  directly 
turned  against  them.  They  wore  destitute 
of  arms  and  forces  either  by  sea  or  land,  and 
had  made  no  preparations  for  sustaining  a 
siege,  or  the  equipping  of  a  fleet.  They 
suffered  all  the  calamities  incident  to  the 
most  ruinous  civil  war ;  and,  to  complete 
their-  misery,  had  not  the  least  prospect  of 
receiving  assistance  from  any  foreign  friend 
or  ally.  Notwithstanding  their  deplorable 
situation,  however,  they  did  not  despair,  but 
pursued  all  the  measures  necessary  to  put 
themselves  in  a  suitable  posture  of  defence. 
Ilanno  was  dispatched  to  the  relief  of 
Utica  with  a  consideral  le  body  of  forces, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


329 


100  elephants,  and  a  large  train  of  battering 
engines.  Having  reconnoitred  the  enemy, 
lie  immediately  attacked  their  intrenchments, 
and,  after  an  obstinate  contest,  forced  them. 
The  mercenaries  lost  a  vast  number  of  men, 
and  consequently  the  advantages  gained  by 
Hanno  were  so  great,  that  they  might  have 
proved  decisive  had  he  made  a  proper  use 
of  them ;  but  victory  having  rendered  him 
too  confident,  and  his  troops  neglecting  their 
duty,  the  mercenaries  rallied  their  forces,  fell 
upon  him,  cut  off  many  of  his  men,  forced 
the  rest  to  fly  into  the  town,  retook  and 
plundered  the  camp,  and  seized  all  the  pro 
visions  and  military  stores  brought  to  the  re 
lief  of  the  besieged.  Nor  was  this  the  only 
instance  of  Hanno' s  military  incapacity. 
Notwithstanding  he  lay  encamped  in  the 
most  advantageous  manner,  near  the  town 
called  Gorza,  where  he  twice  overthrew  the 
enemy,  and  had  it  in  liis  power  to  ruin  them 
totally,  he  yet  neglected  to  improve  these 
advantages,  and  even  suffered  the  mercena 
ries  to  possess  themselves  of  the  isthmus 
which  joined  to  the  continent  of  Africa  the 
peninsula  on  which  Carthage  stood. 

These  repeated  mistakes  induced  the 
Carthaginians  once  more  to  place  Hamilcar 
Barcas  at  the  head  of  their  forces.  This 
commander  marched  against  the  enemy  Avith 
10,000  men,  horse  and  foot,  being  all  the 
troops  the  Carthaginians  could  then  assemble 
for  their  defence ;  a  proof  of  the  very  low 
state  to  which  they  had  at  that  time  been 
reduced.  As  Mathos,  after  the  occupation 
of  the  isthmus,  had  posted  proper  detach 
ments  in  the  passes  of  two  hills  facing  the 
continent,  and  guarded  the  bridge  over  the 
Bagrada,  which  through  Hanno's  neglect  he 
had  taken,  Hamilcar  saw  little  probability 
of  engaging  him  upon  equal  terms,  or  indeed 
of  even  getting  at  him.  Observing,  how 
ever,  that  on  the  blowing  of  certain  winds 
the  mouth  of  the  river  was  choked  up  with 
Band,  so  as  to  become  passable,  though  with 
no  small  difficulty,  while  these  winds  con 
tinued,  he  halted  at  the  river's  mouth,  with 
out  communicating  his  design  to  any  person. 
42 


As  soon  as  the  wind  favored  his  project,  he 
crossed  the  river  privately  by  night,  and  im 
mediately  after  his  passage  drew  up  the 
troops  in  order  of  battle ;  and  advancing 
into  the  plain,  where  his  elephants  were 
capable  of  acting,  moved  towards  Mathos, 
wTho  way  posted  at  the  village  near  the 
bridge.  This  daring  action  greatly  surprised 
and  intimidated  the  Africans.  However, 
Spendius,  receiving  intelligence  of  the 
enemy's  motions,  drew  a  body  of  10,000  men 
out  of  Mathos'  camp,  with  which  he  attended 
Hamilcar  on  one  side,  and  ordered  15,000 
from  Utica  to  observe  him  on  the  other; 
thinking  bv  this  means  to  surround  the  Car- 

o       •/ 

thaginians,  and  cut  them  off  at  one  stroke. 
But  by  feigning  a  retreat,  Hamilcar  found 
means  to  engage  them  at  a  disadvantage, 
and  gave  them  a  total  overthrow,  with  the 
loss  of  6000  killed  and  2000  taken  prisoners, 
while  the  rest  fled,  some  to  the  town  at  the 
bridge,  and  others  to  the  camp  at  Utica. 
He  did  not  give  them  time  to  recover  from 
their  defeat,  but  pursued  them  to  the  town 
near  the  bridge  before  mentioned,  which  he 
entered  without  opposition,  the  mercenaries 
flying  in  great  confusion  to  Tunis ;  and  upon 
this  many  towns  submitted  of  their  own  ac 
cord  to  the  Carthaginians,  whilst  others  were 
reduced  to  subjection  by  force  of  arms. 

Notwithstanding  these  disasters,  Mathos 
pushed  on  the  siege  of  Hippo  with  great 
vigor,  and  appointed  Spendius  and  Austari- 
tus,  commanders  of  the  Gauls,  with  a  strong 
body,  to  observe  the  motions  of  Hamilcar. 
These  commanders,  therefore,  at  the  head 
of  a  choice  detachment  of  6000  men  drawn 
out  of  the  camp  at  Tunis,  and  2000  Gallic 
horse,  attended  the  Carthaginian  general, 
approaching  him  as  near  as  they  could  with 
safety,  and  keeping  close  to  the  skirts  of  the 
mountains.  At  last  Spendius  having  re 
ceived  a  strong  reinforcement  of  Africans 
and  Numidians,  and  occupied  all  the  heights 
surrounding  the  plain  in  which  Hamilcar  lay 
encamped,  resolved  not  to  let  slip  so  favor 
able  an  opportunity  of  attacking  him.  Had 
a  battle  now  ensued,  Hamilcar  and  his  army 


330 


must  in  all  probability  have  been  cut  off; 
but,  by  the  desertion  of  one  Naravasns,  a 
young  Numidian  nobleman,  with  2000  men, 
lie  found  himself  enabled  to  offer  his  enemies 
battle.  The  fight  was  obstinate  and  bloody ; 
but  at  last  the  mercenaries  were  entirely 
overthrown,  with  the  loss  of  10,000  men 
killed  and  4 300  taken  prisoners.  All  the 
prisoners  who  were  willing  to  enlist  in  the 
Carthaginian  service  Hamilcar  received  into 
his  army,  supplying  them  with  the  arms  of 
the  soldiers  who  had  fallen  in  the  engage 
ment  ;  and  to  the  rest  he  gave  full  liberty  to 
go  where  they  pleased,  upon  condition  that 
they  should  never  for  the  future  bear  arms 
against  the  Carthaginians ;  informing  them, 
at  the  same  time,  that  every  violator  of  this 
agreement  who  fell  into  his  hands  must  ex 
pect  no  mercy. 

Mathos  and  his  associates,  fearing  that  this 
affected  lenity  of  Hamilcar  might  occasion  a 
defection  among  the  troops,  thought  that  the 
best  expedient  would  be  to  put  them  upon 
some  action  so  execrable  in  its  own  nature 
that  no  hopes  of  reconciliation  should  remain. 
By  their  advice,  therefore,  Gisco,  and  all  the 
Carthaginian  prisoners  were  put  to  death; 
and  when  Hamilcar  sent  to  demand  the  re 
mains  of  his  countrymen,  he  received  for 
answer,  that  whoever  presumed  hereafter  to 
come  upon  that  errand,  should  meet  with 
Gisco's  fate;  after  which  they  came  to  a 
resolution  to  treat  with  the  same  barbarity 
all  Carthaginians  who  should  fall  into  their 
hands.  In  return  for  this  enormity,  Ilamil- 
car  delivered  up  all  the  prisoners  who  fell 
into  his  hands  to  be  devoured  by  wild  beasts ; 
being  convinced  that  compassion  served  only 
to  render  his  enemies  more  fierce  and  uu- 
tractable. 

The  war  was  now  carried  on  generally  to 
the  advantage  of  the  Carthaginians;  never 
theless,  the  malcontents  still  found  themselves 
in  a  capacity  to  take  the  field  with  an  army 
of  50,000  men.  They  watched  Hamilcar's 
motions.  Vat  kept  on  the  hills,  carefully 
avoiding  to  come  down  into  the  plains,  on 
account  of  the  Numidian  horse  and  Cartha- 


beino 


ginian  elephants.  But  Hamilcar, 
much  superior  in  skill  to  any  of  their  gen 
crals,  at  last  shut  them  up  in  a  post  so  situa 
ted  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  out  of  it. 
Here  he  kept  them  strictly  besieged ;  and 
the  mercenaries,  not  daring  to  venture  a 
battle,  began  to  fortify  their  c  amp,  and  sur 
round  it  with  ditches  and  intrenchments. 
But  they  were  soon  pressed  so  sorely  by 
famine,  that  they  were  obliged  to  eat  one 
another ;  yet  as  they  were  rendered  desperate 
by  the  consciousness  of  their  guilt,  they  did 
not  desire  any  terms  of  accommodation.  At 
last,  being  reduced  to  the  utmost  extremity 
of  misery,  they  insisted  that  Spendius,  Au- 
taritus,  and  Zarxas,  their  leaders,  should  in 
person  have  a  conference  with  Hamilcar,  and 
make  proposals  to  him.  Peace  was  accord 
ingly  concluded,  upon  the  conditions  that  ten 
of  the  ringleaders  of  the  malcontents  should 
be  left  entirely  to  the  mercy  of  the  Cartha 
ginians,  and  that  the  troops  should  all  be  dis 
armed,  every  man  retiring  only  in  a  single 
coat.  The  treaty  was  no  sooner  concluded 
than  Hamilcar,  by  virtue  of  the  first  article, 
seized  upon  the  negotiators  themselves ;  and 
the  army  being  informed  that  their  chiefs 
were  under  arrest,  had  immediately  recourse 
to  arms,  suspecting  they  were  betrayed ;  but 
Hamilcar,  drawing  out  his  army  in  order  of 
battle,  surrounded  them,  and  either  cut  them 
to  pieces  or  trod  them  to  death  with  his 
elephants.  The  number  of  wretches  who 
perished  on  this  occasion  amounted  to  above 
40,000. 

After  the  destruction  of  the  army,  Hamil 
car  invested  Tunis,  whither  Mathos  had  re 
tired  with  his  remaining  forces.  The  formei 
had  another  general,  named  Hannibal,  joined 
in  the  command  with  him.  Hannibal'a 
quarters  were  on  the  road  leading  to  Car 
thage,  and  Hamilcar's  on  the  opposite  side. 
The  army  was  no  sooner  encamped,  than 
Hamilcar  caused  Spendius  and  the  rest  of 
the  prisoners  to  be  led  out  in  the  view  of  the 
besieged,  and  crucified  near  the  walls.  Ma 
thos,  however,  observing  that  Hannibal  did 
not  keep  so  good  \  guard  as  he  ought  to  have 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


331 


.lone,  made  a  sally,  attacked  his  quarters, 
killed  many  of  his  men,  made  several  prison 
ers,  among  whom  was  Hannibal  himself,  and 
plundered  his  camp.  Taking  down  the  body 
of  Spendius  from  the  cross,  Mathos  immedi 
ately  substituted  Hannibal  in  his  stead  ;  and 
thirty  Carthaginian  prisoners  jf  distinction 
were  crucified  around  him.  After  this  dis 
aster,  Hamilcar  decamped,  and  posted  him 
self  along  the  pea-coast,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  river  Bagrada. 

The  senate,  though  greatly  terrified  by  so 
unexpected  a  blow,  omitted  no  means  neces- 
Bary  for  their  preservation.  They  sent 
thirty  senators,  with  Hanno  at  their  head,  to 
consult  with  Hamilcar  about  the  proper 
measures  for  putting  an  end  to  this  unnatural 
war  ;  conjuring  Hanno  in  the  most  pressing 
manner  to  be  reconciled  to  Hamilcar,  and  to 
sacrifice  his  private  resentment  to  the  public 
benefit.  This  was  effected  with  some  diffi 
culty  ;  and  the  two  generals  came  to  a  full 
resolution  to  act  in  concert  for  the  good  of 
the  public.  The  senate,  at  the  same  time, 
ordered  ah1  the  youth  capable  of  bearing 
arms  to  be  pressed  into  the  service ;  and  by 
these  means  a  strong  reinforcement  being 
sent  to  Hamilcar,  he  soon  found  himself  in  a 
condition  to  act  offensively.  He  now  de 
feated  the  enemy  in  every  rencounter,  drew 
Mathos  into  frequent  ambuscades,  and  gave 
him  one  notable  overthrow  near  Leptis. 
This  reduced  the  rebels  to  the  necessity  of 
hazarding  a  decisive  battle,  which  proved 
fatal  to  them.  The  mercenaries  fled  almost 
at  the  first  onset,  and  most  of  their  army  fell 
either  in  the  field  of  battle  or  in  the  pursuit. 
IMatlios,  with  a  few,  escaped  to  a  neighboring 
town,  where  he  was  taken  alive,  carried  to 
Carthage,  and  executed;  and  then,  by  the 
reduction  of  the  revolted  cities,  an  end  was 
put  to  this  war,  which,  from  the  excesses  of 
cruelty  committed  in  it,  went  amono-  the 
Greeks  by  the  name  of  the  inexpiable  war. 

During  the  Libyan  war,  the  Romans,  upon 
some  absurd  pretences,  wrested  from  the 
Carthaginians  the  island  of  Sardinia;  and 
the  latter,  not  being  able  to  resist,  were 


obliged  to  submit  to  the  loss.  Hamilcai, 
finding  his  country  not  in  a  condition  to  enter 
into  an  immediate  war  with  Rome,  formed  a 
scheme  to  put  it  on  a  level  with  the  haughty 
republic.  This  was  by  making  an  entire 
conquest  of  Spain,  by  which  means  the  Car 
thaginians  might  have  troops  capable  of  con 
tending  with  the  Romans.  In  order  tc 
facilitate  the  execution  of  this  scheme,  he  in 
spired  both  his  son-in-law  Asdrubal,  and  his 
son  Hannibal,  with  an  implacable  aversion  to 
the  Romans,  as  the  great  enemies  of  his 
country's  grandeur.  And  having  completed 
all  the  necessary  preparations,  Hamilcar, 
after  greatly  enlarging  the  Carthaginian  do 
minions  in  Africa,  entered  Spain,  where  he 
commanded  nine  years,  during  which  time 
he  subdued  many  warlike  nations,  and 
amassed  an  immense  quantity  of  treasure/ 
which  he  distributed  partly  amongst  his 
troops  and  partly  amongst  the  great  men  at 
Carthage,  by  which  means  he  supported  his 
interests  with  these  two  powerful  bodies. 
At  last  he  was  killed  in  a  battle,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son-in-law  Asdrubal.  This 
general  fully  answered  the  expectations  of 
his  countrymen,  having  greatly  enlarged 
their  dominions  in  Spain,  and  built  the  city 
of  New  Carthage,  now  Carthagena.  He 
made  such  progress  in  his  conquests  that  the 
Romans  began  to  be  alarmed.  They  did  not, 
however,  choose  at  present  to  come  to  an 
open  rupture,  on  account  of  the  apprehen 
sions  which  they  entertained  of  an  invasion 
by  the  Gauls.  They  judged  it  most  proper, 
therefore,  to  have  recourse  to  milder  methods  : 
and  prevailed  upon  Asdrubal  to  conclude  a 
new  treaty  with  them,  upon  the  conditions 
that  the  Carthaginians  should  not  pass  the 
Iberus ;  and  that  the  Saguntines,  a  colony 
of  Zacynthians,  and  a  city  situated  between 
the  Iberus  and  that  part  of  Spain  subject  to 
the  Carthaginians,  as  well  as  the  other  Greek 
colonies  there,  should  enjoy  their  ancient 
rights  and  privileges. 

Asdrubal,  after  having  governed  the  Car 
thaginian  dominions  in  Spain  for  eight  years, 
was  treacherously  murdered  by  a  Gaul,  whose 


332 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


mastet  lie  had  put  to  death.  Three  years 
before  this  happened,  he  had  written  to  Car 
thage  to  desire  that  young  Hannibal,  then 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  might  be  sent  to 
him.  This  request  was  complied  with,  not 
withstanding  the  opposition  of  Hanno ;  and, 
from  the  first  arrival  of  the  young  man  in 
the  camp,  he  became  the  darling  of  the  whole 
army.  The  great  resemblance  he  bore  to  Ham- 
ilcar  rendered  him  extremely  agreeable  to  the 
troops.  He  seemed  to  possess  every  talent 
and  qualification  that  contribute  towards 
forming  a  great  commander.  After  the 
death  of  Asdrubal,  he  was  saluted  as  general 
by  the  army  with  the  highest  demonstrations 
of  joy.  lie  immediately  put  himself  in  mo 
tion  ;  and  in  the  first  campaign  conquered 
the  Olcades,  a  nation  situated  near  the  Ibe- 
rus.  The  next  year  he  subdued  the  Yacooei, 
another  nation  immediately  adjoining.  Soon 
afterwards,  the  Carprctani,  one  of  the  most 
powerful  nations  in  Spain,  declared  against 
the  Carthaginians.  Their  army  consisted  of 
100,000  men,  with  which  they  proposed  to 
attack  Hannibal  on  his  return  from  the  Yac- 
caei ;  but  by  a  stratagem  they  were  utterly 
defeated,  and  the  whole  nation  obliged  to 
submit. 

Nothing  now  remained  to  oppose  the  pro 
gress  of  the  Carthaginian  arms  but  the  city 
of  Saguntum,  the  modern  Murviedro.  Han 
nibal,  however,  for  some  time  did  not  think 
proper  to  come  to  an  open  rupture  with  the 
Romans  by  attacking  that  place.  At  last  he 
found  means  to  embroil  some  of  the  neigh 
boring  cantons,  especially  the  Turdetani,  or, 
as  Appian  calls  them,  the  Torboletce,  with 
the  Saguntines,  and  thus  furnished  himself 
with  a  pretext  for  attacking  their  city.  On 
the  commencement  of  the  siege,  the  Roman 
6enate  dispatched  two  ambassadors  to  Han 
nibal,  with  orders  to  proceed  to  Carthage  in 
case  the  general  refused  to  give  them  satis 
faction.  But  they  had  scarcely  landed,  when 
Hannibal,  who  was  carrying  on  the  siege  of 
Saguntum  with  great  vigor,  sent  them  word 
that  he  had  something  else  to  do  than  give 
audience  ta  ambassadors.  At  last,  however, 


he  admitted  them,  and  in  answer  to  thcii 
remonstrances,  told  them  that  the  Sagi^. 
tines  had  drawn  their  misfortunes  upon 
themselves,  by  committing  hostilities  against 
the  allies  of  Carthage  ;  at  the  same  time  he 
desired  the  deputies,  if  they  had  any  com 
plaints  to  make  of  him,  to  carry  them  to  the 
senate  of.  Carthage.  They  did  so,  and  OL 
their  arrival  in  that  capital,  demanded  that 
Hannibal  might  be  delivered  up  to  the  Ro 
mans,  to  be  punished  according  to  his  deserts. 
This  of  course  was  not  complied  with,  and 
war  was  immediately  declared  between  the 
two  nations. 

The  Saguntines  are  said  to  have  defended 
themselves  for  eight  months  with  incredible 
bravery.  At  last,  however,  the  city  was 
taken,  and  the  inhabitants  were  treated  with 
the  utmost  cruelty.  After  this  conquest, 
Hannibal  put  his  African  troops  into  winter 
quarters  at  New  Carthage ;  but,  in  order  to 
gain  the  affection  of  the  Spaniards,  he  per 
mitted  them  to  retire  to  their  respective 
homes. 

The  next  campaign,  having  taken  the  nec 
essary  measures  for  securing  Africa  and 
Spain,  he  passed  the  Iberus,  subdued  the 
different  nations  betwixt  that  river  and  the 
Pyrenees,  appointed  Hanno  commander  of 
all  the  new  conquered  districts,  and  imme 
diately  began  his  march  for  Italy.  The 
progress  of  this  memorable  campaign,  which 
was  at  first  so  disastrous  to  the  Romans,  but 
which  finally  resulted  in  the  ruin  of  the 
army  of  Hannibal ;  and  the  destruction  of 
Carthage  by  Scipio  Aemilianus,  are  narrated 
in  the  history  of  Rome. 

Beside  Carthage  and  Egypt,  the  other 
principal  divisions  of  the  northern  coast  cf 
Africa  were  MAURETANIA  and  NUMIDIA  to 
the  west  of  Carthage,  and  CTRENE  to  the 
east.  The  ancients  gave  the  general  name 
of  LIBYA  to  the  other  porticns  of  the  coast,  aid 
to  the  territory  lying  between  these  provinces 
and  the  great  Libyan  desert.  The  terms 
Libya  and  Ethiopia  in  ancier  geography 
are  very  vague,  and  seem  to  have  been  ap 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


333 


->Jed  to  almost  all  the  unexplored  parts  of 
Africa.  The  boundaries  of  Mauretania  and 
Numidia  are  not  very  accurately  known. 
Mauretania  lay  to  the  northwest,  on  the  At 
lantic  and  Mediterranean,  comprising  a  great 
part  of  what  is  now  Morocco  and  Fez.  Nu 
midia  joined  it  on  the  east  and  extended  to 
the  territory  of  Carthage.  The  ancient  in 
habitants  of  Mauretania  were  called  Mauri, 
from  which  the  modern  name  of  Moor  is 
derived.  Their  origin  is  uncertain.  Accord 
ing  to  Jewish  tradition,  they  were  the  off 
spring  of  Lud  the  son  of  Misraim,  whose 
descendants  are  called  Mauri  in  the  scrip 
tures.  It  is  certain  that  this  region,  as  well 
as  others  to  the  eastward  had  many  colonies 
planted  by  tne  Phoenicians.  The  earliest 
legendary  prince  of  Mauretania  mentioned 
in  history  is  Neptune,  and  next  to  him  were 
Atlas  and  Antaeus,  his  two  sons,  both  fa 
mous  in  the  Grecian  fables  on  account  of 
their  wars  \vith  Hercules.  Antaeus,  in  his 
contention  with  that  hero,  seems  to  have 
acted  with  great  bravery  and  resolution. 
Having  received  reinforcements  of  Libyan 
troops,  he  cut  off  numbers  of  Hercules'  men. 
But  that  celebrated  commander,  having  at 
last  intercepted  a  strong  force  of  Libyans 
sent  to  the  relief  of  Antaeus,  inflicted  on 
him  a  total  overthrow,  in  which  both  he  and 
the  greater  part  of  his  forces  were  put  to  the 
sword.  This  decisive  action  put  Hercules  in 
possession  of  Libya  and  Mauretania,  and 
consequently  of  the  riches  of  these  kingdoms. 
Hence  arose  the  fable  that  Hercules  finding 
that  Antaeus,  a  giant  of  enormous  size  with 
whom  he  was  engaged  in  single  combat, 
received  fresh  strength  as  often  as  he  touched 
his  mother  earth  when  thrown  upon  her,  at 
last  lifted  him  up  in  the  air,  and  squeezed  him 
to  death.  Hence,  probably,  was  the  origin 
of  the  legend  of  Hercules  taking  the  globe 
upon  his  shoulders  from  Atlas,  and  overcom 
ing  the  dragon  which  protected  the  garden 
of  the  Hesperides,  where  he  gathered  all  the 
golden  apples  which  it  produced,  by  which, 
it  is  presumed  were  symbolized  the  riches 
which  fell  into  his  hands  by  his  victory  over 


Antaeus.  With  regard  to  the  age  in  which 
Antaeus  and  Atlas  lived,  the  supposition  of 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  seems  to  be  the  most  prob 
able.  According  to  him,  Ammon  the  father 
of  Sesak,  was  the  first  king  of  Libya,  or  of 
that  vast  tract  extending  from  the  borders 
of  Egypt  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  the  conquest 
of  which  was  effected  by  Sesak  in  his  father's 
lifetime.  Neptune  afterwards  excited  the 
Libyans  to  a  rebellion  against  Sesak,  and 
slew  him,  and  then  invaded  Egypt  under  the 
command  of  Atlas  or  Antaeus,  the  son  of 
Neptune,  Sesak's  brother  and  admiral.  Not 
long  after,  Hercules  the  general  of  Thetais 
and  Ethiopia,  reduced  a  second  time  the 
whole  territory  of  Libya,  having  overthrown 
and  slain  Antaeus  near  a  town  in  Thetais, 
from  that  event  called  Antarca  or  Antasopo- 
lis.  This  is  supposed  to  have  happened 
about  1000  B.  c.  From  the  defeat  of  Antae 
us  nothing  remarkable  occurs  in  the  history 
of  Mauretania  till  the  times  of  the  Romans, 
who  brought  the  whole  country  under  their 
jurisdiction,  at  the  same  time  with  the  rest 
of  northern  Africa. 

NUMIDIA,  which  owed  its  name  to  the  cir 
cumstance  that  its  early  inhabitants  were  pas 
toral  tribes.  (Nomades.)  These  tribes,  differing 
both  in  descent  and  character,  extended  their 
wanderings  from  the  Nile  along  the  coast  as  far 
west  as  the  Fortunate  Islands.  The  limits  of  the 
country  were  therefore  for  a  long  time  very 
ill-defined.  It  was  not  until  the  time  of  the 
Punic  wars  that  the  title  of  Numidians  came 
to  be  definitely  restricted  to  the  Massoesyli 
and  the  Massyli,  who  dwelt  between  the 
River  Mulucha  on  the  West,  and  the  Cartha 
ginian  territory  on  the  East,  and  were  divided 
from  each  other  by  the  River  Ampsaga. 
These  two  tribes  were  then  athletic  and  war 
like  savages,  living  on  the  sides  of  the  moun 
tains  in  little  huts  called  magalia,  and  scour 
ing  the  plains  on  horseback  without  saddle 
or  bridle.  From  that  period,  however,  the 
character  of  the  people,  and  the  condition  01 
the  country,  began  .to  be  changed  by  foreign 
interference  and  the  events  of  war.  During 


334 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORL£. 


the  struggle  between  Hannibal  and  the  Bo- 
mans,  Syphax,  the  prince  of  the  Masssesyli, 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  former,  and  Mas- 
iriissa,  the  prince  :>f  the  Massyli,  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  latter.     Syphax  was  defeated, 
along  with  his  great  ally,  in  the  battle  of 
Zama,  B.  c.  202 ;  his  territories  were  incor 
porated  with  those  of  the  Massyli ;  all  the 
Carthaginian  district  with  the  exception  of  a 
portion  around  the  capital  city,  was  added  ; 
and   Masinissa  received   possession   of    the 
whole,  with  the  title  of  King  of  Numidia. 
It  then  became  the  aim  of  that  able  prince 
to  civilize  his  people  by  the  introduction  of 
arts  and  agriculture.     After  his  death  in  148 
B.C.,  the  same  line  of  policy  was  followed, 
with  even  more  success,  by  his  son  and  suc 
cessor  Micipsa.     But  the  commotions  that 
broke  out  in  the  ensuing  reign  marred  the 
prosperity  which  a  long  peace  had  been  fos 
tering.     Jugurtha,  the  nephew,  and  Adher- 
bal  and  Hieinpsal,  the  sons  of  Micipsa,  were 
left  joint-heirs  to  the  throne.     The  first  of 
these  princes  was  unscrupulous  and  ambit 
ious,  and  did  not  rest  until  he  had  defeated 
and  murdered  his  cousins,  and  had  seized 
the  sceptre  of  the  entire  kingdom.  This  invol 
ved  the  Numidians  in  a  contest  with  the  Ro 
mans.     After  all  the  wiles  of  intrigue  and  the 
stratagems  of  war  had  proved  unsuccessful, 
the  usurper  was  captured  and  put  to  death 
in  106  B.  c.,  and  the  crown  was  bestowed 
upon  Hiempsal  II.   But  the  disasters  of  ]STu- 
midia  were  not  yet  ended.     Juba  L,  the  son 
and  successor  of  the  last-mentioned  prince, 
espoused  the  cause  of  Pompey  during  the 
Roman  civil  war.     The  final  defeat  of  his 
party  at  the  battle  of  Thapsus,  in  46  B.C., 
left  him  exposed  to  the  vengeance  of  Caesar. 
The  desperate  state  of  his  affairs  drove  him 
to  commit  suicide ;  and  his  kingdom,  redu 
ced  into  the  form  of  a  Roman  province,  was 
placed  under  the  governorship  of  Sallust  the 
historian.     Soon  after  this  period  Numidia 
began  to  enter  upon  a  lorg  period  of  pros 
perity.     The  "jus  coloniaj "  was  conferred 
upon  its  capital,  Cirta,  and  upon  its  other 
chief  towns.      Commerce  was   diffused  by 


means  of  the  Koma'n  roads ;  peace  \vas  prc« 
served  by  me».ns  cf  the  Romac  soldiers  ;  and 
the  wild  N'-imidian  horsemen  were  thus 
transformed  in  course  of  time  into  a  commu 
nity  of  industrious  peasants.  The  gospel 
found  an  easy  entrance,  and  prospered  so 
rapidly,  that  the  country  is  said  to  have  con 
tained  in  the  fifth  century  no  fewer  than  123 
episcopal  sees.  It  was  not  until  the  invasion 
of  the  Saracens,  in  the  seventh  century,  ui». 
the  prosperity  of  Numidia,  simultaneously 
with  its  Christianity,  received  a  fatal  blow. 

CVKEATAICA,  or  PEXTAPOLIS,  on  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  lay  exactly  op 
posite  to  Givyce  in  a  southerly  direction, 
at  the  distance  of  about  2iO  miles.  It 
received  the  name  of  Cyrenaica  from  Cy- 
rene,  its  chief  city  ;  and  that  of  Penta/polu 
from  the  fact  of  its  containing  five  principal 
cities,  Berenice  or  Hesperus,  Barce,  Cyrene. 
Apollonia,  and  Arsinoe.  The  district  in 
eluded  that  portion  of  the  African  continent 
which  stretched  from  the  borders  of  Africa 
Propria,  beginning  at  the  town  of  A.ra  Phi 
lemon  on  the  west,  to  the  frontier  of  Egypt 
on  the  east.  The  breadth  of  the  district, 
measuring  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the 
confines  of  the  great  desert,  is  about  80  miles. 
On  its  southern  frontier  Cyrenaica  is  pro 
tected  from  the  scorching  winds  of  the  Sa 
hara  by  a  range  of  lofty  mountains  which  j 
descend  in  gradual  slopes  to  the  sea,  pro 
ducing  thus  within  a  small  compass  a  great 
variety  of  climate  and  temperature.  From 
this  circumstance  the  vegetable  products  of 
Cyrenaica  comprise  almost  every  species  to  j 
be  found  both  in  the  tropical  and  temperate 
zones ;  and  as  its  position  was  admirably 
adapted  for  commerce,  nothing  was  wanting 
but  an  enterprising  population  to  turn  these 
advantages  to  account,  and  make  the  coun 
try  one  of  the  most  valuable  in  the  world. 
The  people  of  Thera,  under  BE  ttus  a  native 
of  that  island,- were  the  first  tc  colonize  Cy 
renaica.  After  a  slight  opposition  from  the 
native  tribes,  they  established  themselves  in 
the  country,  and  founded  Cyrene  B.C.  631. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


33B 


Other  cities  soon  began  to  spring  up  in  ad 
vantageous  situations,  which  acknowledged 
Cyrene  as  the  capital  of  the  country,  but 
were  really  quite  independent  of  it,  and  at 
length  threw  off  its  yoke  altogether.  After 
the  invasion  of  Cambyses  the  regal  form  of 
government  was  entirely  abolished,  and  the 
republican  substituted  in  its  room.  Under 
the  Ptolemaic  dynasty  of  Egypt  (with  which 
country  Cyrenaica  was  incorporated  B.  c. 
321),  Cyrenaica  rose  into  great  importance 
from  the  extent  and  value  of  its  commerce. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  first  century  B.  c.  it 
was  bequeathed  by  will  to  the  Eomans  by 
Apion,  the  last  lineal  representative  of  the 
Ptolemies.  Soon  afterwards  it  became  a 
Roman  province,  and  along  with  the  island 
$>f  Crete  was  governed  by  a  Roman  pro-con 


sul.  The  commercial  prosperity  of  Cyrenaica, 
however,  continued  unimpaired  till  the  revolt 
of  the  Jews  in  the  province  during  the  reign 
of  Trajan.  This  revolt  was  only  quelled 
after  the  most  bloody  atrocities  had  been 
perpetrated  on  both  sides ;  and  the  popula 
tion  was  so  much  diminished  in  the  contest, 
that  the  native  tribes  recommenced  their  in 
cursions,  and  overran  the  province  up  to  the 
walls  of  the  principal  cities.  In  the  middle 
of  the  seventh  century  of  the  Christian  era 
the  whole  country  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  Saracens.  From  that  time  till  the  pre 
sent  the  country  has  been  occupied  by  tribes 
of  wandering  Arabs  nominally  subject  to  the 
pasha  of  Tripoli.  The  rest  of  Libya  playe 
no  important  part  in  history. 


336 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


BARBART    STATES. 


rTlHE  present  empire  of  Morocco,  along 
.1  with  part  of  Algeria,  was  known  to 
the  ancients  under  the  name  of  Ma\  i-&inia. 
The  authentic  history  of  the  country  begins 
from  the  time  when  the  Romans  first  became 
acquainted  with  it,  an  event  which  did  not 
take  place  fill  toward  the  end  of  the  second 
Punic  war.  But  though  they  then  became 
acquainted  with  Manretania,  it  was  a  long 
time  before  they  conquered  that  country ; 
and  its  monarchs  were  of  considerable  im 
portance  in  the  foreign  and  domestic  wars 
of  the  Romans  during  the  intermediate  pe 
riod.  At  the  time  of  the  war  with  Jugur- 
tha,  the  throne  of  Mauretania  was  occupied 
by  Bocchus,  who,  under  the  pretence  of 
friendship,  betrayed  Jugurtha  to  the  Romans, 
and  in  return  for  this  treachery,  was  con 
firmed  in  liis  kingdom  and  received  into  al 
liance  with  Rome.  On  his  death  the  king 
dom  was  divided  between  his  two  r>ons,  Bo- 
gudes  and  Bocchus.  In  the  first  c'vil  war 
of  Rome,  both  these  monarchs  supported  the 
party  of  Caesar,  who  allowed  them  to  retain 
their  power;  but  in  the  war  between  Octa- 
vius  and  Antony,  Bocchns  assisted  the  foi- 
mer,  and  Bogudes  the  latter.  Bocchus  in 
consequence  usurped  the  whole  kingdom 
while  his  brother  was  absent  in  Spain,  and 
retained  possession  of  it  till  his  death  in  33 
B.  c.,  when  Mauretania  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  Romans.  In  the  year  25  B.  c.,  Aug 
ustus  gave  Mauretania  to  Juba  II.,  King  of 
Nuinidia,  in  exchange  for  his  own  country, 


which  was  then  made  a  Roman  province  ; 
and  that  prince  seems  to  have  raised  Ihe 
country  to  a  high  degree  of  prosperity,  and 
to  have  introduced  among  the  natives  much 
of  the  civilization  of  Greece  and  Rome.  In 
the  year  40  A..  D.  Mauretania  came  for  the 
second  time  under  the  power  of  the  Rom 
ans,  and  in  42  A.D.  was  divided  by  Claudius 
into  two  provinces, — Mauretania  Tingitana, 
nearly  corresponding  with  Morocco ;  and 
Mauretania  Cresariensis  comprising  part  of 
the  modern  Algeria.  Numerous  Roman  col 
onies  were  founded  here,  among  which  Tin- 
gis,  the  modern  Tangier,  was  the  most  im 
portant,  and  gave  its  name  to  the  western 
province ;  but  the  Roman  power  was  never 
firmly  established  here ;  and  the  Moors 
joined  with  the  Yandals  on  their  invasion 
in  429.  The  power  of  the  Yandals  was  des 
troyed  by  Belisarius  in  534,  but  the  Moors 
still  continued  independent,  and  made  con 
tinual  inroads  on  the  more  civilized  portions 
of  the  country.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventh  century  the  Arabs  first  penetrated 
into  Mauretania  as  far  as  the  Ocean  and  the 
Great  Desert;  and  the  natives  of  the  coun 
try  wtT3  either  driven  to  the  mountains,  or 
joined  with  their  invaders,  and  adopted  theii 
religion,  laniniaffo,  and  manners.  For  a  long 

O  f  O          O     ' 

time  after  this  conquest  the  country  remained 
in  a  state  of  great  confusion,  and  was  not 
united  under  a  single  government.  After 
the  lapse  of  a  century,  however,  Edris,  a 
descendant  of  Mohammed,  obtained  so  in  uch 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


337 


influence  over  the  Moorish  tribes  as  to  be 
recognized  by  them  as  sovereign  of  the 
northern  part  of  Morocco,  while  the  south 
ern  was  still  occupied  by  independent  chiefs. 
This  monarch  was  succeeded  by  his  son  of 
the  same  name,  who  founded  the  city  of  Fez 
in  807.  In  1055  Abu  Bekr,  the  chief  of  a 
sect  of  warlike  fanatics,  first  assumed  the 
title  of  sovereign  of  Morocco,  and  his  grand- 
Bon  and  successor  founded  the  city  of  Mor 
occo,  and  made  it  the  royal  residence.  This 
dynasty,  however,  came  to  an  end  in  1202, 
when  Fez  and  some  of  the  other  provinces 
asserted  their  independence.  The  Moham 
medan  conquerors  of  Spain  were  driven 
back  to  Morocco  in  1492,  and  in  the  next 
century  the  territory  was  again  united  under 
a  single  emperor.  This  empire,  however, 
which  was  extended  under  Al  Mansor  as  far 
as  the  confines  of  Timbuctoo,  fell  to  pieces 
in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Another  dynasty  was  established  in  1648  by 
Mulai  Sherif-el-Fileli,  King  of  Tafilet,  whose 
descendants  are  still  the  reigning  family.  In 
1844  Abd-el-Kader,  the  ameer  of  Algiers, 
stirred  up  the  Moors  to  a  war  with  France, 
which  led  to  the  bombardment  of  Tangier 
and  the  occupation  of  Mogadore,  but  peace 
was  concluded  and  that  town  evacuated  in 
the  same  year.  In  more  recent  times  the 
tranquillity  of  the  empire  has  been  disturbed, 
and  the  power  of  the  sultan  weakened,  by 
internal  disorders.  The  depredations  of  the 
Riff  pirates  have  been  recommenced,  and 
Prussian  and  French  vessels,  as  well  as  a 
Spanish  establishment  on  the  coast,  suffered 
in  1855  and  1856  from  \lieir  outrages.  The 
French  government,  however,  obtained  in 
1856  compensation  from  the  sultan,  which 
was  the  first  instance  of  such  redress  being 
peaceably  granted. 

The  empire  of  Morocco  is  divided  into 
four  territories,  which  were  formerly  inde 
pendent  kingdoms,  but  are  now  subject  to 
the  sultan.  These  are,—  Fez,  occupying  the 
northern  portion,  between  the  Oom-er-.Begh 
and  the  Mediterranean ;  Morocco,  occupying 
the  centre,  between  this  river  and  the  Atlas ; 
43 


Suse,  occupying  the  south ;  and  Tafilet,  oc 
cupying  the  country  to  the  east  of  the  Atlas. 
The  sub-divisions  of  these  are  not  at  all  dis 
tinctly  marked,  though  they  were  formerly 
believed  to  consist  of  several  provinces,  the 
names  of  which  were  derived  in  some  cases 
from  the  natural  features  of  the  country, 
and  in  others  from  the  tribes  that  inhabit  it. 
For  administrative  purposes,  Fez  and  Mor 
occo  are  each  divided  into  fifteen  ammala, 
or  districts,  while  three  more  are  made  up 
by  the  other  territories.  These  districts 
sometimes  comprise  no  more  than  a  single 
town,  and  sometimes  extend  over  a  large 
tract  of  country.  Each  is  under  the  domin 
ion  of  a  kaid,  who  collects  the  taxes  from 
his  subjects.  The  Sultan  of  Morocco,  over 
those  tribes  which  are  really  subject  to  him, 
has  unlimited  power.  lie  is  supreme  both 
in  civil  and  ecclesiastical  matters,  and  has 
titles  which  signify  "  Lord  of  the  Faithful," 
and  "  Viceroy  of  God  on  earth."  His  pow 
er  is  not  limited,  as  in  Turkey,  by  councils 
or  ministers,  but  he  is  himself  the  sole  lord 
of  the  life,  liberty,  and  property  of  his  sub 
jects.  There  is  no  law  in  Morocco  but  the 
will  of  the  sultan  and  his  subordinates ;  the 
inferior  officers  plunder  the  people,  and  are 
in  their  turn  plundered  by  the  sultan. 
Wherever  he  happens  to  reside,  he  gives  au 
dience  personally  four  times  a  week  for  the 
administration  of  justice,  and  sentence  is 
always  pronounced  without  any  delay.  The 
dominion  of  the  sultan,  however,  only  ex 
tends  over  the  plains,  for  the  Amazighis,  who 
inhabit  the  mountains,  have  never  been 
brought  into  subjection  to  the  Moors,  and 
have  a  sort  of  republican  government  among 
themselves.  The  only  standing  army  in 
Morocco  consists  of  5,000  negroes,  who  form 
the  sultan's  body-guard.  There  is  also  a  sort 
of  militia,  who  are  occasionally  called  out, 
but  receive  no  pay,  except  a  horse,  and  a 
small  present  when  they  visit  the  capital. 
They  are  good  horsmen  and  marksmen,  but 
quite  undisciplined,  and  therefore  not  very 
effective.  The  empire  is  hereditary,  and 
ib  confined  to  males ;  but  it  is  not  always 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


the  eldest  son  who  succeeds,  and  the  succes 
sion  is  frequently  disturbed  by  bloodshed 
find  civil  war.  The  revenue  is  chiefly  de 
rived  from  taxes  on  corn  and  cattle,  which 
are  ]>aid  in  kii  .d,  and  a  poll  tax  on  the  Jews ; 
but  it  is  very  fluctuating,  and  has  often  to 
be  raised  by  force  of  arms  from  the  Arab 
tribes. 

The  kingdom  of  ALGIERS  made  formerly  a 
considerable  part  of  the  Mauritania  Tingit- 
ana,  which  was  reduced  to  a  Roman  province 
by  Julius  Ca?sar,  and  from  him  also  called 
Mauritania  Cresariensis.  The  Romans  were 
driven  out  of  that  continent  by  the  Vandals, 
these  by  Belisarins,  the  Greek  emperor  Jus 
tinian's  general,  and  the  Greeks  in  their  turn 
by  the  Saracens.  This  last  revolution  hap 
pened  about  the  middle  of  the  seventh  cen 
tury,  and  the  Arabs  continued  masters  of  the 
country,  divided  into  a  great  number  of 
petty  kingdoms  or  states,  under  chiefs  of 
their  own  choosing,  till  the  year  1051.  In 
this  year  Abubeker-ben-Omar,  or,  as  the 
Spanish  authors  call  him,  Abu-Texefien, 
an  Arab  of  the  Zinhagian  tribe,  gathered, 
by  the  help  of  his  marabouts,  or  saints,  a 
most  powerful  army  of  malcontents,  in  the 
southern  provinces  of  Juimidia  and  Libya. 
His  followers  were  named  Marabites  or  Mo- 
rabites,  by  the  Spaniards  Almoravides,  prob 
ably  from  their  being  assembled  principally 
by  the  saints,  who  were  also  called  Morabites. 
The  caliph's  forces  were  at  this  time  em 
ployed  in  quelling  other  revolts  in  Syria, 
Mesopotamia,  etc.,  and  the  Arabs  in  Spain 
were  engaged  in  the  most  bloody  wars ;  so 
that  Texefien  having  nothing  to  fear  from 
them  had  all  the  success  he  could  wish 
against  the  Arabian  sheiks  or  petty  tyrants, 
whom  he  defeated  in  many  battles,  and  at 
last  drove  not  only  out  of  Numidia  and  Li 
bya,  but  out  of  all  the  western  districts,  re 
ducing  the  whole  province  of  Tingitania  un 
der  his  dominion.  Texefien  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Y^isef,  or  Joseph,  a  brave  and 
warlike  prince.  He  found-  d  the  city  of  Ma- 
•o;co,  and  engaging  in  wa1  -virtu  the  Zeneti, 


a  powerful  tribe  who  inhabited  Tremecen, 
defeated  them  in  repeated  engagements,  and 
finally  almost  exterminated  them.  He  then 
ertended  his  conquests  over  almost  all  IJar- 
oary.  THUS  was  founded  the  empire  of  the 
Morabites,  which,  however,  was  of  no  long 
duration,  that  race  being  in  the  twelfth  cen 
tury  driven  out  by  Mohavedin,  a  marabout. 
This  race  of  priests  was  expelled  by  Abdu- 
lac,  governor  of  Fez,  and  he  in  the  thirteenth 
century  was  stripped  of  his  new  conquests 
by  the  Scherifs  of  Hascen,  the  descendants 
of  those  Arabian  princes  whom  Abu-Tex<;» 
fien  had  formerly  expelled. 

The  better  to  secure  their  new  dominions, 
the  Scherifs  divided  them  into  several  little 
kingdoms  or  provinces  ;  and  among  the  rest, 
the  present  kingdom  of  Algiers  was  divided 
into  four,  namely,  Tremecen,  Tenez,  Algiers 
Proper,  and  Bujeiah.  The  first  four  princes 
laid  so  good  a  foundation  for  a  lasting  -jal 
ance  of  power  between  their  little  kingdoms 
that  they  continued  for  some  centuries  in 
mutual  peace  and  amity ;  but  at  length  th( 
king  of  Tremecen  having  ventured  to  violate 
some  of  their  article?  Abul-Farez  king  of 
Tenez,  declared  war  against  him,  and  obliged 
him  to  become  his  tributary.  This  king  dy 
ing  soon  after,  and  having  divided  his  king 
dom  among  his  three  sons,  new  discord  arose, 
which  Spain  taking  advantage  of,  sent  a 
powerful  fleet  and  army  against  Barbary, 
under  the  count  of  Navarre,  in  1505.  This 
commander  soon  made  himself  master  of  the 
important  cities  of  Oran,  Bujeiah,  and  some 
others.  Finally,  he  landed  a  number  of 
forces  near  Algiers,  and  obliged  that  metrop 
olis  to  become  tributary  to  Spain. 

To  this  galling  yoke  the  Algerines  were 
obliged  to  submit  till  the  year  1516,  when, 
hearing  of  the  death  of  Ferdinand,  king  of 
Spain,  they  sent  an  embassy  to  Arueh  Bar- 
barossa,  who  was  at  that  time  on  a  cruise 
with  a  squadron  of  galleys  and  barks,  spread 
ing  terror  wherever  he  appeared  by  his  valor 
and  success.  The  purport  of  the  embassy 
was,  that  he  should  come  and  free  them  from 
the  Spanish  yoke  ;  for  which  they  agreed  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


339 


pay  him  a  gratuity  answerable  to  so  great  a 
service.  Upon  tliis  Barbarossa  immediately 
despatched  eighteen  galleys  and  thirty  barks 
to  the  assistance  of  the  Algerines,  while  he 
himself  advanced  towards  the  city  with  800 
Turks,  3000  Jegelites,  and  2000  Moorish 
volunteers.  Instead  of  taking  the  nearest 
road  to  Algiers,  he  directed  his  course  to 
wards  Shershel,  where  Hassan,  another  famed 
corsair,  had  established  himself.  Him  he 
surprised,  and  obliged  to  surrender,  not  with 
out  a  previous  promise  of  friendship ;  but 
no  sooner  had  Barbarossa  got  him  in  his 
power,  than  he  beheaded  him,  and  obliged 
all  Hassan's  Turkish  adherents  to  follow  him 
in  his  new  expedition. 

On  Barbarossa's  approach  to  Algiers,  he 
\vas  welcomed  by  all  the  people  of  that  me 
tropolis,  who  looked  for  deliverance  from 
this  daring  bandit,  whom  they  accounted  in 
vincible.  Elated  beyond  measure  with  this 
kind  reception,  Barbarossa  formed  a  design 
of  becoming  king  of  Algiers ;  and  fearing 
some  opposition  from  the  inhabitants,  on  ac 
count  of  the  excesses  he  suffered  his  soldiers 
to  commit,  he  murdered  their  prince  Eutemi, 
and  caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  king  ; 
his  Turks  and  Moors  crying  out  as  he  rode 
along  the  streets,  "  Long  live  King  Aruch 
Barbarossa,  the  invincible  king  of  Algiers, 
the  chosen  of  God  to  deliver  the  people  from 
the  oppression  of  the  Christians ;  and  de 
struction  to  all  that  shall  oppose  or  refuse  to 
own  him  as  their  lawful  sovereign."  These 
threatening  words  so  intimidated  the  inhabi 
tants,  already  apprehensive  of  a  general 
massacre,  that  he  was  immediately  acknowl 
edged  as  king. 

Barbarossa  was  no  sooner  seated  on  the 
throne,  than  he  treated  his  subjects  with  such 
cruelty,  that  they  used  to  shut  up  their  houses 
and  hide  themselves  when  he  appeared  in 
public.  In  consequence  of  this,  a  plot  was 
BOOH  formed  against  him ;  but  having  dis 
covered  it,  he  caused  twenty  of  the  principal 
conspirators  to  be  beheaded,  and  their  bodies 
to  be  buried  in  a  dunghill,  and  laid  a  heavy 
fine  on  those  who  survived.  This  so  terrified 


the  Algerines,  that  they  never  afterwards 
dared  to  attempt  anything  against  eithet 
Barbarossa  or  his  successors. 

In  the  meantime  the  son  of  Prince  Eutemi, 
having  fled  to  Oran,  and  put  himself  undei 
the  protection  of  the  marquis  of  Gomarez, 
laid  before  that  nobleman  a  plan  for  putting 
the  city  of  Algiers  into  the  hands  of  the 
king  of  Spain.  Cardinal  Ximenes,  having 
approved  of  it,  sent  a  fleet  with  10,000  land 
forces,  under  the  command  of  Don  Fran 
cisco,  or,  as  others  call  him,  Don  Diego  de 
Vera,  to  drive  out  the  Turks,  and  restore  the 
young  prince ;  but  the  fleet  no  sooner  came 
within  sight  of  land  than  it  was  dispersed  try 
a  storm,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  ships 
dashed  against  the  rocks.  Most  of  the  Span 
iards  were  drowned,  and  the  few  who  es 
caped  to  the  shore  were  either  killed  by  the 
Turks  or  made  slaves. 

Though  Barbarossa  had  nothing  to  boast 
on  this  occasion,  his  pride  and  insolence  had 
now  risen  to  such  a  pitch,  that  he  imagined 
himself  invincible.  He  found  little  difficulty 
in  conquering  the  kingdoms  of  Tenez  and 
Tremecen.  Abuchen  Men,  however,  the 
exiled  sovereign  of  Tremecen,  had  recourse 
to  Charles  Y.  then  lately  arrived  in  Spain 
with  a  powerful  fleet  and  army.  That  mon 
arch  immediately  ordered  the  young  king  a 
succor  of  10,000  men,  under  the  command 
of  the  governor  of  Oran,  who,  under  the 
guidance  of  Abuchen  Men,  began  his  march 
towards  Tremecen ;  and  in  their  way  they 
were  joined  by  Prince  Selim,  with  a  great 
number  of  Arabs  and  Moors.  The  tyrant 
kept  close  in  his  capital,  being  embarrassed 
by  his  fears  of  revolt,  and  the  politic  delays 
of  the  king  of  Fez,  who  had  not  sent  the 
auxiliaries  he  promised.  Being  now  inform 
ed  that  Abuchen  Men  and  his  Arabs,  accom 
panied  by  the  Spaniards,  were  in  full  maich 
to  lay  siege  to  Tremecen,  he  thought  proper 
to  come  out  at  the  head  of  1500  Turks  and 
5000  Moorish  horse,  in  order  to  bre>'k  hia 
way  through  the  enemy;  but  he  had  not 
proceeded  fai  from  the  city  before  his  coun 
cil  advised  him  to  return  and  fort  if v  himself 


310 


HioTORY  OF   THE  WOULD. 


in  if.  This  advice  was  now  too  late,  the  in 
habitants  being  resolved  to  shut  him  out,  and 
open  their  gates  to  their  own  lawful  prince 
as  soon  as  he  appeared.  In  this  distress 
Barbarossa  saw  no  resource  but  to  retire  to 
the  citadel.  Here  he  defended  himself  vig 
orously  ;  but  his  provisions  failing,  he  took 
advantage  of  a  subterraneous  path,  which  he 
had  caused  to  be  dug,  and,  taking  his  im 
mense  treasures  with,  him,  stole  away  as  se 
cretly  as  possible.  His  flight,  however,  was 
soon  discovered ;  and  he  was  so  closely  pur 
sued,  that  to  amuse,  as  he  hoped,  the  enemy, 
he  caused  a  great  part  of  his  money,  plate, 
jewels,  etc.,  to  be  scattered  on  the  way,  think 
ing  they  would  delay  their  pursuit  in  gath 
ering  it  up.  This  stratagem,  however,  failed 
through  the  vigilance  of  the  Spanish  com 
mander,  who  being  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  pursuers,  obliged  them  to  march  on;  till 
he  came  up  close  to  him  on  the  banks  of  the 
Huexda,  about  eight  leagues  from  Tremecen. 
Barbarossa  had  just  crossed  the  river  with 
his  vanguard,  when  the  Spaniards  came  up 
with  his  rear  on  the  other  side,  and  cut  them 
all  off;  and  then  crossing  the  water,  over 
took  him  at  a  small  distance  from  it.  Here 
a  bloody  engagement  ensued,  in  which  the 
Turks  fought  like  lions ;  but  being  at  length 
overpowered  by  numbers,  they  were  all  cut 
in  pieces,  and  Barbarossa  among  the  rest,  in 
the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  and  foul- 
veal's  after  he  had  raised  himself  to  the  royal 
title  of  Jigel. 

The  news  of  Barbarossa's  death  spread  the 
utmost  consternation  among  the  Turks  at 
Algiers ;  however,  they  caused  his  brother 
Ilayradin  to  be  immediately  proclaimed  king. 
The  Spanish  commander  now  sent  back  the 
emperor's  forces,  without  making  any  at 
tempt  upon  Algiers,  by  which  he  lost  the 
opportunity  of  driving  the  Turks  out  of  that 
country;  while  Ilayradin,  justly  dreading 
the  consequences  of  the  tyranny  of  his  offi 
cers,  sought  the  protection  of  the  grand 
fiignior.  This  was  readily  granted,  and  he 
himself  appointed  bashaw  or  viceroy  of  Al 
giers  •  by  which  ireans  he  received  such  con 


siderable  re-enforcements,  that  the  unhappy 
Algerines  could  attempt  no  resistance ;  and 
such  numbers  of  Turks  resorted  to  him,  thai 
he  was  able  not  only  to  keep  the  Moors  and 
Arabs  in  subjection  at  home,  but  to  annoy 
the  Christians  at  sea. 

Ilayradin  next  undertook  to  build  a  strong 
mole  for  the  protection  of  his  ships.  In  this 
he  employed  30,000  Christian  slaves,  whom 
he  obliged  to  labor  without  intermission  foi 

O 

three  years,  in  which  time  the  work  was 
completed.  Ilayradin  soon  became  dreaded, 
not  only  by  the  Arabs  and  Moors,  but  also 
by  the  maritime  Christian  powers,  especially 
the  Spaniards.  The  viceroy  failing  not  to 
acquaint  the  grand  siguior  with  his  success, 
and  obtain  from  him  a  fresh  supply  of  mon 
ey,  by  which  he  was  enabled  to  build  a 
strong  fort,  and  to  erect  batteries  on  all  places 
that  might  favor  the  landing  of  an  enemy. 
All  these  have  since  received  greater  im 
provements  from  time  to  time. 

In  the  meantime  the  sultan,  either  out  of 
a  sense  of  the  great  services  Hayradin  had 
rendered,  or  perhaps  out  of  jealousy  lest  he 
should  make  himself  independent,  raised  him 
to  the  dignity  of  bashaw  of  the  empire,  and 
appointed  Hassan  Aga,  a  Sardinian  renega- 
do,  an  intrepid  warrior,  and  an  experienced 
officer,  to  succeed  him  as  bashaw  of  Algiers. 
Hassan  had  no  sooner  taken  possession  of  his 
new  government,  than  he  began  to  pursue 
his  ravages  on  the  Spanish  coast  with  great 
er  fury  than  ever,  extending  them  to  the 
Ecclesiastical  State,  and  other  parts  of  Italy. 
Pope  Paul  III.  exhorted  the  emperor  Charles 
V.  to  send  a  powerful  fleet  to  suppress  these 
frequent  and  cruel  piracies ;  and,  that  noth 
ing  might  be  wanting  to  render  the  enter 
prise  successful,  a  bull  was  published  by  his 
holiness,  in  which  a  plenary  absolution  of 
sins,  and  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  were 
promised  to  all  those  who  either  fell  in  battle 
or  v.  ere  made  slaves.  The  emperor  accord 
ingly  set  sail  at  the  head  of  a  powerful  fleet, 
consisting  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  ships 
and  twenty  galleys,  having  on  board  20,OOC 
chosen  troops,  and  an  immense  quantity  of 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


311 


money,  arms,  ammunition,  etc.  In  this  ex 
pedition  many  young  noblemen  and  gentle 
men  attended  as  volunteers,  and  among  these 
many  knights  of  Malta,  so  remarkable  for 
their  valor  against  the  enemies  of  Christian- 

o 

ity.  Even  ladies  of  birth  and  character  at 
tended  Charles  in  his  expedition ;  and  the 
wives  and  daughters  of  the  officers  and 
soldiers  followed  them  with  a  design  to  set 
tle  in  Barbary  rfter  the  conquest  should  be 
completed.  The  expedition  meeting  with  a 
favorable  wind,  soon  appeared  before  Algiers ; 
every  ship  displaying  the  Spanish  colors  on 
the  stern,  and  another  at  the  head,  with  a 
crucifix  to  serve  for  a  pilot. 

By  this  prodigious  armament  the  Alger- 
ines  were  thrown  into  the  utmost  consterna 
tion.  The  city  was  surrounded  only  by  a 
wall,  with  scarcely  any  outworks.  The  whole 
garrison  consisted  of  800  Turks  and  5000 
Moors,  without  fire-arms,  .and  poorly  disci 
plined  and  accoutred ;  the  rest  of  their  forces 
being  dispersed  in  the  other  provinces  of  the 
kingdom,  to  levy  the  usual  tribute  on  the 
Arabs  and  Moors.  The  Spaniards  landed 
without  opposition,  and  immediately  built  a 
fort,  under  the  camion  of  which  they  en 
camped,  and  diverted  the  course  of  a  spring 
which  supplied  the  city  with  water.  Being 
now  reduced  to  the  utmost  distress,  Hassan 
received  a  summons  to  surrender  at  discre 
tion,  on  pain  of  being  put  to  the  sword  with 
all  the  garrison.  He  was  on  the  point  of 
surrendering  the  city,  when  advice  was 
brought  to  him  that  the  forces  belonging  to 
the  western  government  were  in  full  march 
towards  the  place ;  upon  which  it  was  re- 
Bolved  to  defend  it  to  the  utmost.  Charles, 
in  the  meantime,  resolving  upon  a  general 
assault,  kept  up  a  constant  firing  upon  the 
town  ;  which,  from  the  weak  defence  made 
by  the  garrison,  he  looked  upon  as  already 
in  his  hands.  But  while  the  douwan,  or  Al- 
gerine  senate,  were  deliberating  on  the  most 
proper  means  of  obtaining  an  honorable 
capitulation,  a  mad  prophet,  attended  by  a 
multitude  of  people,  entered  the  assembly, 
»nd  foretold  a  speedy  destruction  of  the 


Spaniards  before  the  end  of  the  moon,  ex 
horting  the  inhabitants  to  hold  out  till  that 
time.  This  prediction  was  soon  accomplish 
ed  in  a  very  surprising  and  unexpected  man- 
ner ;  for  on  the  28th  of  October,  1541,  a 
dreadful  storm  of  wind,  rain,  and  hail,  arose 
from  the  north,  accompanied  with  violent 
shocks  of  earthquake,  and  a  dismal  and  uni 
versal  darkness  both  by  sea  and  land ;  so  that 
the  sun,  moon,  and  elements  seemed  to  com 
bine  together  for  the  destruction  of  the  Span 
iards.  In  that  one  night,  some  say  in  lesa 
than  half  an  hour,  eighty-six  ships  and  fif 
teen  galleys  were  destroyed,  with  all  their 
crews  and  military  stores,  by  which  the  army 
on  shore  was  deprived  of  all  means  of  sub 
sistence.  The  camp  also,  which  spread  itself 
along  the  plain  under  the  fort,  was  laid  quite 
under  water  by  the  torrents  which  descended 
from,  the  neighboring  hills.  Many  of  the 
troops,  endeavoring  to  remove  into  some  bet 
ter  situation,  were  cut  in  pieces  by  the  Moors 
and  Arabs  ;  while  several  galleys  and  othw 
vessels,  seeking  to  gain  some  neighboring 
creeks  along  the  coasts,  were  immediately 
plundered,  and  their  crews  massacred,  by  the 
inhabitants. 

The  next  morning  Charles  beheld  the  sea 
covered  with  the  fragments  of  his  numerous 
ships,  and  the  bodies  of  men  and  horses 
floating  on  the  waves.  Seeing  his  affairs 
desperate,  he  abandoned  his  tents,  artillery 
and  all  his  heavy  baggage,  and  marched  in 
great  disorder  towards  Cape  Metafez,  in  or 
der  to  re-embark  his  troops  in  the  few  vessels 
which  had  survived  the  tempest.  But  Has 
san,  who  had  caused  his  motions  to  be  watch 
ed,  allowed  him  just  time  to  get  to  the  shore, 
when  he  sallied  out  and  attacked  the  Span 
iards  in  the  midst  of  their  confused  and  hasty 
embarkation,  killing  great  numbers,  and 
bringing  away  a  still  greater  number  of  cap 
tives  ;  after  which  he  returned  in  triumph 
to  Algiers,  where  he  celebrated  with  great 
rejoicings  his  happy  deliverance. 

Charles  having  reached  the  port  of  Buje'ah 
on  the  second  of  December,  was  detailed 
there  by  contrary  winds  for  several  we^ks 


HISTORY   OF   THE  ^W'JRLD. 


whence  he  set  sail  for  Carthagena,  which  he 
reached  without  further  disaster.  In  this  un 
fortunate  expedition  upwards  of  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  ships  and  galleys  were  lost, 
with  above  300  colonels  and  other  land  and 
sea  officers,  8000  soldiers  and  marines,  besides 
those  destroyed  by  the  enemy  on  the  re-em- 
barkment,  or  drowned  in  the  last  storm. 
The  number  of  prisoners  was  so  great  that 
the  Algerines  sold  some  of  them,  by  way  of 
contempt,  for  an  onion  per  head. 

Hassan,  elated  with  this  victory,  in  which 
he  had  very  little  share,  undertook  an  expe 
dition  against  the  king  of  Tremecen,  who, 
being  now  deprived  of  the  assistance  of  the 
Spaniards,  was  forced  to  procure  a  peace  by 
paying  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  becoming 
tributary  to  him.  The  bashaw  returned  to 
Algiers  laden  with  riches,  and  soon  after 
died  of  fever,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his 
age. 

From  this  time  the  Spaniards  were  never 
able  to  annoy  the  Algerines  in  any  consider 
able  degree.  In  1555  they  lost  the  city  of 
Bujeiah,  which  was  taken  by  Salha  Rais, 
Hassan's  successor,  who  next  year  set  out  on 
a  new  expedition,  which  was  suspected  to  be 
intended  against  Oran  ;  but  he  had  scarcely 
got  four  leagues  from  Algiers,  when  the 
plague,  which  at  that  time  raged  violently 
in  the  city,  carried  him  off  in  twenty-four 
hours. 

The  dignity  of  bashaw  passed  through 
several  hands,  when  it  was  occupied  by  Has 
san,  the  son  of  Hayradin.  Immediately  on 
his  arrival,  he  engaged  in  a  war  with  the 
Arabs,  by  whom  he  was  defeated  with  great 
.  loss.  Next  year  the  Spaniards  undertook  an 
expedition  against  Mostagan,  under  the 
command  of  the  count  d'Alcandela ;  but 
were  utterly  defeated,  the  commander  him 
self  killed,  and  12,000  men  taken  prisoners. 

Hassan  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Marsal- 
quiver,  situated  near  the  city  Oran,  which  he 
designed  to  invest  immediately  after.  The 
army  employed  in  this  siege  consisted  of 
26,000  foot  and  10,000  horse,  beside  which 
he  had  a  fleet  consisting  of  thirty-two  galleys 


and  galliots,  together  with  three  French  ves 
sels  laden  with  biscuit,  oil,  and  other  provi 
sions.  The  city  was  defended  by  Don  Mar 
tin  de  Cordova,  brother  of  the  count  d'Al 
candela,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  in  the 
battle  where  that  nobleman  was  killed,  but 
had  obtained  his  liberty  from  the  Algerinee 
with  immense  sums,  and  now  made  a  most 
gallant  defence  against  the  Turks.  The  city 
was  attacked  with  the  utmost  fury  by  sea 
and  land,  so  that  several  breaches  were  made 
in  the  walls.  The  Turkish  standards  were 
several  times  planted  on  the  walls,  and  as 
often  dislodged ;  but  the  place  must  have  in 
the  end  submitted,  had  not  Hassan  been  ob 
liged  to  raise  the  siege  in  haste,  on  the  newe 
that  the  famed  Genoese  admiral  Doria  was 
approaching  with  considerable  succors  from 
Italy. 

In  1567  Hassan  was  recalled  to  Constanti 
nople,  where  he  died  three  years  after.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Mohammed,  who  gained  the 
love  of  the  Algerines  by  several  public- 
spirited  actions.  He  incorporated  the  jani 
zaries  and  Levantine  Turks  together,  and  by 
that  means  put  an  end  to  their  dissens;ons, 
which  paved  the  way  for  making  Algiers  in 
dependent  of  the  Porte.  He  likewise  added 
some  considerable  fortifications  to  the  city 
and  castle,  which  lie  designed  to  render  im 
pregnable.  At  this  time  one  John  Gascon, 
a  bold  Spanish  adventurer,  formed  a  design 
of  surprising  the  whole  piratical  navy  in  the 
bay,  and  setting  them  on  fire  in  the  night 
time.  For  this  he  not  only  had  the  permis 
sion  of  King  Philip  II.,  but  was  furnished  by 
him  with  proper  vessels,  mariners,  and  fire 
works,  for  the  execution  of  his  plot.  He 
came  accordingly,  unperceived  by  any,  to 
the  very  mole-gate,  and  dispersed  his  men 
with  their  fire-works ;  but,  to  their  great  sur 
prise,  they  found  these  so  ill  mixed,  thai;  all 
their  art  could  not  make  them  take  fire.  In 
the  mean  time  Gascon  took  it  into  his  head,  by 
way  of  bravado,  to  go  to  the  mole-gate,  and 
give  three  loud  knocks  with  the  pommel  of 
his  dagger.  This  he  had  the  good  fortune  to 
do  without  meeting  with  any  disturbance  or 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


342 


opposition;  but  it  was  not  so  with  his  men; 
for  on  finding  their  endeavors  unsuccessful, 
they  made  such  a  noise  as  quickly  alarmed 
the  guard  posted  on  the  adjacent  bastion, 
from  which  the  alarm  quickly  spread  through 
the  \vhole  garrison.  Gascon  now  finding 
himself  in  the  utmost  danger,  sailed  off  with 
all  possible  haste ;  but  he  was  pursued,  over 
taken,  and  brought  back  a  prisoner  to  Mo 
hammed,  who  no  sooner  got  him  into  his  power 
than  he  immediately  caused  a  gibbet  of  con 
siderable  height  to  be  erected  on  the  spot 
where  Gascon  had  landed,  ordering  him  to 
be  hoisted  up,  and  hung  by  the  feet  to  a 
hook,  so  that  he  died  in  exquisite  torture. 

Mohammed,  being  soon  after  recalled,  was 
succeeded  by  the  renegado  Ochali,  who  re 
duced  the  kingdom  of  Tunis,  which,  however, 
remained  subject  to  the  viceroy  of  Algiers 
only  till  the  year  1580,  when  a  bashaw  of 
Tunis  was  appointed  by  the  Porte. 

The  kingdom  of  Algiers  continued  to  be 
governed,  till  the  beginning  of  the  seven 
teenth  century,  by  viceroys  or  bashaws  ap 
pointed  by  the  Porte,  whose  avarice  and  tyr 
anny  were  intolerable  both  to  the  Algerines 
and  the  Turks  themselves.  At  last  the  Turk 
ish  janizaries  and  militia  became  powerful 
enough  to  depose  these  potty  tyrants,  and  set 
'up  officers  of  their  own.  They  sent  a  depu 
tation  of  some  of  their  chief  members  to  the 
Porte,  to  complain  of  the  avarice  and  oppres 
sion  of  these  bashaws,  and  represent  how 
much  more  honorable,  as  well  as  more  eco 
nomical,  it  would  be  for  the  grand  signior  to 
permit  them  to  choose  from  among  them 
selves  their  own  dey  or  governor,  wrhose  in 
terest  it  would  be  to  see  that  the  revenue  of 
the  kingdom  was  duly  employed  in  keeping 
up  its  forces  complete,  and  in  supplying  all 
other  exigencies  of  the  state,  without  any 
further  charge  or  trouble  to  the  Porte  than 
thai  of  allowing  them  its  protection.  On 
their  part,  they  engaged  always  to  acknowl 
edge  the  grand  signior  as  their  sovereign,  to 
pay  him  their  usual  allegiance  and  tribute, 
to  respect  his  bashaws,  and  to  lodge  and 
maintain  them  and  their  retinue.  All  con 


cerns  which  related  to  the  government  of 
Algiers  were  to  be  left  under  the  direction 
of  the  dey  and  his  douwan. 

These  proposals  having  been  accepted  bv 
the  Porte,  the  deputies  returned  highly  sat 
isfied;  and  having  notified  t^eir  new  privi- 
leges,  the  great  douwan  immediately  pro 
ceeded  to  the  election  of  a  dey  from  among 
themselves.  Altercations,  however,  frequent 
ly  happened  between  the  bashaws  and  deys, 
the  one  endeavoring  to  recover  their  former 
power,  and  the  other  to  reduce  it. 

In  the  year  1601  the  Spaniards,  under  the 
command  of  Doria,  the  Genoese  admiral, 
made  another  attempt  upon  Algiers,  in  which 
they  were  more  fortunate  than  usual,  their 
fleet  being  only  driven  back  by  contrary 
winds,  so  that  they  came  off  without  loss. 
In  1609  the  Moors,  being  expelled  from 
Spain,  flocked  in  great  numbers  to  Algiers ; 
and  as  many  of  them  were  very  able  sailors, 
they  undoubtedly  contributed  to  raise  the 
Algerine  fleet  to  that  formidable,  condition 
which  it  soon  after  reached ;  though  it  ie 
probable  the  frequent  attempts  made  on  their 
city  would  also  induce  them  to  increase  their 
fleet.  In  1616  it  consisted  of  forty  sail  of 
ships  between  200  and  400  tons,  their  flag 
ship  having  500  tons.  It  was  divided  into 
two  squadrons,  one  of  eighteen  sail,  stationed 
before  the  port  of  Malaga,  and  the  other  at 
the  cape  of  Santa  Maria,  between  Lisbon  and 
Seville,  both  of  which  attacked  all  Christian 
ships,  both  English  and  French,  with  whom 
they  pretended  to  be  in  friendship,  as  well  as 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  with  whom  they 
were  at  war. 

The  Algerines  were  now  become  very  for 
midable  to  the  European  powers.  The  Span 
iards,  who  were  roost  in  danger,  and  least 
able  to  cope  with  them,  solicited  the  assist 
ance  of  England  and  other  states,  and  of  the 
pope.  The  French,  however,  were  the  first 
who  dared  to  show  their  resentment  of  these 
outrages ;  and  in  1671  M.  Beaulieu  was  sent 
against  the  Algerines  with  a  fleet  of  fifty 
men  of  war,  who  defeated  their  fleet  and 
took  two  of  their  vessels,  while  their  admiral 


HISTOEY   OF  THE  WORLD. 


sunk  his  own  ship  and  crew  rather  than  fall 
into  his  enemies'  hands. 

In  1620  a  squadron  of  English  men  of  war 
was  sent  against  Algiers,  under  the  conduct 
of  Sir  Robert  Mansel ;  but  of  this  expedition 
we  have  no  other  account  than  that  it  re 
turned  without  effecting  any  thing ;  and  the 
Algerines,  becoming  more  and  more  inso 
lent,  openly  defied  all  the  European  powers, 
the  Dutch  only  excepted,  to  whom,  in  1C25, 
they  sent  a  proposal  directed  to  the  prince 
of  Orange,  that  in  case  they  would  fit  out 
twenty  sail  of  ships  the  following  year,  upon 
any  good  service  against  the  Spaniards,  they 
would  join  them  with  sixty  sail  of  their  own. 

The  next  year  the  Coulolies  or  Cologlies 
(the  children  of  such  Turks  as  had  been  per 
mitted  to  marry  at  Algiers),  who  were  en 
rolled  in  the  militia,  having  seized  on  the 
citadel,  had  nearly  made  themselves  masters 
of  the  city,  but  were  attacked  by  the  Turks 
and  renegadues,  who  defeated  them  with  ter 
rible  slaughter.  Many  of  them  were  put  to 
death,  and  their  heads  thrown  in  heaps  upon 
the  city-walls,  without  the  eastern  gate. 
Part  of  the  citadel  was  blown  up ;  and  the 
remaining  Coulolies  were  dismissed  from  the 
militia,  to  which  they  were  not  again  admit 
ted  till  long  after. 

In  the  year  1623  Algiers  and  the  other 
states  of  Barbary  threw  off  altogether  their 
dependence  on  the  Porte.  Ko  sooner  was 
this  resolution  taken,  than  the  Algerines  be 
gan  to  make  prizes  of  several  merchant  ships 
belonging  to  powers  at  peace  with  the  Porte. 
Having  seized  a  Dutch  ship  and  polacre  at 
Scanderoon,  they  ventured  on  shore;  and 
finding  the  town  abandoned  by  the  Turkish 
aga  and  inhabitants,  they  plundered  all  the 
magazines  and  warehouses,  and  set  them  on 
fire.  About  this  time  Louis  XIII.  under 
took  to  build  a  fort  on  their  coasts,  in  the 
room  of  one  formerly  built  by  the  Marsilians, 
which  they  had  demolished.  This,  after  some 
difficulty,  he  accomplished,  and  it  was  called 
the  Bastion  of  France;  but  the  situation 
being  afterwards  found  inconvenient,  the 
French  purchased  the  port  of  La  Calle  and 


obtained  liberty  to  trade  with  the  Aralians 
and  Moors.  The  Ottoman  court,  in  the 
mean  time,  was  so  much  embarrassed  with 
the  Persian  war,  that  there  was  no  leisure  to 
check  the  Algerine  piracies.  This  gave  an 
opportunity  to  the  vizier  and  other  courtiers 
to  compound  with  the  Algerines,  and  to 
share  their  prizes,  which  were  very  consid 
erable.  However,  for  form's  sake,  a  severe 
reprimand,  accompanied  with  threats,  was 
sent  them ;  to  which  they  replied,  that  lk  these 
depredations  deserved  to  be  indulged  to  them, 
seeing  they  were  the  only  bulwark  against 
the  Christian  powers,  especially  against  the 
Spaniards,  the  sworn  enemies  of  the  Moslem 
name ;"  adding,  that  "  if  they  should  pay  a 
punctilious  regard  to  all  that  could  purchase 
peace,  or  liberty  to  trade  with  the  Ottoman 
empire,  they  would  have  nothing  to  do  but 
set  fire  to  all  their  shipping,  and  turn  camel- 
drivers  for  a  livelihood." 

In  the  year  1635  four  younger  brothers  of 
a  good  family  in  France  entered  into  an  un 
dertaking  so  desperate,  that  perhaps  the  an 
nals  of  knight-errantry  can  scarcely  furnish 
its  equal.  This  was  no  less  than  to  retort 
the  piracies  of  the  Algerines  upon  them 
selves,  and  this  with  a  small  frigate  of  ten 
guns!  In  this  ridiculous  undertaking  one 
hundred  volunteers  embarked :  a  Maltese 
commission  was  procured,  together  with  an 
able  master  and  thirty-six  mariners.  They 
had  the  good  fortune,  on  their  first  setting 
out,  to  take  a  ship  laden  with  wine  on  the  Span 
ish  coast,  with  which  they  were  so  much 
elated,  that  three  days  after  they  madly  en 
countered  two  large  Algerine  corsairs,  one 
of  twenty  and  the  other  of  twenty-four  guns, 
both  well  manned,  and  commanded  by  able 
officers.  These  vessels  attacked  the  frigate 
so  furiously  that  she  soon  lost  her  main-mast ; 
notwithstanding  which,  the  French  made  BO 
desperate  a  resistance,  that  the  pirates  were 
not  able  to  take  them,  till  the  noise  of  their 
fire  brought  up  five  more  Algerines,  when 
the  French  vessel,  being  almost  torn  in 
pieces,  was  boarded  and  taken.  The  young 
knights-errant  were  punished  for  their  to 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


345 


rr.erity  by  a  dreadful  captivity,  from  which 
they  redeemed  themselves  in  1642  at  the 
price  of  6000  dollars. 

The  Algerines  prosecuted  their  piracies 
with  impunity,  to  the  terror  and  disgrace  of 
the  Europeans,  till  the  year  1652,  when  a 
French  fleet  being  accidentally  driven  to  Al 
giers,  the  admiral  took  it  into  his  head  to 
demand  a  release  of  all  the  captives  of  his 
nation,  without  exception.  This  being  re 
fused,  the  Frenchman  without  ceremony  car 
ried  off  the  Turkish  viceroy,  and  his  cadi  or 
judge,  who  had  just  arrived  from  the  Porte, 
with  all  their  equipage  and  retinue.  The 
Algerines,  by  way  of  reprisal,  surprised  the 
Bastion  of  France  already  mentioned,  and 
carried  off  the  inhabitants  to  the  number  of 
600,  with  all  their  effects ;  which  so  provoked 
the  admiral,  that  he  sent  them  word  that  he 
would  pay  them  another  visit  the  next  year 
with  his  wThole  fleet. 

The  Algerines,  undismayed  by  the  threats 
of  the  French  admiral,  fitted  out  a  fleet  of 
sixteen  galleys  and  galliots,  well  manned  and 
equipped,  under  the  command  of  Admiral 
Ilali  Pinchinin.  The  chief  design  of  this 
armament  was  to  rapture  the  treasure  of 
Loretto,  which,  however,  they  were  prevent 
ed  by  contrary  winds  from  reaching.  They 
then  made  a  descent  on  Puglia,  in  the  king 
dom  of  Naples,  where  they  ravaged  the  whole 
territory  of  Kecotra,  carrying  off  a  vast  num 
ber  of  captives.  Thence  steering  towards 
Dalmatia,  they  scoured  the  Adriatic;  and, 
having  collected  immense  plunder,  left  these 
coasts  in  the  utmost  consternation  and  re 
sentment. 

At  last  the  Venetians,  alarmed  at  such 
terrible  depredations,  equipped  a  fleet  of 
twenty-eight  sail,  under  the  command  of 
Admiral  Capello,  with  express  orders  to  burn, 
sink,  or  take,  all  the  Barbary  corsairs  he 
should  meet.  An  engagement  ensued,  in 
which  the  Algerines  were  defeated,  and  five 
of  their  vessels  disabled,  with  the  loss  of 
1500  men,  Turks  and  Christian  slaves,  be 
sides  1600  galley-slaves  vrlio  regained  their 
liberty.  Pinchinin,  after  tins  defeat,  returned 
44 


to  Valona,  where  he  was  again  watched  by 
Capello :  but  the  latter  had  not  lain  long  at 
his  old  anchorage  before  he  received  a  letter 
from  the  senate,  desiring  him  to  make  no 
further  attempt  on  the  pirates  at  that  time, 
for  fear  of  a  rupture  with  the  Porte.  The 
brave  Venetian  was  forced  to  comply ;  but 
resolving  to  take  such  a  leave  of  the  Alge 
rines  as  he  thought  they  deserved,  attacked 
them  with  such  bravery,  that,  without  any 
great  loss,  his  men  towed  out  their  sixteen 
galleys,  with  ah1  their  cannon,  stores,  etc.  To 
conceal  this,  Capello^was  ordered  to  sink  all 
the  Algerine  ships  he  had  taken,  except  the 
admiral's,  which  was  to  be  conducted  to  Ven 
ice,  and  laid  up  as  a  trophy.  Capello  came 
off  with  a  severe  reprimand ;  but  the  Vene 
tians  were  obliged  to  purchase,  with  500,000 
ducats,  a  peace  from  the  Porte. 

The  news  of  this  defeat  and  loss  filled  Al 
giers  with  the  utmost  grief  and  confusion. 
The  whole  city  was  on  the  point  of  a  general 
insurrection,  wrhen  the  bashaw  and  d(  uwan 
issued  a  proclamation,  forbidding  complaints 
and  outcries,  under  the  severe -t  penalties. 
In  the  mean  time  they  applied  to  the  Porte 
for  an  order  that  the  Venetians  settled  in  the 
Levant  should  make  up  their  loss.  But  with 
this  the  grand  signior  refused  to  comply,  and 
left  them  to  repair  their  losses,  as  well  as 
build  new  ships,  in  the  best  manner  they 
could. 

The  pirates  did  not  long  continue  in  their 
weak  and  defenceless  state ;  being  able,  at 
the  end  of  two  years,  to  appear  at  sea  with 
a  fleet  of  sixty-five  sail.  Admiral  Pinchinin 
equipped  four  gaUiots  at  his  own  expense, 
with  which,  in  conjunction  with  the  chiayah, 
or  secretary. of  the  bashaw  of  Tripoli,  he 
made  a  second  excursion.  This  small  squad 
ron,  consisting  of  five  galleys  and  two  brig- 
antines,  fell  in  with  an  English  ship  of  forty 
guns,  which,  however,  Pinchinin's  captains 
refused  to  engage  ;  but  being  afterwards  re 
proached  by  him  for  their  cowardice,  they 
swore  to  attack  the  r.ext  Christian  ship  that 
should  come  in  their  way.  This  happened 
to  be  a  Dutch  merchantman  of  twentv-eight 


346 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


guns,  which,  however,  beat  them  off  with 
great  loss.  But  though  Pinchinin  thus  re 
turned  in  disgrace,  the  rest  of  the  fleet  quick 
ly  returned  with  vast  numbers  of  slaves,  and 
an  immense  quai  iity  of  rich  spoils ;  insomuch 
that  the  Englisl.,  French,  and  Dutch,  were 
obliged  to  court  the  mighty  Algerines,  who 
sometimes  vouchsafed  to  be  at  peace  with 
them,  but  swore  eternal  war  against  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  Italy,  whom  they  looked  upon 
as  the  greatest  enemies  to  the  Mahometan 
name.  At  last  Louis  XIV.,  provoked  by 
the  grievous  outrages  committed  by  the  Al 
gerines  on  the  coasts  of  Provence  and  Lan- 
guedoc,  ordered,  in  1GS1,  a  considerable  fleet 
to  be  fitted  out  against  them,  under  the  mar 
quis  du  Quesne,  vice-admiral  of  France.  His 
first  expedition  was  against  a  number  of  Tri- 
politan  corsairs,  who  had  the  good  fortune  to 
escape  him,  and  shelter  themselves  in  the 
island  of  Scio,  belonging  to  the  Turks.  This 
did  not,  however,  prevent  him  from  pursuing 
them  thither,  and  making  such  a  terrible  fire 
upon  them  as  quickly  destroyed  fourteen  of 
their  vessels,  besides  battering  the  walls  of 
the  castle. 

This  severity  seemed  only  to  be  designed 
as  a  check  to  the  piracies  of  the  Algerines  ; 
but  finding  they  still  continued  their  out 
rages  on  the  French  coast,  he  sailed  to  Al 
giers  in  August,  1682,  cannonading  and 
bombarding  it  so  furiously,  that  the  whole 
town  was  in  flames  in  a  very  short  time. 
The  great  mosque  was  battered  down,  and 
most  of  the  houses  laid  in  ruins,  insomuch  as 
the  inhabitants  were  on  the  point  of  abandon 
ing  the  place ;  when  on  a  sudden  the  wind 
changed,  and  obliged  Du  Quesne  to  return 
to  Toulon.  The  Algerines  immediately  made 
reprisals,  by  sending  a  number  of  galleys 
and  galliots  to  the  coast  of  Provence,  where 
they  committed  the  most  dreadful  ravages, 
and  brought  away  a  vast  number  of  captives ; 
upon  which  a  new  armament  was  ordered  to 
be  prepared  at  Toulon  and  Marseilles  against 
the  next  year;  and  the  Algerines,  having  re- 
cei  ved  timely  notice,  put  themselves  in  as  good 
a  state  of  defence  as  the  time  would  allow. 


In  May,  1683,  Du  Quesne,  with  his  squa 
dron,  cast  anchor  before  Algiers ;  AV  nere 
being  joined  by  the  Marquis  d'Affranville  a4, 
the  head  of  five  stout  vessels,  he  resolved  to 
bombard  the  town  next  day.  Accordingly 
100  bombs  were  thrown  into  it  the  first  day, 
which  did  terrible  execution  ;  while  the  be 
sieged  made  some  hundred  discharges  of 
their  cannon  without  doing  any  considerable 
damage.  The  following  night  the  bombs 
were  again  thrown  into  the  city  in  such 
numbers,  that  the  dey's  palace  and  othei 
great  edifices  were  almost  destroyed ;  sonv) 
of  their  batteries  were  dismounted,  and 
several  vessels  sunk  in  the  port.  The  dey 
and  Turkish  bashaw,  as  well  as  the  whole 
soldiery,  alarmed  at  this  dreadful  devasta 
tion,  sued  for  peace.  As  a  preliminary,  the 
immediate  surrender  of  all  Christian  cap 
tives  who  had  been  taken  fi^htinc;  under  the 

O  O 

French   flag   was   demanded :   which   bcin^ 

o  '  o 

granted,  142  of  them  "were  immediately  given 
up,  with  a  promise  of  sending  the  remainder 
as  soon  as  they  could  be  got  from  the  differ 
ent  quarters  of  the  country.  Accordingly 
Du  Quesne  sent  his  commissary-general,  and 
one  of  his  engineers,  into  the  town,  but  with 
express  orders  to  insist  upon  the  delivery  of 
all  the  French  captives  without  exception, 
together  with  the  effects  taken  from  the 
French ;  and  that  Mezomorto,  the  admiral, 
and  Ilali  Rais,  one  of  their  captains,  should 
be  given  as  hostages. 

This  last  demand  having  embarrassed  the 
dey,  he  assembled  the  douwan,  and  acquaint 
ed  them  with  it;  upon  which  Mezomorto 
broke  out  into  a  violent  passion,  and  Void  the 
assembly  that  the  cowardice  of  those  who  sat 
at  the  helm  had  occasioned  the  ruin  of  Al 
giers  ;  but  that,  for  his  part,  he  would  never 
consent  to  deliver  up  anything  that  had  been 
taken  from  the  French.  He  immediately 
acquainted  the  soldiery  with  what  had  passed ; 
which  so  exasperated  them  that  they  mur 
dered  the  dey  that  very  night,  and  next  day 
choose  Mezomorto  in  his  place.  The  new 
dey  immediately  cancelled  all  the  articles  of 
peace,  and  hostilities  were  renewed  with 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


347 


greater  fury  than  ever.  The  siege  was  re- 
Buraed  with  r<  doubled  energy,  and  the 
French  a:lmiral  now  kept  pouring  in  such 
volleys  of  bombs,  that  in  less  than  three  days 
the  greater  part  of  the  city  was  reduced  to 
ashes ;  and  the  fire  burned  with  such  vehe 
mence,  that  the  sea  was  illumined  by  it 
for  more  than  two  leagues  around.  Mezo- 
morto,  unmoved  at  all  these  disasters,  and 
the  vast  number  of  the  slain,  whose  blood  ran 
in  rivulets  along  the  streets,  or  rather  grow 
ing  furious  and  desperate,  sought  only  re 
venge  ;  and  not  content  with  causing  the 
French  in  the  city  to  be  cruelly  murdered  ; 
ordered  their  consul  to  be  tied  hand  and 
foot,  and  fastened  alive  to  the  mouth  of  a 
mortar,  whence  he  was  shot  away.  By  this 
piece  of  inhumanity  Du  Quesne  was  so  ex 
asperated,  that  he  did  not  leave  Algiers  till 
he  had  utterly  destroyed  their  fortifications, 
shipping,  almost  all  the  lower,  and  above 
two-thirds  of  the  upper  part  of  the  city,  by 
which  means  it  became  little  else  than  a 
heap  of  ruins. 

The  haughty  Algerines  were  now  thorough 
ly  convinced  that  they  were  not  invincible ; 
they  therefore  immediately  sent  an  embassy 
into  France,  begging  in  the  most  abject  terms 
for  peace,  which  Louis  immediately  granted, 
to  their  inexpressible  joy.  They  now  began 
to  pay  some  regard  to  other  nations,  and  to 
be  a  little  cautious  how  they  wantonly  in 
curred  their  displeasure.  The  first  bombard 
ment  of  the  French  had  so  far  humbled  the 
Algerines,  that  they  condescended  to  enter 
into  a  treaty  with  England,  which  was  re 
newed  upon  terms  very  advantageous  to  the 
latter  in  1686.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  how 
ever,  that  the  rooted  perfidy  of  the  Algerines 
\vould  at  once  disappear.  Notwithstanding 
this  treaty,  they  lost  no  opportunity  of  mak 
ing  prizes  of  the  English  ships  wrhich  they 
could  conveniently  reach.  Upon  some  out 
rage  of  this  kind,  Captain  Beach  drove 
ashore  and  burnt  seven  of  their  frigates  in 
1695,  which  produced  a  renewal  of  the 
treaty  five  years  after ;  but  it  was  not  until 
the  taking  of  Gibraltar  ind  Port  Mahon  that 


Britain  could  have  a  sufficient  check  upoi 
them  to  enforce  the  observation  of  treaties, 
and  they  have  since  paid  a  greater  deference 
to  the  English  than  any  other  European  na 
tion. 

The  eighteenth  century  furnishes  no  very 
remarkable  events  with  regard  to  Algiers, 
except  the  taking  of  the  city  of  Oran  from 
the  Spaniards  in  1TOS  (which,  however,  they 
regained  in  1T3V),  and  the  expulsion  of  the 
Turkish  bashaw,  and  uniting  his  office  to 
that  of  dey,  in  1710. 

The  increasing  naval  power  of  the  great 
European  states  in  this  century,  made  the 
Barbary  corsairs  more  cautious  in  their  at 
tacks,  which  were  now  chiefly  confined  to 
the  weaker  states  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Medi 
terranean,  particularly  those  of  Naples  and 
Sardinia ; — not  only  attacking  their  vessels, 
but  making  descents  upon  their  shores,  and 
carrying  off  not  only  property  but  also  per 
sons  of  every  age,  sex  and  rank,  and  dispos 
ing  of  them  as  slaves.  Europe,  engrossed 
by  the  mightier  evils  in  which  it  was  involv 
ed  during  thirty  years'  war,  bestowed  compara 
tively  little  attention  on  this  partial  distress 
At  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  however,  when 
the  peace  of  the  Continent  appeared  to  be 
established  on  a  permanent  basis,  the  atten 
tion  of  the  sovereigns  was  laudibly  called  to 
every  quarter  from  which  it  could  suffer  dis 
turbance.  The  evil  in  question,  by  which 
numerous  individuals,  often  of  a  respectable 
place  in  society,  were  torn  from  their  homes, 
immured  in  dungeons,  and  exposed  to  every 
outrage,  could  not  fail  to  appear  of  the  first 
magnitude.  The  Congress,  having  been  un 
expectedly  broken  up,  did  not  come  to  any 
final  decision.  The  subject,  however,  con 
tinued  to  be  agitated  in  the  councils  of 
Britain,  and  her  gallant  officers  who  had  been 
employed  in  the  Mediterranean  strongly  re 
presented  the  propriety  of  interference.  The 
Dutch,  at  the  same  time,  her  now  friendly 
neighbors,  cordially  concurred  in  promoting 
this  common  interest  of  humanity. 

The  first  step  taken  was  to  send  squadrons 
under  Lord  Exmouth  to  Algiers,  and  Sir 


348 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Thomas  Maitland  to  Tunis,  with  a  demand 
for  the  general  liberation  of  the  slaves  ac 
tually  in  bondage,  and  the  -entire  discontinu 
ance,  for  the  future,  of  this  detestable  trade. 
Overawed  by  the  immense  power  with 
\vhich  they  knew  these  demands  to  be  sup 
ported,  they  returned  a  conciliatory  answer. 
They  dismissed  a  number  of  slaves  actually 
in  their  hands,  and  engaged  that  only  the 
final  sanction  of  the  Porte  should  be  wanting 
to  abolish  forever  the  system  of  Christian 
slavery.  The  British  commanders  then  re 
turned  to  England  with  their  fleets,  which 
were  immediately  laid  up. 

Tunis,  which  had  imbibed  some  portion  of 
European  humanity  and  civilization,  and 
was  better  aware  of  its  real  interests  and 
position,  adhered  very  tolerably  to  the  terms 
stipulated.  But  Algiers,  bred  in  rapine, 
furiously  repelled  a  system  which  opened  to 
its  rovers  the  fearful  prospect  of  being 
obliged  to  earn  a  subsistence  by  honest  in 
dustry.  So  dreadful  was  the  ferment  that  a 
plan,  it  is  said,  had  been  formed  to  assassinate 
Lord  Exmouth  on  his  way  to  the  ship.  The 
(ley,  raised  from  the  dregs  of  the  soldiery, 
and  sharing  all  their  barbarism,  allowed  full 
scope  to  their  violence,  and  sought  only  to 
secure  himself  against  its  effects.  He  form 
ed  alliances  with  the  Porte,  the  emperor  of 
Morocco,  and  other  leading  Mussulman 
potentates  ;  he  strengthened  Algiers  with  new 
works,  and  prepared  to  brave  the  utmost  fury 
of  the  Christian  powers.  Under  these  pre 
cautions,  the  system  of  Christian  piracy 
was  commenced  with  redoubled  activity,  to 
compensate  for  the  late  suspension,  and  to 
repair  the  loss  of  the  slaves  who  had  been 
given  up.  The  Algerine  soldiery,  in  their 
blind  fury  had  recourse  to  an  outrage  still 
more  terrible.  A  number  of  vessels,  belong 
ing  to  Naples  and  other  Mediterranean  states, 
had  been  in  the  practice  of  assembling  at 
Bona  to  carry  on  the  pearl  fishery,  in  which, 
upon  payment  of  an  annual  tribute,  they 
were  protected  by  the  Algerine  state.  Sud- 
leulj'  these  peaceful  and  industrious  fisher 
men  were  surrounded  by  a  band  of  Moors, 


who  commenced  an  indiscriminate  massacre, 
which  could  not  be  justified  on  any  ground 
or  pretence,  and  seems  to  have  no  object  but 
to  show  their  implacable  hatred  to  the  Chris 
tian  name. 

As  soon  as  the  tidings  of  this  dreadful  out 
rage  arrived  in  England,  they  kindled  at 
once  a  just  indignation,  and  a  determination 
to  follow  up  to  the  utmost  the  measure?  pro 
jected  against  this  common  pest  of  the 
civilized  world.  Lord  Exmouth's  fleet  Avas 
re-equipped  with  almost  incredible  dispatch. 
Early  in  July,  1816,  he  sailed  with  live  ships 
of  the  line  and  eight  smaller  vessels  and  ar 
rived  at  Gibraltar  in  the  beginning  of  August, 
when  he  was  joined  by  a  Dutch  fleet  of  six 
frigates  under  Admiral  Capellcn.  Having 
remained  at  Gibraltar  a  short  time,  to  make 
some  necessary  preparations,  Lord  Exmouth 
sent  forward  Captain  Dash  wood,  of  the 
Prometheus,  to  bring  away,  if  possible  the 
consul  and  his  family.  Captain  Dashwood 
Avas  strictly  interrogated  as  to  Lord  Ex- 
mouth's  armament,  of  which  the  dcyhad  re 
ceived  information  from  a  French  vessel,  and 
from  other  quarters.  He  contrived  to  evade 
the  questions ;  and  though  he  found  it  im 
possible  to  obtain  the  consul's  release,  he 
managed  to  bring  off  his  Avife  and  daughter, 
disguised  in  the  uniform  of  naval  officers. 
An  attempt  was  also  made  to  cany  off  hia 
infant  child  in  a  basket,  but  it  betrayed  itself 
by  its  cries;  however,  the  dcy,  Avith  unusual 
humanity,  alloAved  the  child  to  follow  the 
mother.  The  consul  himself  Avas  throAvn 
into  close  confinement.  The  dey,  meantime, 
A\ras  exerting  himself  in  the  most  extraordi 
nary  manner  to  put  the  place  in  a  posture 
of  defence.  The  batteries  on  the  mole,  and 
all  other  points  commanding  the  harbo:,  were 
strengthened  and  enlarged ;  and  armed  men, 
to  the  number  of  forty  thousand,  were 
brought  in  from  the  surrounding  country. 

Lord  Exmouth,  being  detained  by  calma 
and  contrary  wind.1?,  did  not  anchor  in  front 
of  Algiers  till  the  2Gth,  when  he  sent  a  flag 
of  truce  under  cover  of  the  Severn  gun- 
Avith  a  peremptory  lemand  of  certain 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


349 


conditions,  which,  however,  were  extremely 
moderate.     They  consisted  in  the  final  aboli 
tion   of  Christian   slavery  —  the  immediate 
liberation  of  all   slaves  now  within  the  ter 
ritory  of  Algiers — the  "repayment  of  all  ran 
soms  obtained  since  the  commencement  of 
the  year — the  liberation  of  the  consul  and  all 
British   subjects  now  in   confinement.      On 
the  Severn  arriving  in  front  of  the  mole,  the 
captain  of  the  port  came  out  to  meet  the 
English,  and  invited  them  to  enter  the  city. 
Salame,  the  interpreter,  declined,  but  pre 
sented  the  conditions,  demanding  that  an  an- 
Ewer  should  be  sent  within  an  hour.     The 
captain,    not  without  some  reason,   replied 
that  this  was.  a  period  wholly  inadequate  to 
decide  on   so  important  a  demand.     Here 
upon  two  or  three  hours  were  allowed ;  and 
two  were  declared  by  the  captain  to  be  suf 
ficient.  Meantime,  a  favorable  breeze  having 
sprung  up,  Lord  Exmouth  moved  forward  his 
ships  to  within  a  mile  of  the  harbor,  where 
he  held  himself  ready  for  action.     Salame 
waited  three  hours  and  a  half,  when  no  boat 
appearing  from  the  land,  he  steered  -for  the 
fleet,  making   signals   of  the   failure  of  his 
mission  ;  after  wlu'ch  steps  were  immediately 
taken  for  commencing  operations* 

Algiers  was  fortified  in  the  strongest  man 
ner,  and  by  all  the  resources  of  nature  and 
art.  The  mole,  considered  a  masterpiece  of 
defensive  architecture,  was  encircled  by 
tour  batteries,  respectively  of  forty-four, 
forty-eight,  sixty-six  and  sixty  guns.  All  the 
range  of  steeps  facing  the  sea,  on  which  the 
city  was  built,  were  covered  with  batteries 
which  could  keep  up  a  united  fire  upon  an 
assailing  fleet.  Lord  Exmouth,  undismayed, 
bore  up  into  the  center  of  this  mighty  line 
of  defence,  and  placed  the  Queen  Charlotte 
within  fifty  yards  of  the  mole, — a  bold  and 
happy  position,  where  her  own  fire  was  more 
effective  than  elsewhere  and  many  of  the 
principal  Turkish  guns  could  not  bear  upon 
her.  The  other  ships  took  their  stations  in 
line ;  while  the  Dutch  squadron,  which  could 
not  find  room  in  front  of  the  mole,  was  de 
tached  to  the  flanks,  to  occupy  the  fire  of  bat 


teries  which  might  otherwise  have  borne  on 
the  English.     The  fleets  were  placed  in  this 
formidable  array,  yet  all  was  still  silent,  and 
the  surrounding  heights  were  crowded  with 
spectators,  who  came   as  to  a  show.     Lord 
Exmouth  began  to  hope  that  the  dey  was  yet 
to  yield,  when  three  shots  were  fired  from 
the  batteries.     They  were  instantly  returned, 
and  a  fire  commenced,  as  animated  and  well 
supported   as    was    ever    witnessed.      The 
British  navy,   pitched    against    these    iron 
walls,  underwent  as   hard   and   doubtful    a 
struggle  as  it  had  ever  maintained  against 
the   strongest  array   of  hostile  fleets.     The 
atmosphere  was  filled  writh  so  thick  a  smoke, 
as  to  render  it  impossible  for  one  ship  to  dis 
cern  the  position  of  another.     About  sunset 
Admiral  Milne  communicated  that  his  ves 
sel  the  Impregnable,  had  lost  150  killed  and 
wounded,  and  that  he  stood  in  urgent  need 
of  a  frigate  to  divert  some  part  of  the  fire 
now  directed  against  them.     Soon,  however, 
the   enemy's  efforts  began  to  slacken ;  the 
principal  batteries  were  successively  silenced  ; 
hip  after  ship   caught  fire,  till  the   flame 
spread  over  the  whole  fleet,  and  reached  the 
arsenal ;  the  harbor  and  bay  were  illuminated 
one  mighty  and  united  blaze.     At  ten 
o'clock,  seven  hours  after  the  commencement 
of  this  hard  combat,  the  destruction  of  the 
Algerine  naval  force  was  complete ;  but  as 
some  distant  batteries  still  kept  up  a  liarass- 
ng  fire,  Lord  Exmouth  gave   the  signal  to 
steer  out  into  the  bay,  which  was  speedily 
iccomplished. 

Next  morning  Lord  Exmouth,  confident 
hat  the  dey  was  now  sufficiently  humbled, 
3ent  a  letter,  in  which,  after  enumerating  the  • 
leavy  wrongs  which  had  called  forth  this 
ignal  chastisement,  he  repeated  the  moder- 
ite  terms  already  offered,  adding,  that  in  the 
svent  of  their  being  now  accepted,  three  guns 
hould  be  fired  as  a  signal.  This  letter  was 
&ent  in  the  same  boat  as  the  day  before,  with 
nstructions  to  wait  three  hours.  As  soon  as 
;he  English  boat  was  seen,  another  came  out 
laving  on  board  the  captain  of  a  f i  igate,  who 
•eceived  the  letter  and  intimated  that  there 


350 


HISTORY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


was  no  doubt  of  its  terms  being  complied 
with ;  pretending  even  that,  had  a  little 
longer  time  been  allowed  the  day  before,  the 
sonflict  would  have  been  unnecessary.  Ac- 
20  "dingly,  in  an  hour  and  a  half  three  shots 
were  fired,  and  a  boat  immediately  came  out, 
on  board  of  which  were  the  captain  of  the 
port  and  the  Swedish  consul.  All  the  de 
mands  were  granted,  and  the  dey  in  vain  at 
tempted,  on  various  pretexts,  to  evade  or  de 
lay  the  execution.  The  captives,  to  the 
number  of  1083,  were  set  at  liberty ;  ransoms 
amounting  to  382,500  dollars  were  repaid  to 
Sicily  and  Sardinia ;  the  consul  was  liberated, 
and  received  a  compensation  for  the  insults 
he  had  endured ;  in  fine,  a  treaty  was  signed, 
by  which  the  dey  bound  himself  to  discon 
tinue  the  practice  of  Christian  slavery,  and 
hereafter  to  treat  prisoners  of  war  according 
to  the  established  practice  of  civilized  na 
tions. 

In  this  desperate  contest  the  English  lost 
128  killed  and  690  wounded,  the  Dutch  13 
killed  and  52  wounded.  Lord  Exmouth  re 
ceived  two  slight  hurts,  and  his  clothes  were 
cut  with  several  balls.  The  enemy  lost  fcur 
frigates,  five  large  corvettes,  and  thirty  gun 
boats.  All  their  arsenals  were  consumed, 
and  their  principal  batteries  reduced  to  a 
state  of  ruin.  The  city  was  also  greatly  in 
jured,  Salame  having  counted  no  less  than 
thirty  shots  which  had  passed  through  the 
walls  of  the  consul's  house. 

The  Algerines,  notwithstanding  this  se 
vere  and  merited  chastisement,  did  not  long 
adhere  to  sentiments  of  moderation.  ]STo 
time  was  lost,  and  no  effort  spared  to  place 
the  city  in  a  more  formidable  state  of  defence 
than  ever ;  and  they  considered  themselves 
again  in  a  condition  to  set  even  the  great 
powers  at  defiance.  Annoyances  were  be 
gun  against  the  French  trade  ;  and  the  con 
sul  having  made  remonstrances  on  the  sub 
ject,  was  grossly  insulted.  France  then  de 
clared  war,  and  sent  a  fleet  against  Algiers  ; 
but  the  fortifications  on  the  sea-side  were  so 
strong,  that  for  more  .han  a  year  her  ships 
tould  only  prolong  an  ineffective  blockade. 


At  length  war  on  a  great  scale  was  resolved 
on.  A  large  fleet  under  Admiral  Duporro, 
and  a  land  force  of  upwards  30,000  men 
under  General  Bourmont,  then  minister  at 
war,  sailed  from  Toulon  in  the  end  of  Mav, 
1830.  After  some  delay  in  the  bay  of  Pal- 
ma  in  Majorca,  this  armament  reached  the 
coast  of  Africa,  and  the  trDOps  began  to  land 
on  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  June,  upon 
the  western  side  of  the  peninsula  of  Sidi 
Ferruch,  in  the  bay  of  Torre  Chica.  The 
disembarkation  began  at  a  quarter  past  four, 
and  continued  till  twelve.  The  Algerines  at 
first  showed  only  flying  parties  of  horse, 
which  retreated  before  the  fire  of  two  steam- 
vessels.  Afterwards  they  opened  a  some 
what  brisk  fire  from  several  batteries,  which 
having  kept  up  for  several  hours,  not  with 
out  some  loss,  on  the  part  of  the  French, 
they  retreated. 

The  army  continued  for  some  days  land 
ing  their  provisions  and  stores,  with  only 
slight  annoyance  from  flying  troops  of  cav 
alry.  On  the  19th,  however,  the  Turkish 
troops  in  Algiers  being  reinforced  by  the 
contingents  of  the  beys  of  Constantino,  Oran, 
and  Titterie,  a  general  attack  was  made  with 
a  force  of  40,000  or  50,000  men.  They  ad 
vanced,  outflanking  the  French  army,  and 
charged  with  such  impetuosity  as  to  pene 
trate  the  line  at  several  points.  After  a  very 
obstinate  conflict  they  were  compelled  to  re 
treat,  and  their  camp  was  taken  and  plun 
dered.  The  French  admit  a  loss  of  00  killed 
and  450  wounded  ;  and  the  son  of  the  com- 
mamler-in-chief  died  of  his  wounds. 

The  Algerine  troops  renewed  their  attacks 
on  the  24th  and  25th,  when,  after  hard  com 
bats,  they  were  again  repulsed.  The  French 
then  advanced  upon  Algiers  ;  on  the  29th 
the  trenches  were  opened,  and  at  four  in  the 
morning  on  the  4th  of  July  the  batteries  be 
gan  their  f  re,  which  was  returned  with  much 
vigor.  At  ten  the  fort  called  Emperor,  be 
ing  no  longer  defensible,  was  blown  ^ip  by  the 
enemy,  with  a  tremendous  erplc^icn.  The 
French  commander  took  possession  of  its 
ruins,  where  he  received  a  flag  of  truce  :  be- 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


351 


fore  the  close  of  the  day  a  treaty  was  con 
cluded  for  the  entire  surrender  of  Algiers  ; 
and  next  day,  5th  of  July,  the  French  flag 
waved  on  its  forts.  Twelve  ships  of  war, 
1500  brass  cannon,  and  £2,028,500  sterling, 
came  into  the  hands  of  the  conquerors.  The 
Turkish  troops  were  permitted  to  go  where- 
ever  they  pleased,  provided  they  left  Al 
giers  ;  and  the  bey  chose  Naples  for  his  place 
of  retirement,  while  most  of  the  soldiers  de 
sired  to  be  landed  in  Asia  Minor. 

The  capture  of  Algiers  was  celebrated  in 
France  with,  great  demonstrations  of  joy. 
This  Avas  the  first  military  exploit  of  any 
brilliancy  of  which  France  could  boast  since 
the  downfall  of  Napoleon.  General  Bour- 
mont  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  marshal,  and 
Admiral  Duperre  was  promoted  to  the  peer 
age.  The  ministry  had  hoped  by  this  war 
to  render  themselves  popular  with  a  people 
so  enthusiastically  fond  of  military  glory, 
and  to  divert  the  public  attention  from  their 
maladministration.  But  three  weeks  after 
the  capture  of  Algiers,  the  revolution  of 
1830  dethroned  the  elder  branch  of  the  house 
of  Bourbon,  and  placed  the  crown  on  the 
head  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans.  On  receiving 

~ 

intelligence  of  this  event,  the  army  in  Al 
giers  declared  in  favor  of  the  revolutionists. 
General  Clausel  was  appointed  to  succeed 
Marshal  Bourmont,  with  instructions  to  re 
duce  to  obedience  all  the  provinces  depend 
ent  on  Algiers,  and  to  promote  commerce 
and  agriculture  by  encouraging  the  settle 
ment  of  European  emigrants.  The  new  gov 
ernor  found  himself  placed  in  circumstances 
requiring  the  greatest  prudence,  both  in  his 
intercourse  with  the  natives,  and  in  his  mili 
tary  operations.  The  French  army,  which 
had  not  been  there  three  months,  was  already 
reduced,  by  the  ]oss  of  15,000  men,  killed, 
wounded,  or  sick ;  and  from  the  unsettled 
state  of  the  country  at  home,  the  French 
government  was  unable  to  render  him  any 
effic'ent  assistance.  The  conquerors,  instead 
of  attempting  to  gain  the  good  will  of  the 
nati,:?s,  had  destroyed  a  number  of  their 
mosques,  seized  upon  lands  set  apart  for  re 


ligious  purposes,  and  attempted  to  introduce 
their  own  forms  and  usages  in  the  place  of 
those  of  the  country, — the  consequence  of 
which  was  that  the  natives  imbibed  the 
greatest  abhorrence  of  their  oppressors,  whom 
they  looked  upon  as  the  enemies  of  God  and 
their  prophet.  General  Clausel  incensed 
them  still  more  by  seizing  upon  the  posses 
sions  of  the  dey,  the  beys,  and  the  expelled 
Turks,  in  direct  violation  of  the  conditions 
on  which  the  capital  had  been  surrendered. 
Colonists,  however,  now  began  to  arrive  from 
Europe,  particularly  from  France  and  Ger 
many,  and  a  model  farm  was  laid  out  in  the 
vicinity  of  Algiers  for  the  purpose  of  instruct 
ing  the  inhabitants  in  the  arts  of  cultivation. 
Bona  was  taken  possession  of,  and  an  incur 
sion  made  into  the  southern  province  of  Tit- 
terie,  when  the  troops  of  the  bey  were  de 
feated,  and  Mediah  taken.  The  beys  of  Tit- 
terie  and  Oran  were  deposed  ;  the  former 
being  sent  to  France,  and  a  pension  of  12,000 
francs  granted  him  ;  and  the  latter  to  Alex 
andria.  Clausel  established  tributary  rulers, 
in  the  provinces,  and  actively  assisted  them 
when  attacked  by  the  hostile  Arabs,  while 
he  severely  punished  those  who  were  faith 
less  in  their  engagements  to  him.  Still  the 
war  continued.  Mediah  was  evacuated,  and 
Oran  abandoned.  The  French  were  inces 
santly  harassed  by  irruptions  of  hordes  of 
the  Arabs,  so  that  no  Frenchman  was  safe 
even  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town,  and  little 
reliance  could  be  placed  on  the  fidelity  of 
the  beys  who  governed  the  provinces.  In 
these  circumstances  a  corps  of  irregular  Arab 
troops  was  organized  ;  and  Clausel  entered 
into  an  engagement  with  the  bey  of  Tunis, 
by  which  the  provinces  of  Constantine  and 
Oran  were  transferred  to  two  brothers  of  the 
latter,  on  condition  of  their  paying  an  an 
nual  tribute  of  a  million  of  francs,  and  of 
their  doing  all  in  their  power  to  promote  the 
settlement  of  the  French  in  the  country. 
The  French  government,  however,  refused 
to  sanction  this  treaty,  on  the  ground  that 
the  governor  had  exceeded  his  powers.  Gen 
eral  Berthezene  was  now  appointed  com- 


352 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WORLD. 


mander-in-chief  of  the  rroops,  although  Clau- 
sel  was  still  allowed  to  retain  the  title  of 
governor  of  the  colony.  The  warlike  oper 
ations  were  continued  during  the  ensuing 
spring  and  summer  (1831),  and  several  expe 
ditions  were  made  into  the  interior,  to  chas 
tise  the  hostile  tribes ;  but  on  the  approach 
of  the  French  troops,  these  wild  hordes  de 
serted  their  villages,  dispersed  themselves 
over  the  country,  and  again  collecting,  hung 
upon  the  rear  of  the  army  on  its  return. 

In  one  of  these  expeditions  (in  June,  183G,) 
the  French  having  gone  to  assist  the  new 
bey  of  Mediali  whom  the  inhabitants  refused 
to  acknowledge,  were  attacked  in  their  re 
treat  by  a  numerous  army  of  nomad  tribes, 
which  engaged  them  in  incessant  skirmishes, 
in  which  a  great  number  of  the  French  were 
slain.  It  was  no  longer  possible  to  keep 
Benda  and  Mediali  in  subjection,  and  the 
newly-installed  bey  was  obliged  to  take  ref 
uge  in  Algiers.  In  October,  Bona  was  sur 
rounded  and  taken  by  the  Kabyles.  There 
was  now  no  safety  but  in  the  town  of  Al 
giers  ;  and  the  government  found  itself  com 
pelled,  at  the  same  time,  to  support  the  emi 
grants  who  had  settled  there.  Agriculture 
was  consequently  neglected  ;  and  it  was  ne 
cessary  to  send  to  Fradce  for  a  supply  of 
provisions,  and  for  fresh  troops. 

The  French  government  now  determined 
to  try  the  effect  of  a  change  in  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  colony,  and  entrusted  the  civil 
and  military  jurisdictions  to  distinct  officers. 
Accordingly,  in  the  end  of  the  year  1831, 
Savary,  Duke  of  Rovigo,  was  sent  out  as 
governor  with  an  additional  force  of  16,000 
men,  and  Baron  Pichon  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  civil  administration  of  the  col 
ony  ;  but  in  consequence  of  the  conflicts  be 
tween  the  two  powers,  they  were  both  after 
wards  united  in  the  hands  of  the  governor. 
The  determination  of  the  French  govern 
ment  to  retain  permanent  possession  of  Al 
giers  was  now  no  longer  doubtful.  The  new 
governor,  the  Duke  of  Rovigo,  did  not  dis 
dain  to  have  recourse  to  fraud  and  cruelty 
for  the  accomplishment  of  his  purpose. 


Among  his  exploits  was  ti.e  extirpation  of  an 
Arab  tribe,  on  account  oi  a  robbery  com 
mitted  by  them,  when  not  only  the  men,  1  lit 
the  women  and  children  were  massacred  I.T 
the  night  time ;  as  were  also  two  Arab 
chiefs,  whom  he  had  enticed  into  his  power 
by  a  written  assurance  of  safety.  These  pro 
ceedings  still  farther  exasperated  the  natives, 
and  those  tribes  which  had  hitherto  remained 
quiet  now  embraced  the  cause  of  their  coun 
trymen. 

About  this  time  Abd-el-Ivs  Icr  first  ap 
pears  as  an  opponent  to  the  IVench.  For 
fourteen  years,  this  chief,  with  n  few  noma 
dic  Arab  tribes,  kept  in  check  the  forces  of 
one  of  the  most  powerful  nat'ons  in  the 
world.  His  father,  a  marabout  cf  the  tribe 
of  Hachem,  had  collected  a  few  of  the  hos 
tile  tribes,  and  attacked  and  taken  possession 
of  Oran.  On  this  the  tribes  wisJ.ed  to  ac 
knowledge  him  as  their  chief;  but  tMs,  on 
account  of  his  great  age,  he  declined  in  favor 
of  his  son  Abd-el-Kader,  who.  he  said,  united 
in  himself  all  the  qualities  of  intelligence, 
activity,  valor  and  piety,  necessary  to  insure 
success ;  farther  adding,  that  in  his  journey 
to  Mecca,  an  old  fakir  had  predicted  that 
his  son  would  one  day  become  sultan  of  the 
Arabs.  Abd-el-Kader  was  born  about  the 
beginning  of  1807,  at  the  ghetna  of  his  fa 
ther,  in  the  vicinity  of  Mascara.  The  GJtct- 
na  is  a  seminary  where  the  marabouts  .n- 
struct  the  young  Arabs  ii\  literature,  theol 
ogy  and  jurisprudence.  Abd-el-Kador  early 
distinguished  hiinseii  in  these  oranches,  and 
soon  acquired  great  reputation  aimng  lis 
countrymen  for  his  learning.  Nor  did  lie 
neglect  those  manly  exercises  for  which  the 
Arabs  are  distinguished,  but  was  remarkable 
for  his  skill  in  horsemanship,  and  in  tlnmr- 
ing  the  lance  and  wielding  the  yatagan.  L'e 
made  two  pilgrimages  to  Mecca  in  company 
with  his  father,  once  when  :>nly  a  child,  a  id 
again  ir  1828,  by  which  he  obtained  the 
title  of  Yadji.  On  his  return  he  marrie.r  a 
female  whom  he  tenderly  loved,  and  by  wb .  m 
he  has  two  sons.  He  also  visited  Egypt,  for 
the  purpose  of  observing  the  civilization 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


353 


which  had  "been  introduced  there  under  Ma 
homet  Ali.  At  the  time  that  his  father  was 
proclaimed  emir,  he  was  living  in  obscurity, 
distinguished  by  the  austerity  of  his  man 
ners,  his  piety,  and  his  zeal  in  observing  all 
the  precepts  of  the  Koran.  Having  resolved 
to  devote  himself  to  the  defence  of  his  coun- 
Iry,  he,  by  great  exertions,  collected  an  army 
of  10,000  horsemen,  with  whom,  accompa 
nied  by  his  father,  he  marched  to  attack  the 
town  of  Oran,  which  had  been  taken  posses 
sion  of  by  the  French.  They  arrived  before 
the  town  about  the  middle  of  May,  1832 ; 
but  after  continuing  their  attack  for  three 
days  with  great  bravery,  they  were  repulsed 
with  considerable  loss. 

In  this  first  essay  of  Abd-el-Kader  as  a  sol 
dier,  he  is  said  to  have  conducted  himself 
with  extraordinary  bravery.  He  several 
times  threw  himself  into  the  thickest  of  the 
fight,  to  teach  the  Arabs  not  to  dread  the 
fire  of  the  artillery.  This  enterprise  was  fol 
lowed  by  a  series  of  contests  more  or  less 
severe  between  the  parties,  without  any  per 
manent  or  decided  advantage  being  gained 
by  either.  In  March,  1833,  the  Duke  of 
Rovigo  was  obliged,  on  account  of  his  de 
clining;  health,  to  return  to  France,  and  Gen- 

O  '  t 

eral  A  vizard  was  appointed  interim  gover 
nor  ;  but  the  latter  dying  shortly  afterwards, 
General  Voirol  was  nominated  his  successor. 
Abd-el-Kader  was  still  extending  his  influ 
ence  more  and  more  widely  among  the  Arab 
tribes,  and  now  resolved  to  subdue  the  whole 
province  of  Mascara.  He  accordingly  march 
ed  to  Tlemecen,  which  at  that  time  was  in 
the  possession  of  two  separate  factions  ;  the 
Turks  occupying  the  citadel,  and  the  Moors 
the  rest  of  the  town.  Abd-el-Kader  began 
by  attacking  the  Moors,  whose  chief  soon 
took  to  flight,  and  the  inhabitants  surren 
dered  the  town.  He  treated  them  with  great 
kindness,  and  set  a  new  chief  over  them ; 
but  he  was  not  equally  successful  with  the 
Turks,  who  refused  to  surrender ;  and  not 
having  been  able  to  force  the  citadel,  he  re 
turned  to  Mascara,  where  he  heard  with 
great  grief  of  the  death  of  his  father.  The 
45 


French  now  considered  it  their  interest  to 
offer  the  emir  conditions  of  peace.  A  treaty 
was  accordingly  concluded  with  him  by  Gen 
eral  Desmichels,  governor  of  Oran  ;  one  of 
the  conditions  of  which  was,  that  the  emir 
was  to  have  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  with 
the  French  in  corn.  This  part  of  the  treaty 
General  Desmichels  at  first  endeavored  to 
keep  secret  from  the  government ;  but  they 
soon  heard  of  it,  from  the  disputes  which 
arose,  and  the  general  was  consequently  re 
moved  from  his  post.  Towards  the  end  of 
1834,  Drouet  Count  d'Erlon  was  appointed 
governor-general  of  the  colony ;  and  under 
him  were  appointed  a  commander  of  the 
troops,  a  commander  of  the  naval  forces,  and 
several  other  officers.  Tribunals  of  justice 
were  also  established,  by  winch  both  French 
and  natives  were  allowed  to  enjoy  their  re 
spective  laws.  From  the  tranquil  state  of 
the  country  at  this  time,  the  new  governor 
was  enabled  to  devote  his  attention  to  its 
improvement.  The  French  soon  became 
jealous  of  the  power  of  the  emir ;  and  on 
the  pretence  that  he  had  been  encroaching 
on  their  territory,  General  Trezel,  who  had 
succeeded  Desmichels  in  the  governorship 
of  Oran,  was  sent  out  against  him  with  a 
considerable  force.  The  two  armies  met  at 
the  River  Macta,  where  the  French  army 
was  routed  with  great  slaughter  on  the  28th 
of  June,  1835.  On  the  news  of  this  defeat 
the  government  resolved  effectually  to  hum 
ble  Abd-el-Kader,  and  sent  Marshal  Clausel 
to  Algiers  for  that  purpose,  whore  lie  arrived 
in  August,  1835.  On  the  26th  of  ^November 
following,  he  set  out,  at  the  head  of  11,000 
men,  for  Mascara,  which  he  reached  on  the 
6th  of  the  following  month.  On  his  arrival, 
finding  the  town  totally  deserted,  he  destroy 
ed  it,  and  afterwards  returned  to  Algiers, 
persuading  himself,  if  we  may  judge  from 
his  bulletins,  that  he  had  extirpated  the  Arab 
power.  Some  time  after  this  the  emir  at 
tacked  General  d'Arlanges  and  a  company 
of  3000  men,  on  the  Tafna.  The  contest 
wras  continued  for  some  time  with  great 
vigor,  but  the  French  troops  were  at  length 


334 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


put  to  flight.  On  this  General  Bugeaud 
was  commissioned  to  put  down  the  emir 
either  by  hostile  or  pacific  measures.  Con 
ciliatory  means  having  failed,  lie  attacked 
the  Arabs  at  the  pass  of  Sikak,  on  the  Gth 
of  July,  1836,  and  gained  a  complete  vic 
tory  over  them  ;  but  not  having  sufficiently 
followed  up  this  advantage,  the  emir  in  a 
few  months  had  BO  for  recovered  himself 
that  the  French  were  fain  to  conclude  a 
treaty  with  him,  even  on  terms  very  advan 
tageous  to  the  Arabs.  By  the  terms  of  this 
treaty,  Abd-el-Kader  was  allowed  to  retain 
possession  of  those  parts  of  country  that  wore 
already  in  subjection  to  him,  with  liberty  to 
purchase  from  the  French  such  military 
stores  as  he  required ;  while  on  his  side  he 
was  bound  to  acknowledge  the  sovereignty 
of  France,  and  to  deliver  for  the  use  of  the 
French  army  a  stipulated  quantity  of  pro 
visions.  This  treaty  wras  concluded  on  the 
30th  of  May,  1837.  Previous  to  this,  how 
ever,  Marshal  Clausel  made  an  unsuccessful 
attack  upon  Constantino.  lie  arrived  before 
the  town  after  a  very  fatiguing  march  on  the 
21st  of  November,  183G,  with  a  force  of 
•about  9000  men.  After  several  unsuccess 
ful  attacks  up:>n  the  town,  he  was  obliged  to 
retreat.  In  this  expedition  he  lost  a  great 
number  of  soldiers  through  exhaustion  and 
disease  ;  and  this  failure  occasioned  his  re 
call  from  his  government.  His  successor, 
General  Damremont,  arrived  on  the  3d  of 
April,  1837;  and  after  subjecting  some  tribes 
of  the  Kabyles  who  had  revolted,  he  directed 
his  attention*  to  the  capture  of  Constantine 
— for  which  purpose  he  collected  a  force  of 
12,000  men,  partly  Europeans  and  partly  na 
tives.  With,  this  army  he  arrived  before  the 
town  on  the  Gth  of  October  without  encount 
ering  any  opposition  on  his  march.  The 
town  was  defended  by  GOOO  or  7000  men, 
chiefly  Kabyles,  under  the  command  of  Ben 
Aissa,  the  deputy  of  the  bey.  After  a  very 
gallant  defence,  the  town  was  taken  by  storm 
on  the  13th  of  that  month  by  General  Val- 
lee.  General  Damremont  having  been  killed 
by  a  can  sol  ball  on  the  preceding  day.  On 


the  capture  of  the  cityr  the  neighboring 
tribes  hastened  to  make  their  submission  to 
the  conquerors ;  and  a  strong  garrison  being 
left  to  defend  the  town,  the  army  retraced 
its  steps  to  Bona,  where  it  arrived  on  the  3d 
of  November.  As  a  reward  for  his  services, 
General  Vallee  was  made  a  marshal,  and  ap 
pointed  governor-general  of  the  colony.  Dis 
putes  with  the  emir  as  to  the  boundaries  of 
his  territory  were  very  frequent,  until  at 
length  war  was  again  declared  between  the 
parties.  The  French  have  endeavored  to  fix 
upon  the  emir  the  infringement  of  both  these 
treaties ;  but  the  truth  seems  to  be,  that  it 
was  occasioned  by  their  jealousy  of  his  grow 
ing  power ;  and  even  some  of  themselves 
admit  that  he  can  be  accused  of  no  breach 
of  faith,  and  that,  in  both  instances,  the  for 
mal  violation  of  the  treaties  was  by  the 
French.  The  emir,  like  a  good  general,  had 
employed  those  intervals  of  peace  in  extend 
ing  his  influence  among  his  subjects,  clips- 
tising  those  tribes  that  refused  to  acAnow 
ledge  him,  and  treating  those  who  sub 
mitted  to  his  authority  with  the  greatest 
kindness.  lie  set  rulers  and  chiefs  on  whom 
he  could  depend  over  the  divisions  and  sub 
divisions  of  his  territory,  and  bestowed  the 
greatest  attention  on  the  military  training 
of  his  subjects. 

The  immediate  cause  of  the  war  on  this 
occasion  was  the  marching  of  an  armed 
force  of  French  troops  through  the  emir's 
territory.  This  the  latter  looked  upon  as  an 
infringement  of  the  treaty,  and  consequently 
declared  war.  On  the  14th  of  December, 
1839,  he  fell  upon  the  French  troops  in  tho 
plain  of  Metidja,  and  routing  them  with 
great  slaughter,  took  and  destroyed  theii 
settlements.  lie  even  advanced  as  far  aa 
the  very  walls  of  Algiers,  and  soon  reduced 
their  possessions  to  the  fortified  places  which 
they  occupied.  On  this  the  French  army  i  i 
Africa  was  augmented,  and  numerous  skir 
mishes  took  place  without  any  decisive  re 
sults  to  either  party,  the  only  thing  worthy 
of  notice  being  the  gallant  and  successful 
defence,  for  four  days,  of  Fort  Mnzagran, 


HISTOKY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


355 


near  Mostagan,  by  a  garrison  of  123  men, 
against  from  12,000  to  13,000  of  the  enemy. 
The  campaign  was  opened  on  the  part  of 
the  French,  on  the  25th  of  April,  1840,  when 
(hey  set  out  with  a  considerable  force  to  take 
possession  of  the  towns  of  Mediah  and  Mil- 
ianah.  Although  successful,  the  permanent 
res  tilts  of  this  expedition  were  comparatively 
trifling.  The  garrisons  left  behind  found 
themselves  so  surrounded  by  enemies  that 
they  could  not  trust  themselves  without  their 
walls ;  and  even  when  the  French  arms  were 
successful  at  a  distance,  no  one  could  consid 
er  himself  secure  immediately  without  the 
walls  of  Algiers.  The  French  government 
being  dissatisfied  with  Marshal  Yallee's  want 
of  success,  appointed  General  Bugeaud  as 
his  successor.  The  new  governor-general 
arrived  at  Algiers  on  the  22d  of  February, 

1841.  On  opening  the  campaign  his  first 
object  was  to  provision  Mediah  and  Milianah. 
Having  accomplished  this,  he  next  marched 
at  the  head  of  11,000  men  to  Jekedemt,  the 
principal  stronghold  of  Abd-el-Kader.  TVhen 
he  arrived  there  on  the  25th  of  May,  he 
found  it  abandoned  by  its  inhabitants,  on 
which  he  ordered  it  to  be  destroyed,  and  the 
citadel,  which  had  been  built  by  the  emir 
to  be  blown  up.     From  hence  the  general 
went  to  Mascara,  which  he  entered  on  the 
30th  of  the  month.     In  October  following 
he   eet   out   for  Laida,  the  only  remaining 
stronghold  in  the  possession  of  the   emir, 
which  he  took,   and    entirely   demolished. 
These  misfortunes  of  the  emir  caused  numer 
ous  defections  among  his  subjects ;  none  of 
them  now   offere^   any   opposition    to   the 
French,  and  several  of  them  became  their 
allies.     The  region  towards  the  borders  of 
Marocco  being  still  unsubdued,  an  expedi 
tion  was  sent  into  that  territory  in  January, 

1842.  On  the  30th  of  that  month  they  took 
the  town  of  Tlemecen,  and  ten  days  after 
wards  the  fort  of  Tafrua,  which  they  demol 
ished.     The  troops  of  Abd-el-Kader  having 
been  almost  entirely  destroyed  by  so  many 
misfortunes,  he  was  obliged  to  take  refuge 
in  Marocco,  and  most  of  his  subject  tribes 


now  submitted  to  the  French.  But  Abd-el 
Kader  was  not  yet  overcome ;  he  appeared 
again  with  a  small  force,  and  going  from 
tribe  to  tribe,  exhorted  them,  by  all  they 
held  dear  and  sacred,  to  bestir  themselves, 
and  by  one  vigorous  effort  to  drive  the  inva 
ders  out  of  their  country.  By  these  means 
he  was  able  to  raise  a  considerable  force,  and 
he  made  up  for  the  want  of  troops  by  the 
rapidity  of  his  movements,  lie  suddenly 
made  an  attack  upon  one  of  the  French  ter 
ritories,  when  he  was  supposed  to  be  in  quite 
a  contrary  direction,  and  even  advance.!  to 
within  a  short  distance  of  Mascara.  An 
army  was  accordingly  sent  out  against  him, 
which  advanced  south  t.s  far  as  the  sources 
of  the  Taguin,  but  without  coming  up  to  the 
enemy.  On  their  retreat,  however,  a  con 
flict  took  place  at  Isna,  in  which  the  Arabs 
were  defeated,  and  the  emir  himself  narrow- 
ly  escaped  being  taken  prisoner.  On  this 
the  French  troops  returned  to  Mascara,  in 
the  end  of  November,  1842.  The  emir  now 
stirred  up  the  Kabyles  of  Bougie  to  make  an 
attack  upon  Cherchell.  In  this  however  they 
were  baffled  by  the  energetic  proceedings  of 
General  Bugeaud,  who  did  not  hesitate  tc 
go  in  the  middle  of  winter  to  the  mountain 
ous  regions  of  the  Jurjura  to  quell  this  in 
surrection.  Though  the  colony  was  now  in 
a  comparatively  quiet  and  secure  state,  this 
had  only  been  accomplished  at  a  vast  expen 
diture  of  money,  amounting  to  not  less  than 
£60,000,000  sterling,  and  at  a  great  sacrifice 
of  human  life,  of  which  we  may  in  some 
measure  judge  from  the  fact  that,  in  the 
month  of  September,  independently  of  the 
lives  lost,  out  of  80,000  men,  as  many  as 
24,000  were  lying  in  the  hospitals.  It  is  un 
necessary  to  follow  out  the  remaining  strug 
gles  of  the  emir  in  Algiers.  His  forces  Avere 
now  so  reduced  that  he  could  not  cope  with 
the  French  in  the  open  field,  though  he  did 
not  cease  to  harass  them  by  incursions  into 
their  territories. 

The  emir  was  at  length  reduced  to  such 
straits  that  he  agreed  to  deliver  himself  up 
to  the  French  on  receiving  a  promise  of  safe- 


35C 


HISTOKT  OF  THE  WORLD. 


ty,  and  of  being  allowed  to  retire  to  Alex 
andria  or  to  St.  Jean  d'Acre.  Notwithstand 
ing  this  promise,  which  was  given  by  Gen 
eral  Lamoriciere,  and  ratified  by  the  gover 
nor  of  the  colony,  the  Duke  d'Aumale,  son 
'of  Louis  Phillippe,  he  and  his  suite  were 
embarked  at  Oran  for  Toulon,  where  he  ar 
rived  on  the  29th  of  January,  1848.  From 
Toulon  the  emir  was  removed  first  to  the 
chateau  of  Paris,  and  afterwards  (in  Novem 
ber)  to  the  chateau  of  Amboise,  near  Boise, 
where,  till  very  recently,  he  was  detained  a 
prisoner.  The  emir,  in  December,  1852, 
left  France  for  Broussa,  where  he  lived  in 
retirement,  and  it  is  said  devoted  his  time 
chiefly  to  reading  the  Koran  and  religious 
exercises. 

Since  the  removal  of  Abd-el-Kader  from 
Algiers  the  French  power  may  be  said  to  be 
established  in  the  country,  but  even  now 
skirmishes  are  not  unfrequent  with  some  of 
the  more  unsettled  tribes.  This  possession 
has  as  yet  turned  out  to  be  anything  but  a 
profitable  speculation  for  France,  and  al 
though  it  has  been  lately  much  improved,  it 
is  doubtful  if,  for  many  years  to  come,  it 
will  compensate  for  the  immense  sums  of 
money  and  the  loss  of  life  that  it  has  occa 
sioned  to  that  country. 

The  ancient  history  of  TRIPOLI  has  already 
been  alluded  tc  in  the  notice  of  Cyrenaica. 
In  mediaeval  and  modern  times  it  has  passed 


through  a  number  of  vicissitudes.  In  the 
twelfth  century  it  was  possessed  for  a  short 
time  by  Roger,  of  Sicily,  but  was  soon  regain 
ed  by  the  Saracens,  who  retained  it  till  its  con 
quest  by  the  Spaniards  in  1510.  Charles  Y. 
gave  Tripoli,  along  with  Malta,  to  the  Knights 
of  St.  John,  in  1530,  but  in  1551  Simon 
Basha  conquered  it  for  the  Sultan  Solyman, 
and  then  first  it  became  a  Turkish  Pashalic. 
Its  history  since  that  time  presents  no  events 
of  importance.  The  government  is  an  un 
limited  despotism,  exercised  by  a  pasha,  who 
pays  a  tribute  to  the  Porte,  and  is  supported 
by  a  regular  Turkish  force  of  5,000  men. 

TUNIS  forms  a  province  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire,  but  is  virtually  independent.  After 
the  fall  of  Carthage  the  Romans  built  an 
other  city  near  the  site  of  the  modern  city 
of  Tunis.  When  this  wras  destroyed  by  the 
Saracens,  Tunis  rose  in  importance,  and  soon 
became  one  of  the  largest  cities  of  Africa. 
The  Normans,  of  Sicily,  held  it  for  a  time, 
but  they  were  driven  out  by  Abdalmamum, 
of  Marocco.  In  1530  it  was  taken  by 
Charles  Y.  in  his  African  campaign.  In 
1574  the  Sultan  Salim  reduced  it  to  subjec 
tion  to  the  Ottoman  Porte.  It  was  first  gov 
erned  by  a  pasha,  but  subsequently  the  peo 
ple  obtained  permission  to  elect  a  bey.  Foi 
a  long  time  Tunis  was  notorious  fcr  piracy, 
but  the  efforts  of  the  foreign  pcweis  to  suj» 
press  it  were  at  last  successful. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


351 


CAPE    OF  GOOD  HOPE 


Cape  was  discovered  by  Bartholo- 
JL  mew  Diaz,  the  Portuguese  navigator, 
in  1493,  who  first  landed  at  Algoa  Bay,  hav 
ing,  after  exploring  the  west  coast,  been 
driven  out  to  sea  by  a  storm,  and  thus  acci 
dentally  doubling  the  Cape  which  he  saw  on 
his  way  back,  giving  it  the  name  of  the  Cape 
of  Storms.  The  king  of  Portugal,  however, 
gave  it  the  more  auspicious  name  it  still 
hears,  as  its  discovery  afforded  a  hope  of  a 
new  and  easier  way  of  reaching  India,  the 
great  object  of  all  the  maritime  expeditions  of 
that  age. 

The  great  navigator  Vasco  de  Gama  doub 
led  the  Cape  in  149  T,  and  carried  the  Portu 
guese  flag  into  the  Indian  seas.  His  coun 
trymen,  however,  attracted  by  the  riches  of 
the  East,  made  no  permanent  settlement  at 
the  Cape,  although  they  frequently  touched 
there  on  the  voyage  to  India.  But  the  Dutch, 
who,  on  the  decline  of  the  Portuguese  power, 
established  themselves  in  the  East,  early  saw 
the  importance  of  the  place  as  a  station 
where  their  vessels  might  take  in  water  and 
provisions.  They  did  not,  however,  colonize 
it  till  1650,  when  the  Dutch  East  India  Com 
pany  directed  San  Yan  Riebeeck,  with  a 
email  party  of  colonists,  to  form  a  settlement 
there  The  country  was  at  that  time  inhab- 
ted  by  a  people  called  Quaiquae,  but  to 
whom  the  Dutch  seem  to  have  given  the 
name  of  Hottentots.  The  Riebeeck  settlers 
had  a1;  first  great  difficulties  and  hardship  to 
endure,  and  their  territory  did  not  extend 
beyond  a  fe^  miles  round  the  site  of  the 


present  Cape  Town,  where  they  first  fixed 
their  abode.  They  gradually,  however,  ex 
tended  their  limits,  by  driving  the  natives 
back  or  reducing  them  to  serfdom.  These 
colonists,  although  under  Dutch,  authority, 
were  not  wholly  of  that  nation,  but  con&st- 
ed  partly  of  persons  of  various  nations,  espe 
cially  Germans  and  Flemings,  with  a  few 
Poles  and  Portuguese.  They  were  for  the 
most  part  people  of  low  station  or  indifferent 
character ;  there  was,  however,  a  small  nuni 
ber  of  a  higher  class,  from  whom  was  select 
ed  a  council  to  assist  the  governor.  About 
the  year  1686  the  European  population  was 
increased  by  a  number  of  the  French  refu 
gees  who  left  their  country  on  the  revocation 
of  the  edict  of  Nantes. 

In  1795  the  colonists,  having  imbibed  the 
revolutionary  principles  then  prevailing  in 
Europe,  attempted  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of 
the  Dutch,  upon  which  the  British  sent  a 
fleet  to  support  the  authority  of  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  and  took  possession  of  the  coun 
try  and  his  name.  As,  however,  it  was  evi 
dent  that  Holland  would  not  be  able  to  hold 
it,  and  that  at  a  general  peace  it  would  be 
made  over  to  England,  it  was  ruled  by  Brit 
ish  governors  till  the  year  1802,  when,  at 
the  peace  of  Amiens,  it  was  again  restored 
to  Holland.  In  1806,  on  renewal  of  the  war 
it  was  again  taken  by  the  British  under  Sir 
David  Baird,  and  has  since  remained  in  tneii 
possession,  having  been  finally  ceded  by 
the  king  of  the  Netherlands  at  the  peace  of 
1815. 


S58 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


The  first  of  the  Kafir  ware  took  place  in 
1811-12 ;  the  second  in  1819,  when  the 
boundary  of  the  colony  was  extended  to  the 
Keiskamnm.  The  third  occurred  in  1835, 
under  Sir  Benjamin  D'Urban,  when  the 
boundary  was  advanced  to  the  Kei ;  but  on 
the  recall  of  that  officer,  the  country  between 
the  Kei  and  Keiskamma  rivers  was  restored 
to  the  Kafirs.  The  fourth  Kafir  war  took 
place  in  1846,  and,  after  being  conducted  by 
governors  Maitland  and  Pottinger,  it  was 
terminated  by  Sir  Harry  Smith  in  1848. 
The  fifth  war  broke  out  at  the  end  of  1850, 
tnd  after  being  for  some  time  carried  on  by 
Governor  Sir  II.  Smith,  it  was  conducted  in 
1852  by  Governor  Cathcart. 

In  1820,  Scottish  emigrants,  to  the  num- 
of  5000,  arrived  at  Algoa  Bay,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  settlements  on  the  eastern 
frontier  which  have  since  become  the  most 
thriving  part  of  the  colony,  and  includes  the 
important  town  of  Graham's  Town  and  Port 
Elizabeth. 

In  1834  the  great  measure  of  slave  eman 
cipation  took  effect  in  Cape  Colony,  and  has 
been  of  immense  service  in  raising  the  char 
acter  and  condition  of  the  Hottentots  and 
other  races  before  held  in  bondage.  These 
people  keep  the  anniversary  of  this  great 
event  as  a  holiday,  which  they  enjoy  in 
pleasure  parties  and  innocent  amusements. 
We  have  more  than  once  been  present  on 
these  occasions,  and  have  had  pleasure  to 
observe,  by  their  sober  and  orderly  conduct, 
that  they  knew  how  to  enjoy  without  abusing 
the  blessings  of  freedom. 

In  1835-6  a  large  number  of  the  Dutch 
boers  resolved  to  free  themselves  from  the 
British  government  by  removing  with  their 
families  beyond  the  limits  of  the  •  colony. 
With  this  object  they  sold  their  farms,  most 
ly  at  a  great  sacrifice,  and  crossed  the  Orange 
River  into  the  territories  chiefly  inhabited 
by  trfces  of  the  Kafir  race.  After  meeting 
with  great  hardships  and  varied  success  in 
their  contests  with  the  natives,  a  part  of  their 
number,  undf.r  one  Peter  Retief,  crossed  the 
Drackenberg  Mountains  and  took  possession 


of  the  district  of  Natal,  where  they  estab 
lished  a  republican  government  and  main 
tained  their  ground  against  powe.rful  nations 
of  Zulu  Kafirs  till  1842,  when  thej  were 
forced  to  yield  to  the  authority  of  the  British 
government,  which  took  possession  of  Natal. 

The  boers  beyond  the  Orange  River  and 
west  of  the  Drackenbcrgs  still,  however,  re 
tained  a  sort  of  independence  till  1848,  when, 
in  consequence  of  the  lawless  state  of  the 
country,  and  the  solicitation  of  part  of  the 
inhabitants,  the  governor,  Sir  Harry  Smith, 
declared  the  supremacy  of  the  crown  over 
the  territory,  which  was  thenceforth  called 
the  Orange  River  Sovereignty.  Shortly 
after  this,  in  consequence,  as  it  is  alleged,  of 
certain  acts  of  the  British  government  in 
Natal,  Andrew  Pretorius,  an"  intelligent  boer 
of  that  district,  crossed  the  Drackenberg 
Mountains  with  his  followers,  and  after  being 
joined  on  the  western  side  by  large  numbers 
of  disaffected  boers,  he  raised  the  standard 
of  rebellion.  Upon  this  the  governor,  Sii 
II.  Smith,  crossed  the  Orange  River  at  the 
head  of  a  detachment  of  troops,  and  en 
countered  and  defeated  the  rebels  in  a  short 
but  brilliant  skirmish  at  Boem  Plaats.  After 
this  Pretorius  and  the  most  disaffected  part 
of  the  boers  retreated  to  beyond  the  Yaal 
River  (the  northern  limit  of  the  sovereignly), 
where  they  established  a  government  of  their 
own.  They  were  subsequently,  in  1852,  ab 
solved  from  their  allegiance  to  the  British 
crown  by  treaty  with  the  governors  and  her 
Majesty's  commissioners  for  settling  frontier 
affairs. 

In  1853-54,  in  consequence  of  the  troubled 
state  of  the  Orange  River  Sovereignty,  and 
the  difficulty  of  maintaining  with  becoming 
dignity  the  authority  of  her  Majesty  there, 
it  was  resolved  to  abandon  the  country  to 
the  settlers,  mostly  Dutch  boers.  This  was 
carried  into  effect  by  a  special  commissioner, 
Sir  George  Clerk,  K.C.B.,  sent  from  England 
for  the  purpose  ;  and  the  country,  under  the 
name  of  the  Orange  Free  State,  is  constitu 
ted  a  republic,  with  a  president  at  the  head, 
assisted  or  controlled  by  an  assembly  called 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


359 


the  Volksraad  (people's  councils),  electe  i  by 
nearly  universal  suffrage. 

After  the  government  had  felt  itself  com 
pelled  to  discontinue  the  sending  of  convicts 
to  New  South  "Wales  and  Van  Diemen's 
Land,  the  subject  of  transportation  became 
one  of  great  difficulty,  more  especially  at  a 
time  when  an  unusually  large  number  of 
prisoners  was  on  its  hands  in  consequence  of 
the  prosecution  arising  out  of  the  disturbed 
state  of  Ireland.  Under  these  circumstances 
an  order  in  council  was  passed  in  1848,  under 
authority  of  the  Act  5th  Geo.  IV.,  author 
izing  the  secretary  of  state  to  send  certain 
convicts  to  such  colonies  as  he  might  think 
proper.  A  circular  was  sent  by  Earl  Grey, 
then  colonial  secretary,  to  the  governor  of 
the  Cape  (among  other  colonial  governors), 
requesting  him  to  ascertain  the  feelings  of 
colonists  regarding  the  reception  of  a  certain 
class  of  convicts.  Unfortunately,  owing  to 
some  misunderstanding,  a  vessel,  the  Nep 
tune,  was  despatched  to  the  Cape  before  the 
opinion  of  the  colonists  had  been  received, 
having  on  board  nearly  three  hundred  con 
victs,  among  whom  were  John  Mitchell,  and 
his  colleagues.  When  the  news  reached  the 
Cape  that  this  vessel  was  on  her  way,  the 
people  of  the  colony  became  violently  ex 
cited  ;  and,  goaded  to  fury  by  the  inflamma 
tory  articles  in  the  local  newspapers,  and 
guided  by  a  few  demagogues,  they  establish 
ed  what  was  called  the  Anti-Convict  Asso 
ciation,  by  which  they  bound  themselves  by 
a  pledge  to  cease  from  all  intercourse  of  ev- 
sry  kind  with  persons  in  any  way  connected 
"  with  the  landing,  supplying,  or  employing 
soavicts."  People  who  refused  to  take  this 


pledge  were  al?o  subjected  t:  great  annoy 
ance  and  petty  persecutions.  The  banks,  the 
government  contractors,  and  a  large  number 
of  the  farmers  and  dealers  about  Cape  Town 
were  thus  pledged.  On  the  19th  of  Septem 
ber,  1849,  the  Neptune  arrived  in  Simon'g 
Bay;  and  when  the  intelligence  reached 
Cape  Town,  the  people  assembled  in  vast 
masses,  and  their  behavior  was  violent  and 
outrageous  in  the  extreme.  The  governor, 
after  adopting  several  resolutions,  and  again 
abandoning  them  under  the  pressure  of  popu 
lar  agitation,  agreed  not  to  land  the  con 
victs,  but  to  keep  them  on  board  ship  in  Si 
mon's  Bay  till  he  received  orders  to  send 
them  elsewhere.  Even  this  concession  did 
not  satisfy  any  but  a  small  number  of  more 
moderate  men.  The  mass  of  the  population, 
under  the  guidance  or  domination  of  a  few 
agitators,  continued  to  do  all  in  their  power 
to  prevent  the  convicts  and  all  the  officers 
of  the  government  from  obtaining  supplies- 
Tradesmen  and  others  were  prohibited  from 
selling  to  the  proscribed  class  even  the  com 
monest  necessaries  of  life.  When  the  home 
government  became  aware  of  the  state  of 
affairs  it  immediately  sent  orders  directing 
the  Neptune  to  proceed  to  Van  Diem  en's 
Land,  and  the  agitation  ceased. 

This  agitation  did  not,  however,  pass  away 
without  important  results,  since  it  led  to  an 
other  agitation,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
obtain  a  free  representative  government  for 
the  colony.  This  concession,  which  had 
been  previously  promised  by  Lord  Grey, 
was  granted  by  her  Majesty's  government  ; 
and,  in  1853,  a  constitution  was  established 
of  almost  unexampled  liberality 


AGO 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WORLD. 


EUROPE. 


A    GENERAL    VIEW. 


ON  a  first  view  Europe  appears  to  be  less 
favored  by  nature  than  the  other 
quarters  of  the  globe  over  which  it  has  at 
tained  so  great  an  ascendancy.  It  is  much 
smaller  in  extent ;  its  rocky  and  mountain 
ous  surface  does  not  admit  of  those  noble 
rivers,  like  inland  seas,  which  lay  open  the 
remotest  regions  of  Asia  and  America  to  the 
commerce  of  the  world.  Its  vegetable  pro 
ductions  are  neither  so  various  nor  so  ex 
uberant;  and  it  is  poorly  supplied  with  the 
precious  metals,  and  with  many  of  those 
commodities  on  which  mankind  set  the 
greatest  value.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
climate  of  Europe,  if  it  nourishes  a  less  luxu 
riant  vegetation  is  of  an  equal  and  temperate 
kind,  well  adapted  to  preserve  the  human 
frame  in  that  state  of  health  and  vigor  which 
fits  it  for  labor,  and  promotes  the  develop 
ment  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  powers. 
The  mountains  that  intersect  its  surface  are 
barriers  which  enabled  infant  communities 
to  protect  themselves  from  violence,  and  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  arts,  knowledge  and 
civilization.  If  it  has  few  navigable  rivers, 
its  inland  seas  and  bays  are,  from  their  po 
sition  and  extent,  the  finest  in  the  world,  and 
have  been  the  means  of  creating  and  nour 
ishing  that  commercial  spirit  which  has  been 
one  great  source  of  its  improvement.  Though 
comparatively  deficient  in  gold  and  silver, 
it  is  abundantly  supplied  with  those  useful 
metals  and  minerals  which  m'nister  still 
more  essentially  to  the  wants  of  civilized 
.ife  Its  apparent  defects  have  become  the 


source  of  real  benefits,  and  the  foundation 
of  its  grandeur.     The   disadvantage  of  itg 
soil  and  climate  have  excited  the  industry 
of  its  inhabitants,  giving  them  clear  ideas 
of  property,  kindled  a  resolute  spirit  to  de 
fend  their  rights,  and  called  into  existence 
that  skill  and  enterprise  and  those  innumer 
able  arts  and  inventions,  which  have  enabled 
the  inhabitants  of  this  apparently  barren  and 
rocky  promontory  to  command   the   riches 
and  luxuries  of  all  the  most  favored  regions 
of  the   globe.     It   is   only  in   Europe   that 
knowledge  and  the  arts  seem  to  be  indigen 
ous.     Though  they  have  appeared  at  times 
among  some  of  the  nations  of  Asia,  they 
have  either  stopped  short  after  advancing  a 
few  steps,  or  they  have  speedily  retrograded 
and  perished,  like  something  foreign  to  the 
genius  of  the  people.     In  Europe,  on   the 
contrary,  they  have   sprung   up   at   distant 
periods,  and  in  a  variety  of  situations;  they 
have  risen  spontaneously  and  rapidly,  and 
declined  slowly  ;  and  when  they  disappeared, 
it  was  evident  they  were  but  crushed  for  the 
time    by   external   violence,    to    rise    again 
when  the  pressure  had  subsided.     It  is  only 
in  Europe,  and  among  colonies  of  Europeans, 
that  the  powers  of  the  human  mind,  breaking 
through  the   slavish  attachment  to  ancient 
usages  and  institutions,  have  developed  that 
principle    of    progressive    improvement  of 
which  it  is  impossible  to  calculate  the  final 
results.      The   rudest   tribe   in   Europe,   in 
which  this  principle  has  taken  root,  has  a 
certain  source  of  superiority  over  the  most 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


361 


improved  nations  of  Asia  and  Africa,  where 
society  remains  perfectly  stationary.  If  these 
nations  are  ever  destined  to  advance  in  civ 
ilization,  they  must  borrow  from  Europe 
those  arts  which  she  has  invented,  and  which 
belong  to  civilized  life  in  every  climate. 
But  the  tenacious  adherence  of  rude  nations 
to  the  customs  and  superstitions  of  their  an 
cestors,  will  not  allow  us  to  hope  that  the 
benefits  of  civilization  will  be  rapidly  diffused 
in  this  way.  It  is  more  probable  that  colon 
ies  from  the  older  states  of  Europe  will 
multiply  as  the  population  becomes  more  and 
more  redundant ;  and  that  these  colonies 
will  carry  the  arts  and  knowledge,  the  langu 
age  and  manners,  of  Europe  with  them,  to 
the  other  quarters  of  the  world.  From  pre 
judices  on  both  sides,  it  is  found  that  two 
races,  in  very  different  stages  of  civilization, 
do  not  really  amalgamate ;  and  it  is  there 
fore  probable  that  the  feebler  inhabitants  of 
U*ese  countries,  like  the  American  Indians, 
\v  ill  be  gradually  displaced  by  the  continual 
encroachments  of  the  more  energetic  races 
of  Europe. 

Europe  is  bounded  on  the  N.  and  W.  by 
the  Arctic  and  Atlantic  Oceans;  on  the  S. 
by  the  Mediterranean,  the  Black  Sea,  and 
Mount  Caucasus  ;  on  the  E.  by  the  Caspian 
Sea,  the  river  Ural,  and  the  Uralian  Moun 
tains.  The  greatest  length  of  the  continent 
is  from  Cape  St.  Yincent  to  the  Sea  of  Kara, 
in  the  direction  of  N.E.  and  S.W.,  and  is 
3490  English  miles.  Its  greatest  extent  from 
X.  to  S.  is  from  Cape  Matapan  to  Cape 
North,  2420  miles.  The  superficies  of 
Europe,  including  the  Azores,  Iceland,  Nova 
Zembla,  and  all  its  other  islands,  is  3,YY5,4:29 
English,  or  2,800,000  geographical  square 
miles;  and  the  length  of  its  coast  line  is 
Hbout  16,000  miles. 

The  climate  of  Europe  is  distinguished  by 
two  peculiarities.  It  enjoys  a  higher  mean 
temperature  than  any  of  the  other  great 
divisions  of  the  world  in  the  corresponding 
latitudes ;  and  it  is  not  subject  to  such  vio 
lent  extremes  of  heat  and  cold.  These  ad 
vantages  it  owes  chiefly  t;  its  numerous  seas, 


inland  bays,  and  lakes,  which  render  its 
temperature  similar  to  that  of  islands ;  and 
partly  also,  according  to  Humboldt,  to  its 
situation  at  the  western  extremity  of  the 
greatest  range  of  dry  land  on  the  surface  of 
the  globe ;  the  western  sides  of  all  continents 
being  warmer  than  the  eastern.  Europe  lies 
almost  entirely  within  the  temperate  zone, 
not  more  than  one-fourteenth  part  of  its  sur 
face  being  within  the  arctic  circle.  Only  a 
very  small  part  of  it  is  uninhabitable  from 
cold,  and  it  nowhere  suffers  much  from  ex 
cessive  heat. 

The  mountains  of  Europe  are  more  numer 
ous  in  proportion  to  its  extent  than  those  of 
the  other  great  continents,  but  they  are  of 
less  elevation  than  the  mountains  of  America 
and  Asia.  The  highest  and  the  most  exten 
sive  chains  in  Europe  run  generally  in  the 
direction  of  east  and  west,  and  are  placed 
near  its  southern  shores.  The  central  mass 
of  the  Alps,  with  which  all  the  other  moun 
tains  in  the  south  of  Europe  are  connected, 
forms  the  summit  of  the  continent,  and  de 
termines  the  position  of  the  surface  and  the 
courses  of  most  of  the  rivers. 

The  principal  mass  of  the  Alps  extends  in 
a  semicircle  from  Nice,  on  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean,  to  Trieste,  on  the  Adriatic, 
a  distance  of  550  miles.  Southward  of  Mont 
Blanc  the  Alps  consist  of  a  single  chain,  with 
many  lateral  branches,  which  lie  chiefly  on 
the  west  side ;  but  immediately  to  the  east 
ward  of  Mont  Blanc  the  principal  chain  di 
vides  into  two,  which  inclose  the  sources  of 
the  Rhone.  These  meet  again  at  St.  Goth- 
ard,  and  on  the  east  side  of  it  part  into  three 
chains,  one  of  which  loses  itself  in  Bavaria, 
another  in  Austria  near  Yienna,  and  the 
third  terminates  near  Trieste.  A  lateral 
chain  of  no  great  elevation  passes  eastward, 
and  connects  the  Alps  with  the  mountains 
of  European  Turkey.  Smaller  branches  con 
nect  the  Alps  with  the  Bohemian  and  Car 
pathian  Mountains  on  the  north,  w^ith  the 
Yosges  and  Cevennes  on  the  west,  and, 
through  the  latter,  with  the  Pyrenees.  The 
Apennines  are  but  a  prolongation  of  the 


3G2 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


Alps  on  the  south.  Mont  Blanc,  the  loftiest 
of  the  Alps,  and  the  highest  mountain  in 
Europe,  has  an  elevation  of  15,GSO  English 
feet ;  and  Monte  Rosa,  the  Jungfrau,  the 
Schreekhora,  and  several  other  summits,  ap 
proach  to  this  height.  The  elevation  of  the 
shain  diminishes  towards  both  extremities. 
In  general,  the  steepest  sides,  are  turned  to 
wards  Italy,  and  the  lateral  and  subordinate 
branches  are  most  numerous,  and  extend 
farthest,  on  the  opposite  side. 

The  chain  of  the  Pyrenees,  which  is  next 
to  the  Alps  in  elevation,  runs  in  the  direction 
of  east  and  west.  Its  length  is  about  240 
miles;  but,  if  we  include  the  Cantabrian 
Mountains,  which  continue  in  the  same  line 
without  interruption,  the  whole  length  will 
be  about  500  miles.  Mont  Perdu  rises  to 
the  height  of  11,270  feet.  The  south  side 
of  the  Pyrenees  is  rugged  and  precipitous  ; 
but  on  the  north  there  is  a  gradual  descent 
to  the  plains  of  France  by  a  series  of  parallel 
ridges  diminishing  in  height.  The  Canta 
brian  Mountains  are  lower  than  the  Pyre 
nees,  and  present  their  steepest  sides  to  the 
north.  There  are  four  other  chains  of  moun 
tains  in  Spain,  all  running  in  a  direction  ap 
proaching  to  east  and  west,  and  all  connect 
ed  with  one  another  and  with  the  Pyrenees. 
The  highest  of  these  is  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
the  southmost,  one  of  whose  summits  rise  to 
the  height  of  11,660  feet.  The  lower  limit 
of  perpetual  snow  on  the  Pyrenees  is  at  the 
height  of  8960  feet.  The  red  pine  grows  at 
the  height  of  7480  feet,  which  is  about  700 
feet  higher  than  any  species  of  trees  on  the 
Alps. 

The  Apennines  form  an  uninterrupted 
chain  750  miles  in  length,  extending  from 
the  south-west  termination  of  the  Alps  near 
Nice  to  the  Straits  of  Messina.  The  most 
considerable  elevations  are  about  the  middle 
of  the  chain,  where  II  Gransasso  rises  to  the 
height  of  9570  feet. 

The  Carpathian  and  Sudetic  Mountains, 
with  the  Erzgebirge  and  Boehmerwald,  may 
be  considered  as  forming  one  continued 
chain,  the  length  of  which,  from  the  point 


where  it  strikes  the  Danube  in  Hungary,  to 
the  point  where  it  strikes  the  same  river  in 
Bavaria,  is  about  1200  miles,  exclusive  of  the 
transverse  branches  which  separate  Moravia 
from  Bohemia  and  Hungary.  The  declivi 
ties  of  this  long  range  of  mountains  are 
steepest  on  the  south  side.  The  elevations 
are  lowest  on  the  west,  and  generally  increase 
as  we  advance  eastward,  till  we  come  to  the 
sources  of  the  Theiss  in  the  north  of  Hun 
gary,  after  which  they  again  decline.  The 
Fichtelberg,  at  the  westmost  point  of  the 
chain,  is  4030  feet  high :  Schnekoppe,  the 
highest  of  the  Sudetic  Mountains,  is  5280 
feet,  and  Lomnitz  in  Hungary,  the  loftiest 
of  the  whole  range,  is  8460  feet.  None  of 
these  mountains  rise  to  the  region  of  per 
petual  snow,  the  lower  limit  of  which,  ac 
cording  to  "Wahlcnberg,  is  about  sixty  feet 
above  the  summit  of  Lomnitz.  Corn  and 
fruit  trees  are  said  to  grow  at  a  greater 
height  upon  the  Carpathians  than  upon  the 
Alps,  the  latter  are  two  degrees  farther 
south. 

The  chain  of  the  Dovrefeld,  Dofrines,  or 
great  Scandinavian  Alps,  is  about  1000  miles 
in  length,  and  has  a  general  elevation  of 
from  3000  to  6000  feet.  The  altitude  of 
Skagstlos  Find,  the  highest  mountain  of  the 
chain,  is  8400  feet.  These  mountains  consist 
almost  entirely  of  the  older  rocks,  and  pre 
sent  their  steepest  sides  to  the  west. 

The  Urals,  or  Uralian  Mountains,  which 
form  the  north-eastern  boundary  of  Europe, 
extend  from  N.  to  S.  through  20°  latitude, 
with  a  breadth  of  about  forty  miles.  T.'.ey 
rise  very  imperceptibly  from  the  plains  on 
both  sides,  and,  where  they  crossed  by  the 
road  from  Moscow  to  Siberia,  the  ascent  und 
descent  are  so  nearly  imperceptible  t  lat, 
were  it  not  for  the  precipitor*  banks  along 
side  of  them,  the  traveller  would  hardly  sup 
pose  he  was  crossing  a  range  of  hills.  The 
general  elevation  of  that  part  of  the  range 
seems  not  to  exceed  1350  feet,  and  the  base 
on  which  it  rests  is  itself  000  feet  ab  jve  the 
level  of  the  sea.  The  Urals  are  rich  in 
minerals,  especially  in  gold  and  retina,  but 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


363 


these  are  found  in  most  abundance  on  the 
eastern  or  Asiatic  side  of  the  range.  The 
mountains  of  Nova  Zembla  may  be  consider 
ed  as  a  prolongation  of  the  Urals.  Their 
principal  summit  is  Glassowsky,  which  has 
an  elevation  of  about  2500  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea. 

The  great  range  of  Caucasus,  which  is  now 
assumed  to  be  the  south-eastern  boundary  of 
Europe,  extends  in  a  north-westerly  and 
iouth-easterly  direction  along  the  north-east 
coast  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  across  the 
isthmus,  terminating  with  a  series  of  low 
hills  in  the  peninsular  promontory  of  Abche- 
ron  on  the  W.  side  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  along 
which  its  diverging  branches  form  a  large 
Dagliestan,  or  hill  country.  The  length  of 
the  principal  chain  is  about  700  miles,  with 
a  breadth  varying  from  about  60  to  140. 
The  loftiest  summits  are  found  near  the  mid 
dle  part  of  the  chain,  and  are  covered  with 
perpetual  snow.  Elburz,  the  highest  peak, 
has  an  elevation  of  17,796  feet.  The  moun 
tains  of  the  Crimea,  though  separated  from 
the  Caucasus  by  the  strait  of  Yenikaleh,  and 
the  alluvial  delta  of  the  river  Kuban,  would 
Eeem  to  be  a  prolongation  of  the  chain,  sepa 
rated  by  some  volcanic  convulsion.  This, 
however,  may  be  considered  doubtful,  as 
there  are  no  ignigenous  rocks  at  all  in  the 
Crimea,  so  far  at  least  as  yet  known,  while 
granite  is  to  be  found  in  the  Caucasus. 
Many  parts  of  the  range  are  exceedingly 
craggy  and  precipitous ;  but,  in  other  places, 
are  found  level  plains  and  very  beautiful  and 
fertile  valleys. 

A  long  mountain  range  extends  in  an 
irregular  curve  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Black 
Sea,  in  the  latter  of  which  it  terminates 
with  Emineh  Burun,  or  Cape  Hsemus.  The 
western  portion,  however,  of  the  range 
properly  belongs  to  the  Dinaric  Alps  ;*and 
the  Turkish  Balkans  (ancient  Haemus)  begins 
near  the  sources  of  the  river  Lepentz,  a  point 
from  which  two  great  ranges  diverge,  one  to 
the  south,  forming  the  ancient  Pindus,  while 
the  Ilsemus  or  Balkan  range  extends  east- 
Ward,  with  a  general  elevation  of  less  than 


5000  feet,  though  a  few  of  its  summits  reach 
the  limit  of  perpetual  snow  ;  uid  the  Tchar 
dagh,  the  culminating  point,  rises  about  9700 
feet.  The  range  is  broken  through  by  nu 
merous  ravines,  deep  and  narrow,  and  of  the 
most  terrific  appearance ;  but  there  are  also 
several  practicable  passes.  The  range  is  well 
wooded,  and  believed  to  be  rich  in  minerals. 
Near  the  east  end  a  minor  range,  called  the 
Little  Balkan,  diverges  in  a  south-easterly 
direction,  and,  running  parallel  to  the  shores 
of  the  Black  Sea,  terminates  near  the  Bos- 
phorus.  From  the  Tchar-dagh  the  Pindus 
extends  southwards,  dividing  Albania  from 
Kumelia,  and  forming  a  long  range  of  wild 
hill-country  with  many  lofty  summits.  To 
the  south,  it  is  connected  with  the  mountains 
of  Greece,  which  divide  that  country  into  a 
number  of  valleys  and  promontories. 

Besides  the  Alps,  which  form  its  south 
eastern  border,  and  the  Pyrenees,  which  di 
vide  France  from  Spain,  there  are  in  France 
several  mountain  ranges  of  considerable  ele 
vation.  The  Cevennes,  the  Forez,  and  the 
mountains  of  Auvergne,  form  together  a 
group  that  divides  the  low  country  on  the 
Mediterranean  and  the  basin  of  the  Rhone 
from  the  plains  that  extend  westward  to  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  The 
elevation  of  most  of  the  summits  is  only  be 
tween  3000  and  5000  feet ;  but  in  Auvergne, 
the  Plomb-de-Cantal  rises  to  6093  feet,  and 
the  Puy-de-Sancy  to  6221.  Between  France 
and  Switzerland  the  range  of  Jura  has  near 
ly  the  same  elevation ;  and  further  north  the 
range  of  the  Vosges  divides  the  basin  of  the 
Rhine  from  that  of  the  Moselle,  but  it  is 
comparatively  low,  its  summits  ranging  from 
about  1400  feet  to  4000,  and  the  loftiest  ris 
ing  only  to  4693  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  From  the  plateau  of  Langres,  in  the 
department  of  the  Haute  Marne,  a  ridge  of 
high  ground,  scarcely  rising  into  hills,  pro 
ceeds  westward,  between  the  S  fine  and  the 
Loire,  terminating  in  Finlstere,  while  other 
ridges  extend  northwa  rds  into  Belgium,  sep 
arating  the  valleys  of  The  Moscue,  the  Meuse 
and  the  Marne. 


364 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


The  mountains  o"  Britain  are  compara 
tively  insignificant.  They  extend  in  a  long 
range,  or  series  of  ranges,  with  many  diver 
gencies  and  interruptions,  along  the  west 
side  of  the  island,  about  G30  miles  in  length  ; 
but  it  is  only  in  Wales  and  the  north-west 
ern  parts  of  England  and  Scotland  that  they 
attain  an  elevation  comparable  to  that  of 
even  the  lowest  of  the  continental  ranges  we 
have  mentioned.  Snowden,  on  Caernarvon 
shire,  the  highest  mountain  in  Wales,  rises 
only  to  35  TO  feet ;  Ilelvellyn  and  Scat  ell,  in 
Cumberland,  to  3055  and  31G6  feet;  Ben 
Nevis  and  Ben  Muck-Dhui,  in  Scotland,  to 
4370  and  4390. 

The  Pyrenees,  the  Cevennes,  Forez,  Yos- 
ges,  Jura,  Alps,  Apennines,  Bohemian  and 
Ilercynian  Mountains  in  Germany,  Carpa 
thians,  and  the  Balkans,  form  together,  as 
we  have  seen,  a  long  range  of  high  ground, 
inclosing  many  elevated  valleys,  and  leaving 
between  them  and  the  shores  of  the  Mediter 
ranean  Sea  only  a  series  of  long  narrow  stripes 
of  lowland.  To  the  northward,  however, 
Europe  sinks  into  an  immense  plain,  which 
extends  all  the  way  from  the  German  Ocean 
and  the  North  Sea  to  the  Ural  and  Caucasian 
Mountains,  and  the  shores  of  the  Caspian 
and  Black  Seas.  This  plain  would  seem  to 
have  formed,  since  the  commencement  of  the 
tertiary  period  of  geology,  though  perhaps 
not  all  at  the  same  time,  the  bed  of  the  sea ; 
for  it  is  everywhere  covered  with  tertiary 
formations  and  marine  drift,  and  contains  the 
fossil  remains  of  animals  that  could  only  have 
lived  in  salt  water.  It  includes  the  whole 
basins  of  the  Baltic  and  White  Seas ;  and  the 
Scandinavian  mountains  would  seem  to  have 
formed  a  large  island  bordering  on  the  N. 
W.  The  south-western  portion  of  the  plain 
is  traversed  by  large  rivers  that  flow  north 
wards  from  the  Alps,  and  the  Bohemian  and 
Sudetic  Mountains,  which  form  the  water- 
Bhed  between  it  and  the  basins  of  the  Danube, 
the  Rhone,  and  the  Po;  but  eastward  the 
watershed  between  the  Baltic  and  the  Cas 
pian  and  B  ack  Seas,  only  a  few  hundred 
feet  in  eleva  ion,  may  be  traced  from  a  spur 


of  the  Carpathians,  near  the  source  of  the 
Dneister,  through  the  Russian  provinces  of 
Yolhynia,  Grodno,  Minsk,  Smolensk,  Biali- 
stock,  Pskov,  Twer,  Novgorod  (where  it 
forms  a  sort  of  plateau,  and  rises  in. 3  the 
Yaldai  Hills,  the  highest  of  which  is  only 
1370  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Baltic  Sea), 
and  Yologda,  to  the  Ural  Mountains  at  the 
sources  of  the  Petchora.  The  northern  slope, 
forming  the  basin  of  the  White  Sea,  possesses 
a  barren  soil  and  a  cold  climate,  and  towards 
the  north  stretches  out  into  immense  plains, 
covered  with  moss,  marshy  in  summer,  frozen 
in  winter,  only  interrupted  with  a  few  rocky 
ridges.  The  southern  slope  improves  in 
quality  as  it  advances  southward,  and  the 
middle  region  is  a  country  of  great  fertility  ; 
but  farther  south  this  fertile  region  is  separ 
ated  from  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Caspian  by 
the  steppes,  the  surface  of  the  higher  portion 
of  which  is  generally  only  about  200  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  though  towards 
the  Caspian  it  sinks  much  lower.  Through 
out  the  whole  spa.ce  occupied  by  the  higher 
steppes,  which  extend  westward  from  the 
Don  and  the  Manytsh,  along  the  Sea  of  Azof 
and  the  Black  Sea,  including  three-fourths 
of  the  Crimea,  and  crossing  the  Dniepei 
westward  along  its  right  bank,  till  they  meet 
the  outskirts  of  the  fertile  regions  -of  Little 
Russia,  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  but  a 
coarse,  rank  grass,  except  in  the  hollows 
along  the  river  banks,  which  produce  a  finer 
vegetation.  The  soil  of  the  lower  steppes, 
which  extend  along  the  Caspian  Sea  from  the 
river  Ural  to  the  foot  of  the  Caucasus,  with 
a  breadth  of  from  250  to  300  miles,  is  cov 
ered  with  a  fine  sand  mixed  with  shells,  pro 
ducing  no  trees  or  shrubs,  but  only  at  certain 
seasons  a  scanty  grass.  It  is  everywhere 
strongly  impregnated  with  salt,  as  if  the  re 
gion  had  recently  been,  what  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  it  was,  the  bed  of  a  sea. 

Europe  contains  several  volcanic  regions, 
in  some  of  which  the  volcanic  agency  is  still 
active,  while  in  others  it  has  been  long 
quiescent  at  least,  if  not  extinct.  A  volcanic 
belt  is  believed  to  extend  through  Centrai 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


36E 


Asia,  and  Asia  Minor,  the  Archipelago, 
Greece,  Kaples,  Sicily,  the  southern  parts  of 
Spain  and  Portugal  to  the  Azores.  In  the 
Archipelago,  the  island  of  Santorin  has  been 
the  grand  centre  oi  volcanic  action  for  the 
last  2000  years ;  and  the  neighboring  island 
of  Milo  is  also  a  volcano  of  recent  aspect, 
though  the  epochs  of  its  eruption  is  not  known. 
On  the  eastern  shore  of  Sicily  rises  the  stu 
pendous  cone  of  Etna  or  Mongibello,  to  the 
height  of  10,873  feet,  composed  entirely  of 
volcanic  products,  and  known  to  have  been 
in  activity  for  nearly  2500  years.  To  the 
northward  of  Etna,  the  islands  of  Stromboli, 
Yulcano,  and  Vulcanello,  in  the  Lipari 
group,  are  still  active,  throwing  out  continu 
ally  both  fire  and  smoke.  To  the  south-west 
of  Sicily  the  island  of  Pantellaria  is  entirely 
volcanic,  and  covered  with  prodigious  quan 
tities  of  lava,  pumice,  and  scoriae.  Livy 
mentions  that  an  island  was  said  to  have 
risen  out  of  the  sea  near  Sicily  in  the  year 
183  B.C.,  and  in  A.D.  1831  a  volcanic  island 
actually  rose  from  the  sea,  between  Sciacca 
and  Pantellaria,  but  soon  disappeared,  being 
washed  away  by  the  waves.  On  the  shore 
of  the  Gulf  of  Naples  stands  Mount  Vesu 
vius,  a  volcano  in  constant  activity ;  while  to 
the  westward  of  that  city  there  is  a  volcanic 
region,  including  the  island  of  Ischia,  where 
the  fire  has  been  quiescent  since  the  sixteenth 
century.  Further  north,  round  Rome,  there 
are  several  extinct  volcanic  craters,  most  of 
which  are  now  filled  with  water,  forming  so 
many  beautiful  though  unwholesome  lakes. 
Near  the  coast  of  Valencia,  in  Spain,  the  is 
lands  of  Columbretes  are  the  remnants  of  an 
extinct  crater,  and  the  traces  of  another  vol 
canic  region  are  to  be  found  near  Olot  in 
Catalonia.  The  Azores  (if  they  should  be 
reckoned  to  Europe)  are  all  apparently  of 
volcanic  origin,  but  contain  no  active  vol 
canoes.  Along  the  whole  line  of  this  vol 
canic  belt,  earthquakes  are  frequent  and  de 
structive.  On  each  side  of  the  line  of  great 
est  commotion  there  are  parallel  belts  of 
country  where  the  shocks  are  less  violent. 
At  a  still  greater  distance,  as  far  as  the  foot 


of  the  Alps,  there  are  spaces  where  the 
shocks  are  rarer  and  much  feebler.  Beyond 
these  limits  again  all  the  countries  of  west 
ern  Europe  are  liable  to  slight  tremors,  at 
distant  intervals  of  time ;  but  these  may  be 
considered  as  mere  vibrations.  Shocks  of 
this  kind  have  been  felt  in  England,  Scot 
land,  northern  France,  and  Germany,  partic 
ularly  during  the  tremendous  earthquake 
that  destroyed  Lisbon  in  1755. 

Far  to  the  north-west  of  the  mainland  of 
Europe,  the  island  of  Iceland  forms  a  vol 
canic  region  apart.  The  whole  island  ap 
pears  to  be  of  volcanic  formation ;  there  are 
several  volcanoes  still  in  full  activity,  and  in 
the  interior  there  are  vast  tracts  covered  with 
lava,  scoriae,  and  volcanic  sand.  From  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  there  is 
clear  evidence  that,  during  the  whole  period, 
there  has  never  been  an  interval  of  more 
than  forty,  and  very  rarely  one  of  twenty 
years,  without  either  an  eruption  or  a  great 
earthquake.  Some  eruptions  of  Mount  Hecla 
have  lasted  six  years  without  intermission  ; 
but  from  1Y83  that  volcano  remained  quies 
cent  till  1845,  when  it  broke  out  anew. 
Earthquakes  have  often  shaken  the  whole  is 
land  at  once,  causing  great  changes  in  the 
interior;  and  new  islands  have  often  been 
thrown  up  near  the  coasts.  In  the  intervals 
between  eruptions,  innumerable  hot  springs 
gave  vent  to  subterranean  heat,  and  solfata- 
ras  discharge  copious  streams  of  inflammable 
matter.  In  the  south-western  part  of  the 
island,  nearly  a  hundred  intermittent  springs 
of  steam  and  boiling  water,  the  celebrated 
Geysers,  are  said  to  be  found  within  a  circle 
of  two  miles.  The  island  of  Jan  Mayen, 
between  Iceland  and  Spitzbergen,  contains 
an  active  volcano ;  and  the  mountain  of 
Sarytcheff,  in  the  northern  island  of  I^ova 
Zernbla,  is  the  most  northern  volcrno  at 
present  known. 

Europe  is  well  watered  with  rivers,  but 
they  are  mere  brooks  compared  with  the 
mighty  streams  of  Asia  and  America,  and, 
from  the  unevenness  of  the  surface,  afford 
in  gene^x  no  great  extent  of  inland  naviga- 


366 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


tion.  The  Danube,  the  largest  river  that  is 
entirely  in  Europe,  is  about  1500  miles  in 
length  and  drains  an  area  of  370,000  square 
miles. 

The  idands  of  Europe,  including  Nova 
Zembla  and  Iceland,  occupy  a  space  equal 
to  280,000  square  miles,  or  one  eleventh  part 
of  the  surface  of  the  continent ;  and  of  this 
space  the  area  of  the  British  isles  amounts  to 
rather  less  than  one  half.  The  Black  Sea  is 
the  only  large  sea  connected  with  Europe 
in  which  there  are  no  islands  worthy  of 
notice. 

The  Mediterranean,  the  noblest  inland  sea 
in  the  world,  forms  the  southern  boundary  of 
Europe,  separating  it  from  Africa,  and  partly 
also  from  Asia.  It  maybe  considered  as  the 
bottom  of  a  vast  basin  formed  by  the  Pyre 
nees,  Alps,  Balkans,  Taurus,  Libanus,  and 
Atlas.  These  mountains  are  everywhere 
near  its  shores,  which  are  consequently  nar 
row  and  much  inclined.  Hence  there  are  no 
such  extensive  plains  as  Hungary  or  Poland 
near  the  coast  of  this  sea,  and  hence  also  no 
very  large  rivers  fall  into  it  except  the  Nile ; 
and  altogether  it  receives  a  smaller  quantity 
of  water  from  rivers  than  the  Black  Sea  or 
the  Baltic,  though  six  times  larger  than 
either.  Its  length  is  about  2360  miles,  its 
breadth  is  extremely  various,  and  its  surface 
something  less  than  a  third  part  of  the  conti 
nent  of  Europe.  It  is  generally  of  great 
depth  ;  and  its  numerous  islands,  which  have 
uniformly  a  rocky  surface,  appear  to  be  the 
summits  of  marine  mountains. 

The  Baltic,  the  greatest  inland  sea  that  is 
entirely  in  Europe,  is  about  1200  miles  long, 
of  very  unequal  breadth,  and  presents  a  sur 
face  of  175,000  square  miles  exclusive  of  is 
lands.  The  country  round  the  Baltic  is 
much  more  level  than  round  the  Mediter 
ranean  ;  lakes  are  numerous  in  the  low 
grounds,  from  the  want  of  declivity ;  the  sea 
itself  is  comparatively  shallow,  and  receiving 
a  much  greater  quantity  of  river  water,  it  is 
much  less  salt.  The  commerce  of  the 
Baltic  is  annually  interrupted  by  the  ice, 
which  endures  for  months  in  the  Gulfs  of 


Bothvia  and  Finland.  The  whole  of  this  in- 
lai  t\  sea  has  sometimes  been  frozen  over  for 
a  short  time,  but  this  is  of  rare  occurrence. 

The  Black  Sea,  which  belongs  onlv  partly 
to  Europe,  is  700  miles  long  and  3SO  milee 
broad,  and  including  the  Sea  of  Azcf,  pre 
sents  a  surface  almost  of  the  same  magnitude 
as  that  of  the  Baltic.  It  derives  four-fifths 
of  its  water  from  Europe,  and  is  curiously 
distinguished  from  the  other  seas  of  this 
quarter  of  the  globe,  by  its  being  almost 
totally  destitute  of  islands. 

The  "Wliite  Sea  is  450  miles  in  length, 
of  a  very  irregular  figure,  and  occupies  a 
space  equal  to  35,000  square  miles.  It  re 
ceives  some  considerable  rivers,  but  is  frozen 
during  six  months  of  the  year. 

The  lakes  of  Europe  are  numerous,  and 
are  of  two  kinds  ;  those  which  lie  in  cavities 
at  the  foot  of  high  mountains,  and  which  aro 
generally  deep,  such  as  the  lakes  in  the  Alps, 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Norwegian  mountains, 
and  among  the  mountains  of  England  and 
Scotland ;  and  those  which  are  formed  in 
level  countries  for  the  want  of  sufficient  de 
clivity  to  carry  off  the  water,  such  as  the 
lakes  in  Finland,  Poland,  and  Brandenburg. 
Four-fifths  of  the  lakes  of  Europe  are  in  the 
country  round  the  Baltic. 

The  soil  of  Europe  has  not  the  extreme  ol 
luxuriance  or  sterility  which  belong  to  the 
soil  of  the  other  great  continents.  If  it  does 
not  yield  the  rich  fruits  of  tropical  climates, 
it  is  not  deformed  by  burning  sands  liko 
Africa,  or  by  pestilent  swamps  like  America. 
It  does  not  pour  forth  its  riches  spontaneous 
ly,  but,  soliciting  the  care  and  the  labor  of 
man,  it  requites  his  industry  with  what  is 
necessary  to  supply  his  wants ;  and,  by  ex 
ercising  and  sharpening  his  powers  of  mind, 
has  given  birth  to  those  arts  which  plare  the 
productions  of  the  most  favored  climates  .-n. 
his  disposal.  Many  of  the  plants  which  have 
been  domesticated  in  Europe  are  natives  of 
distant  countries.  The  vine,  the  olive,  and 
the  mulberry,  are  said  to  have  been  brought 
from  Syria  by  the  Greeks  ;  and  the  Arabians 
introduced  cotton  ;  maize  was  received  from 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


the  Indian  tribes  of  America ;  the  walnut 
and  peach  came  from  Persia ;  the  apricot 
from  Armenia;  and  the  sugar-cane  and 
orange  from  China.  There  are  not  very 
many  plants  belonging  to  the  tropical  re 
gions  that  absolutely  refuse  to  grow  in 
Europe,  but  an  enlightened  economy  finds 
other  productions  more  profitable.  Besides 
sugar  and  cotton,  the  banana,  the  orange, 
citron,  fig,  pomegranate,  and  date  grow  in 
the  south  of  Europe.  But  the  more  delicate 
fruits  are  confined  to  southern  latitudes,  and 
disappear  one  by  one  as  we  advance  north 
ward.  And  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
zones  in  which  they  grow  generally  follow 
the  lines  of  equal  summer  heat,  and  run  ob 
liquely  across  the  continent  in  the  direction 
of  south-west  and  north-east.  If  a  line  be 
drawn  on  the  map  from  Brest  to  Koiiigsberg, 
skirting  the  southern  shores  of  the  English 
channel  and  the  Baltic,  the  zones  that  limit 
the  growth  of  different  plants  will  run  nearly 
parallel  with  this  line.  This  holds  generally 
in  the  south  and  middle  of  Europe;  but  in 
the  extreme  northern  parts,  and  especially 
with  regard  to  plants  that  require  a  moderate 
heat  continued  for  a  considerable  time,  the 
lines  that  limit  the  growth  of  certain  vege 
tables  seem  to  follow  a  different  course,  and 
decline  toward  the  south  as  we  advance  east 
ward,  in  consequence  of  the  increasing  se 
verity  and  length  of  the  winter.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  that  the  zones  traced  as 
proper  from  different  planets,  only  mark  the 
limits  within  which  their  cultivation  is 
found  advantageous.  Most  of  them  will 
grow  beyond  these  limits;  but  they  either 
require  some  peculiar  advantages  of  soil  and 
situation,  or  they  are  less  profitable  than 
other  kinds  of  produce. 

Europe,  in  proportion  to  its  extent,  is 
probably  richer  in  mineral  wealth  than  the 
other  quarters  of  the  globe.  It  contains  all 
the  metals  except  platina  :  and  though  it  af 
fords  gold  and  silver  only  in  limited  quan 
tities,  iron,  copper,  lead,  with  coal  and  salt, 
commodities  of  greater  value  to  society,  are 
abundantly  and  widely  distributed.  The 


mountains,  consisting  of  primary  and  transi 
tion  rocks,  are  the  great  depositaries  of  these 
mineral  treasures. 

Europe  is  peopled  by  several  very  distinct 
races  of  men,  distinct  in  respect  of  physiologi 
cal  characteristics,  as  well  as  of  language.  It 
would  be  quite  out  of  place  here,  however, 
to  discuss  the  principles  of  anthropology, 
ethnology,  glossology,  and  comparative  philo 
logy,  or  any  of  the  important  questions  re 
specting  the  origin  and  affinities  of  nations, 
that  have  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
cultivators  of  these  branches  of  science  ;  we 
shall  simply  state  what  we  believe  to  have 
been  the  results  of  their  researches,  with  re 
spect  to  the  people  and  languages  of  Europe. 
It  has  been  inferred,  chiefly  from  sepulchral 
remains,  that  at  some  very  remote  epoch  the 
western  parts  of  Europe  were  possessed  by  a 
people  of  a  low  degree  of  intellectual  anC 
social  development,  and  it  is  supposed  tha1 
they  probably  belonged  to  the  same  family 
of  nations  as  the  Iberians  of  Spain,  or  to  & 
family  of  which  the  Laps  of  Scandinavia 
are  the  modern  representatives.  The  Iberi 
ans  seem  to  have  possessed,  at  one  time,  the 
whole  of  the  Spanish  peninsula,  and  even  to 
have  extended  beyond  the  Pyrenees,  far  into 
France  if  not  over  the  whole  territory,  and 
even  into  Italy  and  the  islands  of  Corsica, 
Sardinia,  and  Sicily ;  but  whether  they  be 
longed  to  the  same  family  as  the  Laps,  or 
were  rather  connected  with  the  Berbers 
of  Africa,  is  a  point  not  yet,  and  perhaps  not 
easily  to  be,  determined.  The  Basques,  who 
live  in  Biscay,  Navarre,  and  the  adjoining 
parts  of  France,  and  call  themselves  Euscal- 
dunac,  are  believed  to  be  the  remains  of  this 
once  great  nation.  At  a  very  early  epoch, 
which  cannot  be  determined,  these  aboriginal 
races  were  intruded  upon  by  the  people  of 
the  Gaelic,  Celtic,  or  Keltic  stock,  who  ac 
quired  possession  of  all  France,  Britain  and 
Ireland,  and  subsequently  penetrated  into 
Spain,  where  they  mingled  with  the  Iberians, 
and  produced  the  Celtiberians,  and  also  into 
Italy,  the  northern  part  of  which  was  called 
from  them,  Jisalpine  Gaul,  and  so  on  to  the 


3G8 


HISTORY  OF    THE  WORLD. 


head  of  the  Adriatic  Sea.  Afterwards 
another  people  of  kindred  lineage,  but  speak- 
in"-  a  language  considerably  different,  and 
known  as  the  Cimbric,  Kymraic,  Cumbrians, 
or  Cambrian  race,  acquired  possession  of  the 
north  of  France,  of  all  the  southern  parts 
of  Britain,  and  of  the  eastern  maritime  low 
lands  of  Scotland,  as  far  north  at  least  as  the 
river  Spey,  leaving  the  older  Celts  in  pos 
session  of  the  north-western  Highlands  and 
Islands  of  Scotland,  and  of  all  Ireland,  and 
the  southern  and  south-eastern  parts  of 
France.  They  seem  likewise  to  have  ex 
tended  themselves  along  the  German  shores 
of  the  North  Sea,  as  far  as  Jutland.  The 
Iberians,  the  Kelts,  and  the  Kymri,  were  the 
races  that  possessed  the  south-western  coun 
tries  of  Europe  at  the  dawn  of  history. 

The  north-east  of  Europe  is  the  native  seat 
of  the  Ugrian  races,  now  best  represented  by 
the  Finns ;  and  people  of  this  stock  seem  to 
have  possessed  the  northern  and  north-east 
ern  parts  of  Europe  in  the  earliest  times,  ex 
tending  from  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean 
and  the  White  Sea,  to  the  shores  of  the 
Euxine,  and  to  have  been  the  original 
Skuthians,  whom  we  miscall  Scythians  ;  for 
though  the  name  of  Cud,  Scud,  Czud,  or 
Tschude,  by  which  these  people  have  been 
long  known,  and  which  is  believed  by  Schaf- 
farick  to  be  the  original  of  the  Greek  cwvOoi, 
is  not  a  native  name,  but  only  applied  to 
them  by  the  Slavonians,  yet  the  Sarmatians 
of  old  were  themselves  Slavonians,  and  the 
Greeks  may  have  borrowed  the  name  from 
them,  and  then  in  their  ignorance  applied  it 
without  distinction  of  races  on  all  the  peo 
ple  that  lived  to  the  north  and  east  of  the 
Black  Sea.  Jakob  Grimm,  prefers  a  Gothic 
etymology  for  Skuthoi,  and  supposes  it  to 
have  been  borrowed  by  the  Greeks  from  the 
people  of  Thrace,  who  vaguely  applied  it  to 
all  the  people  farther  north.  At  an  early, 
but  unknown  epoch,  Sarmatians,  the  ancestors 
of  the  modern  Slavonic  races,  settled  in  the 
countries  that  lie  to  the  north  of  the  Black  Sea, 
and  seem  to  have  pressed  themselves  grad 
ually  north-eastward  upon  the  Uerians,  till 


they  have  nearly  dispossessed  them  altogether 
of  their  country,  while  the  Ugrians  were  press 
ed  back  in  the  same  way  from  the  sorth-east 
by  Turkish  and  Tartar  races.  The  modern 
Ugrian  races  are  the  Laps  of  Scandin.x"  .a,  the 
Finns,  and  the  Samoyeds  and  some  other 
tribes  of  Eussia,  and  the  Majyars  of  Hungary. 

Between  the  Sarmatians  and  the  Sku 
thians  of  the  east,  and  the  Kelts  and  TCim- 
bers  of  the  west,  the  Gothic  and  Ger 
manic  races  are  found,  at  the  dawn  of  his 
tory,  pressing  southward  like  a  wedge  ;  but 
where  they  came  from,  and  how  they  found 
themselves  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic  at 
that  epoch,  it  would  be  vain  to  inquire.  They 
seem,  however,  to  have  been  very  early 
divided  into  two  great  branches,  one  of 
which  proceeded  northwards  to  the  conquest 
of  Scandinavia,  while  the  other  directed  their 
efforts  southwards  and  westwards,  till  they 
became  known  to  the  Ilomans  by  the  name 
of  Germans.  In  the  later  times  of  the  Ro 
man  empire,  branches  of  this  family  were 
also  in  possession  of  Mcesia,  and  other  coun 
tries  to  the  north-west  of  the  Black  Sea,  from 
which  they  have  now  entirely  disappeared. 
From  the  northern  branch  of  the  Germanic 
race  are  descended  the  modern  Swedes, 
Danes,  Norwegians,  and  the  natives  of  Ice 
land  and  the  Faroe  Islands ;  from  the  south 
ern  branch,  the  modern  Deutsch,  both  high 
and  low,  or  all  the  Deutsch  inhabitants  of 
Germany,  Switzerland,  France  and  the 
Netherlands,  and  the  English,  and  Lowland 
Scots,  though  the  latter  are  indeed  largely 
intermixed  with  Gothic,  Celtic,  and  Cambro- 
British  blood. 

The  south-eastern  peninsula  of  Europe  is 
found  possessed,  at  the  earliest  epoch,  by 
races  of  unknown  origin  and  lineage,  who 
became  in  time  the  well-known  Hellenes,  or 
Greeks;  and  at  an  epoch  at  least  as  early, 
the  neighboring  peninsula  of  Italy  was  pos 
sessed  by  races  who  seem  to  have  gradually 
coalesced  into  Latins  and  Romans.  With 
the  conquests  of  the  latter  people,  the  Lai  in 
language  was  spread  over  Italy,  France,  a  id 
Spain,  where  it  seems  to  have  almost  entiie- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


309 


i.y  superseded  the  aboriginal  tongues,  and 
lafd  the  foundations  of  the  modern  languages 
of  those  countries.  The  Romans,  after  hav 
ing  brought  all  the  nations  of  Italy,  France 
and  Spain  under  subjection  to  their  empire, 
M'ere  in  their  turn  invaded  and  overthrown 
by  the  northern  nations,  various  tribes  of 
whom  under  the  name  of  Heruli,  Ostro- 
Goths,  Longobards,  and  others,  penetrated 
into  and  settled  in  Italy  ;  while  Suevians  and 
Visi-Geths  settled  in  Spain,  Franks  and 
Burgundians  in  Gaul,  Angles,  Saxons,  Jutes, 
and  Frisians  in  Britain.  In  the  first  three  of 
these  countries,  Italy,  Spain,  and  France,  so 
far  were  the  invaders  from  extirpating  the 
natives,  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  seem  to 
have  mixed  freely  with  them,  and  to  have 
rather  adopted  the  language  they  found  pre 
vailing  than  imposed  their  own.  At  this 
day,  indeed,  the  great  bulk  of  the  French 
people  are  believed  to  be  of  Keltic  descent, 
and  to  retain  the  physical  and  mental  cha 
racteristics  of  the  Gauls,  though  most  of 
them  have  entirely  lost  their  ancestral  lan 
guage.  In  Britain  the  invaders  seem  to  have 
preponderated  over  the  natives,  and  entirely 
changed  the  language  of  the  country,  driv 
ing  the  unmixed  natives  into  Wales,  Corji- 
wall,  and  Cumberland;  and  it  is  only  in 
Wales  that  the  Cambro-British  language  still 
lives.  In  the  eleventh  century,  England  was 
invaded  by  a  host  of  Normans  and  French ; 
and  from  the  gradual  mixture  of  these  with 
the  Anglo-Saxons  have  been  formed  the  mo 
dern  English  nation  and  language.  Two  or 

*— '  O  O 

three  centuries  after  settling  in  Spain,  the 
Goths  were  dispossessed  of  that  kingdom  by 
Mohammedan  invaders  from  Africa,  a  rem 
nant  of   them    taking    refuge   among    the 
mountains  of  Asturias.      In  the   course  of 
j    seven   centuries    the   descendants   of    these 
:    refugees  recovered  their  lost  possessions ;  and 
:    to  have  the  blue  blood  of  the  Goths  pure  in 
his   veins,   is  the   proudest  distinction  of  a 
Spaniard  ;  so  many  of  the  nation  being  con- 
'    taminated  by  the  black  (Moorish,  not  negro) 
>lood  of  Africa.    These  pure  Goths,  however, 
|    are  only  the  mixed  descendants  of  Iberians, 
"   47 


Celts,  Carthaginians,  Numidians,  Romans, 
Suevians,  Goths,  and  Yandals,  from  the  last 
of  whom  the  province  of  Andalusia  (Vanda- 
lusia)  takes  its  name. 

The  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  south-east 
of  Europe  are  now  represented  by  the 
Greeks,  Albanians,  and  Wallachians.  The 
Greeks  not  only  occupy  the  new  kingdom  of 
Greece  and  the  Ionian  Islands,  but  are  also 
spread  over  the  provinces  of  Turkey  and  the 
adjoining  parts  of  Russia  and  Austria.  They 
have  preserved  the  language  and  much  of 
the  character  of  the  ancient  Greeks.  The 
Albanians,  called  also  Arnauts  and  Skipe- 
tars,  are  believed  to  be  the  descendants  of 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Albania,  though 
mixed  with  Slavonic  blood.  The  Wallachi- 
ans,  who  possess  Wallachia  and  Moldavia, 
and  the  adjoining  parts  of  Hungary,  Tran 
sylvania,  and  Bulgaria,  and  speak  a  Roman 
language,  are  probably  the  descendants  of  the 
ancient  Dacians,  intermixed  with  a  numerous 
Roman  colony,  which  had  been  settled  among 
them.  Towards  the  end  of  the  ninth  century 
an  Ugrian  race  settled  in  the  ancient  Pan- 
nonia,  where  they  are  now  known  by  the 
name  of  Majyars  in  Hungary,  and  Szeklers 
in  Transylvania. 

The  Taj'tars,  who  are  spead  over  the  south 
eastern  provinces  of  Russia,  are  believed  to 
be  the  descendants  of  the  Turkish  portion 
of  the  armies  of  Zengis  Khan,  who  invaded 
Europe  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  whose 
successors  domineered  over  the  Muscovite 
Russians  till  the  end  of  the  fifteenth.  In  the 
sixteenth  century  they  were  dispossessed  of 
their  Kingdoms  of  Kazan  and  Astrakhan, 
and  subdued  by  the  Muscovites,  and  their 
numbers  are  now  very  small  in  comparison 
with  those  of  the  ruling  race.  The  Osmanli, 
or  Ottoman  Turks,  a  more  important  branch 
of  the  same  family,  first  came  into  Europe  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  their  third  Sultan, 
Amurath,  or  Morad  I.  who  reigned  from 
1368  to  1389,  having  then  possessed  himself 
of  all  Thrace  or  Rumelia,  and  established 
his  seat  of  government  at  Adrianople,  In 
1152,  the  Sultan  Mohammed  II.,  got  pos 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WOIiLD. 


session  by  conquest  of  Constantinople,  which 
has  heen  ever  since,  not  only  the  capital  of 
Turkey,  but  also  the  metropolis  of  Islam,  or 
the  Mohammedan  world.  Since  their  great 
defeat  at  Vienna  in  1683,  the  Turkish  power 
has  been  declining,  and  to  all  appearance  it 
will  soon  be  swept  out  of  Europe  altogether. 
The  Ottomans  consider  Asia  Minor,  or  Ana 
tolia,  to  be  the  home  of  their  race,  and  seem 
quite  prepared  to  cede  Rumelia  to  whoever 
h  able  to  take  it.  The  Dobrudji  (or  Dob- 
rudshee)  Turks,  a  numerous  tribe  distinct 
from  the  Osmanli,  possess  the  north-eastern 
corner  of  Bulgaria,  between  Shumla,  the 
Danube,  and  the  Black  Sea.  The  total 
number  of  Mussulmans  in  European  Turkey 
is  estimated  at  about  four  and  a  half  mil 
lions  ;  but  of  the  Ottoman  Turks  themselves 
the  number  is  variously  estimated  between 
700,000  and  2,100,00 ).  The  Turks  seem  to 
have  come  originally  from  Central  Asia, 
and  to  have  been  of  the  Mongolian  or  yel 
low  race  of  mankind.  They  seem,  however, 
to  have  mingled  freely  with  all  the  western 
nations  among  whom  their  conquests  carried 
them,  and  from  the  intermixture  has  sprung 
a  race  who  are  but  little  diiferent  from  na 
tives  of  Caucasian  origin.  Seme  ethnograph 
ers,  in  consequence,  believe  them  to  have 
been  even  originally  Caucasian  ;  but  it  is  cer 
tain  that  many  Turks,  even  in  Europe,  still 
exhibit  the  strongest  Mongolian  forms  and 
features,  and  that  phenomenon  seems  to  us  to 
indicate  that  these  are  pure  Turks,  of  the 
original  stock,  while  their  Caucasian  brethren 

O  * 

are  of  mixed  descent. 

With  respect  to  physical  characteristics,  it 
may  be  said  generally  that  the  nations  of  the 
south-west  and  south,  as  French,  Italian, 
Spaniards,  Greeks,  are  melanous,  or  dark- 
complexioned,  while  the  Gothic  and  German 
races  are  generally  xanthous,  or  fair-complex- 
ioned,  with  blue  or  gray  eyes,  and  fair  hair. 
The  former  are  lively  and  energetic,  more 
imaginative  and  inventive  than  the  northern 
races,  but  less  persevering,  and  the  more 
southern  portions  of  them,  indeed,  fonder  of 
idleness  than  of  work.  Thev  are  likewise 


more  temperate  in  eating  and  drinking  than 
the  northerns,  but  more  passionate  and  vin 
dictive.  The  northerns,  on  the  other  hand, 
though  less  imaginative  and  inventive,  are 
more  thoughtful,  serious,  and  persevering, 
and  more  addicted  to  pursuits  that  exercise 
the  understanding  than  to  those  that  merely 
amuse  the  fancy ;  but  they  are  less  temper 
ate  in  eating  and  drinking,  which  may  be 
ascribed  to  the  influence  of  the  colder  climates 
under  which  they  live.  The  Slavonic,  Turk 
ish,  and  Tartar  races  are  all  melanous,  or 
dark,  and,  as  compared  with  the  western  na 
tions,  still  in  a  lower  degree  of  civilization/, 
and  intellectual  and  industrial  development. 
"  In  regard  to  physical  form,"  says  Dr.  La 
tham,  "the  Ugrians  are  light-haired  rather 
than  dark;  many  of  them  are  red  haired.'" 
Scheffer,  however,  in  his  History  of  LdplanJ, 
says,  that  though  the  young  women  are  indiffe 
rently  handsome  and  of  a  clear  skin,  most  of 
the  men  are  swarthy,  and  the  hair  of  both  SCXCF 
is  generally  black  and  hard,  very  seldom  A*cl 
low.  Professor  Berghaus  says,  that  the  skit 
of  the  Laps  is  yellow-brown,  and  they  have 
brown  hair  and  brown  eyes ;  and  that  the 
hair  of  the  Finns  is  sometimes  black,  some 
times  blond,  yellow-brown,  or  red,  the  face 
dirty  brown,  and  the  eyes  gray. 

With  the  trifling  exception  of  a  compara 
tively  few  Mohammedans,  Jews,  and  hea 
thens,  the  nations  of  Europe  are  professors 
of  Christianity,  and  Europe  collectively  h 
distinguished  from  the  realms  of  Islam  l»y 
the  title  of  Christendom.  These  professors, 
however,  are  divided  into  three  great  clnsst*. 
or  churches,  which  not  only  hold  no  inter 
communion,  but  are  deadly  rivals,  conceiving 
it  to  be  their  duty  to  labor  for  the  conversion 
at  least,  if  not  always  avowedly  for  the  ex 
tirpation,  of  each  other.  These  are  the  Ro 
man  Catholic  and  the  Protestant  churches  in 
"Western  Europe,  and  the  Orthodox  Greek 
church  which  domineers  over  the  eastern 
half  of  the  Continent.  In  the  Roman  Cath 
olic  and  the  Greek  churches  no  differences 
of  opinion,  and  consequently  no  sects,  arc 
permitted;  but  the  Protestant  chiivh  is  di- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


371 


vided  into  a  multitude  of  rival  sects,  distin 
guished  from  eacli  other  by  every  variety  of 
opinion  respecting  doctrine  and  discipline, 
and  forms  of  worship.  Some  of  these  sects 
have  been  constituted  into  established  na 
tional  churches;  but  even  these  have  been 
compelled,  by  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  the 
force  of  circumstances,  to  become  tolerant, 
though  the  odium  theologicum  still  occasion 
ally  shows  itself,  with  all  its  proverbial  bit 
terness. 

The  Eoman  Catholic  or  Latin  church  ac 
knowledges  the  Pope  or  bishop  of  Rome  as 
its  spiritual  sovereign,  and  the  clergy  are  still 
numerous  and  wealthy.  This  church  includes 
within  its  pale  France,  Belgium,  Poland, 
Italy,  Spain,  and  Portugal,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  people  of  Ireland,  and  of  the  Aus 
trian  empire,  about  a  half  of  the  Prussians, 
Swiss,  and  Germans,  and  considerable  num 
bers  in  Great  Britain  and  the  Netherlands. 

The  Greek  church  does  not  acknowledge 
the  Pope  ;  and  though  the  Patriarch  of  Con 
stantinople  claims,  as  he  once  enjoyed,  the 
game  spiritual  supremacy,  his  authority  is 
now  restricted  to  the  limits  of  the  Ottoman 
empire.  The  dominion  of  the  church,  in 
deed,  extends  over  all  the  eastern  half  of 
Europe,  including  the  Christian  subjects  of 
Russia,  Turkey,  and  Greece,  and  a  consider 
able  number  in  Austria ;  but  the  Russians 
are  subject  to  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Synod 
of  the  Russian  empire,  of  which  the  Czar  is 
the  spiritual  as  well  as  the  temporal  head ; 
and  in  the  new  kingdom  of  Greece  a  similar 
Holy  Synod  has  been  constituted,  with  the 
king  for  its  head.  In  Russia,  dissent  from 
the  doctrines  of  the  church  is  barely  tolerated, 
yet  there  are  within  its  limits  various  secta 
ries,  all  comprehended  under  the  general 
name  of  Raskolniks,  and  frequently  subject 
ed  to  treatment  little  short  of  persecution. 

The  principal  sectaries  of  the  Protestant 
church  are  distinguished  as  Lutherans,  Cal 
vin  ists,  and  Arminians.  Lutheranism  pre 
vails  i:i  Prussia,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Norway, 
llano'  er,  Saxony,  "Wirtemberg,  and  some 
others  of  the  smalle1*  German  states,  and  in 


the  Baltic  provinces  of  Russia.  It  reckons 
also  many  members  in  Hungary  and  other 
provinces  of  Austria.  The  Lutherans  do  not 
absolutely  condemn  a  hierarchy,  but  they 
do  not  admit  the  divine  institution  of  the 
order  of  bishops.  Their  bishops  therefore 
are  generally  no  more  than  the  name  im 
plies,  mere  superintendents  or  inspectors  of 
their  respective  dioceses.  Their  prelates  are 
in  all  cases  subject  to  the  political  sovereigns 
of  the  respective  states,  who  are  recognised 
as  heads  of  the  church.  In  Sweden,  how 
ever,  the  Lutheran  prelates  form  one  of  the 
four  orders  of  the  legislature.  In  Denmark, 
Norway,  and  Iceland,  they  have  no  prerog 
atives  that  can  give  them  political  influence. 
In  Calvinistic  churches  the  government  is 
strictly  republican,  and  they  reject  any  other 
headship  than  that  of  Christ.  Calvinism 
prevails  in  England,  Scotland,  Holland,  the 
Swiss  cantons  of  Bern,  Basel,  Zurich,  Yaud, 
and  Geneva,  the  Duchy  of  Nassau,  the  prin 
cipalities  of  Electoral  Hesse,  Anhalt,  and 
Lippe,  in  Germany,  the  departments  of  the 
Gard,  Ardeche,  Drome,  Lot-et-Garonne,  and 
others  in  France,  Hungary,  Transylvania, 
and  the  military  borders  of  Austria;  and 
Calvinists  are  also  numerous  in  Prussia.  In 
Scotland  and  Holland  the  national  churches 
are  Calvinistic.  In  Great  Britain  generally 
the  Calvinists  are  divided  into  two  great 
classes,  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists, 
the  former  being  governed  in  spiritual  mat 
ters  by  local,  provincial,  and  general  coun 
cils,  called  kirk-sessions,  presbyteries,  synods, 
and  general  assemblies ;  in  the  latter,  each 
congregation  assuming  the  full  status  of  a 
church,  and  exercising  supreme  ecclesiastical 
authority  over  its  members.  There  is  how 
ever,  substantially,  little  difference  between 
the  two  classes  in  this  respect ;  for  the  Pres 
byterians  claim  and  exercise  the  right  of  se 
ceding  and  constituting  new  churches  as 
often  as  occasion  requires,  so  that  even  in 
the  pre-eminently  Presbyterian  Scotland  (to 
say  nothing  at  present  of  England  and  Ire 
land,  and  America)  there  have  been  existing 
at  one  time  so  manv  as  six  or  seven  separate 


372 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WOULD 


and  jealously  rival  Presbyterian  churches; 
and  there  has  been  found  no  practical  limit 
to  the  increase  of  their  number  by  secession 
or  disruption,  so  that  even  one  minister  and 
his  congregation  may  legitimately  constitute 
themselves  into  a  Presbyterian  church.  Cal- 
rinists  arrogate  to  themselves  and  their  doc 
trines  exc.usively  the  titles  of  Evangelical 
and  Orthodox. 

The  Arminians  are  opposed  to  Calvinists 
in  respect  of  five  points  of  doctrine,  zealously 
held  fast  by  the  latter ;  and  Arminian  doc 
trine  is  now  very  prevalent  among  Protest 
ants,  especially  in  Holland  and  England,  but 
Arminians  nowhere  form  distinct  acknowl 
edged  churches. 

The  name  of  Episcopalians  is  given  to  a 
numerous  body  of  Protestants,  who,  in  addi 
tion  to  the  leading  doctrines  of  Protestant 
ism,  maintain  the  divine  origin  and  institu 
tion  of  episcopacy,  and  the  unbroken  trans 
mission  from  the  apostles  of  the  "  holy  or 
ders"  of  the  clergy.  To  this  class  belongs 
the  Established  Church  of  England  and  Ire 
land,  whose  doctrines  are  contained  in  thirty- 
nine  articles,  sanctioned  by  act  of  parliament, 
and, which  are  understood  to  have  been  a 
compromise  between  conflicting  opinions,  so 
that  all  might  be  brought  within  the  pale  of 
the  church.  In  its  forms  of  worship  this 
church  has  retained  so  much  of  the  Romish 
Liturgy,  priestly  costume,  and  ceremonies,  as 
seemed  Consistent  with  scriptural  principles. 
It  has  also  retained  the  hierarchy,  only  sub 
stituting  the  king  or  queen  regnant  as  the 
spiritual  head  of  the  church,  instead  of  the 
pope.  Its  archbishops  and  bishops  are  lords 
of  parliament,  and  appointed  by  the  Crown. 
In  respect,  however,  of  both  doctrine  and 
ceremonies,  the  members  of  the  United 
Church  of  England  and  Ireland  are  very  much 
divided  among  themselves,  the  great  body 
being  Arminian,  while  a  smaller  fraction 
profess  to  be  evangelical,  and  not  a  few  seem 
verging  to  popery.  Episcopalians  are  some 
what  numerous  in  Scotland,  but  the  majority 
of  tlv3in  constitute  a  church  of  their  own, 
C[uite  independent  o "  that  of  England. 


Methodists  are  likewise  a  very  numerous 
and  influential  body,  particularly  in  Eng 
land,  and  are  under  the  spiritual  authority 
of  a  "  Conference,"  constituted  only  by  theii 
clergy,  to  the  absolute  exclusion  of  lay  mem 
bers.  They  are  divided,  however,  like  other 
sects ;  the  bulk  of  them,  called  Wesleyan, 
being  Arminians,  and  a  smaller  body,  the 
followers  of  "Whiten* eld,  being  Calvinists. 
Each  of  these,  however,  is  divided  into  sev 
eral  bodies,  forming  so  many  separate 
churches,  ruled  by  conferences  of  their  own. 

In  1817  the  Lutherans  and  the  Calvinists 
in  the  duchy  of  Nassau  were  united  into  ore 
body,  under  the  name  of  the  Evangelical 
Church.  Similar  unions  have  since  taken 
place  in  Paris,  Frankfort,  Prussia,  Bavaria, 
Baden,  Hesse,  Anhalt-Bernburg,  Waldeck, 
and  other  parts  of  Germany.  But  this  union 
having  been  effected  in  most  of  these  places 
by  the  influence  of  the  civil  authority,  amount 
ing  almost  to  compulsion,  is  believed  to  be 
neither  very  sincere,  nor  likely  to  last. 

But  the  task  would  be  endless  to  mention 
in  detail  all  the  varieties  of  Protestant  sects 
and  churches. 

Islam  or  Mohammedanism ,  is  the  religion 
professed  by  all  the  Ottoman  and  other  Turks 
and  Tartars  in  the  Russian  and  Turkish  em 
pires,  who  are  all  Sconce,  or  orthodox  ;  and 
those  of  Russia  are  under  the  spiritual  charge 
of  two  grand  muftis,  one  of  whom  resides  at 
Kazan,  and  the  other  at  Simferopol  in  the 
Crimea.  Those  of  Turkey  acknowledge  the 
supremacy  of  the  Sultan,  as  the  representa 
tive  and  caliph,  or  vicegerent  of  their  pro 
phet,  and,  as  such,  the  spiritual  head  of  their 
religion  ;  but  under  the  Sultan  the  manage 
ment  of  the  Mohammedan  church  and  its 
spiritual  concerns  is  delegated  to  the  Grand 
Mufti,  or  Sheikh-ul-Islam,  who  resides  at 
Constantinople,  and  is  also  the  chief  of  the 
Ulema-,  or  body  of  the  clergy  and  lawyers 
cf  the  empire.  Judaism  is,  of  course,  the 
religion  of  the  Jews  who  are  scattered  over 
Europe.  The  great  bulk  are  Talmudists,  or 
receivers  of  all  the  traditions  that  have  accu 
mulated  for  ages,  and  almost  overwhelmed 


HISTOET  OF  THE  WOULD, 


379 


and  superseded  the  law  as  delivered  by 
Moses ;  but  they  have  no  general  head,  either 
spiritual  or  temporal,  no  sacrifices,  no  tem 
ple,  and  no  altar.  They  are  waiting  in  pa 
tient  expectation  of  the  coming  Messiah, 
their  prophetic  king,  who  is  to  gather  them 
from  their  long  dispersion,  and  land  them 
again  in  triumph  to  Jerusalem,  loaded  with 
the  spoils  of  the  Gentiles.  A  small  body  of 
Jews  or  Israelites,  who  reject  the  Talmud 


and  traditions,  and  acknowledge  only  the 
law  itself,  are  known  by  the  name  of  Kara 
ites,  and  have  their  headquarters  in  the 
Crimea.  A  few  heathens  are  still  to  be 
found  among  the  Ugrian  tribes  on  the 
shores  of  the  Frozen  Ocean,  and  among  the 
Kalmucks  and  other  Mongols  in  tTie  south, 
east  of  Russia,  on  the  shores  of  the  Cas 
pian  Sea,  and  amon^r  the  tribes  of  the  Cau 
casus* 


374 


HISTOEY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


GREECE. 


THE  celebrated  peninsula  of  Greece,  was 
smaller  in  extent  than  most  of  the 
States  of  the  American  Union  ;  its  greatest 
width  from  Acarnania  on  the  western  coast 
to  Marathon,  in  Attica,  being  only  one  hun 
dred  and  eighty  miles,  and  its  greatest  length 
not  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty.  This 
narrow  surface  was  divided  into  seventeen 
independent  states. 

The  name  of  Greece  was  never  used  by 
the  inhabitants.  They  named  their  country 
Hellas,  and  themselves  Hellenes.  The  Ro 
mans  were  the  first  to  give  them  the  appel 
lation  of  Greeks,  and  to  call  their  land 
Greece  ;  but  the  origin  of  the  name  is  now 
lost.  The  word  Hellas  signified  at  first 
only  a  small  district  in  Thessaly,  the  origi 
nal  abode  of  the  Hellenes.  The  people, 
afterwards,  spread  themselves  over  the  whole 
of  the  peninsula,  bearing  with  them  the 
name  of  their  first  settlement.  The  rude 
tribes  of  Epirus  were  not  reckoned  among 
the  Hellenes,  and  the  northern  borders  of 
Hellas  proper  was  a  line  drawn  from  the 
Ambracian  gulf  to  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Peneus.  The  name  Ilellaswas  also  extended 
to  the  colonies  of  the  Greeks  in  other  lands. 

MidtVay  between  the  Ionian  and  ^Egean 
Seas  the  chain  of  mountains  which  forms 
the  upper  boundary  of  Greece,  is  intersected 
at  right  angles  by  the  long  and  lofty  range 
of  Pindus,  forming  a  ridge  through  the  pe 
ninsula  from  north  to  south,  like  the  Apen 
nines  in  Italy.  From  Mount  Pindus  two 
branches  stretch  toward  the  eastern  sea,  run 


ning  parallel  tc  each  other  at  the  distance  01 
sixty  miles,  and  enclosing  the  plain  of  Thes 
saly,  the  largest  and  most  fertile  in  Greece 
Pindus  forms  the  boundary  between  Thes 
saly  and  Epirus.  Epirus  contains  110  level 
country  like  the  Thessalian  plain,  but  is  cov 
ered  by  rugged  mountains,  among  which  the 
Achelous,  the  largest  river  in  Greece,  flows 
to  the  Corinthian  Gulf.  Two  opposite  gulfc, 
the  Ambracian  and  Malian,  contract  the  land 
between  them  into  a  kind  of  isthmus,  sepa 
rating  the  mainland  of  Thessaly  and  Epirus 
from  Central  Greece  ;  which  again  may  be 
divided  into  halves,  the  eastern  containing 
the  States  of  T)oris,  Phocis,  Locris,  Boeotia, 
Attica  and  Megaris,  and  the  western  com 
prising  Ozolian  Locris,  JEtolia  and  Acarna 
nia.  A  little  way  from  the  southern  border 
of  Thessaly  there  is  a  mountain  in  the  range 
of  Pindus,  called  Mount  Tymphrestus,  from 
which  different  ridges  branch  off  in  all  direc 
tions,  forming  barriers  across  the  northern 
frontier  of  Central  Greece,  which  they  en 
close  so  completely,  that  the  only  access  from 
this  side  is  tlirough  the  famous  pass  of  Ther 
mopylae: 

South  of  Tymphrestus,  the  chain  of  Pin 
dus  is  divided  into  two  great  branches,  which 
no  longer  bear  the  name  of  the  parent  stem. 
The  one  to  the  south-east  takes  successively 
the  famous  names  of  Parnassus,  Helicon, 
Cithaeron  and  Hymettus,  and  finally  reaches 
the  sea  at  Sunium,  the  extremity  of  Attica  ; 
while  the  other  running  in  an  opposite  direc 
tion,  with  the  appellations  of  Corax,  and  tho 


HISTOEY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


375 


Ozolian  mountains,  strikes  the  entrance  of 
the  Corintnian  Gulf.  In  the  highlands,  be 
tween  Parnassus  and  (Eta,  lies  the  plain  of 
Doris,  the  home  of  the  Dorians.  The  greater 
part  of  Phocis  is  covered  by  Parnassus  itself, 
which  rises  to  8,000  feet.  Boeotia  extends 
from  the  Eubrean  to  the  gulf  of  Corinth, 
but  on  either  coast  it  is  shut  in  by  lofty  hills, 
on  the  south  by  the  chain  of  Helicon,  the 
fabled  abode  of  the  Muses,  and  the  north  by 
the  Locrian  mountains.  Attica  has  the  form 
of  a  triangle,  two  of  its  sides  being  washed 
by  the  sea,  while  its  base,  across  which  run 
the  mountain  range  of  Cithaeron  and  Parnes, 
is  united  to  the  land.  Cithaeron,  prolonged 
toward  the  south-west  forms  the  rugged  state 
of  Megaris,  and  then,  after  rising  into  the  Ge- 
ranean  mountains,  the  chain  sinks  down 
ward  to  the  isthumus  of  Corinth,  which  sepa 
rates  Central  Greece  from  the  Peloponnesus. 
The  districts  of  the  western  half  of  Central 
Greece  are  all  wild  and  mountainous,  and 
unli."  a  late  period  in  Grecian  history,  were 
the  haunts  of  rude  tribes  of  robbers.  The 
isthmus  which  connects  the  Peloponnesus 
with  the  main  land  is  so  narrow,  that  the 
ancients  considered  the  peninsula  as  an  is 
land,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  the  island  of 
Pelops,  or  Peloponnesus.  Its  form  wras  com 
pared  to  the  leaf  of  the  plane-tree,  or  the 
vine,  and  its  modern  name,  the  Morea,  is 
derived  from  the  resemblance  in  outline  to 
a  mulberry  leaf. 

The  mountains  of  the  Peloponnesus  all 
branch  out  from  a  kind  of  ring  in  the  centre 
of  the  country.  In  this  circle  lies  Arcadia. 
The  other  chief  divisions  were  Achaia,  Ar- 
golis,  Laconia,  Messenia  and  Elis.  Achaia 
lies  north  of  Arcadia,  between  the  moun 
tains  and  the  Corinthian  Gulf.  The  plains 
and  valleys  which  are  left  between  its  nu 
merous  hills  are  very  fertile.  Argolis  is  a 
collective  term  for  a  number  of  independent 
states,  of  which  the  most  important  were 
Corinth,  Sicyon  and  Argos.  Laconia  and 
Messenia  occupied  the  whole  south  of  Pelo 
ponnesus  from  sea  to  sea.  They  were  sepa 
rated  by  the  lofty  range  of  Taygetus,  which 


terminated  in  the  promontory  of  Taenarum. 
Along  the  eastern  side  of  Laconia  extended 
the  chain  of  Mount  Parnon,  and  in  the  val 
ley  between  tnese  ran  the  Eurotas,  on  the 
bank  of  which  wras  situated  the  town  of 
Sparta.  Elis  lay  between  the  Arcadian 
mountains  and  the  Ionian  Sea.  In  its  cen 
tre  is  the  plain  of  Olympia,  where  the  cele 
brated  games  took  place. 

The  numerous  islands  which  surround  trie 
shores  of  Greece,  wrere  occupied  in  historical 
times  by  the  Grecian  race. 

The  physical  features  of  the  country  exer 
cised  an  important  influence  on  the  destinies 
of  the  people.  The  nature  of  the  land,  com 
posed  of  small  plains  surrounded  by  lime 
stone  mountains,  or  open  only  to  the  sea. 
tended  to  produce  that  large  number  of 
small  and  independent  tribes,  shut  off 
completely  from  each  other,  which  cor.s-ti- 
tutes  the  most  remarkable  phenomena  of 
Grecian  history.  Not  only  did  this  monn- 
tainous  nature  of  the  country  preserve  each 
state  from  the  attacks  of  the  others,  but  it 
also  served  to  defend  the  whole  of  Greece 
from  foreign  invasion  ;  for  the  narrow  passes 
of  Tempe  and  Thermopylae,  and  Cithseron, 
could  easily  be  defended  by  a  resolute  band 
of  men  against  a  large  army.  But  while 
these  Grecian  states  were  thus  separated  by 
mountains,  nearly  all  of  them  had  ready  in 
tercourse  with  each  other,  and  with  the  rest 
of  the  world,  by  sea.  The  extent  of  the  sea- 
coast,  formed  by  the  gulfs  and  bays,  running 
far  into  the  land,  forms  one  of  the  most 
striking  peculiarities  of  the  map  of  Greece. 
Arcadia  is  almost  the  only  political  division 
that  did  not  possess  some  territory  01  the 
coast. 

The  sea  and  the  mountains  have  always 
been  the  most  powerful  instruments  in  mould 
ing  the  intellectual  character  of  a  people,  and 
it  happens  very  rarely  that  their  influence  is 
thus  combined  in  one  nation.  The  Greeks 
thus  united  the  nigged  endurance  and  love 
of  freedom  of  the  mountaineers,  to  the  daring 
adventurousness  of  a  maritime  people.  The 
poetical  beauty  of  the  Grecian  mountains 


37G 


HISTORY    OF   THE  WORLD. 


has  often  caLed  forth  the  admiration  of 
travellers.  Their  craggy,  broken  forms  and 
rich  silvery  color  give  to  the  landscape  a 
peculiar  charm,  and  justify  the  description 
of  the  poet  Gray,  when  he  speaks  of  Greece 
as  a  land — 

"  Where  each  o.d  poetic  mountain 
Inspiration  breathes  around." 

The  beauty  of  the  scenery  is  still  farther  en 
hanced  by  the  gorgeous  atmosphere  in  which 
every  object  is  bathed.  To  a  native  of  the 
northern  latitudes  of  Europe  nothing  is  more 
striking  than  the  transparent  clearness  of  the 
air  and  the  brilliant  coloring  of  tho  sky. 
When  Euripides  represents  the  Athenians  as 

"  Ever  delicately  marching 
Through  most  pellucid  air," 

he  is  guilty  of  no  poetical  exaggeration,  and 
the  violet-color  which  the  Roman  poet  as 
signed  to  the  hills  of  Ilymettus  is  literally 
tnie. 

Greece  is  deficient  in  a  regular  supply  of 
water.  During  the  autumn  and  winter  the 

o 

heavy  rains  fill  the  crevices  of  the  hills,  and 
torrents  rush  down  the  river  beds,  but  in  the 
summer  the  channels  are  almost  dry,  and 
the  largest  rivers  are  little  more  than  brooks. 
The  chief  productions  of  Greece  were  wheat, 
barley,  flax,  wine  and  oil.  The  hills  afforded 
pasturage  for  cattle,  and  in  ancient  times 
were  thickly  wooded,  though  they  are  now 
quite  bare.  There  were  rich  veins  of  mar 
ble,  admirable  for  the  architect  and  the 
sculptor,  in  almost  every  part  of  Greece. 
Laurium,  in  Attica,  yielded  a  considerable 
quantity  of  silver,  but  otherwise  Greece  was 
poor  in  the  precious  metals. 

The  climate  must  have  been  more  healthy 
formerly  than  it  is  at  present.  The  malaria, 
which  nowT  poisons  the  air  in  the  summer 
months,  could  not  have  existed  to  the  same 
extent  when  the  land  was  more  densely  peo 
pled,  and  more  thoroughly  cultivated. 
Owing  to  the  great  variation  of  the  surface 
of  Greece,  the  climate  varies  most  renark- 
nbly  in  different  parts.  At  the  same  time 


that  the  rigor  of  winter  may  be  experienced 
in  the  highlands  of  Man  tinea,  the  genial 
warmth  of  spring  is  felfc  in  the  plains  of 
Argos  and  Laconia,  and  farther  down  the 
heat  of  summer  in  the  lowlands  at  the  head 
of  the  Messenian  gulf.  It  was  to  this  differ 
ence  of  climate  that  the  ancients  attributed 
the  various  characters  of  the  natives  of  each 
district;  thus  the  heavy  fogs  of  Bceotia  were 
held  responsible  for  the  dullness  of  the  in 
habitants,  while  the  subtle  and  restless 
Athenians  owed  their  intellectual  activity  to 
the  dry  clear  air  of  Attica. 

The  early  history  of  Greece  is  veiled  in 
great  obscurity;  facts  are  mingled  with  fablo 
to  such  a  degree  that  it  is  impossible  to  sepa 
rate  them,  and  till  we  come  to  the  period  of 
the  first  Olympiad,  in  the  year  776  B.C.,  there 
are  no  contemporary  documents,  which  are 
the  only  basis  of  historic  certainty.  Before 
this  time,  every  thing  is  vague,  and  even  for 
two  centuries  afterward  we  meet  with  only  a 
few  isolated  events,  and  a  continuous  narra 
tive  is  wholly  wanting.  But  even  the  first 
mythical  legends  must  not  be  passed  over 
entirely ;  for  the  traditions  of  a  people  are 
always  worthy  of  record,  and  they  are  par 
ticularly  so  in  the  case  of  the  Greeks,  whose 
legends  moulded  their  faith  and  influenced 
their  conduct  down  to  the  latest  times. 

Few  nations  have  paid  more  attention  to 
their  genealogy  than  the  Greeks.  They  all 
considered  themselves  the  children  of  a  com 
mon  father,  in  whose  name  they  gloried  as  M 
symbol  of  fraternity.  This  ancestor  was 
Ilellen,  and  from  him  they  derived  their 
name.  Ilellen  had  three  sons,  Dorus, 
Xuthus,  and  JEolus.  Dorus  and  vEolus 
o-ave  their  names  to  the  Dorians  and  ./Eol- 

O 

ians ;  and  Xuthus,  with  his  two  sons,  Ion 
and  A  chains,  became  the  forefather  of  tho 
lonians  and  Achreans.  It  was  the  usual 
practice  of  the  ancient  nations  of  the  world 
to  invent  fictitious  personages  to  explain 
names  whose  origin  was  lost  in  obscurity ; 
and  thus  the  myth  of  Ilellen  and  his  soni 
was  established  by  *he  Greeks  to  account  for 
their  common  title  of  Hellenes.  Although 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


377 


they  never  had  any  actual  existence,  their 
history  may  be  regarded  as  the  traditional 
history  of  their  supposed  descendants,  so 
that,  when  we  are  told  that  Hcllen  reigned 
in  the  south  of  Thessaly,  near  the  foot  of 
Mt.  Othrys,  we  may  believe  that  the  Greeks 
regarded  this  region  as  the  first  home  of 
their  race.  ./Eolus  succeeded  his  father  as 
king  of  Hellas  in  Thessaly,  but  his  children 
occupied  a  great  part  of  central  Greece.  The 
.zEolians  were  the  most  widely  diffused  of  all 
the  descendants  of  Ilellen.  Many  of  their 
towns,  such  as  Corinth  and  lolcus,  were  situ 
ated  on  the  coast,  and  the  worship  of  Nep 
tune  prevailed  among  them.  The  Achoeans 
appear  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Heroic 
age  as  the  most  warlike  of  the  Grecian  races. 
They  are  represented  as  inhabiting  the 
original  abode  of  the  Hellenes  in  Thessaly, 
and  the  cities  of  Mycenae,  Argos,  and 
Sparta,  in  the  Peloponnesus.  The  most 
distinguished  heroes  in  the  Trojan  war  were 
Achseans ;  and  from  the  celebrity  of  the  race, 
Homer  frequently  gives  their  name  to  the 
whole  body  of  the  Greeks. 

The  Dorians  and  lonians  figure  less  con 
spicuously  in  the  ancient  legends,  although 
they  afterwards  became,  as  the  Spartans  and 
Athenians,  the  two  dominant  races  of  Greece. 
At  this  time,  the  Dorians  were  confined  to 
the  small  mountainous  district  named  after 
them,  and  the  lonians  were  principally  in 
Attica,  and  along  the  narrow  slips  of  coast 
in  the  south  of  Peloponnesus,  known  as 
Achaia. 

Such  is  the  early  tradition  of  the  Greeks, 
respecting  the  diffusion  of  their  race;  but 
historical  investigation  goes  farther  back,  and 
rests  upon  surer  ground.  Kow  the  most  cer 
tain  means  of  tracing  the  origin  of  a  people 
b,  through  their  language.  The  Greek  lan 
guage  is  a  member  of  that  family  to  which 
modern  scholars  have  given  the  name  of 
Indo-European.  The  various  nations  which 
speak  these  tongues  were  originally  one  peo 
ple,  inhabiting  the  *Jgh  table  land  of  Central 
Asia.  At  one  period,  long  antecedent  to  all 
profane  history,  they  issued  from  their  prime- 
is 


val  seats,  and  scattered  themselves  over  a 
considerable  portion  of  Asia  and  Europe.  In 
Asia,  the  Ancient  Hindoos,  who  spoke  San 
scrit,  and  the  Medes  and  Persians,  whose 
language  w-as  the  ancient  Zend,  were  the 
two  chief  branches  of  this  people.  In  Eu 
rope  the  Germans,  Pelasgians,  Slavonians, 
and  Kelts  were  the  four  principal  divisions. 
The  Greeks  derived  their  origin  from  the 
Pelasgians,  whom  they  themselves  represented 
as  the  most  ancient  inhabitants  of  their  land, 
whose  primitive  name  is  said  to  have  been 
Pelasgia.  The  Pelasgians  were  also  spread 
over  the  Italian  Peninsula,  and  thus  the 
Pelasgic  language  formed  the  basis  of  the 
Latin  as  well  as  the  Greek. 

Of  the  Pelasgians  little  is  known ;  they 
were  not  barbarians  ;  they  tilled  the  ground 
and  built  walled  cities.  Their  religion  was 
essentially  the  same  as  the  Greeks.  The 
Pelasgians  were  divided  into  several  tribes, 
such  as  the  Hellenes,  Leleges,  Caucones,  and 
others.  In  what  respects  the  Hellenes  were 
superior  we  do  not  know ;  but  they  appear  in 
the  dawn  of  history  as  the  dominant  race  in 
Greece.  .  The  rest  of  the  Pelasgians  gradual 
ly  disappeared  before  them  or  were  incorpo 
rated  vith  them ;  their  dialect  of  the  Pelas 
gic  tongue  became  the  established  language 
of  Greece,  and  their  worship  of  the  Olympian 
Jove  gradually  sup1.,  lanted  the  more  ancient 
worship  of  the  Dodonean  God. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  Greeks  believ 
ed  that  Attica,  and  Greece  in  general,  had 
received  the  first  elements  of  civilization 
from  Egypt.  These  traditions  must,  how 
ever,  be  considered,  for  the  most  part,  as 
owing  to  the  philosophical  speculations  of  a 
later  age,  which  loved  to  represent  an  imagin 
ary  progress  in  society  from  the  time  when 
man  fed  on  acorns  and  ran  wild  in  the  woods, 
to  the  time  when  they  became  united  into 
political  communities  and  owned  the  suprem 
acy  of  law  and  reason.  The  Greeks  who 
visited  Egypt  were  impressed  with  the 
monuments  of  the  ancient  dynasties,  that 
even  then,  five  and  six  centuries  before  the 
Christian  era,  were  venerable  with  age  ;  and 


378 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  Egyptian  priests  took  ad  rantage  of  this 
impression  to  induce  the  strangers  to  believe 
that  all  civilizatiDn  and  religion  and  arts 
came  from  the  land  of  the  Nile.  Two  only 
of  these  legends  deserve  notice.  Athens  was 
believed  to  have  been  founded  by  Cecrops, 
an  Egyptian,  who  also  introduced  the  custom 
of  marriage,  and  religious  rites  and  ceremon 
ies.  The  citadel  of  Athens  always  bore  the 
name  of  Cecropia.  In  like  manner,  the  city 
of  Argos  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by  an 
other  Egyptian,  Danaus,  and  hence  was  de 
rived  the  Homeric  appellation  of  Danai. 

Another  colony  not  less  celebrated,  and 
whose  origin  is  as  credible  as  those  just 
mentioned,  was  that  led  by  Pelops  from 
Asia,  and  gave  the  name  to  the  Peloponne 
sus.  Pelops  is  said  to  have  been,  the  son 
of  Tantalus,  a  Phrygian  king.  He  brought 
with  him  great  wealth,  and  became  king  of 
Mycenae,  and  the  founder  of  a  house,  cele 
brated  in  the  heroic  age  of  Greece.  "With 
regard  to  Cadmus  and  his  Phoenician  colony, 
the  case  is  different ;  for  we  have  positive 
evidence  that  the  Phoenicians  settled  in  the 
Grecian  islands,  and  it  is  only  natural  to  sup 
pose  that  they  may  have  reached  the  main 
land.  Whatever  the  truth  of  the  legend  of 
Cadmus  may  be,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
Greeks  derived  their  alphabet  from  Phoeni 
cia. 

With  these  exceptions,  the  Oriental  na 
tions  left  no  permanent  traces  of  their  settle 
ments  in  Greece,  and  the  population  remain 
ed  essentially  Grecian,  uncontaminated  by 
any  foreign  element. 

The  legends  of  the  Heroic  age  belong 
more  properly  to  mythology  than  to  history ; 
yet  so  much  importance  was  attached  to 
them  among  the  Greeks,  and  they  figure  to 
so  great  an  extent  in  their  literature,  that 
any  historical  notice  of  Greece  would  be  in 
complete  without  them.  According  to  myth 
ical  chronology  this  period  occupies  about 
two  hundred  years,  from  the  first  appearance 
of  the  Hellenes  in  Thessaly  to  the  return  of 
the  Greeks  from  Tioy.  Three  heroes  stand 
forth  beyond  the  others ;  Hercules,  the  na 


tional  hero  of  Heilas ;  1  heseus,  the  hero  of 
Attica ;  and  Minos,  k'.ng  of  Crete,  the 
founder  of  Grecian  law  and  civilization 

Of  all  the  Heroic  dynasties,  that  of  Danaus 
king  of  Argos,  was  the  most  celebrated.  In 
the  fifth  generation  it  is  personified  in  Dana'e, 
the  daughter  of  Acrisius,  whom  Jove  wooed 
in  a  shower  of  gold,  and  by  her  became  the 
father  of  Perseus,  the  slayer  of  Medusa. 
Perseus  was  the  progenitor  of  Hercules,  be 
ing  the  great  grandfather  both  of  his  mother 
Alcmena,  and  her  husband  Amphitryon. 
According  to  the  legend,  Jove  fell  in  lovo 
with  Alcmena,  and  assumed  the  form  of 
Amphitryon,  in  whose  place  he  became  the 
father  of  Hercules.  To  his  son,  thus  begot 
ten,  Jove  intended  to  award  the  kingdom  of 
Argos ;  but  the  anger  of  Juno,  raised  up  an 
opponent  in  the  person  of  Eurystheus,  an 
other  descendant  of  Perseus,  and  at  his  bid 
ding  the  greatest  of  heroes  achieved  his 
twelve  wonderful  exploits,  which  filled  the 
world  with  his  fame.  He  was,  however, 
doomed  to  expiate  the  human  weakness  from 
which  even  his  tremendous  power  and  cour- 
rage  could  not  save  him.  He  slew  his  friend 
and  companion  Iphitus,  the  son  of  Eurytus, 
in  a  fit  of  uncontrollable  anger,  was  seized 
with  illness,  and  afterwards  became  ^ic 
slave  of  the  Lydian  queen  Omphale,  devoting 
himself  to  effeminate  occupations,  and  de 
grading  his  noble  soul  in  luxury  and  wanton 
ness.  At  a  subsequent  period  another  crime 
produced  his  death.  His  wife  Dejanira,  in 
cited  by  jealousy,  at  his  rape  of  lole,  the 
daughter  of  Eurytus,  sends  him  the  fatal 
shirt  of  JSTessus  the  centaur,  which  had  been 
poisoned  with  the  blood  of  its  wearer.  Her 
cules,  unable  to  endure  the  torture,  repairs 
to  Mount  (Eta,  the  scene  of  his  apotheosis. 
While  he  lies  upon  the  funeral  pyre,  erected 
for  him  by  his  son  Hyllus,  a  cloud  descends 
amid  thunder  and  lightning,  and  bears  him 
off  to  Olympus,  where  he  takes  his  p'ace 
among  the  gods,  receiving  Hebe  the  daugh 
ter  of  Juno  in  marriage. 

Theseus,  the  second  great  hero,  belonged 
to  the  ~egal  line   of  Athens,  which  as   we 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WOULD. 


37£ 


have  seen  was  said  to  have  been  founded  by 
the  Egyptian  Cecrops. 

The  list  of  the  successors  of  Cecrops  down 
to  Theseus  is  a  mere  compilation,  in  which 
some  of  the  names  appear  to  have  been  in 
vented  merely  to  fill  up  a  gap ;  others  are 
purely  mythical,  and  not  one  can  safely  be 
pronounced  historical.  In  the  reign  of 
Erechtheus,  the  Athenians  are  said  to  have 
been  involved  in  a  war  with  the  Thracian 
Eumolpus,  who  had  established  himself  as 
sovereign  at  Eleusis.  Erechtheus  fell  in  bat 
tle,  whereupon  Eleusis  concluded  a  treaty, 
in  which  it  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of 
Athens.  Erechtheus  was  succeeded  by  a 
second  Cecrops,  who  left  his  throne  to  his 
son  Pandion.  This  last  king  was  expelled 
from  Attica,  but  found  a  place  of  refuge  in 
Megara,  where  he  married  the  king's  daugh 
ter,  and  succeeded  him  on  the  throne.  He 
there  became  the  father  of  four  sons,  the 
eldest  of  whom,  ^Egeus,  on  his  father's  death, 
entered  Attica  at  the  head  of  an  army,  and 
recovered  his  patrimony.  For  a  long  time 
he  remained  childless,  until  some  mysterious 
oracle  led  him  to  Troezen,  where  he  became, 
by  vEthra,  the  father  of  Theseus,  the  great 
est  hero  in  Athenian  story.  Theseus  spent 
the  first  years  of  his  life  at  Troezen,  and  then 
repaired  to  Athens  to  claim  ^Egeus  for  his 
father,  who  recognized  him  by  certain  tokens, 
and  by  his  valor.  This  Theseus,  whom  some 
writers  regard  as  the  real  founder  of  the 
Athenian  state,  is  to  Athens  what  Hercules 
is  to  Greece  in  general.  All  the  deeds  and 
exploits  which  are  ascribed  to  him  cannot 
have  been  accomplished  by  one  man,  but  are 
probably  representations  of  what  was  done 
in  the  course  of  several  generations,  or  even 
centuries.  But  the  life  of  Theseus  may  be 
regarded  as  composed  of  three  main  acts — 
his  journey  from  Troezen  to  Athens,  his  vic 
tory  over  the  Minotaur,  and  the  political  re 
forms  which  he  is  said  to  have  effected  in 
Attica.  On  his  way  to  Athens  from  Troe 
zen,  he  cleared  the  wild  roads  which  were 
infested  by  monsters  and  savage  men,  who 
by  their  robberies  had  almost  broken  off  all 


communication  between  Attica  and  Ti\  jezen, 
Amid  the  greatest  difficulties  he  forced  his 
way  to  his  father.  After  being  recognized 
by  him,  and  purified  from  all  his  bloodshed, 
he  went  to  Crete  to  deliver  Athens  from  a 
disgraceful  tribute  of  boys  and  maidens, 
who  had  to  be  sent  annually  to  Minos,  king 
of  Crete,  and  were  devoured  by  a  monster 
called  Minotaur.  Ariadne  the  daughter  of 
Minos,  became  enamored  of  Theseus,  and 
supplied  him  with  a  clue  to  trace  the  wind 
ings  of  the  labyrinth  in  which  the  Minotaur 
was  concealed.  He  thus  succeeded  in  killing 
him  and  finding  his  way  out  again.  But  a 
greater  misfortune  was  awaiting  him,  for  when 
he  returned  to  Athens,  with  the  young  men 
and  maidens,  whom  he  had  delivered,  he 
forgot  in  his  exultation  to  change  the  black 
sail  which  the  vessel  usually  carried  on  this 
••melancholy  voyage,  for  a  white  one,  which 
had  been  agreed  upon  as  the  signal  of  his 
success,  and  JEgeus  who  was  watching  from 
a  lofty  promontory  on  the  shore,  thinking  in 
consequence  that  his  son  was  dead,  threw 
himself  into  the  sea,  which  from  this  occur 
rence  derived  its  name. 

Passing  over  a  variety  of  other  legends, 
we  shall  proceed  to  consider  the  political  in 
stitutions  ascribed  to  Theseus.  Attica  is 
said  originally  to  have  been  divided  into  a 
number  of  small  independent  states,  which, 
under  Cecrops,  formed  a  confederacy  among 
themselves  against  the  inroads  of  foreign 
enemies.  On  that  occasion,  Attica  is  report 
ed  to  have  been  divided  into  twelve  districts 
and  Athens,  under  the  name  of  Cecropia, 
was  probably  at  the  head  of  this  league.  Be 
sides  this  division  into  twelve  districts,  an 
other  is  mentioned,  according  to  which  the 
whole  country  was  divided  into  four  tribes, 
which  at  different  times  had  different  names. 
The  latest  of  these  are  ascribed  to  Ion,  the 
reported  founder  of  the  Ionian  race,  wlio  i? 
said  to  have  called  the  four  tribes  after  his 
four  sons,  Teleontes,  Hopletes,  ^Egicores,  and 
(Egades.  Some  of  these  names  are  descrip 
tive  of  occupations,  while  others  are  of  un 
certain  import.  Tnese  four  tribes  seem  tc 


380 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


have  been  so  many  distinct  communities, 
separated  by  descent,  situation,  pursuits,  and 
religion,  yet  still  connected  by  affinities  of 
blood  and  language,  and  tlie  occasional  need 
of  mutual  assistance.  Their  ultimate  union 
with  Athens,  as  their  natural  head  and 
center,  is  generally  described  as  the  work  of 
Theseus,  who  is  thus  regarded  as  the  founder 
of  the  national  unity,  and  of  the  future  great 
ness  of  Athens.  The  legend  represents  him 
as  having  thus  forever  put  an  end  to  the  dis 
cord  and  hostility  which  had  until  then  pre 
vented  the  inhabitants  of  Attica  from  consider 
ing  themselves  as  one  people.  On  that 
occasion,  probably,  the  greater  part  of  the 
nobles  removed  to  Athens,  which  had  become 
the  seat  of  government,  and  they  there  occu 
pied  the  same  position  and  rank  which  they 
had  formerly  occupied  in  their  respective 
districts.  The  union  was  cemented  by  re* 
ligion  and  the  institution  of  national  solemni 
ties,  which  were  periodically  celebrated,  such 
as  the  Synoecia  and  Panathenoea,  in  honor 
of  the  tutelary  divinity,  Athena,  or  Minerva. 
The  city  of  Athens,  which  until  then  had 
occupied  little  more  than  the  Cecropian 
rock,  was  enlarged  by  the  formation  of  new 
habitations  at  the  foot  of  and  around  tho 
rock. 

The  constitution  which  Theseus  is  said  to 
have  given  to  his  countrymen  remained  for 
many  centuries  after  him  rigidly  aristocrati- 
cal ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  promised  all  the 
nobles  an  equal  share  in  the  p-overnment,  re 
serving  for  himself  only  the  command  in  war 
and  the  administration  of  justice.  Although 
the  later  Greeks  were  fond  of  describing: 

O 

Theseus  as  the  founder  of  their  democratic 
institutions,  it  is  quite  clear  that  his  object 
was  to  institute  a  gradation  of  ranks,  and  a 
proportionate  distribution  of  power.  Ac 
cordingly  he  distributed  the  people  into  three 
classes,  the  nobles,  husbandmen,  and  arti 
sans  ;  the  first  of  these  possessed  all  the  po 
litical  power  and  influence,  and  the  right  of 
interpreting  the  laws,  both  human  and  di 
vine.  The  king  himself  was  only  the  first 
»moii£  his  equals,  and  the  four  kin^s  of  the 


ancient  tribes  were  his  perpetual  assessors  01 
colleagues.  The  people  of  Athens,  that  k 
the  demos,  had,  no  doubt,  the  right  of  meet 
ing,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  exercised 
any  political  influence ;  and  the  first  internal 
struggles  of  which  we  hear  at  Athens  were 
not  between  the  king  and  the  people,  but 
between  the  king  and  the  nobles.  Theseus 
is  said  to  have  been  compelled  by  a  con 
spiracy  of  the  nobles  to  go  into  exile  with  his 
family,  and  to  leave  the  throne  to  Meriestli- 
eus,  a  descendant  of  the  ancient  kings.  The 
seus  is  said  to  have  died  in  the  island  of 
Scyros. 

Minos,  king  of  Crete,  appears,  like  The 
seus,  as  the  representative  of  an  historical 
and  civil  state  of  life.  To  him  was  attributed 
the  sovereignty  of  the  sea,  and  it  is  said  that 
he  received  the  laws  of  Crete  from  Jove. 

Turning  aside  from  the  individual  exploits 
of  the  countless  heroes  of  mythology,  and 
regarding  only  the  greater  enterprises  in 
which  they  appear  arrayed  against  each  other 
in  combined  force,  we  shall  notice  only 
three  expeditions  more  famous  than  the  oth 
ers.  These  arc  the  Yoyage  of  the  Argonauts, 
the  Seven  against  Thebes,  and  the  8102:0  of 

O  '  O 

Troy. 

The  ^Eolians  take  the  chief  part  in  the 
Yoyage  of  the  Argonauts.  Pelias,  a  descend 
ant  of  ^Eolus,  had  deprived  his  half-brother 
^Eson  of  his  dominion  over  the  kingdom  of 
lolcus  in  Thessaly.  When  Jason,  son  of 
^Eson,  had  grown  up  to  manhood,  he  ap 
peared  before  his  uncle  and  demanded  back 
his  throne.  JSson  consented  on  condition 
that  Jason  should  first  bring  the  golden 
fleece  from  yEa,  a  region  in  the  farthest  East, 
ruled  by  ^Etes,  offspring  of  the  Sungod. 
Here  it  was  preserved  in  the  grove  of  Mars, 
suspended  upon  a  tree,  and  under  the  guar 
dianship  of  a  sleepless  dragon.  Tho  Argo,  a 
ship  built  for  the  expedition,  gave  its  natr  e 
to  the  adventurers,  who,  guided  by  Jason, 
left  the  harbor  of  lolcus,  in  quest  of  the  gold 
en  fleece.  The  expeditior.  comprised  the 
most  famous  heroes  of  the  age.  Hercules 
and  Theseus  are  reported  to  have  been  en 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


38] 


rolled  amoiii?  the  number,  as  well  as  some  of 

O  t 

the  chiefs  who  fought  at  Troy.  The  exploits 
of  Jason  read  something  like  the  labors  of 
Hercules,  for  when  he  came  to  JEa,  after  en 
countering  and  escaping  many  wonderful 
dangers  on  the  way,  King  JEtes  agreed  to 
yield  the  golden  fleece  if  he  should  first  per 
form  the  tasks  he  imposed.  He  was  to 
yoke  two  brazen-footed,  fire-breathing  bulls, 
and  after  ploughing  a  field  with  them,  to 
BOW  in  the  furrows  the  teeth  of  the  dragon 
which  Cadmus  had  slain,  and  after  this  to 
destroy  the  warriors  who  would  rise  up. 
All  this  he  accomplished  by  the  help  of 
Medea,  the  daughter  of  yEtes;  and  having 
by  her  aid  obtained  the  golden  fleece,  he 
returned  to  lolcus  with  Medea  as  his  wife. 

The  city  of  Thebes  was  always  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  in  Greece,  but  it  was  partic 
ularly  renowned  in  the  heroic  age  as  the  seat 
of  an  ill-fated  line,  whose  tragic  story  fur 
nished  many  an  incident  to  the  ancient  dram 
atists. 

Lai'ns,  the  king  of  Thebes,  was  forbidden 
by  the  oracle  of  the  gods  to  have  any  off- 
spriug,  with  the  assurance  that  if  he  disre 
garded  the  injunction,  he  should  fall  a  vic 
tim  to  his  own  son.  In  defiance  of  the  de 
crees  of  fate  he  begat  (Edipus,  but  as  soon 
as  he  was  born  he  was  ordered  to  be  exposed 
to  death,  hung  by  the  feet  to  a  tree.  His 
life,  however,  was  preserved,  and  he  was 
taken  to  Corinth  where  he  was  brought  up 
by  King  Polybus.  As  he  grew  older,  he  felt 
the  shame  of  his  unknown  origin,  and  went 
to  Delphi  to  inquire  of  the  oracle  about  his 
family  and  birth.  He  received  the  answer 
never  to  return  to  his  own  country,  unless 
he  would  slay  his  father  and  commit  incest 
with  his  mother.  He  thereupon,  imagining 
that  Polybus  was  his  father,  took  the  opposite 
road  and  returned  to  Thebes.  Here  he  met 
his  father  Lams  in  a  narrow  road,  and  a 
quarrel  arising,  he  slew  him  in  a  fit  of  anger. 
There  was  at  this  time  in  the  land  of  Thebes 
a  half-human  monster  called  the  Sphynx ;  it 
asked  a  riddle  of  every  one  that  came  in  its 
way,  and  if  the  answer  was  not  right,  it  de 


stroyed  the  unfortunate  guesser.  No  one 
hitherto,  had  been  able  to  solve  the  pro  :>lem, 
and  after  the  death  of  Laius,  the  hand  of  the 
Queen  Jocasta  was  offered  as  a  reward  to 
any  one  who  would  free  the  country  from 
this  scourge.  (Edipus  proved  more  success 
ful  than  those  who  had  gone  before,  and  gave 
the  right  answer  to  the  monster,  which  im 
mediately  threw  itself  oft"  a  precipice,  in  vex 
ation  at  the  discovery  of  its  secret.  Thus  he 
obtained  Jocasta  for  his  wife,  and  the  sec 
ond  part  of  the  decree  of  the  oracle  was  ful 
filled.  He  had  four  children  from  this  in 
cestuous  union.  The  angry  gods,  outraged 
at  this  iniquity,  sent  a  dreadful  plague,  and 
the  people  in  consternation  ran  to  the  oracle, 
who  required  the  banishment  of  the  mur 
derer  of  Lai'us.  The  search  after  the  crimi 
nal  brought  the  whole  chain  of  frightful  ac 
cidents  to  light.  Jocasta  killed  herself,  and 
(Edipus,  in  his  remorse,  put  out  his  eyes. 
His  sons,  Eteocles  and  Polynices,  then  drove 
him  out  of  Thebes,  whereupon  he  pronounced 
on  them  a  dreadful  curse,  which  did  not 
linger  for  fulfillment. 

The  brothers  fight  Avith  each  other  foi  the 
sole  possession  of  the  kingdom,  and  Poly 
nices  was  compelled  to  seek  aid  from  King 
Adrastus  of  Argos.  Five  other  warriors 
joined  them  and  formed  the  celebrated  league 
of  the  "  Seven  against  Thebes."  In  the  con 
test  that  ensued,  all  of  them  were  killed  ex 
cept  Adrastus.  Eteocles  and  Polynices  slew 
each  other.  The  descendants  of  the  princes 
afterwards  engaged  in  a  second  war  against 
Thebes,  and  succeeded  in  taking  and  destroy 
ing  the  city'  and  scattering  the  inhabitants. 
This  struggle  was  known  in  mythology  aa 
the  War  of  the  Epigoni,  or  offspring. 

The  siege  of  Troy  immediately  followed. 
It  originated  in  Sparta.  Paris,  the  son  of 
Priam,  the  king  of  Troy,  being  at  the  court 
of  Menelaus,  king  of  Sparta,  became  enam 
ored  of  Helen  his  wife,  and  carried  her  away 
in  defiance  of  the  laws  of  hospitality.  The 
quarrel  is  taken  up  by  all  the  princes  of 
Greece,  they  declare  war  against  Troy,  and 
choosing  Agamemnon  for  tl  .eir  leader,  they 


382 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


sail  for  Troy  in  nearly  twelve  huudred  ships. 
All  the  most  illustrious  heroes  of  this  period 
of  Greo  »n  story  are  in  the  expedition. 
Acl lilies,  the  son  of  Peleus,  the  king  of 
Phthiotis  in  Thessaly,  the  head  of  the  Myr 
midons,  the  most  courageous  and  beautiful 
of  the  Greeks,  and  the  subtle  and  crafty 
Ithacan  Ulysses;  Diomede,  king  of  Argos, 
whose  father  Tydeus,  one  of  the  Epigoni, 
was  slain  at  Thebes,  and  the  Pythian  Nestor, 
wisest  of  counsellors,  and  the  Telamonian 
Ajax,  and  Idomeneus,  the  grandson  of  Mi 
nos,  the  hero  of  Crete.  These  are  a  few  of 
the  Grecian  chiefs.  On  the  Trojan  side,  there 
is  Hector,  the  son  of  Priam,  a  renowned  war 
rior,  and  the  goddess-born  ./Eneas,  son  of 
Anchises  and  Venus,  the  future  founder  of 
the  great  Italian  nation.  The  war  lasts  for 
ten  years.  Only  the  last  is  described  in  the 
Iliad,  which  does  not,  however,  terminate 
with  the  fall  of  Troy,  but  with  the  death  of 
Hector,  who  is  slain  by  Achilles.  The  final 
destruction  of  the  city  is  not  brought  about 
by  the  valor  of  the  Greeks,  but  by  the  craft 
of  Ulysses,  who  by  means  of  the  famous  strat 
agem  of  the  Trojan  horse,  introduces  his 
men  into  the  city,  and  with  fire  and  sword 
wreaks  a  dreadful  vengeance  for  the  rape  of 
Helen  upon  the  fated  Ilium. 

The  return  of  the  warriors  to  their  homes 
forms  the  subject  of  many  poems  and  trage 
dies.  Many  of  the  leaders  find  that  in  their 
absence  others  have  taken  possession  of  their 
palaces,  and  sometimes  also  of  their  wives. 
The  Odyssey  describes  the  adventures  of 
Ulysses,  before  he  reached  his  home  in 
Ithaca. 

The  only  history  of  the  Trojan  war  is  the 
Iliad  of  Homer.  As  in  Homer  we  do  not  meet 
merely  with  a  poet  of  the  first  class,  but 
with  the  oldest  records,  after  the  books  of 
Moses,  that  have  exercised  a  permanent  in 
fluence  on  the  civilization  of  the  West,  we 
will,  therefore,  before  entering  upon  the  au 
thentic  period  of  Grecian  history,  give  a  short 
notice  of  the  Homeric  poems  and  their  author 
ship.  The  life  of  Homer  is  involved  in  the 
Teatest  obscurity,  and  presents  nothing  but 


a  group  of  very  vague  traditions.  In  his  day 
there  were  no  biographers,  and  the  earliest  ac 
counts  of  him  belong  to  a  period  more  than 
300  years  after  the  time  in  which  he  waa 
supposed  to  have  lived.  His  birth-place  was 
unknown  to  the  Greeks,  and  seven  different 
cities  claimed  that  honor.  Sifting  out  all 
these  legends,  and  retaining  only  those  state 
ments  that  seem  most  probable,  we  may  con 
clude  that 'Homer  was  born  in  Smyrna,  and 
died  in  los,  one  of  the  Cyclades  of  the  Ar 
chipelago ;  and  this  we  can  say  is  the  utmost 
that  can  be  known  of  the  father  of  epic  poesy 
in  Greece.  The  other  events  of  his  life,  as 
given  by  the  longer  biographies,  are  fictions, 
invented,  many  of  them,  with  the  plain  pur 
pose  of  giving  an  historical  existence  to  cer 
tain  of  the  characters  in  the  Iliad  and  Odys 
sey.  That,  like  all  minstrels,  Homer  was 
given  to  wander  about  from  place  to  place 
in  the  exercise  of  his  vocation,  is  probable 
enough  without  any  voucher,  and  appears 
quite  certain  from  the  extensive  and  accurate 
geographical  information  displayed  in  his 
works,  but  the  details  of  his  travels  could 
not  be  retained  in  the  memory  of  any  one 
man,  and  what  we  have  of  them  bear  the 
most  conspicuous  marks  of  a  vulgar  forgery. 
The  usual  story  of  his  being  blind  would  be 
probable  enough,  were  its  origin  not  so  plain 
in  the  appearance  of  a  blind  poet  in  the 
Odyssey,  and  in  the  famous  Hymn  to  Apollo, 
anciently  attributed  to  him.  The  age  in 
which  Homer  lived  is  equally  imcertain. 
Herodotus  placed  him  about  four  hundred 
years  before  himself,  that  is  about  850  B.  c. 
Aristotle  makes  the  birth  of  Homer  contem 
porary  with  the  great  Ionic  emigration 
(1044  B.  c.)  ;  and  Dionysius  of  Samos  throws 
him  back  as  far  as  the  Trojan  war.  We  may 
easily  reject  the  last  of  these  dates,  for  such 
an  extensive  collection  of  legends  as  that  in 
the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  requires  time  1o 
grow,  so  that  the  poet  must  have  lived  a  loig 
time  after  the  events  which  he  described. 
On  the  other  hand  we  cannot  pla.ce  him 
later  than  the  period  indicated  by  Herodo 
tus,  as  the  ignorance  of  the  Greeks  themselvea 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


383 


Bhow  him  to  have  lived  in  a  very  early  age. 
This  is  all  that  can  be  said  about  the  poet, 
and  it  is  so  little  and  unsatisfactory,  that 
eorne  German  critics,  foremost  among  whom 
Wolf,  have  even  disputed  the  existence  of 
such  a  man  as  Homer,  and  consider  the  Iliad 
and  the  Odyssey  to  have  been  the  work  of 
various  rhapsodists,  whose  names  were  soon 
forgotten,  and  in  later  days  the  myth  of  the 
Dlind  bard  of  Asia  Minor  was  invented  to 
account  for  the  unknown  authorship  of  the 
poems,  in  the  same  manner  as  Hellen  was  set 
up  to  prove  the  nationality  of  the  Grecian 
race.  They  found  their  argument  chiefly 
on  the  impossibility  of  such  a  long  poem 
being  repeated  and  handed  down  for  so  many 
centuries,  from  mouth  to  mouth ;  for  the  pe 
riod  to  which  they  are  ascribed  is  probably 
before  the  general  use  of  writing ;  and  they 
also  point  out  many  discrepancies  and  con 
tradictions  in  the  poem.  The  opinions  of 
these  Germans,  who  certainly  show  some 
strong  arguments,  were  taken  up  by  other 
European  scholars,  but  of  late  years  there 
has  been  a  slight  reaction,  and  at  present  the 
two  parties  are  almost  equally  divided. 

Whatever  was  their  origin  or  history, 
there  is  no  doubt,  however,  of  the  influence 
which  they  exercised  over  the  national  mind. 
Homer  was  the  Greek  bible,  and  was  guard 
ed  with  all  the  care  and  piety  with  which 
Christians  cherish  that  book.  The  Greek 
writers  always  refer  to  Homer,  as  if  his  verses 
were  in  the  mouths  of  the  people,  and  their 
works  are  filled  with  quotations.  Such  was 
the  importance  that  was  attributed  to  the 
Homeric  poems  that  the  preservation  and  cor 
rection  of  their  text  was  an  object  of  care  to 
Grecian  rulers.  Solon  turned  his  attention  to 
regulating  their  recitation  at  the  public 
games,  and  the  first  collection  and  arrange 
ment  in  proper  order  was  executed  under  the 
direct  superintendence  of  Pisistratus,  the  ty 
rant  of  Athens.  In  the  days  of  the  Ptole 
mies  there  was  an  association  of  learned 
critics  and  commentators,  who  made  it  their 
special  duty  to  collate  the  manuscripts  and 
guard  against  interpolations  or  change*. 


As  authorities  on  historical  events,  it  is 
impossible  to  attach  much  weight  to  the 
writings  of  Homerj  but  as  affording  a  faith 
ful  representation  of  the  manners,  and  con 
ditions,  and  sentiments  of  the  Heroic  age, 
they  are  alone  and  unapproachable,  and 
whether  they  are  the  production  of  one  or 
of  half  a  hundred  minstrels,  they  are  equally 
inspired  by  the  breath  of  a  great  poetic  soul, 
and  that  soul  the  highest  life  of  the  Greek 
people,  at  one  of  the  most  poetic  periods  of 
its  existence. 

Greek  history  properly  commences  with 
the  first  Olympiad,  776  B.  c.  At  this  period 
the  greater  part  of  the  Peloponnesus  was  in 
the  possession  of  the  Dorians,  and  the  Greeks 
had  established  themselves  all  over  the  adja 
cent  shores  of  Asia  Minor.  The  details  of 
the  emigration  of  the  Dorians  into  the  pen 
insula  are  very  obscure.  It  is  said  to  have 
taken  place  twenty  years  after  the  expulsion 
of  the  ancient  Boeotians  by  the  Thessalians, 
in  1124  B.  c.  The  earliest  ascertained  seat 
of  the  Dorians  was  the  district  of  Mount 
Olympus.  But,  either  from  a  restless  and 
wandering  disposition,  or  impelled  by  the 
pressure  of  some  northern  hordes,  they  seem 
to  have  migrated  from  this  district  into  Crete, 
that  is,  from  one  end  of  the  Grecian  world 
to  the  other;  thus  presenting  a  striking 
anomaly  in  the  history  of  the  ancient  colo 
nies.  The  earliest  trace  of  this  circumstance 
is  found  in  the  Odyssey,  where  it  is  mention 
ed  that  the  "  thrice  divided"  Dorians  formed 
part  of  the  population  of  Crete.  Though 
originally  inhabiting  a  mountainous  region, 
they  appear,  in  the  course  of  time,  to  have 
become,  as  it  were,  the  Normans  of  Greece, 
and  to  have  sought  settlements  wherever 
they  could  find  them.  But  the  most  import 
ant,  and  the  most  fertile  in  consequences, 
of  all  the  migrations  of  the  Grecian  races, 
and  that  which  continued  even  to  the  latest 
period  to  exert  its  influence  upon  the  Greek 
character,  was  the  expeditions  of  the  Dori 
ans  into  the  Peloponnesus,  where  they  were 
called  the  Doric  race.  The  traditionary 
name  of  the  expedition  in  question  is  "  the 


884 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


return  of  the  descendants  of  Hercules." 
The  children  o.  that  hero  had  made  many 
attempts  to  conquer  and  regain  the  king 
dom  which  had  been  taken  from  their  an 
cestor  by  Eurystheus,  but  tins  far,  their  ex 
peditions  had  failed.  In  the  last  conflict, 
IIvllus,  the  son  of  Hercules  had  been  killed 
by  Echemus  of  Tegea,  and  the  Heraclidue 
had  been  forced  to  swear  not  to  renew 
their  invasion  for  a  hundred  years.  This 
compact  was  now  at  end,  as  the  time  had 
expired,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  Dorians, 
the  great  grandsons  of  Hercules  set  out  on 
this  celebrated  expedition.  In  process  of 
time,  successive  conquests  were  effected  by 
them  in  the  Peloponnesus,  until  the  whole 
of  that  country  was  at  length  subdued  and 
occupied  by  the  Dorians.  Argos  was  cap 
tured  by  this  people  ;  Sicyon  was  conquered 
from  Argos,  Phlius  from  Sicyon,  and  Cleona3 
from  Argos.  The  Dorians  expelled  the  loni- 
ans  from  Epidaurus,  and  afterwards  reduced 
^Egina  and  Troezen ;  they  appear  also  to 
have  made  themselves  masters  of  Corinth 
and  Megara  ;  and,  under  Aristodemus,  they 
conquered  Laconia,  which  soon  afterwards 
rose  into  great  importance  among  the  states 
of  Greece.  In  due  time,  Doric  colonies  from 
Argos,  Epidaurus,  and  Troezen  established 
themselves  on  the  south-west  coast  of  Asia 
Minor ;  and  other  colonies  of  the  same  race 
also  settled  in  different  parts  of  the  same 
country,  where,  at  a  very  early  period,  we 
find  them  forming  a  league  against  the  loni- 
ans,  whom  they  had  either  encroached  upon 
or  expelled.  In  fact,  there  is  nothing  so  re 
markable  in  the  history  of  this  remarkable 
race  as  its  extraordinary  propagation  and 
diffusion.  In  course  of  time  it  spread  itself 
on  all  sides,  from  Greece  to  Asia  Minor,  By 
zantium,  Syracuse,  and  the  country  which 
sweeps  round  the  Gulf  of  Tarentum,  includ 
ing  the  territory  afterwards  known  by  the 
name  of  Magna  Gnecia,  with  Crotona,  Locri 
and  Lyctus,  to  say  nothing  of  Chalcis,  Solium, 
Ambracia,  Anactorium,  Leucadia,  Corcyra, 
Epidamnus,  Apollonia,  Potidiea,  Chalcedon, 
Trogilus,  Thapsos,  Selinus,  and  other  places 


which  it  conquered  or  colonized.  It  is  re 
markable  th;tt,  wherever  any  portion  of  Do 
ric  invaders  or  settlers  proceeded,  they  not 
only  carried  along  with  them,  but  gave  a  per 
manent  ascendancy  to  the  peculiarities  and 
characteristics  of  their  race.  Their  religion, 
their  laws,  their  literature,  their  manners,  and, 
in  short,  all  that  distinguished  them  as  a  sepa 
rate  people,  appear  to  have  taken  root 
wherever  they  pitched  their  tents  ;  and  it  is 
by  the  vestiges  which  still  remain  of  their 
migrations,  settlements,  and  power,  that  we 
are  enabled  to  trace  with  some  degree  of  cer 
tainty  e%Tents  whicli  either  took  place  before 
the  commencement  of  authentic  history,  or 
in  regard  to  whicli  history,  tradition,  and 
even  fable,  are  alike  silent. 

At  the  period  of  the  first  Olympiad,  Sparta 
was  only  the  second  power  in  the  Pelopon 
nesus,  and  its  territory  did  not  extend  much 
beyond  the  narrow  valley  of  the  Eurotas. 
The  Argolians  then  held  the  brightest, 
place  in  the  Doric  League.  In  Argos  was 
the  most  lavored  shrine  of  the  Pythian 
Apollo,  the  tutelary  divinity  of  the  Dorians. 
The  importance  of  Argolis  appears  in  the 
history  of  Phidon,  whose  career  may  bo 
placed  about  the  8th  Olympiad,  lie  was 
one  of  the  Ileraclidae,  and  inherited  the 
throne  of  Argos.  lie  did  not,  however,  rest 
contented  with  the  limited  sovereignty 
which  his  ancestors  had  exercised,  but  soon 
broke  through  all  restrictions,  and  made  him 
self  absolute  ruler,  or  tyrant.  With  this 
power  in  his  hands  he  regained  the  ancient 
control  which  his  country  had  held  over  the 
other  Doric  states  of  the  Peloponnesus,  but 
which  at  that  time  had  somewhat  fallen. 
He  is  also  reported  to  have  extended  hia 
claims  to  every  city  that  the  descendants  of 
Hercules  had  founded.  His  fame  as  a  con 
queror  became  so  great  that  the  Pisatans  ap 
pealed  to  him  to  settle  their  dispute  with  th'j 
Eleans,  about  the  celebration  of  the  Olympic 
games.  Phidon  availed  himself  of  this  op 
portunity  which  came  in  so  fortunately  lor 
his  ambitious  designs,  and  siding  with  the 
Pisatans.  he  declared  that  the  celebration  of 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


385 


the  Olympian  games  properly  belonged  to 
him,  as  the  descendant  of  their  founder,  Her 
cules.  He  thereupon  went  with  his  army  to 
Olympia,  and  drove  out  the  Eleans,  and  held 
the  games  with  the  assistance  of  the  Pisa- 
tans.  The  Eleans  now  obtained  the  alliance 
of  the  Spartans,  with  whom  they  renewed 
the  struggle,  and  finally  succeeded  in  break 
ing  up  the  power  of  Phidon,  and  regaining 
the  supremacy  at  Olympia.  Nothing  fur 
ther  is  known  of  the  history  of  Phidon,  as 
the  details  of  his  death  are  lost.  Many  im 
provements  were  introduced  into  Greece  by 
him,  especially  the  use  of  gold  and  silver 
coins,  and  of  regular  weights  and  measures. 

After  the  decline  of  Argolis,  Sparta  as 
sumed  the  first  place  in  the  Peloponnesus ; 
and,  it  may  be  said,  that  for  some  time  the  his 
tory  of  Laconia  is  that  of  the  Peloponnesus, 
as  that  of  Athens,  includes  the  whole  of 
Central  Greece. 

Lacedaemon,  a  son  of  Jupiter  and  Taygeta, 
with  his  wife  Sparta,  daughter  of  Eurotas, 
are  represented  as  founding  and  giving  their 
names  to  the  kingdom  and  city.  The  coun 
try  was  then  ruled  in  succession  by  twelve  of 
their  descendants,  until  the  line  became  ex 
tinct.  Of  these  monarchs  the  most  famous 
in  the  legends  were  Hyacinthus,  who  having 
been*  accidentally  killed  by  Apollo,  was 
changed  into  the  flower  that  bears  his  name ; 
Castor  and  Pollux,  wrho  were  raised  to 
heaven,  and  became  special  patrons  of  the 
city ;  their  sister  Helen  and  her  husband 
Menelaus,  whose  story  forms  the  theme  of 
the  early  epic  songs.  On  the  failure  of  the 
original  dynasty,  Orestes  the  son  of  Aga 
memnon  was  raised  to  the  throne ;  and  in 
the  reign  of  his  son  and  successor,  Tisamenes, 
is  said  to  have  occurred  the  invasion  of  the 
country  by  the  Heraclidae.  These,  as  has 
been  seen,  vanquished  the  Spartan  monarch, 
and  divided  among  them  the  richest  parts  of 
the  peninsula.  The  country  of  Laconia,  of 
which  Sparta  was  the  capital,  fell  to  the 
share  of  Aristodemus,  one  of  the  three  leaders 
of  the  conquerors  ;  but  as  he  died  before  the 
conquest  was  complete,  his  twin-sons,  Eurys- 
49 


thenes  and  Procles,  were  appointed  joint 
kings,  and  from  them  the  double  line  of 
Spartan  sovereigns  is  said  to  have  been  des 
cended,  there  being  always  on  the  throne  at 
the  same  time  an  Eurysthenid  and  a  Proclid 
king. 

Before  the  Dorian  invasion,  Laconia,  with 
the  rest  of  southern  Greece,  was  inhabited 
by  Achseans.  Of  these  some  left  the  country 
and  established  themselves  in  the  land  to 
which  they  gave  their  name  along  the  south 
shore  of  the  Corinthian  Gulf;  but  a  consid 
erable  number  seem  to  have  remained  in  the 
country  in  a  state  of  subjection  to  the  Dori 
ans.  These  were  known  by  the  name  of 
Periceci,  or  provincials;  and  they  enjoyed 
personal  liberty,  but  had  no  political  privil 
eges.  Below  them  was  another  class,  the 
Helots  or  slaves,  whose  origin  is  not  very 
certainly  known,  and  who  cultivated  the 
lands  of  the  Dorians  or  true  Spartans,  who- 
were  thus  left  at  leisure  for  the  noble  em 
ployments  of  government  and  war.  Thus  the 
ruling  power  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
Dorian  race  ;  and  the  institutions  and  char 
acter  of  the  people  were  entirely  Dorian. 
The  first  great  event  in  Spartan  history  is 
the  legislation  of  Lycurgus  in  the  9th  cen 
tury,  B.  c.  While  it  is  impossible  to  believe 
that  such  a  system  as  prevailed  in  Sparta 
could  have  been  the  work  of  one  man,  and 
not  rather  the  gradual  result  of  time  and  cir 
cumstances,  it  is  not  on  that  account  neces 
sary  to  deny  altogether  that  Lycurgus  was  a 
real  personage.  The  more  probable  opinion 
seems  to  be,  that  as  a  long  time  must  have 
elapsed  before  the  commotions  raised  by  the1 
Dorian  invasion  had  subsided,  and  many  dis 
sensions  and  abuses  may  have  crept  in,  the 
legislator's  work  was  to  rectify  these,  and 
restore  the  constitution  according  to  the 
ancient  Dorian  laws  and  customs.  From 
this  period  onwards  the  history  of  Greece 
consists  mainly  of  a  narrative  of  the  gradual 
rise  of  Sparta  to  a  supremacy  at  first  over  the 
Dorians  in  the  south,  and  then  over  the 
whole  of  Greece ;  then  of  the  more  sudden 
rise  of  her  rival,  Athens,  and  her  long  con- 


38G 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


test  with  Sparta;  and  finally,  of  the  wars 
between  Sparta  and  Thebes,  and  the  final 
subjection  ot  the  whole  of  Greece  to  Philip 
of  Macedon. 

After  the  internal  confusion  had  been 
rectified,  and  the  government  firmly  estab 
lished,  the  ensrgies  of  Sparta  began  to  find 
vent  in  foreign  conquests.  Their  arms  were 
at  first  directed  against  Argos  and  Arcadia ; 
but  a  more  tempting,  as  well  as  an  easier  prey 
was  to  be  found  in  the  rich  land  of  Messenia, 
where  the  arts  of  peace  were  more  flourish- 
ino-  than  those  of  war.  Private  feuds  and 

O 

border  forays  gave  a  cause  or  a  pretext  to 
the  first  Messenian  war,  which  was  begun  in 
745  B.  c.  by  the  sudden  invasion  of  the  coun 
try  by  the  Spartans.  They  took  by  surprise 
the  fortress  of  Amphea  near  the  border,  from 
which  they  made  inroads  into  the  very  heart 
of  the  country.  The  Messenians  for  a  time 
did  not  venture  to  meet  them  in  the  open 
field,  but  remaining  in  their  impregnable 
strongholds,  confined  their  efforts  to  retalia 
tions  on  the  Spartan  territory.  At  length 
they  changed  their  tactics,  and  instead  of 
scattering  their  forces  all  over  the  country, 
concentrated  them  in  the  stronghold  of  Ith- 
ome,  so  as  to  protect  all  the  country  behind 
it.  This  policy  proved  for  a  long  time  suc 
cessful,  though  the  Messenians  never  gained 
any  decided  advantage ;  but  at  length,  in 
723,  they  were  driven  from  Ithome,  and 
thus  the  war  ended  by  the  total  reduction  of 
Messenia  under  the  Spartan  power.  A  few 
of  the  principal  men  left  the  country,  while 
the  bulk  of  the  people  were  reduced  to  a 
condition  similar  to  that  of  the  Helots.  For 
thirty-eight  years  the  Messenians  remained 
subject  to  their  conquerors,  but  in  685  they 
made  an  attempt  to  regain  their  liberty 
under  a  noble  of  the  name  of  Aristomenes, 
and  thus  began  the  second  Messenian  war. 
The  valor  of  this  leader  in  his  first  engage 
ment  so  alarmed  the  Spartans,  that  they 
sought  the  advice  of  the  Delphic  god,  by 
whom  they  were  directed  to  seek  for  an 
Athenian  counsellor.  They  obtained  the 
assistance  of  TyrtsBus,  traditionally  repre 


sented  as  a  lame  schoolmaster,  and  he  ani 
mated  the  Spartan  courage  by  those  warlike 
songs  of  which  there  are  still  some  fragments 
extant.  Notwithstanding  this  assistance,  Aris 
tomenes  gained  a  great  victory  at  Stenycle- 
rus,  which  for  a  time  cleared  his  country 
from  the  Spartans.  But  the  Messenians  were 
obliged  at  last  to  have  recourse  to  their 
former  tactics,  and  this  time  they  chose  as 
their  stronghold  Eira  in  the  extreme  north 
of  the  country.  For  a  long  time  they  con 
trived,  by  means  of  the  able  conduct  and 
valiant  exploits  of  their  chieftain,  to  hold 
out  against  the  Spartans ;  but  at  last,  in  608. 
the  fortress  was  taken,  its  defenders  being 
allowed  to  retire  into  Arcadia.  Thus  ended 
the  second  Messenian  war,  leaving  Sparta  in 
full  possession  of  the  whole  of  Laconia  and 
Messsenia.  Nor  were  the  Spartans  slow  in 
pushing  their  aggressions  in  other  directions, 
though  they  nowhere  met  with  such  complete 
success  as  in  Messenia.  Tegea  in  Arcadia, 
with  which  they  had  long  carried  on  hostilities, 
was  in  545  forced  to  acknowledge  their  su 
premacy,  and  the  district  of  Cynuria,  near 
the  Laconian  border,  was  conquered  from 
Argos.  Sparta  thus  gradually  rose  to  a 
lofty  position;  and  in  the  time  of  Croesua 
was  acknowledged  to  be  the  most  powerful 
of  the  Grecian  states.  Another  war  with 
Argos  about  525  B.  c.  terminated  likewise 
in  favor  of  the  Spartans.  At  the  instigation  of 
the  Delphic  oracle,  the  Spartans  under  Cleom- 
enes  invaded  Attica  in  510,  and  expelled 
from  Athens  Ilippias,  the  last  of  the  Pisis 
tratidae.  They  afterwards  interfered  undei 
the  same  leader  in  support  of  the  aristocratic 
against  the  democratic  party ;  but  aftei 
holding  the  acropolis  for  some  time,  Cleo- 
menes  was  forced  ignominiously  to  retreat. 
An  attempt  which  he  made  immediately 
after  to  restore  the  aristocratic  party,  and 
another,  somewhat  later,  to  reinstate  Ilip 
pias  as  tyrant,  proved  utter  failures.  The 
circumstances  will  be  narrated  when  we 
come  to  speak  of  Athens. 

Before  we  go  on  to  narrate  the  events  ol 
the  famous  Persian  war,  which  involved  the 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WORLD. 


387 


whole  of  Greece,  it  is  necessary  to  give  some 
account  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  Athens, 
and  to  take  a  passing  view  of  the  condition 
of  the  other  states. 

In  the  Heroic  age  they  were  all  monarch 
ies,  rulod,  for  the  most  part,  by  kings  claim 
ing  descent  from  Jove  ;  but  soon  after  the 
period  of  the  first  Olympiad,  the  veneration 
for  the  heaven-born  dynasties  appears  to 
lose  its  influence,  and  we  find  that  all  the 
governments  but  that  of  Sparta  have  become 
republican  in  form.  The  assembly  of  the 
chiefs  was  more  powerful  than  the  sovereign, 
and  they  sometimes  at  the  death  of  the  her 
editary  ruler  placed  one  of  their  own  number 
on  the  throne,  instead  of  his  son.  In  time 
this  election  by  the  Council  of  the  Nobles, 
became  the  regular  mode  of  choosing  a  mag 
istrate,  who  held  the  place  of  king,  and  bore 
the  name  of  Prytanis,  or  president.  This 
form  of  republicanism  was  an  oligarchy,  or 
government  of  the  few,  for  as  yet  a  democ 
racy,  or  government  of  the  people,  was  un 
known.  The  arrogant  exercise  of  power  by 
these  oligarchs,  soon  excited  the  ill-will  of 
the  lower  classes,  who  were  not  represented 
at  all  in  public  affairs,  but  the  change  in 
government  did  not  come  from  them,  but 
from  usurpers  called  Tyrants  who  possessed 
themselves  of  absolute  power  and  ruled  by 
their  own  will.  These  despots  appeared  in 
most  of  the  Grecian  cities  about  the  seventh 
century,  B.  c.  They  generally  obtained  their 
power  by  working  on  the  discontent  of  the 
people,  and  inciting  them  to  overthrow  the 
oligarchies.  Besides  these  there  were  a  few 
dictators,  whose  authority  was  voluntarily 
entrusted  to  them  by  the  citizens  for  a  limi 
ted  time. 

The  arbitrary  rule  of  these  tyrants  was 
usually  most  severe,  and  as  the  idea  of  the 
supreme  power  of  a  single  man  was  repul 
sive  to  the  feelings  of  the  Greeks,  the  despot 
often  fell  a  victim  to  the  assassin,  who,  in 
this  cause,  was  regarded  as  the  liberator  of 
bis  country.  Many  of  the  tyrants  were  dis 
placed  by  the  Spartans,  whose  oligarchical 
government  looked  with  hatred  upon  any 


infraction  of  the  ancient  order  of  things. 
The  history  of  Athens  forms  one  of  the  meet 
striking  examples  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
various  Grecian  systems,  but  the  history  of 
the  Bacchiadse  and  the  despots  of  Corinth  is 
so  celebrated  that  it  must  not  be  passed  over 
entirely. 

The  Bacchiados  were  the  nobles  who  form 
ed  the  Corinthian  oligarchy.  This  oligarchy 
was  overthrown  by  Cypselus,  whose  mother 
herself  was  one  of  the  Bacchiadse,  who  had 
married  out  of  her  own  class.  Before  the  birth 
of  Cypselus,  an  oracle  prophesied  that  her 
offspring  would  be  fatal  to  the  oligarchical 
government.  The  Bacchiadas,  thereupon  en 
deavored  to  put  him  out  of  the  way,  but  he 
was  concealed  by  his  mother  in  a  chest,  and 
his  life  was  saved.  As  soon  as  he  became  a 
man  he  appeared  as  the  defender  of  the 
people,  and  with  their  support  he  drove  the 
nobles  out,  and  made  himself  the  absolute 
ruler.  He  held  the  throne  for  about  thirty 
years,  and  was  then  succeeded  by  Periander, 
his  son.  Periander  began  to  rule  with  a  mild 
and  beneficent  sway,  yet  soon  adopted  a  vig 
orous  system  of  despotism.  His  first  meas 
ure  was  to  ensure  internal  peace  by  shutting 
up  the  clubs,  common  tables,  and  other 
scenes  of  political  discussion ;  by  removing  or 
strictly  watching  all  the  citizens  of  high 
birth  and  influence,  and  by  prohibiting  all 
that  wasteful  extravagance  which  might  re 
sult  in  wanton  misconduct  or  factious  poverty. 
Then,  in  order  to  strengthen  his  power,  he 
enrolled  an  army,  equipped  a  fleet,  and  en 
tered  into  leagues  with  both  Grecian  tyrants 
and  barbarian  kings;  at  the  same  time  it  was 
his  care  to  adorn  his  capital  with  magnificent 
architecture,  and  to  grace  his  court  with 
men  of  philosophy  and  letters.  The  last  days 
of  Periander  were  clouded  with  domestic 
misfortune.  His  wife  Melissa  died  in  conse 
quence  of  a  blow  which  he  had  given  her  in 
a  fit  of  jealous  rage.  His  younger  son,  Ly- 
cophron  was  assassinated  by  the  Corcyrans 
while  residing  among  that  people.  The  only 
member  of  the  family  that  was  left  was  his 
idiot  son  Cypselus.  Overwhelmed  by  these 


388 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


calamities,  Periander  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty  after  a  reign  of  forty  years.  He  is 
said  by  his  biographer,  Diogenes  Laertius, 
to  have  left  behind  him  a  didactic  poem, 
which  consisted  of  moral  and  political  pre 
cepts,  and  amounted  to  two  thousand  verses. 
In  consequence,  probably,  of  this  work,  some 
have  ranked  him  among  the  seven  sages  of 
Greece.  His  successor,  Psammetichus,  is 


said  to  have  been  deposed  by  the  Lacedae 
monians.  The  oligarchical  government  was 
then  restored,  and  Corinth  joined  the 
Peloponnesian  league.  The  history  of  the 
other  states  of  Southern  Greece  is  essentially 
the  same,  the  nobles  after  a  time  regaining 
the  power  of  which  they  had  been  deprived 
by  the  tyrants,  and  restoring  the  old  system 
upon  a  former  basis. 

Passing  now  to  Central  Greece  we  come 
to  the  maritime  city  of  Athens,  which  is  al 
ready  rising  to  the  powrer  and  glory  that 
made  its  name  almost  the  synonym  of 
Greece. 

The  history  of  Attica,  like  that  of  nearly 
every  state  of  Greece,  is  almost  entirely 
mythical  down  to  the  beginning  of  the 
Olympiads — that  is,  down  to  the  year  B.C. 
776.  All  that  is  related  concerning  the 
period  previous  to  that  era,  consists  partly 
of  fiction  and  partly  of  tradition,  which  no 
doubt  have  a  certain  historical  foundation, 
but  have  been  so  much  modified  and  embel 
lished  by  poets  and  later  writers  that  it  is 
now  impossible  to  say  what  is  historical  and 
what  is  not.  As  regards  chronology,  in  par 
ticular,  it  is  useless  to  attempt  to  fix  the  ex 
act  date  of  any  event  before  the  commence 
ment  of  the  Olympiads.  As,  however,  the 
legends  of  early  Attic  history  are  frequently 
alluded  to  by  poets  and  other  writers,  they 
cannot  be  altogether  passed  over  in  any  ac 
count  of  the  history  of  Attica. 

Ogyges  had  the  reputation  of  being  the 
first  king  of  Attica ;  and  ancient  chronolo- 
gcrs  even  undertook  to  fix  the  date  of  his 
reign,  wliich  has  been  variously  set  down  at 
150  aud  200  years  before  the  arrival  of  Ce- 
crops.  But  we  have  no  assurance  that  even 


the  name  of  Ogyges  was  known  ID  the  older 
Grecian  authors;  and  if  anything  can  bo 
gathered  from  the  traditions  concerning:  this 

~  O 

fabulous  personage,  reported  by  late  writers, 
it  is,  that  at  some  very  remote  period,  a  flood, 
having  desolated  the  rich  fields  of  Bceotia, 
over  which  he  reigned,  drove  many  of  the 
inhabitants  to  establish  themselves  in  the 
adjoining  district  of  Attica,  which,  though 
hilly,  rocky,  and  little  fruitful,  was  yet 
judged  preferable  to  a  plain  country,  sur 
rounded  on  all  sides  by  mountain  tracts,  and 
consequently  exposed  to  a  recurrence  of  the 
calamity  by  which  so  many  of  them  had 
been  overwhelmed.  We  may  therefore 
safely  consign  this  legendary  monarch  to  that 
primitive  obscurity  in  which  his  existence, 
his  origin,  and  his  achievements,  are  equally 
involved. 

The  legend  of  Cccrops  has  already  been 
alluded  to,  and  the  story  of  his  successor, 
Theseus,  has  been  noticed  while  speaking  of 
the  Heroic  age.  Theseus  was  followed  by 
Menestheus  who  reigned  twenty-four  years. 
He  lost  his  life  at  the  siege  of  Troy,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Demophon,  one  of  the  sons  of 
Theseus  by  Phaedra,  who  was  likewise  pres 
ent  at  the  siege,  but  had  the  good  fortune  to 
return  in  safety.  Demophon  was  succeeded 
by  his  Bon  or  brother  Oxyntes,  who  again 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Apydes ;  and  this 
last  was  murdered  by  a  natural  brother  of 
the  name  of  Thymoctes.  But  the  bastard 
usurper  discovered  many  base  qualities  un 
worthy  of  the  station  he  had  assumed,  and 
was  at  last  deposed  by  his  subjects  on  account 
of  the  flagrant  cowardice  he  had  displayed 
on  a  critical  occasion. 

Thymcetes  was  appropriately  succeeded  by 
a  foreign  adventurer  called  Melanthus,  who, 
after  a  long  reign  of  thirty-seven  years,  left 
the  kingdom  to  his  son  Codrus.  The  latter 
reigned  twenty-one  years,  during  which  pe 
riod  the  Dorians  and  Ileracleidoe  had  regain 
ed  all  Peloponnesus,  and  were  upon  the 
point  of  invading  Attica.  Codrus,  being  in 
formed  that  the  oracle  had  promised  them 
victory  provided  they  did  not  kill  the  king 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


pf  the  Athenians,  ira  mediately  came  to  the 
resolution  to  die  for  his  country.  Disguising 
himself,  therefore,  as  a  peasant,  he  went  into 
the  enemy's  camp,  and  having  quarrelled 
with  some  of  the  common  soldiers,  was  killed 
in  a  brawl.  On  the  morrow  the  Athenians, 
knowing  what  had  happened,  sent  to  demand 
the  body  of  their  king,  at  which  the  invad 
ers  were  so  terrified  that  they  decamped 
without  striking  a  blow. 

Upon  the  death  of  Codrus,  a  dispute 
among  his  sons  concerning  the  succession 
furnished  the  nobles  with  a  pretence  for  rid 
ding  themselves  of  their  kings,  and  changing 
the  monarchical  into  a  republican  form  of 
government.  It  was  highly  improbable, 
they  said,  that  they  should  ever  again  have 
BO  good  a  king  as  Codrus ;  and,  to  prevent 
their  having  a  worse,  they  resolved  to  have 
none.  That  they  might  not,  however,  ap 
pear  ungrateful  to  the  family  of  Codrus,  they 
made  his  son  Medon  their  supreme  magis 
trate,  with  the  title  of  archon ;  an  office 
which  was  afterwards  rendered  decennial, 
but  nevertheless  continued  in  the  family  of 
Codrus.  But  the  extinction  of  the  IVfedon- 
tidce  having  at  last  left  the  nobles  without 
restraint,  they  not  only  made  this  office  an 
nual,  but  at  the  same  time  created  nine 
arch  oils.  By  the  latter  expedient  they  pro 
vided  against  the  exorbitant  power  of  a 
single  person,  as  by  the  former  they  took 
away  all  apprehensions  of  the  archons  having 
time  to  establish  themselves,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  change  the  constitution.  In  a  word,  they 
now  attained  what  they  had  long  sought  after, 
namely,  rendering  the  supreme  magistracy 
accessible  to  all  the  nobles.  The  name  of 
the  first  of  these  nine  annual  archons  was, 
like  that  of  the  consuls  at  Rome,  used  to 
mark  the  year  in  which  any  event  happened. 
The  second  bore  the  title  of  king,  and  repre 
sented  the  former  kings  in  their  capacity  of 
high  priest  of  the  nation. 

There  has  been  handed  down  to  us  an 
enumeration  of  these  archons  for  upwards  of 
BIX  centuries,  beginning  with  Creon,  who 
lived  in  682  B.C.,  and  coming  down  to  He- 


rodes,  who  lived  only  sixty  years  prior  to 
the  Christian  era.  The  first  archon  of  whom 
we  hear  anything  really  worthy  of  notice 
was  Draco.  lie  governed  Athens  in  the 
year  624  B.C.,  when  he  promulgated  his  writ 
ten  laws ;  but  although  his  name  is  very 
frequently  mentioned  in  history,  no  connect 
ed  account  can  be  found  either  of  the  law 
giver  or  of  his  institutions.  We  only  know 
generally  that  his  laws  were  excessively  se 
vere,  awarding  punishment  of  death  for  the 
smallest  offences  no  less  than  for  the  most 
heinous  crimes ;  and  that,  as  Demades  re 
marked  of  them,  they  seemed  to  have  been 
written  with  blood.  For  this  extraordinary 
and  undiscriminating  severity  he  gave  no 
other  reason,  than  that  the  smallest  faults 
appeared  to  him  to  be  worthy  of  death,  and 
that  he  could  find  no  higher  punishment  for 
the  greatest.  He  was  far  advanced  in 
years  when  he  legislated  for  Athens  ;  and  he 
appears  to  have  endeavored  to  act  as  a  medi 
ator  between  the  people  and  the  oppressive 
nobles.  His  laws  were  called  sanctions. 
The  Athenians,  however,  soon  grew  weary 
both  of  the  sanctions  and  their  author ;  upon 
which  Draco  was  obliged  to  retire  to  ^Egina, 
where  he  was  received  in  the  most  flattering 
manner.  But  the  favor  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  place  proved  more  fatal  to  him  than  the 
hatred  of  the  Athenians ;  on  coming  one  day 
into  the  theatre,  the  audience,  to  evince 
their  regard  for  the  exiled  legislator,  are  said 
to  have  thrown  their  cloaks  upon  him,  and 
fairly  stifled  the  old  man  to  death  with  their 
kindness. 

Not  long  after  the  expulsion  of  Draco,  we 
find  the  republic  engaged  in  a  war  with  the 
Mitylenians  about  the  city  Sigeum,  situated 
near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Scamander.  The 
Athenian  army  was  commanded  by  Phrynon, 
and  that  of  the  Mitylenians  by  Pittacus,  one 
of  the  seven  sages  of  Greece  ;  but  the  gen 
erals,  thinking  the  honor  of  their  respective 
countries  concerned,  and  being  at  the  same 
time  desirous  to  spare  the  effusion  of  blood, 
agreed  to  settle  the  dispute  by  a  single  com 
bat.  They  met  accordingly;  but  the  sage, 


390 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


trusting  more  to  cunning  than  to  courage, 
concealed  behind  his  shield  a  net,  wherewith 
he  suddenly  entangled  his  antagonist,  and 
easily  slew  him.  This,  however,  not  putting 
an  end  to  the  war,  Periander  of  Corinth  in 
terposed ;  and  both  parties  having  submitted 
to  his  arbitration,  he  decreed  that  Sigeum 
should  belong  to  the  Athenians. 

About  seven  years  after  the  Mitylenian 
war,  612  B.C.,  a  conspiracy  was  entered  into 
by  Cylon,  son-in-law  of  Theagenes,  prince 
of  Megara,  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  on  the 
sovereignty  of  Athens.  The  people  would 
have  readily  submitted  to  his  rule  to  escape 
from  the  oppression  of  the  many  nobles.  But 
having  consulted  the  Delphic  oracles  as  to 
the  most  proper  time,  and  received  directions 
to  make  the  attempt  while  the  citizens  of 
Athens  were  engaged  in  celebrating  the  great 
festival  of  Zeus,  Cylon  and  his  associates 
made  themselves  masters  of  the  citadel  by  a 
coup-de-main,  at  the  time  when  the  greater 
part  of  the  citizens  had  repaired  to  Elis  to 
witness  the  celebration  of  the  Olympic 
games.  But  being  instantly  besieged  by 
Megacles,  who  was  at  that  time  archon,  and 
soon  reduced  to  great  distress  from  want  of 
water,  the  chief  conspirator  and  his  brother 
contrived  to  effect  their  escape  ;  upon  which 
the  remainder  fled  for  safety  to  the  temple 
of  Athena,  where  they  were  barbarously 
massacred  by  order  of  Megacles,  in  virtue 
of  one  of  those  sophistical  quibbles  by  means 
of  which  men  sometimes  reconcile  their 
minds  to  the  perpetration  of  the  foulest  and 
bloodiest  deeds. 

At  this  period  of  confusion  the  Megarians 
attacked  and  took  both  Kisoea  and  Salamis. 
The  former  was  a  place  of  little  or  no  im 
portance  to  any,  and  the  latter  one  of  the 
very  greatest  ;'n  every  view;  but  so  com 
pletely  were  the  Athenians  routed  in  every 
attempt  to  retake  it,  that  a  law  was  at  last 
passed,  declaring  it  capital  for  any  one  to 
propose  the  recovery  of  Salamis.  About  the 
same  time  the  city  was  disturbed  by  reports 
of  frightful  appearances,  and  filled  with  su 
perstitious  fears,  for  it  was  believed  that  the 


crime  of  Megacles  was  the  cause  of  all  dis 
asters.  The  oracle  at  Delphi  was  therefore 
consulted,  and  an  answer  returned  that  the 
city  must  be  purified  by  certain  expiatory 
rites.  This  was  accordingly  done  under  the 
superintendence  of  one  Epimenides,  a  Cre 
tan,  who  prescribed  the  sacrifice  of  white 
and  black  sheep,  and  also  caused  many  tem 
ples  and  chapels  to  be  erected,  including  one 
dedicated  to  Contumely,  and  another  to  Im 
pudence  !  This  man,  after  looking  wistfully 
for  a  long  time  to  the  port  of  Munychia, 
spoke  as  follows  to  those  that  were  near  him  : 
"  How  blind  is  man  to  the  future  !  For,  did 
the  Athenians  know  what  mischief  will  one 
day  be  derived  to  them  from  this  place,  they 
would  eat  it  with  their  teeth."  This  predic 
tion  was  thought  to  have  been  accomplished 
270  years  after,  when  Antipater  constrained 
the  Athenians  to  admit  a  Macedonian  garri 
son  into  that  place. 

About  604  years  B.C.,  Solon,  the  famed 
Athenian  legislator,  began  to  show  himself 
to  his  countrymen.  lie  is  said  to  have  been 
lineally  descended  from  Codrus,  but  left  by 
his  father  in  circumstances  rather  necessitous, 
which  obliged  him  to  apply  himself  to  mer 
chandise.  From  the  first  he  appeared  in  the 
character  of  a  patriot.  The  shameful  decree, 
that  none  under  pain  of  death  should  pro 
pose  the  recovery  of  Salamis,  grieved  him 
so  much,  that  having  composed  an  elegy 
such  as  he  thought  calculated  to  inflame  the 
minds  of  the  people,  he  ran  into  the  market 
place  as  if  he  had  been  insane,  repeating  his 
verses.  A  crowd  soon  collected  around  the 
pretended  madman;  his  kinsman  Pisistra- 
tus  mingled  with  the  people,  and  observ 
ing  them  moved  with  Solon's  words,  agreed 
to  second  the  patriotic  poet  with  all  the  elo 
quence  he  was  master  of;  and  at  length  they 
prevailed  so  far  as  to  have  the  law  rescinded, 
war  declared  against  the  people  of  Megara, 
and  an  expedition  immediately  fitted  out  for 
the  recovery  of  Salamis ;  which  was  ulti 
mately  effected  by  a  stratagem  more  credi 
table  to  the  ingenuity  than  the  bravery  of 
the  Athenians. 


HISTOEY   OF    THE  WOELD. 


391 


The  success  of  this  enterprise  at  once 
established  the  reputation  of  Solon ;  who,  on 
his  return  to  Athens,  was  greatly  honored  by 
the  people,  and  soon  afforded  them  another 
occasion  of  admiring  that  wisdom  for  which 
they  had  already  given  him  credit.  The  in 
habitants  of  Cirrha,  a  town  situated  in  the 
Bay  of  Corinth,  having  repeatedly  committed 
acts  of  extortion  and  violence  against  pil 
grims  proceeding  to  Delphi,  at  last  besieged 
the  capital  itself,  with  a  view  of  making 
themselves  masters  of  the  treasures  contain 
ed  in  the  temple  of  Apollo.  Advice  of  this 
intended  sacrilege  having  been  sent  to  the 
Amphictyons,  Solon  advised  that  the  matter 
should  be  universally  resented,  and  that  all 
the  states  should  join  in  punishing  the  Cirr- 
haeans,  and  in  saving  the  Delphic  oracle. 
This  suggestion  was  adopted,  and  a  general 
war  against  Cirrha  declared,  B.C.  594.  Cleis- 
thenes,  prince  of  Sicyon,  commanded  in 
chief,  and  the  Athenian  contingent  was  under 
the  orders  of  Alcmoeon.  Solon  accompanied 
the  expedition  as  assistant  or  counsellor  to 
Cleisthenes,  and  under  his  direction  the  war 
was  conducted  to  a  prosperous  issue.  Ac 
cording  to  Pausanias  the  city  was  reduced 
by  a  singular  stratagem,  said  to  have  been 
invented  by  Solon.  He  caused  the  river 
Pleistus,  which  flowed  through  Cirrha,  to  be 
turned  into  another  channel,  hoping  thereby 
to  distress  the  inhabitants  for  want  of  water ; 
but  finding  they  had  many  wells  within  the 
city,  and  were  not  to  be  reduced  by  that 
means,  he  caused  a  vast  quantity  of  roots  of 
hellebore  to  be  thrown  into  the  river,  which 
was  then  suffered  to  return  into  its  former 
bed.  The  inhabitants,  overjoyed  at  the 
sight  of  running  water,  came  in  troops  to 
drink  of  it ;  the  consequence  of  which  was, 
that  an  epidemic  flux  ensued,  and  the  citi 
zens  being  no  longer  able  to  defend  the  walls, 
the  town  was  easily  captured.  This,  as  far 
as  we  know,  is  the  only  instance  on  record 
of  a  town  taken  by  physic. 

On  his  return  to  Athens  after  the  hellebore 
achievement,  Solon  found  things  again  in 
the  utmost  confusion.  The  remnant  of  Cy- 


lon's  faction  gave  out  that  all  sorts  of  mis' 
fortunes  had  befallen  the  republic  on  account 
of  the  impiety  of  Megacles  and  his  follow 
ers  ;  and  this  clamor  was  heightened  by  the 
retaking  of  Salamis  about  the  same  time  by 
the  Megarians.  Solon  interposed,  and  per 
suading  those  who  were  styled  "  execrable"  to 
abide  the  trial,  three  hundred  persons  were 
chosen  to  judge  them.  The  issue  was,  that 
the  whole  of  Megacles'  party  who  were  alive 
were  sent  into  perpetual  exile,  and  the 
bones  of  such  as  had  died  were  dug  up  and 
sent  beyond  the  limits  of  their  country.  But 
although  this  decision  restored  tranquillity 
for  the  time,  the  people  were  still  divided 
into  three  factions,  contending  about  the 
proper  form  of  government.  These  were 
called  the  Diacrii,  Pediaei,  and  Parali  ;  the 
first  of  whom,  consisting  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  hilly  country,  declared  for  democracy ; 
the  second,  dwelling  in  the  low  country,  and 
far  more  opulent  than  the  former,  were  in 
favor  of  an  oligarchy,  wishirg  to  keep  the 
government  in  their  own  hands ;  whilst  the 
third  party,  who  inhabited  the  sea-coast, 
were  people  o^  moderate  principles,  and 
therefore  friendly  to  a  mixed  government. 
But  besides  these  agitations,  disturbances  of 
a  much  more  serious  character  arose,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  lamentable  condition  to 
which  the  people  or  Demos  had  been  re 
duced,  in  consequence  of  the  severity  of  the 
law  of  debt.  According  to  Plutarch,  the 
poor,  having  become  indebted  to  the  rich, 
either  tilled  their  grounds  and  paid  them  the 
sixth  part  of  the  produce,  or  pledged  their 
persons  for  their  debts,  so  that  many  were 
made  slaves  at  home,  and  not  a  few  sold  aa 
such  into  foreign  countries ;  while  some  were 
even  obliged  to  sell  their  children  to  pay 
their  debts,  and  others  in  despair  quitted  At 
tica  altogether.  The  greater  part,  h'  -wever, 
were  for  throwing  off  the  yoke,  and  began  to 
look  about  for  a  leader,  openly  declaring 
that  they  intended  to  change  "the  form  of 
government,  to  introduce  a  more  equitablo 
distribution  of  power,  and  to  modify  the  law 
of  debt. 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


In  this  extremity  the  eyes  of  all  were 
turned  to  Solon,  and  some  were  for  offering 
him  the  sovereignty  at  once ;  but,  perceiv 
ing  the  intentions  of  these  misjudging  per- 
Bons,  h.3  refused  the  sovereignty  tendered  to 
him,  and  preferring  the  substance  to  the 
shadow,  quietly  took  upon  himself,  without 
any  pomp  or  pageantry,  the  unqualified  ex 
orcise  of  the  supreme  authority  of  the  state, 
in  all  its  branches,  and  wielded  it  with  an 
absolutism  which  would  have  been  intol 
erable,  had  it  not  been  conferred  upon  him 
by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  people. 
He  was  chosen  archon  (594  B.C.)  without 
having  recourse  to  the  ballot,  an  anomaly  of 
which  there  is  no  other  example  ;  and,  after 
his  election,  he  proved  the  wisdom  of  the 
choice  by  disappointing  the  interested  expec 
tations  of  all  parties.  It  was  a  fundamental 
maxim  with  Solon,  that  those  laws  will  be 
best  observed  which  power  and  justice 
equally  support.  Hence,  wherever  he  found 
the  old  constitution  in  any  measure  conso 
nant  to  justice,  he  refused  to  make  any 
alteration  at  all,  and  was  at  extraordinary 
pains  to  show  the  reason  of  such  changes  as 
were  actually  introduced.  In  a  word,  being 
a  consummate  judge  of  mankind  generally, 
and,  above  all,  thoroughly  conversant  with 
the  character  of  his  countrymen,  he  sought 
to  rule  only  by  showing  the  people  that  it 
was  their  interest  to  obey,  and  contented 
himself  with  giving  them  such  institutions 
as  they  were  prepared  to  receive,  instead  of 
forcing  upon  them  those  which  might  be 
esteemed  theoretically  the  most  perfect. 
Hence,  to  one  who  inquired  whether  he  had 
given  the  Athenians  the  best  laws  in  his 
power,  he  replied,  "  I  have  established  the 
best  which  they  could  receive." 

With  reference  to  the  main  cause  of  dis 
content,  namely,  the  oppressed  state  of  the 
meaner  class,  Solon  removed  it  by  a  scheme 
which  he  called  aeisachtlteia,  or  discharge. 
Ancient  authors,  however,  are  not  agreed  as 

*  *  O 

to  the  precise  nature  of  this  contrivance. 
Some  say  that  he  cancelled  all  debts  t'nen  in 
existence  an  ]  prohibited  the  seizure  of  any 


man's  person  in  default  of  payment  of  a 
debt  for  the  future ;  whilst  others  affirm 
that  the  poor  were  relieved,  not  by  cancel 
ling  the  debts,  but  by  lowering  the  interest, 
and.  increasing  the  value  of  money,  so  that 
a  mina,  which  before  was  equal  to  sevonty- 
three  drachmas  only,  was  by  him  mado  equal 
to  a  hundred.  The  more  probable  opinion 
is,  that  the  seisachtheia  was  3  general  dis 
burdening  ordinance,  which  relieved  the 
debtor  partly  by  a  reduction  of  the  rate  of 
interest,  and  partly  by  lowering  the  standard 
of  the  coinage,  whereby  a  debtor  saved  more 
than  twenty-five  per  cent,  in  every  payment. 
lie  also  released  the  mortgaged  lands  from 
their  encumbrances,  and  restored  them  to 
their  owners.  He  then  abolished  the  cruel 
law,  by  which  a  creditor  might  enslave  his 
debtor,  and  restored  to  freedom  those  who 
were  pining  in  bondage.  These  may  seem 
measures  of  extreme  violence  ;  but  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  whole  people  had 
conferred  upon  him  unlimited  power,  on  the 
understanding  that  they  would  acquiesce  in 
his  legislative  regulations. 

But  in  the  midst  of  all  the  glory  which 
Solon  acquired  by  these  measures,  an  acci 
dent  occurred  which  for  a  time  clouded  his 
reputation,  and  almost  entirely  ruined  his 
schemes.  Having,  it  seems,  consulted  Con- 
on,  Clinias  and  Hipponicus,  three  of  his 
friends,  on  an  oration  he  had  prepared  with 
a  view  to  engage  the  people's  consent  to  the 
seisachtheia,  these  worthies,  thus  apprized 
of  the  contemplated  measure,  availed  them 
selves  of  their  knowledge  to  borrow  large 
sums  of  money  before  the  law  was  promul 
gated,  with  the  intention  to  take  advantage 
of  its  provisions,  and  refuse  to  repay  the 
lenders.  We  cannot  wonder  that  Solon  him 
self  was  at  first  believed  to  have  been  cog 
nizant  of  the  scheme,  and  a  partner  in  this 
fraudulent  adventure.  But,  happily  for  his 
credit,  these  suspicions  were  obliterated 
when  it  was  discovered  that  the  lawgiver 
was  a  creditor  to  a  large  extent,  and  likely 
to  become  a  consideraWe  loser  by  the  opera 
tion  of  his  own  kw.  R;s  friesds,  however, 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOBLD 


393 


never  recovered  their  credit,  but  were  ever 
afterwards  stigmatized  with  the  opprobrious 
appellation  of  chreiocopidcB  or  debt-sinkers. 

Solon  now  set  himself  to  the  arduous  task 
of  compiling  a  body  of  laws  for  the  people 
of  Attica  ;  and  having  at  last  completed  his 
task  in  the  best  manner  he  could,  or  at  least 
in  the  best  manner  that  the  character  of  the 
people  would  admit,  he  caused  them  to  be 
duly  ratified,  and  declared  to  be  in  force 
for  a  century  from  the  date  of  their  publica 
tion.  Those  which  related  to  private  ac 
tions  were  preserved  on  parallelograms  of 
wood,  with  cases  which  reached  from  the 
ground,  and  turned  upon  a  pin  like  a  wheel, 
whence  the  appellation  of  axones  ;  and  were 
placed,  first  in  the  Acropolis,  and  afterwards 
in  the  Prytaneium,  that  all  the  subjects  of 
the  state  might  have  access  to  consult  them 
whenever  they  chose.  Such  as  concerned 
public  institutions  and  sacrifices  were  in 
scribed  on  triangular  tablets  of  stone  called 
yyr~bcis.  The  Athenian  magistrates  were 
sworn  to  observe  both.  With  regard  to  the 
axonep.  or  jus  privatum  of  Solon,  our  infor 
mation  is  exceedingly  imperfect ;  but  if  it 
be  true  that  the  decemviral  constitutions  at 
Rome  were  principally  borrowed  from  this 
portion  of  his  code,  the  fragments  which 
remain  of  these  celebrated  laws  are  certainly 
calculated  to  give  us  no  mean  idea  of  his 
fitness  for  the  task  which  circumstances  as 
well  as  inclination  had  induced  him  to  under 
take.  ISTor  will  our  opinion  of  the  legislator 
be  lowered  by  attending  to  his  system  of 
public  law ;  concerning  which  more  exact 
details  have  been  preserved,  and  some  ac- 
2ount  will  be  given  when  we  come  to  speak 
of  the  Athenian  government.  We  may, 
however,  here  remark  in  general,  that  Solon 
had  abolished  the  ancient  aristocratic  gov 
ernment,  in  which  all  rights  and  privileges 
had  been  determined  by  birth,  and  that  he 
substituted  a  timocracy,  that  is,  a  form  of 
government  in  which  a  man's  property  forms 
the  standard  by  which  his  rights  and  duties 
are  determined. 

After  the  promulgation  of  his  code,  Solon 
50 


found  himself  obliged  to  leave  Athens,  to 
avoid  being  continually  teased  for  explana 
tions  and  emendations  of  his  laws.  He 
therefore  pretended  an  inclination  to  mer 
chandize,  and  obtained  leave  to  withdraw 
himself  for  ten  years,  in  the  hope  that  dur 
ing  his  absence  his  laws  would  grow  familiar 
to  the  people.  From  Athens  he  accordingly 
travelled  into  Egypt,  where  he  is  said  to 
have  conversed  with  Psamenophis  of  Helio- 
polis  and  Sesonchis  of  Sais,  the  most  learned 
priests  of  that  age,  from  whom  he  learned 
the  situation  of  the  island  Atlantis,  and 
wrote  an  account  of  it  in  verse,  which  Plato 
afterwards  continued.  Leaving  Egypt,  he 
is  reported  to  have  visited  Cyprus,  where  he 
was  well  received  by  one  of  the  petty  kings, 
and  assisted  in  the  foundation  of  a  new  city, 
the  site  of  which  he  had  pointed  out,  and 
which,  out  of  gratitude  to  the  Athenian 
legislator,  was  called  Soli. 

But  while  Solon  was  thus  travelling  in 
quest  of  wisdom,  his  countrymen  were  again 
divided  into  three  factions.  Lycurgus  wa? 
at  the  head  of  what  may  be  called  the  coun 
try  party ;  Megacles  the  son  of  Alcmseon 
swayed  those  who  lived  on  the  sea-coast ; 
and  Peisistratus  appeared  as  the  champion 
of  the  demos,  under  the  pretence  of  protect 
ing  them  from  tyranny,  but  in  reality  with 
the  view  of  seizing  on  the  sovereignty  foi 

o  o        «/ 

himself.  In  the  midst  of  all  this  confusion 
the  legislator  returned  about  562  B.C.  Each 
of  the  factions  affected  to  receive  him  with 
the  deepest  reverence  and  respect,  beseech 
ing  him  to  resume  his  authority,  and  com 
pose  the  disorders  to  which  they  themselves 
had  given  birth.  But  Solon  declined  this 
hollow  invitation,  on  the  ground  that  his  age 
rendered  him  unable  to  speak  and  act  as 
formerly  for  the  good  of  his  country  ;  he 
sent,  however,  for  the  chiefs  of  each  party, 
and  entreated  them  in  the  most  pathetic 
manner  not  to  ruin  their  common  parent, 
but  to  prefer  the  public  good  to  their  own 
private  interest;  sound  advice,  doubtless, 
but  entirely  thrown  away  on  those  to  whom 
it  was  administered. 


394 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Peisistratus,  w  .0  of  all  the  chiefs  had  un 
questionably  the  -east  intention  of  following 
Solon's  advice,  appeared  to  be  the  most 
affected  with  his  discourses ;  but  perceiving 
that  he  afected  popularity  by  all  possible 
methods,  Solon  easily  penetrated  into  his 
design  of  assuming  the  sovereign  power. 
This  he  spoke  of  privately  to  Peisistratus 
himself;  but  as  he  saw  his  admonitions  had 
no  effect,  he  unveiled  the  designs  of  this  am 
bitious  chief,  that  the  public  might  be  on 
their  guard  against  him  and  his  artful  ma 
chinations.  But  all  the  wise  discourses  of 
Solon  were  lost  upon  the  Athenians.  Peisis 
tratus  had  got  the  lower  class  entirely  at  his 
devotion,  and  therefore  resolved  to  cheat 
them  out  of  the  liberty  which  they  were  in 
capable  of  appreciating.  With  this  view 
he  wounded  himself,  then  drove  into  the 
market-place,  and  there  showed  his  bleeding 
body,  imploring  the  protection  of  the  people 
against  those  whom  his  kindness  to  them 
had  rendered  his  implacable  enemies.  It 
was  for  being  their  declared  friend,  he  said, 
that  he  had  thus  suffered.  They  saw  it  was 
no  longer  safe  for  a  man  to  be  a  friend  to 
the  people ;  they  saw  it  was  no  longer  safe 
for  a  man  to  live  in  Attica,  unless  they 
would  take  him  under  that  protection  which 
he  implored.  A  crowd  was  instantly  col 
lected,  Solon  amongst  the  rest,  who,  suspect 
ing  the  deceit,  openly  taxed  Peisistratus  with 
his  perfidious  conduct;  but  to  no  purpose. 
A  general  assembly  of  the  people  was  sum 
moned,  wherein  it  was  moved  that  Peisis 
tratus  should  have  a  guard.  Solon  alone 
had  resolution  enough  to  oppose  this  meas 
ure,  the  richer  Athenians  remaining  silent 
through  fear  of  the  multitude,  which  implic 
itly  followed  Peisistratus,  and  applauded 
everything  he  said.  A  guard  of  400  men 
was  then  unanimously  decreed  to  Peisistra 
tus  ;  and  with  this  inconsiderable  body  he 
managed,  partly  by  stratagem  and  partly  by 
force,  to  possess  himself  of  the  supreme 
power  ii.c.  560.  Solon  inveighed  bitterly 
against  the  meanness  of  his  countrymen,  in 
thus  tau  .ely  surrendering  their  liberties,  and 


attempted  to  rouse  tLem  to  take  up  arms  in 
defence  of  the  constitution  and  the  laws ; 
but  finding  his  efforts  unavailing,  he  with 
drew,  remarking  that  he  had  done  his  utmost 
for  his  country.  lie  submitted  to  the  tyr 
anny  of  Peisistratus  merely  because  he  had 
no  choice  between  a  tyranny  and  anarchy. 

Peisistratus,  having  thus  obtained  the  sov 
ereignty,  did  not  overturn  the  laws  of  Solon, 
but  on  the  contrary  used  his  power  with  the 
greatest  moderation,  and  even  courted  the 
friendship  and  asked  the  advice  of  Solon. 
It  was  not  in  the  nature  of  things,  however, 
that  the  Athenians  could  long  remain  satis 
fied  with  this  form  of  government.  On  the 
usurpation  of  Peisistratus,  Megacles  and  his 
family  had  retired  from  Athens,  ostensibly 
in  order  to  save  their  own  lives  ;  but  having 
entered  into  a  treaty  with  Lycurgus,  whom 
they  bought,  along  with  his  party,  into  a 
scheme  for  deposing  the  usurper,  they  con 
certed  matters  so  skillfully,  that  Peisistratus 
was  soon  after  obliged  to  withdraw  from  the 
city ;  and,  on  his  departure,  the  Athenians 
ordered  his  goods  to  be  confiscated.  But 
Megacles  had  no  sooner  succeeded  in  his  pro 
ject  against  Peisistratus,  than  finding  his 
ally  Lycurgus  intractable,  he  changed  sides, 
and  began  to  plot  the  return  of  the  very  man 
whom  he  had  just  succeeded  in  expelling  as 
a  tyrant  and  usurper.  This  counter  project 
was  at  length  effected  by  means  of  a  trick 
worthy  of  the  parties  engaged  in  this  little 
political  drama.  Having  found  out  a  woman 
of  the  name  of  Phya,  of  a  mean  family  and 
fortune,  but  of  great  stature  and  very  hand 
some  person,  they  dressed  her  in  armor, 
placed  her  in  a  chariot,  and  having  disposed 
things  so  as  to  make  her  appear  to  the  ut 
most  advantage,  they  conducted  her  towards 
the  city,  sending  heralds  before,  with  orders 
to  address  the  people  in  the  following  terms : 
"  Give  a  kind  reception,  O  Athenians,  to 
Peisistratus,  who  is  so  much  honored  above 
all  other  men  by  AtLena  that  she  herself 
condescends  to  bring  him  back  to  the  ,ita- 
del."  The  report  being  universally  spread 
that  Athena  was  bringing  back  Peisistratus, 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


395 


and  the  ignorant  multitude  believing  this 
woman  to  be  the  goddess,  addressed  their 
prayers  to  her,  and  received  Peisistratus  with 
the  utmost  joy.  When  he  had  recovered 
the  sovereignty,  Peisistratus  married  the 
daughter  of  Megacles,  in  fulfillment  of  a 
stipulation  made  between  them  to  that  effect, 
and  also  gave  the  mock  goddess  as  a  wife  to 
his  son  Hipparchus.  This  last  statement 
renders  the  whole  story,  which  in  itself  is 
extremely  childish,  altogether  improbable. 

Peisistratus  did  not  long  enjoy  the  autho 
rity  to  which  he  had  been  thus  restored. 
lie  had  indeed  married  the  daughter  of 
^legacies  according  to  treaty ;  but  having 
children  by  a  former  marriage,  and  remem 
bering  that  the  whole  family  of  Megacles 
were  execrated  by  the  Athenians,  he  thought 
it  expedient  to  suffer  his  new  spouse  to  re 
main  in  a  state  of  perpetual  widowhood. 
This  the  lady  bore  patiently  for  some  time  ; 
but  at  last  acquainting  her  mother  with  the 
state  in  which  she  was  compelled  to  live,  the 
affront  was  highly  resented;  and  ^legacies 
immediately  entered  into  a  treaty  with  the 
malcontents.  Peisistratus,  apprised  of  this 
step  on  the  part  of  his  father-in-law,  and  per 
ceiving  that  a  new  storm  was  gathering, 
voluntarily  quitted  Athens  and  retired  to 
Eretria ;  where,  having  consulted  with  his 
sons,  he  resolved  to  reduce  Athens,  and  re 
possess  himself  of  power  by  force  of  arms. 
With  this  view  he  applied  to  several  of  the 
Greek  states,  including  that  of  Thebes,  which 
furnished  him  with  the  troops  he  desired ; 
and  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force  he 
returned  to  Attica ;  reduced  Marathon,  the 
inhabitants  of  which  had  taken  no  measures 
for  their  defence ;  surprised  and  routed  the 
republican  forces,  which  had  inarched  out  of 
Athens  to  attack  him,  and  finally,  after  an 
absence  of  about  ten  years,  re-established 
himself  in  power,  by  using  victory  with  his 
accustomed  moderation. 

Peisistratus  being  thus  reinstated  once 
more  in  the  sovereignty,  took  a  method  of 
securing  himself  in  power  directly  opposite 
to  that  which  Theseus  had  adopted.  For, 


instead  of  collecting  the  inhabitants  I'rorn  the 
country  into  towns,  as  his  predecessor  had 
done,  Peisistratus  made  them  retire  from  the 
towns  into  the  country,  in  order  to  apply 
themselves  to  agriculture,  and  thus  pre 
vented  their  meeting  together  in  bodies  and 
caballing  against  him  as  they  had  hithertc 
been  accustomed  to  do.  By  this  means  also 
the  territory  of  Athens  was  greatly  amelio 
rated,  and  extensive  plantations  of  olives 
were  reared  over  all  Attica,  which  had 
hitherto  been  not  only  destitute  of  corn,  but 
also  naked  and  bleak  in  appearance  from  the 
total  want  of  trees.  And  had  he  stopped 
here  it  would  have  been  well.  But  actuated 
by  that  partiality  for  sumptuary  laws  which 
seems  to  have  been  the  foible  of  nearly  all 
the  ancient  legislators,  he  commanded  his 
subjects  in  the  city  to  wear  a  kind  of  sheep 
skin  frock  reaching  to  the  knees,  and  appears 
to  have  set  great  store  by  this  absurd  enact 
ment,  which  was  doubtless  intended  to  re 
store  the  simplicity  of  ancient  manners.  Tke 
Athenians,  however,  vehemently  resented 
this  interference  with  their  habits ;  and  so 
odious  did  the  sheepskin  garment  become, 
that  in  succeeding  times  the  frock  or  jacket 
of  Peisistratus  was  a  sort  of  by-word  for 
the  badge  or  garb  of  slavery.  Experience 
shows  that  it  is  comparatively  an  easy  mat 
ter  to  rob  men  of  their  liberty,  and  trample 
both  on  their  political  and  civil  rights ;  but 
an  interference  with  their  private  habits  or 
the  adornment  of  their  persons  is  almost 
always  dangerous.  As  prince  of  Athens, 
Peisistratus  exacted  for  the  service  of  the 
state  the  tenth  part  of  every  man's  revenue, 
and  even  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth ;  a  heavy 
tax,  undoubtedly,  and  one  which  might  well 
justify  a  little  grumbling  on  the  part  of  those 
who  had  to  pay  it ;  nor  could  all  the  magni 
ficence  with  which  the  public  revenue  was 
expended  reconcile  the  Athenians  to  the 
heavy  burdens  they  were  called  upon  to 
bear.  Indeed  they  n^t  unnaturally  fancied 
themselves  oppressed  by  tyranny,  and  in 
dulged  in  perpetual  complaints  from  the 
time  Peisistratus  first  ascended  the  tluone 


896 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


to  the  day  of  liis  death,  which  happened  in 
527  B.C.,  about  thirty-three  years  after  he  had 
first  assumed  the  sc  rereignty,  of  which  pe 
riod,  according  to  Aristotle,  he  reigned  about 
eeventeen  years. 

In  taking  a  retrospect,  however,  of  the 
government  and  character  of  this  celebrated 
man,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  the  one 
was  enlightened  and  the  other  humane.  The 
ancient  writers  are  all  agreed  that  he  made 
no  change  of  any  consequence  in  the  Athe 
nian  constitution.  All  the  laws  continued  in 
force  ;  the  general  assembly,  the  council  of 
estate,  the  courts  of  justice,  and  the  magistrac 
ies,  respectively  retained  their  constitutional 
powers ;  and  it  is  known  that  the  usurper 
himself  obeyed  a  citation  from  the  Areopa 
gus  upon  a  charge  of  murder.  His  hand,  it 
is  true,  lay  heavy  on  the  purses  of  the 
people  in  the  matter  of  taxation.  But  the 
sums  which  he  raised  were  religiously  ex 
pended  in  the  decoration  and  improvement 
of  the  capital,  or  in  works  of  public  utility  ; 
and  it  cannot  be  questioned  that,  although 
he  resorted  to  iniquitous  or  contemptible  ex 
pedients  to  obtain  power,  he  never  abused 
it,  either  for  the  gratification  of  selfishness 
or  revenge.  "  Take  away  only  his  ambi 
tion,"  said  Solon  ;  "  cure  him  of  the  lust  of 
reigning,  and  there  is  not  a  man  more  natu 
rally  disposed  to  every  virtue,  nor  a  better 
citizen  than  Peisistratus."  He  embellished 
the  city  with  a  great  variety  of  edifices  ;  he 
improved  and  strengthened  its  defences  ;  he 
enlarged  and  ameliorated  its  harbors ;  and 
by  various  acts  of  taste  and  magnificence, 
not  less  than  by  his  attention  to  the  cultiva 
tion  of  the  public  mind,  he  may  be  said  to 
have  fixed  the  muses  at  Athens.  In  a  word, 
if  he  was  ambitious  he  was  also  enlightened 
and  humane  ;  and,  although  no  one  can  jus 
tify  the  modes  which  he  took  to  possess  him 
self  of  power,  his  use  of  it  was  characterized 
by  a  moderation  and  patriotism  which  have 
never  as  yet  been  exemplified  by  any  other 
usurper,  ancient  or  modern  ;  insomuch  that, 
reviewing  his  character  and  conduct,  we  are 
almost  tempted  to  su  :scribe  to  the  senti 


ment  expressed  by  the  poet  Claudian,  "  Nun- 
quam  gratior  exta!  libertas,  quam  sub  rege 
pio." 

Peisistratus  left  behind  him  three  sons, 
Ilipparchus,  Ilippias  and  Thessalus,  all  men 
of  abilities,  who  shared  the  government 
among  them,  and  behaved  for  a  time  with 
lenity  and  moderation.  But  though,  by  the 
mildness  of  their  government,  the  family  of 
the  Peisistratidre  seemed  to  be  fully  estab 
lished  on  the  throne  of  Athens,  a  conspiracy 
was  unexpectedly  formed  against  the  broth 
ers,  by  which  Ilipparchus  was  slain,  and  Ilip 
pias  narrowly  escaped  death.  There  were  at 
that  time  living  in  Athens  two  young  men, 
called  Ilarmodius  and  Aristogeiton.  The 
former  being  remarkable  for  his  personal 
beauty,  was,  on  that  account,  it  is  said,  unna 
turally  beloved  by  the  other,  and  also  by  Ilip 
parchus.  This  was  vehemently  resented  by 
Aristogeiton,  who,  in  consequence,  deter 
mined  on  revenge,  which  another  circum 
stance  contributed  to  accelerate.  Hippar- 
chus,  finding  that  Ilarmodius  endeavored  on 
all  occasions  to  shun  him,  publicly  affronted 
the  youth,  by  refusing  permission  to  his  sis 
ter  to  carry  the  offering  of  Athena,  as  if  she 
had  been  a  person  unworthy  of  that  distinc 
tion.  The  two  young  men,  not  daring  to 
show  any  public  signs  of  resentment,  con 
sulted  privately  with  their  friends,  amongst 
whom  it  was  resolved,  that  at  the  approach 
ing  festival  of  the  great  Panathensea,  when 
the  citizens  were  allowed  to  appear  in  arms, 
they  should  attempt  to  restore  Athens  to  its 
former  liberty ;  and  in  this  they  imagined  they 
would  be  seconded  by  the  whole  body  of  the 
people.  But  when  the  appointed  day  arrived, 
they  perceived  one  of  their  number  talking 
familiarly  with  Hippiaf  therefore,  dread 
ing  a  discovery,  they  immediately  fell  upon 
Ilipparchus,  and  despatched  him  with  many 
wounds,  514  B.C.  In  this  exploit,  however, 
the  people  were  so  far  from  aiding  the  con 
spirators,  that  they  suffered  Harmodius  to 
be  killed  by  the  guards  of  Ilipparchus  ;  and 
seizing  Aristogeiton,  delivered  him  up  to  the 
vengeance  of  Ilippias.  But  they  soon  had 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


397 


reason  to  change  their  opinion,  and  some 
time  afterwards  paid  the  most  extravagant 
honors  to  the  memory  of  these  conspirators, 
causing  their  praises  to  be  sung  at  the  great 
Panathensea,  forbidding  any  citizen  to  call  a 
slave  by  either  of  their  names,  and  erecting 
brazen  statues  to  them  in  the  agora  or  mar 
ket-place.  Several  immunities  and  privileges 
were  also  granted  to  the  descendants  of  these 
(so-called)  patriots,  and  all  possible  means 
were  taken  to  render  their  memory  respected 
and  revered  by  posterity. 

Hippias  being  now  sole  master  of  Athens, 
and  burning  to  revenge  the  murder  of  his 
brother,  began  by  torturing  Aristogeiton,  in 
order  to  force  him  to  disclose  his  accomplices. 
But  this  proved  fatal  to  his  own  friends ;  for 
Aristogeiton  impeaching  such  only  as  he 
knew  to  be  best  affected  to  the  government 
of  Hippias,  the  latter  were  instantly  put  to 
death  without  further  inquiry  ;  and  when  he 
had  exhausted  his  list,  he  at  last  told  Hippias 
that  he  now  knew  of  none  who  deserved  to 
suffer  death  except  the  tyrant  himself.  Hip 
pias  next  ventured  his  rage  on  a  woman 
named  Leaina,  wrho  had  been  kept  by  Aris 
togeiton,  and  who  was  put  to  the  torture ; 
which,  however,  she  had  the  courage  to  en 
dure  without  making  any  confession.  After 
the  conspiracy  was  thought  to  be  crushed, 
Hippias  set  about  strengthening  his  govern 
ment  by  every  means  he  could  think  of. 
With  this  view  he  contracted  alliances  with 
foreign  princes ;  he  increased  his  revenues 
by  different  expedients ;  married  his  only 
daughter,  Archedice,  to  .zEantides,  son  of 
Ilippocles,  tyrant  of  Lampsacus ;  and  en 
deavored,  by  affecting  various  arts  of  popu 
larity,  to  conciliate  that  public  opinion  wliich 
his  excessive  severities  had  so  rudely  shocked. 
But  all  these  precautions  proved  fruitless. 
The  lenity  of  the  government  of  Peisi stratus 
had  alone  supported  it ;  and,  although  Hip- 
pias  had  fewer  difficulties  to  contend  with 
than  his  father,  the  vehemence  of  his  resent 
ment  on  account  of  his  brother's  murder  be 
trayed  him  into  courses  repugnant  alike  to 
sound  policy  and  to  the  interests  of  his  farc- 


ily,  and  at  last  proved  the  cause  of  his  expul 
sion  from  power  in  rather  less  than  four 
years  after  the  death  of  Hipparchus,  516 
B.C.  This  revolution  was  principally  brought 
about  by  the  party  of  the  Alcmasonidse,  or 
adherents  of  Megacles.  Hippias  retired  to 
Sigeum,  an  appanage  of  his  family,  where 
he  contrived  by  every  means  in  his  power 
to  recover  his  lost  position  at  Athens,  and  in 
the  end,  seeing  that  his  plans  could  not  suc 
ceed,  even  assisted  the  Persians  in  the  war 
Against  his  native  city. 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  Peisistratidse, 
the  Athenians  did  not  long  enjoy  the  tran 
quillity  which  they  had  promised  themselves. 
They  became  divided  into  two  factions  ;  one 
of  which  wras  headed  by  Cleisthenes,  chief 
of  the  Alcmseonidse  ;  and  the  other  by  Isa- 
goras,  a  man  of  quality,  and  highly  in  favor 
with  the  Athenian  eupatrids,  or  nobility. 
Cleisthenes  cultivated  the.  people,  and  en 
deavored  to  gain  their  affection  by  increas 
ing  as  much  as  possible  their  power  ;  whilst 
Isagoras  perceiving  that  the  popular  arts  of 
his  rival  would  secure  him  an  ascendancy, 
applied  to  the  Lacedaemonians  for  assistance, 
at  the  same  time  reviving  the  old  story  of 
Megacles's  sacrilege,  and  insisting  that  Cleis 
thenes  ought  to  be  banished  as  being  of  that 
person's  family.  Cleomenes,  king  of  Sparta, 
readily  entered  into  his  schemes,  and  sud 
denly  Cleisthenes,  probably  dreading  the  old 
outcry  against  his  family,  withdrew  from 
Athens ;  and  when  Cleomenes  had  entered 
Athens  at  the  head  of  an  army,  the  people, 
being  without  a  leader,  were  so  dismayed, 
that  they  allowed  the  Spartan  king  to  act  as 
if  he  were  absolute  master,  On  arriving  at 
Athens,  he  condemned  to  banishment  seven 
hundred  families,  in  addition  to  those  previ 
ously  sent  into  exile.  And,  not  content 
with  this,  he  would  have  dissolved  the  sen 
ate,  and  vested  the  government  in  the  heads 
of  the  faction  of  Isagoras  ;  but  happily  the 
Athenians  were  not  yet  degraded  enough  to 
submit  to  such  humiliation.  Taking  up 
arms,  they  drove  the  Spartan  troops  into 
the  citadel,  where,  after  sustaining  a  short 


398 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


eiejrc,  Cleomencs  surrendered,  on  condition 

O     '  * 

that  Isagoras  should  depart  unmolested  with 
Cleomenes  and  the  Lacedaemonian  troops ; 
but  their  adherents  were  left  to  the  inercy 
of  the  people,  and  put  to  death.  Cleisthenes 
and  the  seven  hundred  exiled  families  then 
returned  to  Athens  in  triumph.  This  hap 
pened  in  508  B.C. 

The  Spartan  king,  however,  had  xio  sooner 
withdrawn  from  Athens,  than  he  formed  a 
strong  combination  in  favor  of  Isagoras ; 
having  engaged  the  Boeotians  to  attack  At 
tica  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Chalcidians 
on  the  other,  whilst  he  at  the  head  of  a 
powerful  Spartan  army  entered  the  terri 
tory  of  the  Eleusis.  But  this  powerful  con 
federacy  was  quickly  dissolved.  The  Cor 
inthians,  who  had  joined  Cleomenes,  doubt 
ing  the  justice  of  their  cause,  returned 
home :  the  rest  of  his  allies  likewise  began 
to  waver  ;  and  his  colleague  Demaratus,  the 
other  king  of  Sparta,  differing  in  opinion 
with  Cleomenes,  the  latter  was  obliged  to 
abandon  the  enterprise.  The  Spartans  and 
their  allies  having  withdrawn,  the  Athenians 
ouickly  routed  the  Boeotians  and  Chalcidians, 
and  carried  off  a  great  number  of  prisoners, 
who  were  afterwards  set  at  liberty  on  paying 
a  ransom  of  two  minae  a  head.  The  Boeo 
tians,  on  the  other  hand,  immediately  vowed 
revenge,  and  engaging  on  their  side  the  peo 
ple  of  ^Egina,  who  had  a  hereditary  hatred 
to  the  Athenians,  the  ^ginetans  landed  a 
considerable  army,  and  ravaged  the  coasts 
of  Attica  wliile  the  Athenians  were  occupied 
with  the  Boeotian  war. 

In  the  meanwhile  Cleomenes,  exasperated 
by  his  unsuccessful  expedition  against  Attica, 
and  anxious  for  an  opportunity  of  effacing 
the  remembrance  of  his  defeat,  produced  at 
Sparta  certain  pretended  oracles  which  he 
alleged  he  had  found  in  the  citadel  of  Athens 
wliile  he  was  besieged  therein,  the  purport 
of  which  was,  that  Athens  would  soon  be 
come  a  rival  of  Sparta.  At  the  same  time 
it  was  discovered  that  Cleisthenes  had  bribed 
the  priestess  of  Apollo  to  cause  the  Lace 
daemonians  tc  expel  the  3V  isistratidge  from 


Athens ;  which  was  sacrificing  their  best 
friends  to  those  whom  interest  necessarily 
rendered  their  enemies.  This  pitiful  jug 
glery  had  such  an  effect,  that  the  Spartans, 
repenting  their  folly  in  expelling  Ilippias, 
sent  for  him  from  Sigeum,  in  order  to  re 
store  him  to  his  principality;  but  the  other 
states  refusing  to  countp.nance  the  pro 
jected  restoration,  the  Spartans  were  forced 
to  abandon  the  enterprise,  and  Ilippias  re 
turned  to  Sigeum  to  digest  his  disappoint 
ment. 

About  this  period  Aristagoras  the  Mile 
sian  having  stirred  up  a  revolt  in  Ionia 
against  the  Persian  king,  applied  to  the  Spar 
tans  for  assistance  ;  but  the  Spartan  king 
either  felt  no  sympathy  with  the  Greeks  in 
Asia,  who  had  been  subjected  by  the  Per 
sians,  or,  because  the  bribes  offered  by  Aris 
tagoras  were  not  large  enough,  declined  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  matter.  Aris- 
tngoras  then  proceeded  to  Athens,  where  he 
found  willing  hearers.  The  Athenians  re 
garding  it  as  a  religious  duty  to  assist  their 
kinsmen  and  colonists,  passed  a  decree  to 
send  a  squadron  of  twenty  ships  to  support 
them,  under  the  command  of  Melanthus,  a 
nobleman  universally  esteemed.  This  rash 
action  cost  the  Greeks  very  dear ;  for  no 
sooner  did  the  king  of  Persia  hear  of  the  as 
sistance  sent  from  Athens  to  his  rebellious 
subjects,  than  he  declared  himself  the  sworn 
enemy  of  that  city,  and  solemnly  besought 
the  deity  that  he  might  one  day  have  it  in 
his  power  to  be  revenged  on  them.  But  be 
sides  the  displeasure  which  Darius  had  con 
ceived  against  the  Athenians  on  account  of 
the  assistance  they  had  afforded  the  lonians, 
he  was  further  encouraged,  by  the  intrigues 
of  the  ex-tyrant  Ilippias,  to  undertake  an  ex 
pedition  against  Greece.  Immediately  on 
his  return  from  Lacedaemon  as  above  related, 
Ilippias  passed  over  in'o  A.sia ;  proceeded 
to  Artaphernes,  governor  of  the  adjacent 
provinces  belonging  to  the  Persian  king ; 
and  excited  him  to  make  war  upon  his  coun 
try,  promising  to  do  homage  to  ne  Persian 
monarch  provided  he  was  restored  to  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


399 


principality  of  Athens.  Apprised  of  this 
step  on  the  part  of  their  late  tyrant,  the 
Athenians  sent  ambassadors  to  Artaphernes, 
desiring  permission  to  enjoy  their  liberty  in 
peace.  But  the  Persians  returned  for 
an  answer,  that  if  they  would  have  peace 
with  the  Great  King,  they  must  immediately 
consent  to  receive  Hippias ;  and  as  the  Athe 
nians  were  by  no  means  disposed  to  purchase 
the  forbearance  of  the  Persian  monarch  at 
the  price  of  compliance,  they  resolved  to 
assist  his  enemies  by  every  means  in  their 
power.  This  resolution  being  made  known 
to  Darius,  he  commissioned  Mardonius  to 
avenge  him  of  the  insults  which  he  thought 
the  Greeks  had  offered  him  ;  but  that  com 
mander  having  met  with  a  storm  at  sea  and 
other  accidents,  which  rendered  him  unable 
to  do  anything,  Datis  and  Artaphernes  (the 
son  of  the  Artaphernes  above-mentioned) 
were  commissioned  to  chastise  Grecian  inso 
lence  and  presumption. 

War  being  thus  declared,  the  Persian  com 
manders,  fearing  again  to  attempt  doubling 
the  promontory  of  Athos,  where  their  fleet  had 
formerly  suffered,  drew  their  forces  into  the 
plains  of  Cilicia,  and  passing  thence,  through 
the  Cyclades  to  Eubcea,  directed  their  course 
towards  Athens.  Their  instructions  were  to 
destroy  both  Eretria  and  Athens,  and  to 
bring  away  the  people.  The  first  attempt 
was  made  on  Eretria  ;  and  on  the  approach 
of  the  Persian  fleet  the  inhabitants  sent  to 
Athens  to  apply  for  assistance.  ]S"or  did 
they  sue  in  vain.  "With  a  magnanimity  al 
most  unparalleled,  considering  the  crisis,  the 
Athenians  sent  4000  men  to  their  aid ;  but 
unhappily  the  Eretrians  were  so  greatly 
divided  in  opinion,  that,  though  the  danger 
was  urgent,  nothing  could  be  resolved  on. 
One  party  was  for  receiving  the  Athenian 
succors  into  the  city ;  another  declared  for 
abandoning  the  city  and  retiring  into  the 
mountains  of  Euboea  ;  whilst  a  third  was 
base  enough  to  seek  to  betray  their  country 
to  the  Persians.  Matters  being  in  this  hope 
less  state,  the  Athenian  commanders  with 
drew  the  auxiliary  force,  and  retiring  by 


Oropus,  escaped  the  destruction  with  which 
they  were  threatened;  whilst  Eretria,  be 
trayed  into  the  hands  of  the  Persians,  was 
pillaged  and  burned,  and  its  inhabitants  sole 
for  slaves  ;  a  fate  which  their  cowardice  and 
treachery  richly  merited. 

On  the  tidings  of  this  disaster  the  Athe 
nians  immediately  drew  together  such  forces 
as  they  could  muster,  amounting  in  all  tc 
about  10,000  men ;  and  these,  with  1000 
Platseans  who  afterwards  joined  them,  were 
commanded  by  ten  general  officers,  with 
equal  power,  amongst  whom  were  the  illus 
trious  names  of  Miltiades,  Aristides,  and 
Themistocles,  men  distinguished  alike  for 
their  valor,  their  conduct,  their  patriotism, 
and  their  virtue.  But  it  being  generally 
thought  that  so  small  a  body  of  troops  would 
be  unable  to  resist  the  formidable  power  of 
the  Persians,  a  messenger  was  dispatched  to 
Sparta  to  entreat  the  immediate  assistance 
of  that  state.  He  communicated  his  busi 
ness  to  the  senate  in  the  following  terms : — 
"  Men  of  Lacedaemon,"  said  he,  "  the  Athe 
nians  desire  you  to  assist  them,  and  not  to 
suffer  the  most  ancient  of  all  the  Grecian 
cities  to  be  enslaved  by  the  barbarians.  Ere 
tria  is  already  destroyed,  and  Greece  conse 
quently  weakened  by  the  loss  of  so  consider 
able  a  place."  The  assistance  was  readily 
granted ;  but  the  promised  succours  arrived 
too  late  for  the  occasion  which  required 
them  ;  and,  happily  for  their  own  glory,  the 
Athenians  were  obliged  to  fight  without 
waiting  for  their  arrival.  In  the  memorable 
encasement  on  the  plains  of  Marathon, 

t"5     O  *  7 

whither  Hippias  had  conducted  the  Persian 
host,  the  latter  were  defeated  with  great 
loss  by  the  Athenian  infantry,  under  the 
command  of  Miltiades,  and  driven  to  their 
ships,  490  B.  c.  They  then  endeavored  to 
double  Cape  Sunium  (Colonna),  in  order  to 
surprise  Athens  before  the  army  could  re 
turn.  But  in  this  they  were  prevented  by 
Miltiades,  who,  leaving  Aristides  with  1 000 
men  to  guard  the  prisoners,  returned  so  ex- 
peditiously  with  the  main  body,  that  he 
reached  the  temple  of  Hercules  before  the 


400 


HISTORY  CF    THE  WORLD. 


barbarians  had  time  to  commence  a  serious 
attack  on  the  city.  In  the  meanwhile  the 
virtuous  Aristides  discharged  the  trust  re 
posed  in  him  ivith  t  je  strictest  integrity. 
Though  there  was  mu;h  gold  and  silver  in 
the  Persian  camp,  and  the  tents  and  ships 
they  had  taken  were  filled  with  all  ru  inner 
of  riches,  he  not  only  forbore  taking  any 
thing  for  liis  own  use,  but  exerted  himself  to 
the  utmost  in  order  to  prevent  others  from 
appropriating  the  spoils  of  the  enemy,  which 
were  religiously  reserved  for  the  public  ser 
vice  of  the  state. 

After  the  victory  of  Marathon,  the  inhabi 
tants  of  Plataea  were  declared  free  citizens 
of  Athens,  and  Miltiades,  Themistocles,  and 
Aristides  were  treated  with  all  possible  marks 
of  admiration  and  respect.  Miltiades  having 
now  reached  the  highest  pitch  of  power,  de 
manded  of  the  Athenians  a  fleet  of  seventy 
ships,  with  which  he  promised  to  increase  their 
empire,  and  the  people  granted  his  request 
without  even  knowing  what  expedition  he 
wished  to  undertake.  He  first  attacked  Pa- 
ros,  where  he  had  to  avenge  some  private 
wrong,  but  being  thwarted  by  the  Persians, 
and  having  received  a  dangerous  wound  in 
his  knee,  he  returned  to  Athens  without 
having  accomplished  the  object  for  which  he 
had  induced  the  people  to  fit  out  the  fleet. 
The  ill-feeling  thus  created  led  some  person 
of  high  standing  to  bring  an  accusation 
against  him  for  having  deceived  the  people. 
He  was  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  fifty  tal 
ents,  and  being  unable  to  pay,  he  was  thrown 
into  prison,  in  which  he  soon  after  died  of 
his  wounds.  This  termination  of  the  career 
of  Miltiades  has  often  been  referred  to  as  a 
proof  of  the  ingratitude  of  the  Athenians. 
But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  he  had 
really  deceived  the  people  by  demanding  of 
them  a  fleet  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing 
eome  private  object,  while  he  made  them 
believe  that  he  meant  to  employ  it  in  their 
service.  He  appears,  in  fact,  to  have  at 
tempted  to  set  himself  above  the  laws,  and 
to  continue  in  the  free  state  of  Athens  the 
same  mode  of  life  which  he  had  led  as  dy 


nast  in  the  Chersonese.  Under  these  cir 
cumstances  we  may  indeed  pity  him,  but 
cannot  admit  that  he  fell  an  innocent  victim 
to  the  abuse  of  popular  liberty.  His  col 
league  Aristides,  by  his  regulation  of  the 
affairs  of  the  Athenian  allies,  and  by  the 
reforms  he  introduced  in  the  constitution 
during  the  period  subsequent  to  the  battle  of 
Marathon,  gained  the  highest  esteem  and 
respect  among  his  fellow-citizens.  Although 
he  was  descended  from  an  ancient  and  noble 
family,  and  had  been  in  positions  in  which 
ho  might  have  acquired  great  wealth,  yet  he 
seems  to  have  lived  almost  in  indigence. 
Such  virtue  was  at  all  times  extremely  un 
common  at  Athens,  and  procured  for  him 
the  honorable  surname  of  the  Just.  This 
circumstance,  however,  made  him  an  object 
of  envy  with  many,  and  Themistocles,  his 
most  powerful  opponent,  induced  the  people 
to  send  him  into  honorable  exile  by  ostra 
cism,  an  institution  by  which  the  Athenians 
were  enabled  to  rid  themselves,  for  a  time, 
of  any  man  whose  influence  seemed  to  en 
danger  the  safety  of  their  republican  consti 
tution.  Such  an  exile,  Jiowever,  was  not 
connected  either  with  confiscation  of  property 
or  with  disgrace.  At  his  trial  Aristides  is 
said  to  have  assisted  an  illiterate  rustic  in 
writing  his  own  name  on  one  of  the  shells 
that  condemned  him.  After  his  removal, 
Themistocles  was  in  the  undivided  possession 
of  the  popular  favor,  and  exerted  all  his 
powers  to  make  Athens  a  maritime  state. 

About  three  years  after  the  banishment  of 
Aristides,  Xerxes  king  of  Persia  sent  to  de 
mand  of  the  Greeks  earth  and  water  as 
tokens  of  submission  and  homage.  But 
Themistocles,  desirous  to  widen  the  breach 
with  that  monarch,  put  to  death  the  inter 
preter  for  publishing  the  decree  of  the  Icing 
of  Persia  in  the  language  of  the  Greeks ; 
and  having  prevailed  with  the  several  elites 
to  lay  aside  their  anii:..osities  andprovid<  for 
their  common  safety,  he  got  himself  elo  t<»d 
general  of  the  Athenian  army. 

In  the  invasion  of  Xerxes  which  follow  ed 
Sparta  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  th«  de- 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


401 


fense  ;  but  the  celebrated  battle  of  Thermo 
pylae,  which  gained  for  them  so  much  glory, 
was  productive  01  no  good  results.  The 
Persians  were  advancing  with  an  immense 

O 

force  through  Macedonia  and  Thessaly  against 
Greece.  The  only  spot  where  it  could  be 
hoped  to  make  any  effectual  resistance  to 
their  advance  was  the  pass  of  Thermopylae 
between  the  eastern  extremity  of  Mount 
(Eta  and  the  Maliac  Gulf.  To  the  north 
east,  the  pass  expanded  into  a  small  plain  in 
which  stood  the  town  of  Trachis,  where 
Xerxes  was  encamped  during  the  battle. 
The  force  with  which  Leonidas  undertook  to 
defend  this  pass  consisted  only  of  300  Spar 
tans,  400  Thebans,  and  from  8000  to  11,000 
allies  from  the  other  states.  Xerxes  advan 
cing  near  the  pass,  was  surprised  to  find  that 
the  Greeks  were  resolved  to  dispute  his 
march ;  for  he  had  always  flattered  himself 
that  on  his  approach  they  would  betake  them 
selves  to  flight  and  not  attempt  to  oppose  his 
innumerable  forces.  He  accordingly  wraited 
four  days  without  undertaking  anything, 
to  give  them  time  to  retreat.  He  then  or 
dered  them  by  a  herald  to  deliver  up  their 
arms.  Leonidas  in  a  style  truly  laconical,  an 
swered,  "  Come  and  take  them  !  "  Xerxes, 
transported  with  rage  at  this  reply,  command 
ed  the  Medes  and  Cissians  to  march  against 
them,  seize  them  alive,  and  bring  them  to 
him  in  fetters.  These  troops,  unable  to 
break  the  ranks  of  the  Greeks,  soon  betook 
themselves  to  flight.  In  their  room,  Hyda- 
nes  was  ordered  to  advance  with  the  guard 
which  was  called  immortal,  and  consisted  of 
10,000  chosen  men  ;  but  when  these  assailed 
the  Greeks,  they  succeeded  no  better  than 
the  Medes  and  Cissians,  being  obliged  to  re 
tire  with  great  loss.  The  next  day,  the  Per 
sians  made  another  attack,  but  with  all  their 
efforts  they  could  not  make  the  Greeks  give 
way,  and,  on  the  contrary,  were  themselves 
put  to  a  shameful  flight.  Having  lost  all 
hope  of  forcing  his  way  through  troops  that 
were  determined  to  conquer  or  die,  Xerxes 
was  extremely  perplexed  and  doubtful  as  to 
what  measures  he  should  adopt,  when  one 
51 


Ephialtes,  in  expectation  of  a  great  reward, 
came  to  him,  and  pointed  out  a  circuitous 
path  which  led  to  the  rear  of  the  Spartan 
forces.  The  king  immediately  ordered  Hy- 
danes,  with  a  select  body  of  Persians,  to 
follow  this  path  by  night,  and  attack  the 
Greeks  from  behind.  The  Phocians,  who 
had  been  set  to  guard  this  important 
route  were  taken  by  surprise,  and  retired 
with  precipitation  to  the  very  top  of  the 
mountain,  and  Hydanes,  neglecting  to  pur 
sue  them,  marched  down  the  mountain  with 
all  possible  expedition,  in  order  to  attack  the 
rear  of  those  who  defended  the  straits.  Leon 
idas,  being  advised  of  the  treachery  of  Ephi 
altes,  and  perceiving  that  there  was  not 
any  longer  hope  of  success,  advised  his  allies 
to  retire,  though  he  conceived  that  he  him 
self  and  the  Spartans  could  not  with  honor 
retreat.  With  this  advice  they  all  complied 
except  the  Thebans,  who  were  detained  by 
Leonidas  as  hostages,  for  they  were  suspected 
of  favoring  the  Persians,  and  the  Thespian* 
who  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  abandon. 
Leonidas.  Xerxes,  after  pouring  out  a  liba 
tion  at  the  rising  of  the  sun,  began  to  move 
with  the  whole  body  of  his  army,  as  he  had 
been  advised  by  Ephialtes.  Upon  their  ap 
proach,  Leonidas  advanced  to  the  broadest 
part  of  the  pass,  and  fell  upon  them  with 
undaunted  courage  and  resolution.  Great 
numbers  of  the  enemy  falling  into  the  sea, 
were  drowned  ;  others  were  trampled  under 
foot  by  their  companions,  and  very  many 
were  killed  by  the  Greeks;  who,  knowing 
they  could  not  avoid  death  upon  the  arrival 
of  those  who  were  advancing  to  fall  upon 
their  rear,  made  prodigious  efforts  of  valor. 
In  this  action  fell  the  brave  Leonidas ;  where 
upon  Abrocomes  and  Hyperanthes,  two 
brothers  of  Xerxes,  advanced  to  seize  his 
body,  and  carry  it  in  triumph  to  Xerxes, 
but  the  Lacedaemonians,  more  eager  to  de 
fend  it  than  their  own  lives,  repulsed  the 
enemy  four  times,  killed  both  the  princes, 
with  many  other  commanders  of  distinction, 
and  rescued  the  body  of  their  beloved  gene 
ral  from  the  enemy's  hands.  But  in  tho 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


meantime,  as  the  troops,  guided  by  Ephial- 
tes,  were  advancing  to  attack  their  rear,  the 
surviving  Greeks  retired  to  the  narrowest 
part  of  the  pass,  h.nd  all  drawing  together, 
except  the  Theoans,  who  laid  down  their 
arms,  posted  themselves  on  a  piece  of  rising 
ground.  In  this  place  they  made  head 
against  the  Persians  who  assaulted  them  on 
all  sides,  till  at  length,  overwhelmed  by 
numbers,  they  all  fell,  except  one,  who  es 
caped  to  Sparta.  Some  time  after,  a  monu 
ment  was  erected  at  Thermopylae  in  honor 
of  these  brave  defenders  of  Greece,  with  two 
inscriptions ;  the  one  related  that  4000 
Greeks  fought  against  3,000,000  Persians ; 
the  other  was  composed  by  the  poet  Simo- 
nides,  and  consisted  of  these  words  : — "  Go, 
traveller,  and  tell  the  Spartans  that  we  lie 
here  in  obedience  to  their  laws." 

When  the  news  arrived  that  the  Persians 
were  advancing  to  invade  Greece  by  the 
Straits  of  Thermopylae,  and  that  with  this 
view  they  were  transporting  their  forces  by 
riea,  Themistocles  advised  his  countrymen  to 
abandon  the  city,  embark  on  board  their 
galleys,  and  encounter  their  enemies  while 
yet  at  a  distance.  But  this  advice  being 
disregarded,  Themistocles  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  army,  and  having  joined  the 
Lacedaemonians,  inarched  towards  Tempe. 
But  intelligence  was  received  that  the  Straits 
of  Thermopylae  had  been  forced,  and  that 
Boeotia  and  Thessaly  had  submitted  to  the 
Persians ;  and  the  army  in  consequence  re 
turned  without  attempting  anytliing.  In 
this  extremity  the  oracle  at  Delphi  was  con 
sulted  by  the  Athenians,  and  at  first  returned 
a  very  alarming  response,  threatening  them 
with  total  destruction  ;  but  after  much  hu 
miliation,  a  more  favorable  answer  was  ob 
tained,  in  which,  probably  by  the  direction 
of  Themistocles,  they  were  promised  safety 
in  walls  of  wood.  This  being  interpreted  as 
*  command  to  abandon  Athens,  and  place  all 
their  hopes  of  safety  in  their  fleet,  the  greater 
part  began  to  prepare  for  embarkation,  and 
money  was  distributed  among  them  by  the 
council  of  the  Areopagus,  to  the  amount  of 


eight  drachmas  a  head ;  but  this  net  proving 
sufficient,  Themistocles  publicly  gave  out  that 
somebody  had  stolen  the  shield  of  Athena, 
and  under  pretence  of  searching  for  the  lost 
aegis,  he  seized  on  all  the  money  he  could 
find.  Some,  however,  still  refused  to  embark, 
and  understanding  the  oracle  in  its  literal 
sense,  raised  fortifications  of  wood,  resolving 
to  wait  the  arrival  of  the  Persians,  and  de 
fend  themselves  to  the  last. 

The  Persians  having  advanced  to  Athens 
soon  after  the  inhabitants  had  deserted  it, 
met  with  no  opposition  except  from  the  few 
who  had  resolved  to  remain;  and  as  they 
would  listen  to  no  terms  of  accommodation, 
they  were  put  to  the  sword,  and  the  city 
utterly  destroyed.  Xerxes,  however,  being 
defeated  in  a  naval  engagement  at  Salamis, 
480  B.C.,  was  forced  to  fly  with  prodigious 
loss.  Themistocles  was  for  pursuing  him 
and  breaking  down  the  bridge  of  boats  which 
he  had  thrown  over  the  Hellespont ;  but  this 
advice  being  overruled,  the  crafty  Athenian 
sent  a  trusty  messenger  to  the  king,  acquaint 
ing  him  that  the  Greeks  intended  breaking 
down  his  bridge,  and  at  the  same  time  sug 
gesting  the  propriety  of  his  making  all  haste 
in  order  to  prevent  his  retreat  being  cut  off. 
This  advice,  though  misinterpreted  by  some, 
was  certainly  a  prudent  one  ;  as  Xerxes,  al 
though  he  had  sustained  a  defeat,  was  still 
at  the  head  of  an  army  capable  of  destroying 
all  Greece ;  and  had  he  been  driven  to  despair 
by  finding  himself  shut  up  or  even  too  hotly 
pursued,  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  might 
have  been  the  event.  "  Make  a  bridge  of 
gold  for  a  flying  enemy,"  is  a  rule  which  the 
experience  of  war  in  all  ages  has  sanctioned. 

The  defeat  of  Xerxes  at  Salamis  disposed 
Mardonius,  who  had  been  left  to  carry  on  the 
war  by  land,  rather  to  treat  with  the  Athe 
nians  than  to  fight  them  ;  and  with  this  view 
he  sent  Alexander,  king  of  Macedon,  to 
Athens  to  propose  an  alliance  with  the  re 
public,  exclusively  of  the  other  Grecian 
states.  But  this  proposal  was  rejected  ;  in 
consequence  of  which  Athens  was  a  second 
time  destroyed,  ar  d  the  Athenians  wero 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


403 


forced  to  retire  to  Salamis.  But  they  were 
soon  freed  from  the  apprehension  of  final 
subjugation  bj  the  total  defeat  and  death  of 
Mardonius  at  Plataea,  where  Aristides  and 
the  Athenian  troops  under  his  command  par 
ticularly  distinguished  themselves.  And,  by 
a  singular  coincidence,  on  the  same  day  that 
the  battle  of  Plataea  was  fought,  another 
division  of  the  Persians  was  defeated  at  My- 
cale  in  Ionia,  where  the  Athenians  also  behav 
ed  with  more  signal  gallantry  than  any  of  the 
other  Greeks.  The  Persians  being  thus  dis 
posed  of,  the  troops  who  had  fought  at  My- 
cale  crossed  over  to  the  Chersonesus,  and 
laid  siege  to  Sestos,  which  they  at  length 
captured  after  an  obstinate  defence  by  the 
garrison ;  a  circumstance  which  appears  to 
have  irritated  them  so  much  that  they  put 
both  the  commanders  to  death  in  the  most 
barbarous  manner.  One  of  them,  Oibazus, 
was  sacrificed  to  a  Thracian  god ;  whilst  the 
other,  Artayctes,  was  impaled  alive,  and  his 
son  stoned  to  death  before  his  face,  on  the 
absurd  pretence  that  he  had  rifled  the  sepul 
chre  of  Protesilaus. 

After  the  victories  of  Platsea  and  Mycale, 
in  479  B.C.,  the  Athenians,  freed  from  all  ap 
prehension  respecting  the  Persians,  began  to 
rebuild  their  city  in  a  more  magnificent 
manner  than  ever.  Throughout  the  Persian 
war,  the  Athenians  had  been  the  most  for 
ward  in  opposing  the  barbarians ;  and  their 
generals,  Aristides  and  Cimon,  displayed 
qualities  which  formed  such  a  strong  con 
trast  with  the  domineering  conduct  of  the 
Spartan  Pausanias  and  the  Spartan  harmosts, 
that,  with  the  exception  of  the  Peloponne- 
sians,  nearly  all  the  Greeks  were  desirous  to 
place  themselves  under  the  protection  of 
Athens,  which  thus  acquired  the  supremacy 
in  Greece.  The  relations  of  the  allies,  and 
their  annual  tribute,  which  was  deposited  in 
the  temple  of  Appolo  at  Delos,  was  the  work 
of  Aristides,  in  whom  all  had  the  fullest  con 
fidence,  Athens,  in  return,  undertook  the 
duty  ot  protecting  her  allies  against  Persia. 
The  constitution  of  Athens  also  underwent 
some  changes  at  this  time,  which  are  ascrib 


ed  to  Aristides.  He  is  said  to  have  removed 
the  barrier  which  had  hitherto  separated  the 
highest  from  the  lower  classes,  by  throwing 
open  the  archonship  and  the  Areopagus  to 
all  the  citizens,  without  any  distinction  of 
birth  or  wealth.  This  change  had  been  pre 
pared  by  the  circumstances  of  the  time  ;  and 
the  noble  exertions  of  the  Athenian  citizens 
had  well  entitled  them  to  be  thus  raised  to 
the  full  enjoyment  of  the  advantages  which 
the  state  could  afford.  About  the  same  time 
Themistocles  suggested  the  necessity  of  im 
mediately  fortifying  the  city,  so  as  to  pre 
vent  its  being  again  destroyed  whenever  the 
Persians  might  deem  it  expedient  to  invade 
Greece.  The  Lacedaemonians  disrelished 
this  project  exceedingly,  and  remonstrated 
against  it,  upon  the  hollow  ground,  that  were 
Athens  to  be  strongly  fortified,  and  the  Per 
sians  to  become  possessed  of  it,  it  might  be 
impossible  ever  to  dislodge  them.  The 
Athenians  were  not  imposed  on  by  this  shal 
low  pretence,  which  was  soon  changed  into  a 
peremptory  command  not  to  raise  their  walls 
higher  ;  but,  considering  the  great  power  of 
Sparta  at  that  time,  Themistocles  advised 
the  Athenians  to  temporize,  and  to  assure 
the  Spartan  envoys  that  the  work  should  not 
be  proceeded  with  until  by  a  special  embassy 
satisfaction  had  been  given  to  their  allies. 
Being,  at  his  own  desire,  named  ambassador 
in  conjunction  with  some  other  Athenians, 
Themistocles  set  out  alone.  Arrived  at 
Sparta,  he  put  off  from  time  to  time  receiv 
ing  an  audience,  on  the  pretense  that  his 
colleagues  had  not  yet  joined  him;  but  in 
the  meanwhile  the  walls  of  Athens  were  be 
ing  built  with  the  utmost  expedition,  neither 
houses  nor  sepulchres  being  spared  for  mate 
rials,  and  men,  women,  children,  strangers, 
citizens,  and  servants,  laboring  at  the  work 
without  intermission.  The  truth,  however, 
having  at  length  oozed  out,  Themistocles  and 
his  colleagues,  who  had  by  this  time  arrived, 
were  summoned  before  the  ephori,  who  im 
mediately  began  to  exclaim  against  the 
Athenians  on  account  of  their  breach  of 
compact.  But  Themistocles  stoutly  denied 


104 


HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD. 


the  charge ;  his  colleagues,  he  said,  assured 
him  of  the  contrary  ;  at  aL  events,  it  did  not 
become  a  great  state  to  give  heed  to  vague 
rumors  of  this  description ;  and  if  they  had 
any  doubts  about  the  truth  of  his  statement, 
the  proper  course  would  be  to  send  deputies 
to  inquire  into  the  fact  of  the  matter,  whilst 
he  should  himself  remain  as  a  hostage  to  be 
answerable  for  the  event.  This  plausible 
suffjrestion  beine:  agreed  to,  Themistocles  en- 

oo  o      o  * 

gaged  his  associates  to  advise  the  Athenians 
to  commit  the  Spartan  ambassadors  to  safe 
custody  until  he  should  be  released.  Soon 
after  Aristides  and  one  other  Athenian  en 
voy  arrived,  informing  Themistocles  that  the 
walls  were  high  enough  to  stand  a  siege. 
Themistocles,  accordingly,  now  dropped  the 
mask,  and  bade  the  Spartans  in  future  to 
treat  the  Athenians  as  reasonable  men,  who 
knew  what  they  owed  to  themselves  as  well 
as  their  countrymen.  The  Spartans  with 
their  wonted  skill  dissembled  their  vexation, 
left  the  Athenians  to  act  as  they  saw  fit,  and 
sent  Themistocles  back  to  Athens  in  safety. 

The  following  year,  478  B.C.,  Themistocles, 
observing  the  inconvenience  of  the  port  of 
Phalerum,  formed  the  resolution  of  improv 
ing  the  Peirseus,  and  rendering  it  the  princi 
pal  harbor  of  Athens.  All  the  three  ports, 
Phalerum,  Munychia,  andPeiraeus,  were  for 
tified  by  a  double  range  of  wall,  one  on  the 
landside,  and  the  other  following  the  wind 
ings  of  the  coast.  This  wall  was  sixty  feet 
in  height,  and  of  such  breadth  as  to  allow 
two  wagons  to  pass  each  other.  Peiraus 
now  became  a  town  of  great  importance,  be 
ing  the  residence  of  merchants,  sailors,  and  for 
eigners,  who  established  themselves  in  it  for 
purposes  of  trade  and  commerce.  By  these 
wise  and  prudent  measures,  undertaken  and 
carried  through  with  equal  energy  and  ad 
dress,  the  naval  power  of  Athens  was  fixed 
on  a  sure  basis,  and  the  ascendency  in  Gre 
cian  politics  transferred  from  the  Spartans 
to  the  Athenians. 

The  victory  of  Salamis  and  his  prudent 
management  of  the  affairs  of  Athens  had 
raised  Themistoeles  to  a  giddy  height,  which 


made  him  proud,  indiscreet,  and  rapacious, 
and  drew  upon  him  the  charge  of  perfidy, 
avarice,  and  cruelty.  His  acts  of  selfishness 
made  many  persons  his  enemies,  and  the 
Spartans  never  forgiving  him  the  manner  in 
which  he  had  thwarted  their  schemes,  "\vere 
ever  active  in  rousing  the  jealousy  and  fears 
of  his  countrymen.  In  addition  to  all  this, 
younger  men  were  rising  and  taking  his 
place  in  popular  favor.  The  people  accord 
ingly  were  easily  persuaded  to  consider  him 
a  dangerous  person,  and  condemned  him  to  a 
temporary  exile  by  ostracism.  He  went  to 
Argos,  where  he  was  still  residing,  471  B.  o., 
when  the  condemnation  of  the  Spartan  Pau- 
sanias  for  high  treason  brought  ruin  upon 
the  head  of  Tliemistocles  also.  The  Spar 
tans  charging  him  with  being  an  accomplice 
of  Pausanias,  demanded  of  the  Athenians  to 
put  him  to  death.  His  enemies  at  Athens 
rejoiced  at  this  opportunity  of  crushing  him, 
and  officers  were  sent  out  to  arrest  him.  But 
he  fled  and  reached  Ephesus  in  safety. 
Thence  he  proceeded  to  the  court  of  Persia, 
where,  by  his  prudence  and  cunning,  he  soon 
became  a  general  favorite.  King  Artax- 
erxes  at  length  sent  him  to  Western  Asia, 
where  he  was  enabled  by  the  king's  munifi 
cence  to  maintain  a  sort  of  princely  rank. 
At  length,  however,  he  is  said  to  have  made 
away  with  himself,  because  he  felt  unable  to 
fulfill  the  promises  he  had  made  to  the  king. 
But  the  war  with  Persia  was  not  yet  dis 
continued,  and  about  the  end  of  the  seventy- 
seventh  Olympiad,  the  Athenians  equipped 
a  fleet  to  relieve  certain  Greek  cities  in  Asia, 
subject  to  the  Persians,  and  gave  the  com 
mand  of  it  to  Cimon,  the  son  of  Miltiades  by 
a  daughter  of  the  king  of  Thrace.  Cimon 

O  o 

had  already  tasted  the  temper  of  his  country 
men,  having  been  thrown  into  prison  for  his 
father's  fine,  from  which  he  was  released  by 
Callias,  whom  his  sister  Elpinice  had  mar 
ried  on  account  of  his  great  wealth,  procured, 
it  is  said,  by  no  very  honorable  means.  But 
he  nevertheless  accepted  of  the  command, 
and  gained  such  immense  booty  in  this  expe 
dition,  that  the  Athenians  were  thereby  en- 


HISTOKY    OF    THE    WORLD 


405 


ftbled  to  lay  the  foundation  of  that  longimu- 
ral  inclosure  which  united  the  port  to  the 
city ;  as  also  to  adorn  the  Agora  with  palm- 
trees,  and  beautify  the  Academy  with  de 
lightful  walks  and  fountains.  Soon  after 
this  expedition,  the  Persians  having  invaded 
the  Chersonesus,  and  made  themselves  mas 
ters  of  it,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Thra- 
cians,  Cimon  was  hastily  sent  against  both. 
He  had  only  four  ships  under  his  command ; 
but  with  these  he  captured  thirteen  of  the 
Persian  galleys,  and  reduced  the  whole  of 
the  Chersonesus;  after  which  he  attacked 
the  Thracians,  who  had  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  gold  mines  situated  between 
the  rivers  Nessus  and  Strymon,  and  speedily 
obliged  them  to  yield.  But  Cimon  was  as 
wise  and  politic  as  he  was  brave.  Many  of 
the  Greek  states,  in  virtue  of  the  general 
tax  established  by  Aristides  with  the  view 
of  providing  a  fund  for  the  common  defence, 
were  bound  to  furnish  men  arid  galleys,  as 
well  as  to  pay  for  their  support.  But  when 
they  saw  themselves  exposed  to  danger  from 
the  Persians,  most  of  them  evinced  an  un 
willingness  to  furnish  their  contingent  of 
men.  This  exasperated  the  Athenian  gen 
erals,  who,  finding  them  obstinate  in  their 
refusal,  were  for  having  immediate  recourse 
to  force ;  but  Cimon  overruled  this  proposal, 
permitted  such  as  were  desirous  of  staying 
at  home  to  remain,  and  accepted  a  sum  of 
money  instead  of  a  galley  completely  man 
ned  ;  by  which  means  he  inured  the  Athe 
nians,  whom  he  took  on  board  his  galleys,  to 
hardship  and  discipline,  whilst  the  allies,  who 
remained  at  home,  became  enervated  through 
idleness,  and,  from  being  confederates,  dwin 
dled  into  tributaries  or  subjects. 

Cimon  had  gained  great  wealth  both  to 
the  state  and  to  himself;  but  in  his  public 
character  he  had  acted  with  unimpeached 
integrity,  and  as  a  private  citizen  he  had 
dedicated  his  wealth  to  the  most  laudable 
purposes.  He  had  demolished  the  in  closures 
about  his  grounds  and  gardens,  permitting 
every  one  to  enter  and  take  what  fruits  they 
pleased ;  and  he  had  kept  open  table,  where 


both  rich  and  poor  were  plentifully  enter 
tained.  If  he  met  a  citizen  in  a  tatterecl 
suit  of  clothes,  he  made  some  of  his  attend 
ants  exchange  with  him  ;  or  if  the  quality  of 
the  person  rendered  such  a  kindness  unsuit 
able,  he  caused  a  sum  of  money  to  be  pri 
vately  given  him.  All  this  excessive  liber 
ality,  however,  was  as  degrading  to  the  bene 
factor  as  to  the  benefited,  and  was  nothing 
but  the  means  by  which  he  endeavored  to 
win  popularity  among  the  people.  The  no 
bles,  to  whose  order  Cimon  belonged,  had 
lost  the  power  of  oppressing  the  people,  and 
now  found  it  expedient  to  court  them  in  ev 
ery  possible  way,  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
to  themselves  all  the  power  that  yet  remain 
ed  to  them.  Pericles,  his  great  rival,  un 
able  to  cope  with  Cimon's  profusion,  became 
the  author  of  a  series  of  measures,  all  of 
which  tended  to  provide  for  the  subsistence 
and  gratification  of  the  poorer  classes  at  the 
public  expense.  The  apparent  neglect  of 
Cimon  in  not  conquering  a  district  in  the 
north  of  the  ^Egean  was  the  cause  of  an  ac 
cusation  against  him,  in  which  Pericles  was 
requested  to  take  the  lead ;  but  he  honorably 
declined  doing  so,  because  in  his  eyes  the 
charge  was  unfounded.  The  result  of  this 
trial  is  not  certain;  for  according  to  some 
Cimon  was  acquitted,  while  according  to 
others  he  was  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  fifty 
talents.  Soon  afterwards,  however,  the  aris 
tocratic  party,  of  which  Cimon  was  the  lead 
er,  became  involved  in  a  serious  struggle 
with  the  democratic  party,  led  by  Pericles : 
the  latter  having  succeeded  in  reducing  the 
power  of  the  Areopagus,  the  last  stronghold 
of  the  aristocracy,  it  was  thought  advisable 
for  the  public  safety,  to  remove  Cimon  for  a 
time  from  Athens  by  ostracism. 

The  Athenian  power  had  now  risen  to 
such  a  height  that  all  the  states  of  Pelopon 
nesus  looked  upon  the  republic  with  a  jeal 
ous  eye,  and  were  continually  watching  for 
opportunities  of  making  wrar  upon  it  when 
engaged  in  troublesome  affairs,  or  hard  press 
ed  by  other  enemies.  These  attempts,  how 
ever,  so  far  from  lessening,  generally  contrib 


106 


HISTOKY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


nted  to  increase  the  power  of  the  Athenians. 
But  in  the  year  B.  c.  458,  the  republic  entered 
into  a  war  with  Sparta,  which  eventually 
proved  nearly  as  fatal  to  the  state  as  to  the 
city.  The  Spartans  had  sent  a  considerable 
army  to  assist  the  Dorians  against  the  Pho- 
cians ;  and  on  their  return  commenced  in 
triguing  with  the  aristocratic  party  at  Athens. 
This  led  the  Athenians  to  the  determination 
not  to  wait  till  it  was  too  late.  Having 
therefore  engaged  the  Argives  and  Thessa- 
lians  as  confederates,  they  posted  themselves 
on  the  isthmus,  so  that  the  Spartan  army 
could  not  return  without  encountering  them. 
The  Athenians  and  their  confederates 
amounted  to  14,000,  and  the  Spartans  to 
11,500  men.  The  Lacedaemonian  general, 
however,  unwilling  to  hazard  a  battle,  turned 
aside  to  Tanagra,  a  city  of  Bceotia,  where 
some  of  the  Athenians  who  were  favorable 
t:>  aristocracy  entered  into  a  correspondence 
with  him.  But  before  their  designs  were 
ripe  for  execution,  the  Athenian  army  march 
ed  with  great  expedition  to  Tanagra,  and 
instantly  made  arrangements  for  the  attack. 
They  were,  however,  defeated  with  great 
loss,  in  consequence  of  the  perfidy  of  the 
Thessalians,  who  in  the  midst  of  the  battle 
went  over  to  the  enemy.  Another  engage 
ment  soon  followed,  in  which  both  armies 
Buffered  so  much  that  they  were  glad  to  con 
clude  a  short  truce,  that  each  might  have 
time  to  recruit  their  shattered  forces.  But 
the  scale  of  fortune  soon  turned  in  favor  of 
the  Athenians.  The  Thebans,  who  had  been 
deprived  of  the  command  of  Boeotia  on  ac 
count  of  their  having  sided  with  Xerxes, 
were  now  restored  to  it  by  the  Lacedaemo 
nians.  At  this  the  Athenians  were  so  greatly 
displeased  that  they  sent  an  army  under  My- 
ronides  the  son  of  Callias  into  Boeotia  to 
overturn  all  that  had  been  done.  That  gen 
eral  was  encountered  by  the  Thebans  and 
their  allies,  wlio  composed  a  numerous  and 
well-disciplined  army;  but  although  the 
Athenian  army  was  but  a  handful  in  com 
parison  to  that  of  their  enemies,  Myronides 
gair.ed  a  victory  over  the  allies,  which,  in  a 


purely  military  point  of  view,  may  perliaj»? 
be  considered  as  more  glorious  than  either 
that  of  Marathon  or  of  Plataea.  In  those 
battles  they  had  fought  against  the  effemi 
nate  and  ill-disciplined  troops  of  Persia ;  but 
now  they  encountered  and  defeated  a  supe 
rior  army  composed  of  the  bravest  Greeks. 
After  this  victory  Myronides  marched  to 
Tanagra,  which  he  took  by  storm,  and  after 
wards  razed  to  the  ground.  He  then  plun 
dered  Bceotia;  defeated  another  army  which 
the  Boeotians  had  drawn  together  to  oppose 
him ;  next  fell  upon  the  Locrians ;  and  hav 
ing  penetrated  into  Thessaly,  chastised  the 
inhabitants  of  that  country  for  having  re 
volted  from  the  Athenians ;  after  which  he 
returned  to  Athens  laden  alike  with  riches 
and  with  glory. 

Abont  this  time,  457  B.  c.,  Cimon  was  re 
called  from  banishment  by  the  will  of  the 
people,  and  soon  after  fell  to  his  old  employ 
ment  of  warring  against  the  Persians ;  hav 
ing  nothing  less  in  view,  according  to  Plu 
tarch,  than  the  conquest  and  subjugation  of 
the  whole  Persian  empire.  But,  however 
this  may  be,  the  great  king,  finding  he  could 
have  no  rest  whilst  he  continued  in  a  state  of 
hostility  with  the  Athenians,  sent  instructioiig 
to  Ins  generals,  Artabazus  and  Megabazus, 
to  conclude,  if  possible,  a  treaty  of  peace ; 
which,  after  much  discussion,  was  at  length 
effected  upon  the  following  conditions :  1. 
That  the  Greek  cities  in  Asia  should  be  free, 
and  governed  by  their  own  laws.  2.  That 
the  Persians  should  send  no  army  within 
three  days'  journey  of  the  sea.  3.  That  no 
Persian  ship  of  war  should  sail  between  Pha- 
selis  in  Pamphylia  and  the  Chclidonian 
islands  off  the  coast  of  Lycia.  Whilst  this 
treaty  was  pending,  Cimon  died,  u.  c.  449, 
but  whether  of  sickness  or  of  a  wound  which 
he  had  received  in  battle  remains  unknown. 
This  so-called  peace  of  Cimon  is  probably  a 
mere  fable,  which  arose  out  of  the  recollec 
tion  of  the  glorious  exploits  of  that  general. 
All  the  subsequent  history  shows  that  such  a 
state  of  things  as  the  terms  of  this  peace  im 
ply  never  existed.  The  story  does  not  ap 


HISTOKT  OF  THE  WORLD. 


407 


pear  to  have  assumed  a  distinct  form  until 
the  time  of  the  rhetorician  Isocrates. 

One  thing,  however,  is  certain,  that  after 
the  death  of  this  remarkable  personage,  the 
Athenian  affairs  began  to  fall  into  confusion. 
It  was  now  the  misfortune  of  the  republic  to 
be  alike  hated  by  her  enemies  and  by  her 
allies  ;  and  hence  the  latter  missed  no  oppor 
tunity  of  throwing  off  their  allegiance  when 
they  thought  they  could  do  so  with  impu 
nity.  The  Megarians,  for  instance,  who  had 
long  been  under  the  protection  of  Athens, 
thought  proper  to  disclaim  all  dependence 
on  their  ancient  protectrix,  and  to  have  re 
course  to  Sparta,  with  which  they  entered 
into  a  strict  alliance  offensive  and  defensive. 
Exasperated  at  this  proceeding,  and  deter 
mined  to  punish  the  ingratitude  of  their 
former  allies,  the  Athenians  ravaged  the 
country  of  the  IVlegarians,  a  step  which  soon 
brought  on  a  renewal  of  the  Lacedaemonian 
war,  which  had  been  suspended  rather  than 
terminated.  But  Pericles  procured  the  re 
turn  of  the  first  Lacedaemonian  army  with 
out  bloodshed,  by  bribing  Cleandridas,  the 
young  king  of  Sparta's  tutor ;  and  the  Lace- 
dee  monians,  finding  it  was  not  for  their  in 
terest  to  carry  on  the  war,  concluded  a  truce 
or  pacification  with  the  Athenians  for  the 
period  of  thirty  years,  445  B.  c. 

It  was  about  444  B.  c.,  when  Pericles  had 
become  absolute  master  of  the  Athenian  des 
tinies,  that  the  most  comprehensive  and  most 
magnificent  schemes  of  policy  that  were  ever 
entertained  by  any  heathen  statesman  began 
to  pass  before  his  mind.  The  greatness  of 
Athens,  he  thought,  must  be  made  to  de 
pend  upon  the  concentrated  influence  of 
every  excellence.  She  must  be  at  once  a 
fortress  of  strength,  a  city  of  palaces,  an 
abode  of  refinement,  and  a  temple  of  the 
gods.  Her  friends  must  be  fascinated  by 
her  beauty  and  attractions ;  and  her  enemies 
must  be  overawed  by  her  splendor  and  maj 
esty.  Her  citizens  and  dependents  must  love 
and  admire  her  as  a  cherishing  and  peerless 
mother ;  and  all  Greece  must  reverence  and 
obey  1  er  as  a  stately  mistress  and  an  accom 


plished  teacher.  The  first  measure  of  Peri 
cles  for  the  execution  of  this  great  plan  was 
to  establish  the  political  superiority  of  the 
city.  Continuing  the  Athenian  policy  of 
exacting  tribute  in  lieu  of  military  service 
from  the  rest  of  the  Hellenic  confederacy,  he 
drained  the  resources  of  the  other  Greek 
cities,  and  amassed  the  money  within  hia 
own.  Urging  as  a  plea  that  Athens,  if  she 
protected  the  independence  of  Greece,  might 
use  this  money  for  any  purpose  whatever,  he 
employed  it  in  rearing  up  the  fabric  of  the 
national  strength.  A  third  long  wall  was 
built  to  the  Piraeus,  in  order  that  the  com 
munication  between  the  city  and  its  port 
might  be  rendered  more  secure.  A  fleet  of 
sixty  galleys  was  sent  out  to  the  sea  for  eight 
months  annually,  in  order  that  the  sailors 
might  be  inured  to  service,  and  the  ships  be 
kept  ever  ready  for  action.  Several  colonies 
were  planted  to  draw  away  the  surplus  pop 
ulation  from  the  city,  and  to  extend  the  com 
merce  and  influence  of  the  state.  At  the 
same  time,  the  right  of  Athens  to  arbitrate 
in  all  important  disputes  between  her  subject 
allies  was  pertinaciously  claimed  ;  so  that  in 
440  B.  c.  the  island  of  Samos,  after  a  block 
ade  of  nine  months,  was  reduced  and  pun 
ished  for  setting  at  nought  this  asserted  su 
premacy.  Isor,  while  Pericles  was  thus 
strengthening  the  outward  fortifications,  did 
he  neglect  to  attend  to  the  interior  arrange 
ments  of  the  city.  He  set  all  the  arts  into 
their  fullest  activity  to  make  it  a  theatre  of 
beauty,  pleasure,  and  refinement.  Solemn  fes 
tivals  and  religious  pageants  were  prepared 
to  relieve  the  attention  and  fascinate  the 
eye.  The  great  dramas  of  JEschylus,  So 
phocles,  and  Euripides  were  employed  to  stir 
the  imagination  and  elevate  the  soul.  But 
it  was  the  illustrious  Phidias  and  his  able  co 
adjutors  that  were  specially  honored  to  com 
plete  the  beautiful  and  sublime  spectacle. 
At  their  command  the  genii  of  painting  and 
sculpture  and  architecture  wrere  summoned 
to  fabricate  a  gorgeous  crown  for  this  queen 
of  cities.  Accordingly,  up  on  the  brow  of 
the  Acropolis,  with  wonderful  rapidity,  were 


408 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


reared  two  grand  and  elegant  structures  of 
white  marble — the  Propylaea,  with  its  lofty 
porticoes,  and  the  Parthenon,  the  most  ex 
quisite  fabric  that  Grecian  genius  ever  de 
signed.  The  inner  walls  of  these  edifices 
were  crowded  all  over  with  painted  and 
sculptured  figures ;  the  intermediate  ground 
•was  studded  with  statues  ;  and  towering  over 
all,  and  visible  to  the  mariner  as  he  doubled 
the  distant  Cape  of  Sunium,  rose  the  colossal 
image  of  Athene  Promachos,  with  shield  up 
raised  and  javelin  balanced,  as  if  in  the  act 
of  protecting  her  favorite  city,  the  seat  of 
her  worship  and  her  name. 

This  insignificant  cpntest  was  almost  im 
mediately  followed  by  a  war  between  the 
Corcyrseans  and  Corinthians,  which  arose  out 
of  the  following  circumstances.  An  intestine 
broil  breaking  out  in  the  little  territory  of 
Epidamnus,  a  town  of  Illyricum,  founded  by 
the  Corcyraeans,  one  party  applied  for  aid  to 
the  Illyrians,  and  the  other  to  the  Corcy 
raeans.  But  the  latter  having  neglected  the 
matter,  Corinth  was  appealed  to,  as  the  Cor 
cyraeans  were  originally  a  colony  from  that 
place ;  and  the  Corinthians,  partly  out  of 
pity  for  the  Epidamnians,  partly  from  dis 
like  to  the  Corcyraeans,  dispatched  a  con 
siderable  fleet  to  the  assistance  of  the 
former,  by  which  means  the  party  which 
had  appealed  to  Corinth  gained  the  as 
cendancy. 

This  being  resented  by  the  Corcyrosans,  they 
sent  a  fleet  to  Epidamnus  to  support  the  ex 
iles;  but  although  this  fleet  began  to  act 
offensively  on  its  entering  the  port,  the  chief 
commanders  had  instructions  to  propose 
terms  of  accommodation.  To  these,  how 
ever,  the  Corinthians  refused  to  accede ;  and 
next  year  the  Coreyraeans  defeated  the  Co 
rinthians  and  their  allies  at  sea,  took  Epi 
damnus  by  storm,  and  wasted  the  territories 
of  the  allies  of  the  Corinthians,  434  B.  c. 
The  latter,  therefore,  began  to  make  great 
preparations  for  carrying  on  the  war,  and 
pressed  their  allies  to  imitate  their  example, 
that  they  might  be  in  a  condition  to  retrieve 
the  honor  tl:ey  had  lost,  and  to  humble  the 


ungrateful  colon v  which  had  thus  insulted 

O  w 

the  metropolitan  city. 

When  the  Corcyracans  became  acquainted 
with  these  proceedings,  they  dispatched  en 
voys  to  Athens  to  sue  for  aid ;  and  these  were 
quickly  followed  by  others  from  Corinth  on 
the  same  errand.  At  first  the  Athenians  in 
clined  to  favor  the  Corinthians,  but  the  next 
day  they  resolved  to  support  the  Corcyrseans ; 
contenting  themselves,  however,  with  enter 
ing  into  a  defensive  alliance  with  that  little 
state,  and  furnishing  the  Corcyracans  with' 
ten  galleys  under  the  command  of  Laceduc- 
monius,  the  son  of  Cimon.  But  this  de 
termination  did  not  retard  the  preparations 
of  the  Corinthians,  who,  as  soon  as  the  sea 
son  permitted,  sailed  for  the  coast  of  Cor- 
cyra  with  a  fleet  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
ships,  under  the  command  of  Xenoclides, 
assisted  by  four  other  Corinthian  admirals ; 
each  squadron  of  their  allies  being  com 
manded  by  an  admiral  of  its  own.  The  Cor- 
cyraean  and  Athenian  fleet  amounted  to  120 
sail;  but  the  Athenians  had  orders  to  give 
as  little  assistance  as  possible.  A  brisk  ac 
tion  ensued,  in  which  the  Corcynean  right 
winjr  broke  the  left  of  the  Corinthian  fleet, 

O  * 

and  drove  some  of  the  ships  on  shore  ;  whilst 
the  Corinthian  ships  in  the  right  wing  de 
feated  the  Corcyroean  ships  opposed  to  them. 
Next  day  preparations  were  made  on  both 
sides  for  renewing  the  battle ;  but  twenty 
sliips  arriving  opportunely  from  Athens  to 
the  assistance  of  the  Corcyraeans,  turned  the 
scale  against  the  Corinthians,  who  therefore 
declined  the  combat,  432  B.  c. 

As  soon  as  the  Corcyraean  war  broke  out, 
the  Athenians  sent  orders  to  the  citizens  of 
Potidaea  to  demolish  part  of  their  wall,  to 
send  back  the  magistrates  they  had  received 
from  Corinth,  and  to  give  hostages  for  their 
own  behavior.  The  Potidaeans,  however, 
refused  to  comply  with  this  demand ;  upon 
which  the  Athenians  dispatched  a  consider 
able  fleet  against  them  under  the  command 
of  Callias,  a  man  celebrated  for  his  courage ; 
whilst  the  Corinthians,  on  the  other  band, 
sent  one  Aristeus,  with  a  considerable  boJv 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


409 


of  troops,  to  the  assistance  of  the  city.  An 
engagement  ensued,  in  which  the  Athenians 
were  victorious,  but  their  brave  general  fell 
in  the  action.  Phormio,  who  succeeded  to 
the  command  on  the  death  of  Callias,  then 
invested  the  city  in  form,  and  blockaded  its 
harbor  with  his  fleet;  but  the  Potidseans, 
dreading  the  vengeance  of  the  Athenians, 
made  a  most  obstinate  defence,  at  the  same 
time  warmly  soliciting  the  Corinthians  to 
perform  their  promises,  and  to  engage  the 
rest  of  the  states  of  Peloponnesus  to  take 
part  in  their  quarrel. 

Meanwhile  the  Lacedaemonians  having 
heard  the  complaints  of  the  Corinthians  and 
other  small  states  of  Greece,  against  the 
Athenians,  sent  ambassadors  to  Athens,  to 
demand  reparation  for  the  injuries  done  to 
these  states,  and,  in  the  event  of  refusal,  to 
denounce  war.  The  terms  demanded  were, 
first,  that  all  Athenians  who  were  allied  to 
the  family  of  Megacles  should  be  expelled 
from  Attica;  secondly,  that  the  siege  of 
Potidosa  should  be  raised;  thirdly,  that  the 
inhabitants  of  ^Egina  should  be  left  free ; 
and  lastly,  that  a  decree  prohibiting  the  Me- 
garians  from  resorting  to  the  ports  and  mar 
kets  of  Athens  should  be  revoked,  and  all 
the  Grecian  states  under  the  dominion  of 
Athens  set  at  liberty. 

By  the  persuasion  of  Pericles,  however, 
these  degrading  terms  were  rejected;  and 
while  the  right  arbitrarily  claimed  by  the 
commonwealth  of  Sparta  to  interfere  in  the 
concerns  of  the  other  Greek  states,  in  the 
character  of  a  lord-paramount,  was  peremp 
torily  denied,  an  accommodation  was  pro 
posed  upon  the  fair  principles  of  equality 
and  reciprocity.  In  recommending  the 
measure  which  'he  suggested  for  the  adoption 
of  lu's  countrymen,  this  celebrated  statesman 
argued  that  whatever  the  Lacedaemonians 
might  pretend  as  to  the  complaints  of  the  al 
lies,  the  true  ground  of  their  resentment  was 
the  prosperity  of  the  Athenian  republic, 
which  they  had  always  hated,  and  now  sought 
an  opportunity  of  humbling;  and  that  it 
must  bo  owing  to  the  Athenians  themselves 
52 


if  this  design  succeeded,  because  for  many 
reasons,  Athens  was  better  able  to  engage  in 
a  long  and  expensive  war  than  the  Pelopon- 
nesians.  He  then  laid  before  the  people  an 
exact  account  of  their  circumstances,  remind 
ing  them  that  the  treasure  brought  from  Delos 
amounted  to  no  less  than  10,000  talents: 
that  although  4000  of  these  had  been  ex 
pended  on  the  magnificence  of  their  citadel, 
6000  still  remained  in  their  coffers;  that 
they  were  also  entitled  to  the  subsidies  pay 
able  by  the  confederate  states;  that  the 
statues  of  their  gods,  the  spoils  of  the  Per 
sians,  and  other  valuable  property,  were 
worth  immense  sums;  that  many  private 
individuals  had  amassed  vast  fortunes ;  that 
considering  the  extent  of  their  trade  and 
commerce,  they  might  calculate  upon  a  cer 
tain  annual  increase  of  wealth;  that  they 
had  on  foot  an  army  consisting  of  12,000 
men,  besides  17,000  in  their  colonies  and 
garrisons ;  that  their  fleet  amounted  to  300 
sail ;  and  finally,  that  the  Peloponnesians, 
with  whom  they  might  be  called  to  contend, 
had  none  of  these  advantages,  and,  as  com 
pared  with  the  Athenians,  were  nearly 
destitute  of  all  those  resources  which  consti 
tute  the  sinews  of  war.  For  these  reasons 
he  proposed,  as  at  once  the  most  consistent 
and  most  equitable  satisfaction  that  could  be 
given,  to  reverse  the  decree  against  Megara, 
provided  the  Lacedaemonians  agreed  to  ac 
cede  to  the  principle  of  reciprocity  in  favor 
of  the  Athenians  and  their  allies ;  to  consent 
to  leave  all  those  states  free  which  were  ac 
knowledged  as  such  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
last  peace  with  Sparta,  provided  the  latter 
state  also  agreed  to  give  freedom  to  all  the 
states  which  were  under  their  dominion ; 
and,  finally,  to  submit  to  arbitration  all  dis 
putes  which  might  in  future  arise  between 
the  parties  to  this  arrangement.  He  con 
cluded  by  advising  them  to  hazard  war  in 
case  these  terms  were  rejected ;  telling  them 
that  they  should  not  think  they  ran  that 
hazard  for  a  trifle,  or  retain  a  scruple  in 
their  minds  as  if  a  small  consideration  moved 
them  to  it,  because  on  this  matter  depended 


410 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


their  safety  and  tho  reputation  of  their  con 
stancy  and  resolution.  If  they  yielded  in 
this,  tl  e  next  demai.d  of  the  Lacedaemonians 
would  be  still  more  extravagant ;  for  having 
once  discovered  that  the  Athenians  were  to 
be  acted  upon  by  fear,  they  would  thence 
conclude  that  nothing  could  be  denied  them, 
whereas  a  stout  resistance  in  the  present  case 
would  teach  them  to  treat  Athens  in  future 
upon  terms  of  reciprocity.  His  political  ad 
versaries,  however,  taking  advantage  of  the 
excitement  produced  by  coming  hostilities, 
commenced  to  assail  him.  They  vented 
severe  criticisms  upon  his  government, 
charged  him  with  the  design  of  assuming  the 
tyranny,  and  condemned  his  defensive  atti 
tude  towards  the  hostile  Lacedaemonians. 
The  comic  poets  threw  every  available  scan 
dal  at  his  head,  and  made  him  the  butt  of 
every  species  of  ridicule.  There  were  some 
who,  not  content  with  attacking  him  direct 
ly,  aimed  at  him  indirectly,  by  assailing  his 
connections  and  acquaintances.  His  friend 
Phidias  was  arraigned  for  introducing  his 
portrait  on  the  shield  of  one  of  the  statues 
of  Minerva,  and  wras  thrown  into  prison,  and 
left  there  to  die.  His  paramour,  the  notori 
ous  Aspasia,  was  accused  of  pandering  to  his 
licentiousness,  and  was  only  acquitted  after 
he  had  descended  to  plead  for  her  life  with 
tears  and  entreaties.  His  aged  teacher  also, 
Anaxagoras,  was  charged  with  overturning 
the  national  religion,  and  was  sentenced  to 
pay  a  fine,  and  to  go  into  banishment.  Yet 
the  great  statesman,  completely  mailed  in 
his  own  probity,  withstood  these  darts  of 
calumny,  and  addressed  himself  to  meet  the 
attack  of  the  Peloponnesians,  who  had  now 
declared  war.  His  tactics  were  directed  by 
a  policy  as  thorough-going  and  effective  as 
it  was  cautious.  Knowing  that  the  enemy 
was  superior  in  land  forces,  he  collected  all 
the  movable  property  of  the  Athenians  with 
in  the  walls  of  the  city,  and  contented  him 
self  with  assuming  a  defensive  attitude  to 
wards  the  advancing  invaders. 

The  firm  attitude  which  Athens  assumed 
on  this  occasion,  wider  the  guidance  of  her 


most  illustrious  statesman,  may  be  consider- 
ed  as  the  origin  of  the  Peloponnesian  war, 
which  makes  so  prominent  a  figure  in  an 
cient  history.  The  immediate  preliminary  to 
general  hostilities,  however,  was  an  attempt 
of  the  Thebans  to  surprise  Plata^a  in  431  B.C. 
"With  this  view  they  in  the  depth  of  night 
sent  300  men  to  assist  those  of  the  Plateeans 
whom  they  had  drawn  over  to  their  interest, 
in  making  themselves  masters  of  the  place. 
But  although  the  design  succeeded  very 
well  at  first, — the  Plateeans,  who  had  pro 
mised  to  open  the  gates,  keeping  their  worda 
exactly,  so  that  they  instantly  obtained  pos 
session  of  the  city, — yet  the  other  party, 
perceiving  the  smallness  of  the  number  they 
had  to  contend  with,  unanimously  rose  upon 
them,  killed  a  great  many,  and  forced  the 
remainder  to  surrender  themselves  prisoners 
of  war.  The  Thebans  sent  a  reinforcement 
to  assist  their  countrymen,  but  it  arrived  too 
late  to  be  of  any  service,  and  the  whole 
were  ultimately  obliged  to  withdraw.  As 
soon  as  the  Athenians  were  apprised  of  this 
attempt,  they  immediately  despatched  a  con 
siderable  convoy  of  provisions  to  Platica,  to 
gether  with  a  numerous  body  of  troops  for 
the  purpose  of  escorting  the  wives  and  child 
ren  of  the  inhabitants  to  Athens.  This  at 
tempt  leaving  no  doubt  that  all  hopes  of  ac 
commodation  were  at  on  end,  both  parties 
began  to  prepare  in  good  earnest  for  war. 
Most  of  the  Grecian  states  inclined  to  favor 
the  Spartans,  partly  because  the  latter  as 
sumed  the  character  of  deliverer's  of  Greece, 
and  partly  also  because  many  of  the  states 
either  had  been,  or  feared  they  would  be, 
oppressed  by  the  Athenians.  Accordingly, 
the  whole  of  the  Pelopon  ic=:ans  except  the 
Argives  and  part  of  the  -A  thoeans  made  com 
mon  cause  with  the  Spartans ;  whilst,  on  the 
continent  of  Greece,  the  Megarians,  Phoci- 
ans,  Locrians,  Boeotians,  Ambraciots,  Leuca- 
dians,  and  Anactorians,  declared  for  the 
Athenians ;  as  also  did  the  Cliians,  Lesbians, 
Platreans,  Messenians,  Acarnanians,  Corcyraa- 
ans,  Zacynthians,  Carians,  Dorians,  Thraci- 
ans,  and  all  the  Cyclades,  excepting  Meloi 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


411 


and     Thera,    together    with    Euboea    and 
Samos. 

The  Peloponnesian  war  commenced  in  the 
year  B.C.  431.  The  Lacedaemonian  army, 
consisting  of  no  less  than  60,000  men,  assem 
bled  on  the  isthmus,  and,  after  a  vain  at 
tempt  at  negotiation,  the  campaign  opened. 
The  Lacedaemonian  army  was  commanded 
by  Archidamns,  king  of  Sparta ;  that  of  the 
Athenians  by  Pericles,  with  nine  generals 
under  him.  Soon  after  the  opening  of  the 
campaign,  the  Spartan  force  entered  Attica 
and  committed  horrible  ravages ;  Pericles 
having  no  force  capable  of  opposing  it,  and 
steadily  refusing  to  engage  on  disadvan 
tageous  terms,  although  prodigious  clamors 
were  in  consequence  raised  against  him  by 
his  countrymen.  The  invaders,  however, 
had  no  great  reason  to  boast  of  the  advan 
tages  they  had  gained ;  for  an  Athenian  fleet 
ravaged  the  coasts  of  Peloponnesus,  whilst 
another  infested  the  Locrians,  expelled  the 
inhabitants  of  yEgina,  and  repeopled  the  is 
lands  from  Athens  and  Attica.  Cephalonia, 
and  some  towns  in  Acarnania  and  Leucas 
which  had  declared  for  the  Lacedaemonians, 
were  also  reduced  ;  and  in  the  autumn,  when 
the  Peloponnesians  had  retired,  Pericles 
entered  the  Megarian  territory,  which  he 
laid  waste  with  fire  and  sword,  in  revenge 
for  the  devastation  committed  in  Attica. 

But  the  spring  of  the  second  year  proved 
signally  disastrous  to  Athens ;  for  a  dreadful 
plague  carried  off  great  numbers  of  the  citi 
zens,  whilst  the  Peloponnesians,  under  Archi- 
damus,  wasted  every  thing  abroad.  In  the 
midst  of  all  these  calamities,  however,  the 
firmness  of  Pericles  remained  unshaken; 
and  he  would  suffer  none  of  his  countrymen 
to  stir  from  the  city,  either  to  escape  the 
plague,  which  committed  horrible  rarages 
within  the  walls,  or  to  assail  the  enemy,  who 
desolated  the  country  without.  He  medita 
ted  a  deeper  game,  namely,  an  inroad  into 
'.he  enemy's  territory,  which  in  fact  had  been 
.eft  completely  uncovered  by  the  attack  upon 
Attica.  "With  this  view  he  caused  a  large 
fleet  to  be  equipped,  on  board  which  he  em 


barked  4000  foot  and  300  horse,  and  im 
mediately  set  sail  for  Epidaurus.  This 
diversion  produced  the  desired  effect,  in 
compelling  the  enemy  to  withdraw  from  At 
tica  ;  but  in  other  respects  the  expedition 
failed  on  account  of  the  plague,  which  com 
mitted  so  great  havoc  among  his  men,  that 
Pericles  brought  back  to  Athens  only  1500 
of  the  4300  composing  the  expedition.  By 
this  disaster  the  Athenians  were  thrown  into 
utter  despair,  and  immediately  sued  for 
peace ;  but  the  Spartans  refusing  to  accede 
to  any  terms  of  accommodation,  their  des 
pair  gave  place  to  fury  against  their  great 
statesman  and  commander,  whom  they  dis 
missed  from  their  service,  and  amerced  in  a 
heavy  fine.  And,  as  if  this  had  not  been 
enough,  at  the  same  time  that  Pericles  ex 
perienced  the  ingratitude  of  his  country,  the 
plague  carried  off  his  children  and  nearly 
the  whole  of  his  kindred,  leaving  him  almost 
alone  in  the  world,  childless  and  forsaken. 
This  accumulation  of  misfortunes  preyed 
deeply  on  his  spirits  and  overwhelmed  him 
with  melancholy,  in  consequence  of  which 
he  secluded  himself  for  a  time  entirely  from 
public  view.  But  through  the  persuasion 
of  Alcibiades  and  other  friends,  he  was  at 
length  induced  to  show  himself  to  the  peo 
ple  ;  who,  ever  inconstant,  and  generally 
more  prompt  to  pardon  than  to  condemn,  re 
ceived  him  with  acclamations  of  joy.  The 
first  use  Pericles  made  of  his  recovered 
popularity  was  to  procure  the  repeal  of  the 
law  which  he  had  himself  caused  to  be  en 
acted,  whereby  all  Athenians  of  half  blood 
were  disfranchised  of  their  natural  liberty, 
and  reduced  to  the  state  of  aliens ;  a  meas 
ure  which  was  not  altogether  disinterested 
on  his  part,  as  he  was  thereby  enabled  to  en 
rol  in  the  list  of  citizens  his  only  remaining 
son  by  a  Milesian  mother,  whom  the  opera 
tion  of  the  law  in  question  had  of  course 
bastardized.  But  this  was  destined  to  bo 
one  of  the  last  public  acts  of  the  great  Athe 
nian  statesman  and  patriot. 

The  third  year  of  the  Peloponnesian  wai 
was  chiefly  remarkable  for  the   death   of 


412 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


Pericles.  About  the  middle  of  the  year  429 
B.C.,  a  slow  fever  seized  him,  and  he  lay 
down  upon  hie  death-bed.  As  the  closing 
hour  drew  near,  his  attendants,  thinking  him 
in  a  stupor,  stood  round  the  couch  recounting 
the  deeds  of  the  great  soul  that  was  prepar 
ing  to  depart.  "  You  have  forgotten,"  mut 
tered  he,  "  my  greatest  praise :  you  have  not 
noticed  that  no  fellow-citizen  has  ever  put 
on  mourning  on  my  account."  These  were 
the  last  words  of  this  great  Athenian.  Pla- 
tsea  was  also  besieged  by  Archidamus,  but 
without  success ;  for  although  the  greater 
part  of  it  had  been  set  on  fire,  the  Plataeans 
resolved  to  submit  to  every  extremity  rather 
than  abandon  the  Athenian  cause.  In  the 
end,  therefore,  the  king  of  Sparta  was  obliged 
to  convert  the  siege  into  a  blockade,  and  to 
return  to  Peloponnesus. 

In  the  following  summer  the  Peloponne- 
sians  under  Archidamus  again  invaded  At 
tica,  wasting  everything  with  fire  and  sword  ; 
and  at  the  same  time  the  whole  island  of 
Lesbos,  except  the  district  of  Methymna,  re 
volted  against  the  Athenians.  In  the  mean 
while  Plataea  was  strictly  blockaded,  and  its 
inhabitants  being  reduced  to  the  greatest  ex 
tremity  from  want  of  provisions,  the  garrison 
came  to  the  resolution  of  forcing  a  passage 
through  the  enemy's  lines.  When  the  mo 
ment  arrived,  however,  for  carrying  this  de 
sign  into  execution,  many  of  them  became 
intimidated ;  but  the  greater  number  per 
sisted  in  their  resolution,  succeeded  in  their 
gallant  attempt,  and  above  200  reached 
Athens  in  safety. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  year  the 
Peloponnesians  sent  forty  ships  to  the  relief 
of  Mitylene,  which  the  Athenians  had  in 
vested  after  the  revolt  of  Lesbos  ;  but  this 
effort  proved  unavailing,  since  the  place  had 
surrendered  before  the  fleet  could  come  to 
its  assistance.  Paches,  the  Athenian  com 
mander,  then  drove  off  the  Pcloponnesian 
fleet ;  and  returning  to  Lesbos,  sent  the 
Licedfcmonian  agent,  whom  he  found  in 
Mitylene,  together  with  a  deputation,  to 
Athens.  On  tl.cir  arrival  the  Lacedaemonian 


was  immediately  put  to  death;  and  \n  a 
general  assembly  of  the  people,  it  was  re 
solved,  on  the  proposal  of  Cleon,  that  all  the 
Mitylenians  who  had  attained  to  manhood 
should  also  be  put  to  death,  and  the  women 
and  children  sold  as  slaves.  But  the  next 
day  this  cruel  decree  was  revoked,  and  a 
galley  despatched  to  countermand  the 
sanguinary  order.  It  arrived  just  in  time  to 
save  Mitylene.  Only  about  a  thousand  of 
the  principal  insurgents  were  pat  to  death  ; 
the  walls  of  the  city  were  however  demolish 
ed,  their  ships  taken  away,  and  their  lands 
divided  among  the  Athenians,  who  let  them 
again  to  their  former  proprietors  at  a  nomi 
nal  rent.  About  this  time  also  the  Platreans 
who  had  failed  in  the  attempt  to  break 
through  the  enemy's  lines  surrendered  at 
discretion,  and  were  cruelly  put  to  death  by 
the  Lacedaemonians,  who  sold  their  women 
as  slaves.  The  city  was  soon  after  razed  by 
the  Thebans,  who  left  only  an  inn  to  show 
where  it  stood ;  but  the  fame  of  Platrca  in 
duced  Alexander  the  Great  afterwards  to 
rebuild  it  on  a  more  extensive  scale. 

In  this  year  also  happened  the  famous 
sedition  of  Corcyra,  proverbial  for  the  hor 
rors  with  which  it  was  accompanied.  We 
have  already  seen  that  the  dispute  between 
the  Corcyroeans  and  Corinthians  was  mainly 
instrumental  in  bringing  on  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  war,  one  of  the  most  protracted  and 
sanguinary  contests  of  ancient  times.  At 
the  commencement  of  this  struggle  a  great 
number  of  Corcyroeans  were  carried  as  prison 
ers  to  Corinth,  where  the  chief  of  them  were 
well  treated,  and  the  remainder  sold  as 
slaves.  The  motive  of  this  conduct  on  the 
part  of  the  Corinthians  was  a  design  they 
had  formed  of  engaging  these  Corcyrseans  to 
influence  their  countrymen  to  join  the  Cor 
inthians  and  their  allies.  With  this  view 
the  latter  treated  them  with  all  imaginable 
lenity  and  tenderness,  endeavoring  to  instil 
into  their  minds  a  hatred  of  democratic  gov 
ernment  ;  after  which  they  were  informed 
that  they  might  obtain  their  litcrty  upon 
condition  of  exerting  their  jifluence  at  home 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


413 


in  favor  of  the  allies,  and  to  the  prejudice  of 
Athens.  This  the  Corcyrseans  readily  prom 
ised  and  endeavored  to  perform  ;  and  at  first 
the  partisans  of  aristocracy  so  far  prevailed, 
that,  assisted  by  a  Peloponnesian  fleet,  they 
murdered  such  of  the  opposite  party  as  fell 
into  their  hands.  But  the  Athenians  having 
despatched  first  one  fleet  and  then  another  to 
the  assistance  of  their  friends,  the  Pelopon- 
nesians  were  forced  to  withdraw,  leaving  the 
aristocrats  at  the  mercy  of  the  democratic 
party ;  who,  having  thus  gained  the  ascend 
ancy,  literally  exterminated  their  antagonists 
with  circumstances  of  horrible  atrocity.  Nor 
was  this  all.  For,  the  example  once  set,  the 
several  states  of  Greece  in  their  turn  experi 
enced  similar  commotions,  which  were  in 
variably  fomented  by  agents  of  Sparta  or  of 
Athens ;  the  former  endeavoring  to  establish 
an  aristocratic  and  the  latter  a  democratic 
form  of  government,  wherever  their  influence 
happened  to  prevail. 

While  the  Athenians  were  thus  engaged 
in  a  contest  in  which  they  were  already  over 
matched,  they  foolishly  rushed  into  a  new  one, 
which  in  the  end  proved  more  disastrous  than 
any  in  which  they  had  yet  embarked.  The 
inhabitants  of  Sicily  were,  it  seems,  divided 
into  two  factions ;  the  one  called  the  Doric, 
at  the  head  of  which  was  Syracuse ;  the 
other  the  Ionic,  at  the  head  of  which  wras 
Leontini.  But  the  Ionic  faction  finding  it 
self  too  weak  to  contend  with  its  rival  with 
out  foreign  aid,  sent  Gorgias  of  Leontini,  a 
celebrated  orator,  sophist  and  rhetorician,  to 
Athens  to  apply  for  assistance ;  and  he  by 
his  fine  speeches  so  captivated  the  multitude, 
the  Great  Beast  (as  the  populace  were  some 
times  contemptuously  styled  in  private,  by 
those  who  did  not  scruple  to  pander  to  their 
worst  passions  in  public),  that  they  rushed 
headlong  into  a  war  which  they  were  unable 
to  maintain  while  engaged  in  a  death-strug 
gle  with  nearly  all  the  states  of  the  Pelopon 
nesus.  Accordingly,  bewrayed  by  the  wily 
sophist,  and  probably  enticed  by  the  hope  of 
effecting  the  conquest  of  Sicily,  they  de 
spatched  a  fleet  to  the  assistance  of  the  Leon- 


tines,  under  the  command  of  Laches  and 
Chabrias ;  and  this  had  no  sooner  sailed  than 
another  destined  for  the  same  service  was 
begun  to  be  fitted  out.  In  the  meantime 
the  plague  continued  its  ravages  to  such  an 
extent  that  in  the  course  of  this  year  four 
thousand  citizens,  and  a  much  larger  num 
ber  of  the  lower  class  oi  people,  fell  victims 
to  its  fury. 

The  sixth  year  of  the  Peloponnesian  war 
was  not  remarkable  for  any  great  exploit. 
Agis,,  the  son  of  Archidamus,  king  of  Sparta, 
assembled  an  army  in  order  to  invade  Attica; 
but  was  prevented  from  doing  so  by  earth 
quakes,  which  shook  almost  every  part  of 
Greece,  and  produced  general  consternation. 
The  next  year,  however,  he  entered  Attica 
with  his  army ;  whilst  the  Athenians,  on 
their  part,  sent  a  fleet,  under  the  command 
of  Demosthenes,  to  infest  the  coasts  of  Pe 
loponnesus.  As  this  fleet  passed  the  coast 
of  Laconia,  the  commander  observed  that 
the  promontory  of  Pylos,  which  was  joined 
to  the  continent  by  a  narrow  neck  of  land, 
had  before  it  an  island  about  two  miles  in 
circumference,  which,  though  barren  in  itself, 
nevertheless  contained  an  excellent'  harbor, 
sheltered  from  all  winds  either  by  the  head 
land  or  isle,  and  capable  of  admitting  the 
most  numerous  fleets  ;  circumstances  which 
led  him  to  conclude  that  a  garrison  left  here 
would  alarm  the  Peloponnesians,  and  induce 
them  to  think  rather  of  protecting  their  own 
country  than  of  invading  that  of  their  neigh 
bors.  Accordingly,  having  raised  a  strong 
fortification,  he  established  himself  in  the 
post,  reserving  five  ships  of  war  for  its  de 
fence ;  and  ordered  the  rest  of  the  fleet  to 
proceed  to  its  intended  destination.  Or. 
the  news  of  this  event  the  Peloponnesian 
army  immediately  returned  to  besiege  Pylos, 
and  soon  made  themselves  masters  of  the 
harbor,  as  well  as  of  the  island  of  Sphac- 
teria,  which  was  taken  by  a  chosen  body  of 
Spartans.  They  then  made  a  vigorous  at 
tack  upon  the  fort,  hoping  to  carry  it  before 
succors  could  arrive ;  but  Demosthenes  and 
his  garrison  made  an  obstinate  defence ;  and 


414 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


an  Athenian  fleet  arriving  in  the  interval, 
relieved  the  besieged  from  all  apprehensions 
on  account  of  the  superior  force  of  the  en 
emy.  Battle  was  immediately  offered ;  but 
as  the  Peloponnesian  fleet  declined  the  chal 
lenge,  the  Athenians  sailed  boldly  into  the 
harbor  and  sunk  or  destroyed  most  of  the 
enemy's  ships,  after  which  they  besieged  the 
Spartans  in  Sphacteria.  Alarmed  at  finding 
the  war  carried  into  their  own  territory, 
the  Peloponnesians  now  began  to  troat  with 
their  enemies;  and  whilst  the  negotiations 
were  carrying  on  at  Athens,  a  cessation  of 
hostilities  was  agreed  to,  upon  the  condition 
that  the  Peloponnesians  should  in  the  mean 
time  deliver  up  all  their  ships,  but  that  in 
the  event  of  the  treaty  not  taking  effect, 
these  should  be  immediately  restored.  In 
as  far  as  regards  the  negotiations,  the  Athe 
nians,  having  heard  the  propositions  of  the 
Spartan  plenipotentiaries,  were  at  first 
strongly  inclined  to  put  an  end  to  this 
ruinous  and  destructive  war,  all  the  evils 
of  which  had  been  so  greatly  aggravated  by 
the  dreadful  pestilence  which  at  the  same 
time  ravaged  the  city  of  Athens  and  part 
of  the  territory  of  Attica.  But  the  dema 
gogue  Cleon,  a  fiery  and  headstrong  man, 
persuaded  his  countrymen  to  insist  on  the 
most  unreasonable  terms ;  and  as  the  con 
federates  were  by  no  means  so  far  reduced 
as  to  suffer  the  Athenians  pads  imponere 
morem,  to  dictate  terms  of  peace,  the  pleni 
potentiaries  withdrew,  and,  by  doing  so,  of 
course  put  an  end  to  the  armistice.  The 
Peloponnesians  then  demanded  the  restora 
tion  of  their  vessels,  conformably  to  the 
stipulation  above  mentioned  ;  but  the  Athe 
nians  refused  to  deliver  them  up,  on  pre 
tence  that  the  former  had  violated  the  truce. 
Hostilities,  therefore,  were  immediately  re 
commenced  on  both  sides  ;  and  the  Lace 
daemonians  attacked  the  Athenians  at  Pylos, 
while  the  latter  attacked  the  Spartans  at 
Sphacteria.  But  the  Lacedaemonians,  though 
only  a  handful  of  men,  and  under  every  im 
aginable  discouragement,  defended  thern- 
eeives  with  so  mu.3h  bravery  that  the  siege 


proceeded  very  slowly  ;  and  the  people  of 
Athens  becoming  uneasy  at  its  duration, 
began  to  wish  they  had  embraced  the  offers 
of  the  Spartans,  and  to  rail  vehement!  v 
against  Cleon,  who  had  been  primarily  in 
strumental  in  occasioning  their  rejection. 
To  excuse,  himself,  however,  Cleon  affirmed 
it  would  be  an  easy  matter  for  the  general 
of  the  forces  which  they  were  then  sending 
to  attack  the  Spartans  in  the  isle,  and  reduce 
thorn  at  once.  Nicias,  who  had  just  been 
appointed  to  the  command,  replied  that  if 
Cleon  believed  he  could  perform  such  won 
ders,  he  would  do  well  to  repair  to  the  scene 
of  action  in  person.  Cleon,  compelled  to 
sustain  his  part,  rejoined  without  hesitation 
that  he  was  ready  to  go  with  all  his  heart ; 
upon  which  Nicias  caught  him  at  his  word, 
and  declared  that  he  had  relinquished  his 
command.  Startled  at  this  renunciation, 
the  speech-maker  protested  that  he  was  no 
general ;  but  Kicias  tauntingly  assured  him 
that  he  might  some  day  become  one ;  and 
the  people  amused  with  the  controversy, 
held  Cleon  to  his  word.  lie  then  advanc 
ing,  told  them  he  was  so  little  afraid  of  the 
enemy,  that,  with  a  very  inconsiderable 
force,  he  would  undertake,  in  conjunction 
with  that  already  at  Pylos,  to  bring  to  Ath 
ens  in  twenty  days  the  Spartans  who  had 
given  them  so  much  trouble.  The  people 
laughed  at  this  apparent  gasconade  ;  but 
having  furnished  him  with  the  troops  lie 
desired,  he,  to  the  infinite  surprise  of  every 
one,  brought  the  Spartans  prisoners  to  Ath 
ens  within  the  time  he  had  specified. 

In  the  eighth  year  of  the  war  Nicias  re 
duced  the  island  of  Cythera  on  the  coast  of 
Laconia  and  Thyroea,  a  frontier  territory, 
which  had  been  given  to  the  JEginetans 
when  expelled  from  their  own  country  by 
the  Athenians.  In  Sicily,  Hermocrates  of 
Syracuse,  having  persuaded  the  inhabitants 
of  the  island  to  adjust  their  cfferences, 
without  foreign  interference,  the  Athenian 
generals  returned  home ;  a  step  which  so 
greatly  displeased  their  countrymen,  that 
two  of  them  were  banished,  and  the  third 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


415 


was  sentenced  to  pay  a  heavy  fine.  The 
Athenians,  under  the  conduct  of  Hippo 
crates  and  Demosthenes,  next  laid  siege  to 
Hegara;  but  Brasidas,  a  Spartan  general, 
coming  to  its  relief,  a  battle  ensued,  which, 
though  indecisive  in  its  result,  gave  the  Lace 
demonian  faction  an  ascendency  in  Megara, 
and  forced  many  who  had  favored  the  Athe 
nians  to  withdraw.  In  Boeotia  some  commo 
tions  were  raised  in  fay  or  of  the  Athenians ; 
but  their  generals,  Hippocrates  and  Demos 
thenes,  being  defeated  by  the  Lacedaemonian 
party,  all  hopes  ceased  of  the  Athenian 
power  being  established  in  this  district  of 
Greece. 

In  the  ninth  year  the  Spartans  made  new 
proposals  of  peace,  which  the  Athenians 
were  now  more  inclined  to  accept  than  for 
merly  ;  and  finding  their  affairs  much  un 
settled  by  the  loss  of  Amphipolis,  which 
had  been  reduced  by  Brasidas,  a  truce  for  a 
year  was  agreed  on,  while  negotiations  Avere 
immediately  opened  for  restoring  a  general 
peace.  But  this  pacific  scheme  was  soon 
overthrown  by  a  misunderstanding,  arising 
out  of  an  occurrence  purely  accidental,  and 
the  war  was  in  consequence  renewed. 

The  following  year  commenced  with  an  at 
tempt  by  Brasidas  upon  Potidaea  ;  but  this 
having  failed,  the  Athenians  began  to  re 
cover  some  courage ;  and  the  truce  expiring 
on  the  day  of  the  Pythian  games,  Cleon  ad 
vised  the  Athenians  to  send  an  army  under 
his  own  command  into  Thrace.  They  agreed 
to  this  proposal,  and  immediately  fitted  out 
a  force,  consisting  of  1200  foot  and  300 
horse,  all  Athenian  citizens,  embarked  on 
board  thirty  galleys,  of  which  the  dema 
gogue  took  the  command.  Brasidas  was  in 
ferior  in  numbers  to  his  opponent ;  but, 
observing  that  the  Athenian  commander  was 
careless,  and  neglectful  of  discipline,  the 
Spartan  suddenly  attacked  him,  and  routed 
his  army  with  the  loss  of  half  its  numbers, 
while  that  of  the  assailants  amounted  to 
only  seven  killed  and  a  few  wounded.  In 
this  encounter,  which  appears  to  have  been 
a  complete  surprise,  the  commanders  on  both 


sides  were  slain ;  and  although  the  Athe 
nians  might  well  spare  their  general,  whom 
impudence  and  accident  had  invested  with 
a  military  command,  the  death  of  their  brave 
leader  was  a  serious  loss  to  the  Spartans,  who, 
in  fact,  lamented  him  more  than  the  Athe 
nians  did  the  loss  of  the  battle.  In  conse 
quence  of  this  event,  however,  the  latter 
were  now  much  more  disposed  than  for 
merly  to  listen  to  terms  of  accommodation. 
Amongst  the  Spartans,  too,  there  was  a 
party,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  Plistoanax, 
their  king,  who  earnestly  wished  for  peace  ; 
and  as  Kicias  labored  no  less  assiduously  at 
Athens  to  bring  about  this  desirable  event, 
a  peace  was  at  last,  421  B.C.,  concluded  be 
tween  the  two  nations  for  the  period  of  fifty 
years.  The  conditions  were,  a  restitution  of 
places  and '  prisoners  on  both  sides,  with  the 
exception  of  Msrea,  which  was  to  remain  in 
the  hands  of  the  Athenians,  who  had  taken 
it  from  the  Megarians,  and  of  Platsea,  which 
was  to  continue  in  possession  of  the  The- 
bans,  who  could  not  possibly  give  it  up  with 
out  uncovering  the  whole  of  their  territory. 
The  Boeotians,  Corinthians  and  Megarians, 
refused  to  be  included  in  this  peace ;  but 
the  rest  of  the  allies  acquiesced  ;  and  being 
accordingly  ratified,  it  received  the  name  of 
the  Nician  pacification,  from  that  of  the 
general  who  had  been  mainly  instrumental 
in  restoring  the  blessing  of  peace  to  his 
country. 

But  although  peace  was  nominally  esta 
blished,  tranquillity  was  far  from  being  re 
stored.  Dissatisfied  with  the  treaty  on  vari 
ous  grounds,  several  states  of  the  Peloponne 
sus,  headed  by  Argos,  immediately  com 
menced  ora;anizino;  a  new  confederacv  :  even 

O  O  t/      / 

the  Lacedaemonians  found  it  impossible  to 
fulfill  exactly  the  stipulations  of  the  agree 
ment  ;  and  the  town  of  Amphipolis  in  par 
ticular  peremptorily  refused  to  return  under 
the  government  of  Athens ;  for  which  rea 
son  the  Athenians  also  refused  to  evacuate 
Pylos.  In  the  course  of  the  winter  fresh 
negotiations  were  opened,  but  nothing  defi 
nite  was  agreed  upon,  and  the  time  passed 


416 


HISTORY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


in  mutual  complaints  and  recriminations. 
At  Athens,  in  particular,  the  flame  of  dis 
content  was  artfully  fanned  by  Alcibiades, 
who  now  began  to  rival  Nicias  in  public 
favor,  and  who,  perceiving  that  the  Lace 
daemonians  paid  their  court  principally  to 
his  rival,  took  every  opportunity  of  incens 
ing  his  countrymen  against  that  nation.  On 
the  other  hand,  Nicias,  whose  reputation  was 
concerned  in  maintaining  the  treaty  invio 
late,  used  his  utmost  endeavors  to  bring 
about  a  reconciliation,  and  even  undertook 
a  journey  to  Sparta,  in  the  hope  of  effecting 
an  accommodation ;  but,  most  unhappily, 
the  artifices  of  Alcibiades,  added  to  the 
turbulent  and  haughty  disposition  of  both 
nations,  rendered  all  his  efforts  unavailing, 
and  at  length  satisfied  him  that  a  renewal  of 
the  war  was  inevitable.  If  the  intrigues  of 
that  remarkable  man,  however,  were  mainly 
instrumental  in  bringing  about  a  rupture,  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  he  took  the  most  pru 
dent  methods  for  insuring  the  safety  of  his 
country.  With  this  view  he  entered  into  a 
league  with  the  Argives  for  the  long  term 
of  a  hundred  years ;  he  then  marched  into 
the  territories  of  that  state  at  the  head  of  a 
considerable  force ;  and  he  exerted  all  his 
influence,  both  at  Argos  and  at  Patrae,  to 
persuade  the  people  to  connect  their  cities 
with  the  sea  by  means  of  walls,  in  order  to 
facilitate  the  landing  of  succor,  when  it 
might  be  necessary,  by  the  Athenians.  But, 
though  vigorous  preparations  were  now  made 
for  a  renewal  of  the  war,  nothing  of  any 
consequence  was  undertaken  this  year ;  if 
we  except  an  attempt  by  the  Argives  to 
make  themselves  masters  of  Epidaurus, 
which  was,  however,  defeated  by  the  Lace 
daemonians  throwing  a  strong  garrison  into 
the  place. 

The  next  being  the  fourteenth  year  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war,  a  Spartan  army,  under 
the  command  of  Agis,  entered  the  territory 
of  Argos  ;  but  just  as  battle  was  on  the  eve 
of  commencing,  a  truce  was  suddenly  con 
cluded  between  two  of  the  Argive  generals 
and  the  king  of  Sparta.  But  it  so  happened 


that  neither  party  felt  satisfied  with  this  pro 
ceeding,  and  both  the  kincr  and  the  e-enerals 

O'  o  o 

were  very  ill  received  by  their  respective 
fellow-citizens.  Accordingly,  on  the  arrival 
of  some  fresh  troops  from  Athens,  the  Ar 
gives  immediately  broke  the  truce  ;  and  a 
battle  ensuing  soon  afterwards,  the  allied 
army  was  defeated  with  great  slaughter  by 
Agis,  who  thus  achieved  a  victory  on  the 
very  spot  which  was  afterwards  destined  to 
acquire  additional  celebrity  as  the  scene  of 
one  of  the  most  disastrous  defeats  which  the 
Spartan  arms  ever  experienced.  In  the 
winter  a  strong  party  in  Argos  joined  the 
Lacedaemonians ;  in  consequence  of  which 
that  city  renounced  her  alliance  with  Athens, 
and  concluded  peace  with  Sparta  for  the 
period  of  half  a  century.  Further,  in  com 
pliment  to  their  new  allies,  the  Argives  abol 
ished  democracy  in  their  city,  substituting 
an  aristocracy  in  its  stead  ;  and  also  assisted 
the  Lacedaemonians  in  forcing  the  Sicyoniam 
to  adopt  a  similar  form  of  government 
Notwithstanding  all  this,  however,  the  Ar 
gives,  with  a  levity  natural  to  the  Greeks, 
renounced  their  alliance  with  Sparta  the 
following  year  ;  abolished  aristocracy,  drove 
the  Lacedaemonians  out  of  the  city,  and  re 
newed  their  league  with  Athens.  On  the 
other  hand  the  Athenians,  convinced  of  the 
bad  faith  of  Perdiccas,  king  of  Macedonia, 
abjured  his  alliance  and  declared  war  against 
him ;  preferring,  as  they  said,  an  open  enemy 
to  a  treacherous  friend.  And  as  Argos  was 
still  distracted  by  adverse  factions,  Alcibiades 
in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  year  terminated 
all  disputes  between  them  by  the  expulsion 
of  the  Spartan  party.  He  then  sailed  for 
the  island  of  Melos,  which  had  shc^vn  the 
greatest  inveteracy  against  his  countrymen, 
in  order  to  punish  the  inhabitants  for  repeat 
ed  acts  c  wanton  hostility  ;  but  perceiving 
that  the  reduction  of  the  island  would  be  a 
work  of  time,  he  left  a  considerable  body 
of  forces  there,  and  returned  to  Athens.  In 
his  absence,  however,  the  capital  of  Melos 
surrendered  at  discretion,  and  the  inhabit- 
j  ants  were  treated  with  the  utmost  severity ; 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


417 


all  the  men  capable  of  bearing  arms  being 
slaughtered,  and  the  women  and  children 
carried  into  captivity. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  year, 
Nicias  was  appointed  commander-in-chief  of 
an  expedition  destined  to  act  against  the 
Syracusans,  with  Alcibiades  and  Lamachus 
as  colleagues.  But  whilst  the  necessary  prep 
arations  were  being  made,  Athens  was  thrown 
into  terrible  confusion  by  the  defacing  of 
the  llermoe  or  statues  of  Hermes,  of  which 
there  was  a  great  number  in  the  city;  an 
outrage  equally  wanton  in  itself,  and  appal 
ling  to  the  people  of  Athens,  who  revered 
these  statues  both  as  monuments  of  art  and 
as  symbols  of  religion.  Great  efforts  were  in 
consequence  made  to  discover  the  perpetra 
tors  of  this  sacrilege;  but  although  ample 
rewards  svere  offered,  no  disclosure  was  then 
made.  At  last,  from  some  cause  unexplain 
ed,  suspicion  fell  upon  Alcibiades,  who  in 
consequence  received  orders  to  return  imme 
diately  from  Sicily  in  order  to  take  his  trial 
for  this  alleged  crime.  But  he  knew  the 
temper  of  his  countrymen  too  well  to  trust 
himself  to  their  mercy ;  and,  instead  of  re 
turning  to  Athens,  he  fled  to  Sparta,  where 
he  met  with  a  gracious  reception ;  whilst  the 
Athenians  were  severely  punished  by  the  loss 
of  their  army,  generals,  and  fleet,  in  Sicily ; 
a  disaster  which  the  superior  abilities  of  Al 
cibiades  would  in  all  probability  have  pre 
vented. 

The  nineteenth  and  twentieth  years  of  the 
war  were  spent  by  the  Athenians  in  equip 
ping  a  new  fleet  in  order  to  repair  their  loss 
es  ;  but  Alcibiades  hurt  their  interests  greatly 
by  persuading  Tissaphernes  the  Persian  to 
league  with  the  Spartans  against  them,  and 
at  the  same  time  stirring  up  several  of  the 
Ionian  states  to  revolt  against  what  he  de- 
scriijed  as  the  mob  government  of  Athens. 
Equally  restless  and  profligate,  however,  this 
celebrated  Athenian  had  scarcely  established 
himself  amongst  his  new  allies  when  he  con 
trived,  by  means  of  a  handsome  person  and 
an  insinuating  address,  to  debauch  the  wife 
of  Agis  the  Lacedaemonian  commander  ;  and 
53 


as  the  latter  strongly  resented  the  affront 
which  had  been  put  upon  him,  the  Athenian 
seducer  was  obliged  to  quit  Sparta  and  pass 
over  into  Persia.  Here,  however,  he  met 
with  a  favorable  reception  from  Tissapher 
nes,  who  profited  much  by  his  advice,  which, 
in  fact,  was  equally  shrewd  and  insidious: 
"Let  the  Greeks,"  said  he  to  the  Persian 
general,  "  exhaust  themselves  by  their  mutual 
wars;  foment  discord  among  them,  which 
you  will  always  find  comparatively  an  easy 
task ;  take  care  never  to  let  one  state  be  to 
tally  destroyed,  but  always  to  support  the 
weaker  party  against  the  more  powerful ; — 
follow  this  policy  for  a  time,  and  the  Greeks 
will  themselves  spare  you  the  trouble  of  con 
quering  them.  By  their  incessant  contests 
they  will  so  weaken  themselves  that  their 
country  will  become  the  prey  of  the  first  in 
vader." 

As  may  easily  be  supposed,  Tissaphernes 
readily  acquiesced  in  these  counsels;  upon 
which  Alcibiades  wrote  privately  to  some  of 
the  officers  in  the  Athenian  army  at  Samos, 
informing  them  that  he  had  been  treating 
with  the  Persians  in  behalf  of  his  country 
men,  but  that  he  did  not  choose  to  return  till 
the  democracy  should  be  abolished ;  adding, 
that  the  Persian  king  disliked  a  democracy, 
but  would  immediately  assist  them  if  that 
was  abolished,  and  an  oligarchy  established 
in  its  stead.  On  the  arrival  of  Pisander  and 
other  deputies  from  the  army  with  the  pro 
posals  of  Alcibiades,  the  oligarchal  party 
succeeded  in  overturning  the  democratic  con 
stitution  ;  in  consequence  of  which  Pisander 
and  the  deputies  received  directions  to  return 
to  Alcibiades,  in  order  to  ascertain  precisely 
on  what  terms  the  king  of  Persia  was  dis 
posed  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  them. 
But  perceiving  that  Tissaphernes  was  by  no 
means  inclined  to  assist  the  Athenians,  on 
account  of  their  recent  successes,  Alcibiadea 
artfully  set  up  such  extravagant  demands  in 
the  king  of  Persia's  name,  that  the  Athenians 
of  themselves  broke  off  the  treaty,  and  thus 
enabled  him  to  outwit  both  parties  without 
offending  either.  But  notwithstanding  the 


418 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


failure  of  the  negotiations  with  Tissapher- 
nes,  tl.e  democratical  form  of  government 
was  abolished,  first  in  the  cities  subject  to 
Athens,  and  afterwards  in  the  capital  itself; 
whilst,  according  to  the  scheme  substituted 
in  its  stead,  it  was  provided  that  the  old  form 
of  government  should  be  entirely  dissolved  ; 
— that  five  Prytanes  should  be  elected ; — 
that  these  five  should  choose  a  hundred  oth 
ers,  and  each  of  the  hundred  choose  three 
more ; — that  the  Four  Hundred  thus  elected 
should  become  a  senate  with  full  power,  but 
should  nevertheless  consult  occasionally  with 
Five  Thousand  of  the  wealthiest  citizens, 
who  alone  were  henceforth  to  be  accounted 
The  People ; — and  that  no  authority  what 
ever  should  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  lower 
class  of  citizens.  Such  was  the  scheme  pro 
posed  by  Pisauder ;  and  although  the  people 
were  opposed  to  this  change,  those  who  con 
ducted  it,  being  men  of  great  parts,  found 
means  to  establish  it  by  one  of  those  uncere 
monious  acts  of  audacity  which  commonly  dis 
tinguish  revolutions  in  popular  governments. 
In  the  meanwhile  the  Athenian  army  hav 
ing  changed  their  mind,  declared  for  a  de 
mocracy  ;  and  recalling  Alcibiades,  they  in 
vested  him  with  full  power,  and  insisted  on 
his  immediate  return  to  Athens  for  the  pur 
pose  of  restoring  the  ancient  government. 
But  he  peremptorily  refused  to  comply  with 
their  wishes ;  persuaded  them  to  stay  where 
they  were  in  order  to  save  Ionia ;  and  fur 
ther  prevailed  on  them  to  allow  some  depu 
ties,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  new  govern 
ors  of  Athens,  to  deliver  the  message  with 
which  they  were  charged.  When  the  depu 
ties  had  done  so,  Alcibiades  enjoined  them 
in  reply  to  return  immediately  to  Athens, 
and  acquaint  the  Four  Hundred  that  they 
were  commanded  instantly  to  resign  their 
authority  and  restore  the  senate;  adding, 
that  the  Five  Thousand  might  retain  their 
power  for  the  present,  provided  they  used  it 
with  moderation.  By  this  answer  the  city 
was  thrown  into  the  utmost  confusion ;  but 
the  party  of  the  new  government  prevailing, 
ambassadors  were  dispatched  to  Sparta  with 


orders  to  conclude  peace  upon  any  terms. 
This,  however,  was  not  so  easy  a  matter  as 
some  had  hastily  in  agined  ;  for  the  Spartans 
proved  intractable  ;  and  Phrynicus,  the  chief 
of  the  embassy,  was  murdered  cm  his  return 
When  the  news  of  his  death  arrived,  Thera- 
menes,  the  head  of  the  democratical  party, 
seized  the  leaders  of  the  Four  Hundred  ; 
upon  which  a  tumult  ensued  that  had  almost 
proved  fatal  to  the  city  itself;  but  the  people 
being  at  last  dispersed,  the  Four  Hundred 
immediately  assembled,  and  sent  deputies  to 
the  people,  promising  to  comply  with  all  their 
reasonable  demands.  A  day  was  accordingly 
appointed  for  convoking  a  general  assembly, 
and  settling  the  form  of  government ;  but 
when  it  arrived,  intelligence  was  brought 
that  the  Lacedaemonian  fleet  was  in  sight, 
and  steering  directly  for  Salamis.  Thus  all 
was  a^ain  thrown  into  confusion  ;  and  tlin 

O 

people,  instead  of  deliberating  on  the  subject 
proposed,  ran  in  crowds  down  to  the  port, 
whence  a  fleet  of  thirty-six  ships  was  imme 
diately  dispatched,  under  the  command  of 
Timochares,  to  engage  the  enemy,  who  were 
perceived  to  be  making  for  Euboea.  But 
this  fleet  was  utterly  defeated,  twenty-two 
ships  being  taken,  and  the  remainder  cither 
sunk  or  disabled ;  and  this  disaster  was  fol 
lowed  by  the  revolt  of  all  Euboea,  except  the 
small  district  of  Oreus.  When  the  dismal 
tidings  reached  Athens,  everything  was  given 
up  for  lost;  and  had  the  Lacedaemonians 
taken  this  opportunity  of  attacking  the  city, 
they  would  undoubtedly  have  succeeded  in 
the  attempt,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  the  war 
by  the  subjugation  of  Athens.  But  being  at 
all  times  slow,  especially  in  naval  affairs,  they 
allowed  the  Athenians  time  to  equip  another 
fleet,  and  to  retrieve  their  affairs ;  while  Al 
cibiades,  by  his  intrigues,  so  effectually  em 
broiled  the  Persians  and  Peloponnesians  that 
neither  party  knew  whom  to  trust,  and  mu 
tual  distrust  at  length  rose  to  such  a  pitch  as 
almost  to  involve  them  in  open  hostility; 
and  several  advantages  gained  by  the  Athe 
nians  at  sea  tended  to  revive  their  hopes  and 
restore  their  confidence. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


419 


During  the  succeeding  years  of  this  cele 
brated  war  the  Athenians  were  also  in  the 
first  instance  very  successful.  Thrasybulus 
obtained  a  signal  advantage  at  sea ;  and  in 
the  same  day  Alcibiades  gained  two  victo 
ries,  one  by  "land  and  another  by  sea,  captur 
ing  the  whole  Peloponnesian  fleet,  besides  an 
immense  spoil.  The  Spartans,  humbled  by 
these  reverses,  were  reduced  in  their  turn  to 
the  necessity  of  suing  for  peace.  But  the 
Athenians,  intoxicated  with  success,  sent 
back  the  envoys  without  vouchsafing  an  an 
swer  to  their  proposals;  and  the  Spartans, 
justly  incensed  at  this  insolent  and  contempt 
uous  conduct,  renewed  the  war  with  the  ut 
most  vigor,  and  soon  after  made  themselves 
masters  of  Pylos.  Nor  was  this  the  only 
misfortune  of  the  Athenians.  The  JMegari- 
ans  surprised  Nisaea,  and  put  the  garrison  to 
death  ;  an  act  which  so  exasperated  the  Athe 
nians,  that  they  immediately  sent  an  army 
against  that  people, — defeated  them  with 
great  slaughter, — and  committed  horrid  de 
vastations,  in  revenge  for  the  affair  of  Nisaea. 
But  these  misfortunes  were  still  in  some 
measure  counterbalanced  by  the  great  ac 
tions  of  Alcibiades,  Thrasybulus,  and  Thera- 
menes.  "When  Alcibiades  returned  in  tri 
umph  to  Athens,  408  B.  c.,  he  brought  with 
him  a  fleet  of  two  hundred  ships,  together 
with  such  a  load  of  spoils  as  had  never  been 
Been  in  the  capital  since  the  conclusion  of 
the  Persian  war.  The  people  crowded  to  the 
port  to  behold  the  hero  as  he  landed;  old 
and  young  blessed  him  as  he  passed;  and 
next  day,  when  he  had  delivered  a  harangue 
to  the  assembly,  they  directed  the  record  of 
his  banishment  to  be  thrown  into  the  sea, 
absolved  him  from  the  curses  he  lay  under 
on  account  of  the  alleged  sacrilege,  and  cre 
ated  him  generalissimo  of  their  forces.  But 
this  enthusiasm  was  too  violent  to  be  lasting ; 
an  1  in  point  of  fact  a  casual  reverse,  which 
A  jibiades  sustained  soon  after  this,  obliter 
ated  all  remembrance  of  his  former  services, 
and  involved  him  in  disgrace.  Having  sailed 
to  the  Hellespont  with  part  of  his  fleet,  he 
left  the  remainder  under  the  command  of 


Antiochus  his  pilot,  with  strict  orders  to  at 
tempt  nothing  in  his  absence.  But  the  pilot 
chose  to  disobey  his  instructions,  and  having 
provoked  Lysander,  the  Lacedaemonian  ad 
miral,  to  an  engagement,  he  paid  for  his  te 
merity  by  a  total  defeat,  with  the  loss  of  fif 
teen  ships,  and  that  of  his  own  life  into  the 
bargain.  On  receiving  intelligence  of  this 
disaster,  Alcibiades  returned,  and  endeavored 
to  induce  the  Lacedaemonian  commander  to 
hazard  a  second  battle ;  but  Lysander  was 
too  prudent  to  incur  such  a  risk ;  and  in  the 
meanwhile  the  Athenians  deprived  Alcibi 
ades  of  his  command,  and  named  ten  new 
generals  in  his  stead.  By  this  proceeding 
their  ruin  was  sealed.  Conon,  who  succeeded 
to  the  command,  was  beaten  by  Callicrati- 
das,  Lysander's  successor;  but  being  after 
wards  strongly  reinforced,  he  retrieved  this 
disgrace  by  defeating  the  Lacedaemonians 
with  the  loss  of  no  less  than  seventy -seven 
ships.  Such  a  victory  might  have  been  sup 
posed  to  inspire  the  Athenians  with  some 
gratitude  towards  the  generals  who  had  gain 
ed  it ;  but  instead  of  this  eight  of  them  were 
recalled,  on  pretence  of  their  not  having  as 
sisted  the  wounded  during  the  engagement : 
two  were  prudent  enough  not  to  return ;  and 
the  six  who  trusted  to  the  justice  of  their 
country  were  all  put  to  death  without  mercy. 
The  following  year  Lysander,  appointed 
commander  of  the  Peloponnesian  fleet,  suc 
ceeded  in  capturing  both  Thasus  and  Lamp- 
sacus.  Conon  was  immediately  dispatched 
against  him  with  180  ships ;  a  force  so  supe 
rior  to  that  under  Lysander,  that  the  Lace 
daemonian  declined  accepting  battle,  and  was 
consequently  blocked  up  in  the  river  ^Egos. 
While  the  Athenians  lay  there  observing 
him,  they  grew  quite  idle  and  careless,  inso 
much  that  Alcibiades,  who  had  built  a  habi 
tation  for  himself  in  the  neighborhood,  en 
treated  them  to  be  more  watchful,  as  he  well 
knew  Lysander's  great  abilities,  and  dreaded 
that  they  might  have  reason  to  repent  their 
security  if  they  disregarded  his  advice.  They 
replied  by  expressing  their  winder  at  thc$  as 
surance  of  one  who  was  an  exile  and  a  vaga 


420 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


bond,  in  pretendi.  ^  to  offer  advice  to  them ; 
adding,  that  if  l.e  gave  them  any  further 
trouble,  they  would  seize  and  send  him  a 
prisoner  to  Athens.  The  consequences  of 
such  conduct  may  easily  be  imagined.  Ly- 
sancler  fell  unexpectedly  upon  them,  and 
gained  a  complete  victory ;  Conon,  with  only 
nine  galleys,  escaping  to  Evagoras  at  Cyprus : 
after  which  the  Lacedaemonian  commander 
returned  to  Lampsacns,  where  he  put  to 
death  Philocles  with  3000  of  his  soldiers,  and 
the  whole  of  the  officers  except  Adimantus. 
He  then  reduced  all  the  cities  subject  to 
Athens,  and  artfully  sent  home  their  garri 
sons,  that  the  city,  overstocked  with  inhabi 
tants,  might  thus  be  rendered  incapable  of 
holding  out  for  any  length  of  time  when  he 
came  to  besiege  it. 

Nor  was  any  time  lost  in  undertaking  this 
decisive  operation.  Lysander  appeared  be 
fore  the  harbors  with  a  fleet :  while  Agis,  at 
the  head  of  a  powerful  army,  invested  it  on 
the  land  side.  For  a  considerable  time  the 
Athenians  resisted  both  attacks;  but  they 
were  at  last  forced  to  send  deputies  to  Agis, 
who  referred  them  to  Sparta ;  and  when  they 
repaired  thither  they  were  told  that  no  terms 
could  be  granted  unless  they  consented  to 
demolish  their  walls.  They  next  applied  to 
Lysander,  but  he  also  referred  them  to  Spar 
ta  ;  to  which  Theramenes,  with  other  depu 
ties,  was  immediately  dispatched.  On  their 
arrival  they  found  assembled  the  council  of 
the  confederates,  who  all  except  the  Spartans 
gave  their  votes  for  the  utter  destruction  of 
Athens ;  but  the  latter  would  on  no  account 
consent  to  the  ruin  of.  a  city  which  had  de 
served  so  well  of  Greece.  The  Athenian 
envoys  did  all  in  their  power  to  mitigate  the 
severity  of  the  terms,  but  without  effect ; 
and  finally  peace  was  concluded,  on  condi 
tion  that  the  long  walls  and  the  fortifications 
of  the  port  should  be  demolished,  and  that 
the  Athenians  should  deliver  up  all  their 
ships  excepting  twelve,  receive  back  such  as 
had  been  banished  for  political  offences,  and 
consent  to  follow  the  fortune  of  the  Lacedae 
monians.  Aid  these  severe  terms  were 


punctually  executed.  Lysander  caused  tho 
walls  and  fortifications  to  be  pulled  down ; 
established  an  oligarchy  expressly  against 
the  will  of  the  people ;  and  thus  completed 
the  ruin  of  Athens  in  the  twenty-seventh 
year  of  the  Peloponnesian  War,  and  tho 
404th  B.  c. 

As  soon  as  the  Lacedaemonian  had  demolish 
ed  the  long  walls  and  the  fortifications  of  tho 
Peirreus,  he  constituted  a  council  of  thirty, 
with  power,  as  was  pretended,  to  make  laws, 
but  in  truth  to  subjugate  the  state.  These 
were  the  persons  so  famous  in  history  under 
the  title  of  the  Thirty  Tyrants.  They  wcro 
all  the  creatures  of  Lysander;  and  as  they 
derived  their  power  from  conquest  and  tho 
law  of  the  sword,  they  exercised  it  in  a  man 
ner  worthy  of  its  origin.  Instead  of  making 
laws,  they  governed  without  them  ;  they  ap 
pointed  a  senate  and  magistrates  at  their 
will ;  and,  lastly,  they  applied  for  a  garrison 
from  Lacedosmon,  that,  under  the  protection 
of  a  foreign  military  force,  they  might  give 
a  freer  and  bolder  scope  to  the  licentiousness 
of  tyranny. 

Critias  and  Theramenes,  two  men  of  the 
greatest  power  and  abilities  in  Athens,  were 
at  the  head  of  this  odious  oligarchy.  The 
former  was  ambitious  and  cruel  beyond 
measure  ;  but  the  latter  was  of  a  more  mer 
ciful  and  humane  disposition.  The  one 
pushed  on  all  the  bloody  schemes  framed 
by  his  confederates,  and  carried  into  execu 
tion  many  of  his  own  ;  the  other  always 
opposed  them,  at  first  with  moderation,  at 
last  with  vehemence.  In  the  course  of  his 
expostulations  he  said,  that  power  was  given 
them  to  rule  and  not  to  despoil  the  common 
wealth  ;  that  it  became  them  to  act  like 
shepherds,  not  like  wolves ;  and  that  they 
ought  to  beware  of  rendering  themselves  at 
once  odious  and  ridiculous,  by  attempting 
to  domineer  over  all,  being  a  mere  handful 
of  men,  whom  the  slightest  resistance  would 
crush.  This  hint  was  not  thrown  away ;  for 
the  remaining  oligarchs  immediately  chose 
three  thousand  persons,  whom  they  consti 
tuted  the  representatives  of  the  people,  and 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


421 


on  whom  they  granted  the  notable  priv 
ilege  of  not  being  liable  to  be  put  to  death 
except  by  judgment  of  the  senate  ;  thereby 
assuming  by  implication  a  power  of  sacrific 
ing  the  other  Athenian  citizens  at  their 
pleasure.  Xor  were  they  slow  in  practically 
confirming  the  justice  of  this  interpretation ; 
for  as  many  as  they  conjectured  to  be  un 
friendly  to  the  government  in  general,  or  to 
any  of  themselves  in  particular,  they  put  to 
death,  without  cause  and  without  mercy. 
Theramenes  stoutly  resisted  this  wantonness 
of  cruelty ;  and  absolutely  refusing  to  con 
cur  in  such  measures,  Critias  accused  him  to 
the  senate  as  a  man  of  unsteady  principles, 
sometimes  for  the  people,  sometimes  against 
them,  and  favorable  to  nothing  except  inno 
vation  and  revolution.  The  accused  ad 
mitted  that  he  had  sometimes  changed  his 
measures,  but  alleged  that  he  had  always 
done  so  for  the  benefit  of  the  people.  It 
was  solely  with  this  view  that  he  made  peace 
with  Sparta,  and  accepted  of  office  as  one  of 
the  Thirty  ;  nor  had  he  ever  opposed  their 
measures  while  they  cut  oif  the  wicked ;  but 
when  they  began  to  destroy  men  of  fortune 
and  family,  solely  for  the  purpose  of  confis 
cating  their  property,  then  he  owned  he  had 
differed  with  them,  which  he  conceived  to 
be  no  crime  against  the  state. 

Whilst  Theramenes  wras  speaking,  Critias, 
perceiving  the  impression  made  upon  the 
senate  by  his  words,  withdrew  abruptly ; 
but. he  soon  returned  with  a  guard,  crying 
out  that  he  had  struck  the  name  of  Thera 
menes  out  of  the  list  of  the  three  thousand ; 
that  the  senate  had  therefore  no  longer  cog 
nizance  of  the  cause ;  and  that  the  Thirty 
had  already  judged  and  condemned  him  to 
death.  Theramenes,  seeing  that  they  in 
tended  to  seize  him,  fled  to  the  altar  in  the 
midst  of  the  senate-house,  and  laying  his 
hands  thereon,  said,  "  I  do  not  seek  refuge 
here  because  I  expect  to  escape  death,  or 
desire  it ;  but  that,  tearing  me  from  the 
altar,  the  impious  authors  of  my  murder 
may  interest  the  gods  in  bringing  tjiem  to 
speedy  judgment,  and  thereby  restore  free 


dom  to  my  country."  The  guards  then 
dragged  him  from  the  altar,  and  carrying 
him  to  the  place  of  execution,  he  drank  th& 
poison  with  undaunted  courage  ;  reminding 
the  people,  with  his  last  breath,  that  the 
same  tyrants  who  had  arbitrarily  struck  his 
name  out  of  the  list  of  the  three  thousand, 
might  also  strike  out  any  c£  theirs,  and  that 
none  could  say  whose  turn  it  .night  next  be 
to  drink  the  fatal  cup  which  he  had  just 
drained.  The  death  of  this  heroic  man  was 
followed  by  a  train  of  murders  such  as  are 
to  be  found  recorded  only  in  the  annals  of 
republican  oligarchies  or  aristocratical  re 
publics.  Almost  every  citizen  of  any  emi 
nence  either  died  a  violent  death  or  was 
driven  into  exile. 

At  length  Thrasybulus,  and  such  as  like  him 
had  taken  shelter  in  the  Theban  territory,  re 
solved  to  hazard  everything  rather  than  re 
main  in  a  state  of  perpetual  exile  from  their 
country ;  and  although  he  had  no  more  than 
thirty  men  on  whom  he  could  depend,  yet, 
inspired  by  the' remembrance  of  the  vic 
tories  he  had  heretofore  obtained  in  the  cause 
of  his  country,  he  boldly  made  an  irruption 
into  Attica,  and  seizing  on  Phyle,  a  castle  at 
a  short  distance  from  Athens,  numbers  flock 
ed  to  liis  standard,  and  he  soon  found  him 
self  at  the  head  of  seven  hundred  men,  mad 
dened  by  cruelty  and  oppression,  and  pre 
pared  to  devote  themselves  for  their  coun 
try.  The  tyrants  of  course  had  the  disposal 
of  the  Spartan  garrison,  which  they  employ 
ed  to  reduce  Thrasybulus  and  his  party ;  yet 
he  prevailed  in  various  skirmishes,  and  at 
last  obliged  them  to  decamp  from  Phyle, 
which  they  had  intended  to  blockade.  The 
Thirty  and  their  partizans  conceiving  it  ex 
pedient  to  obtain  possession  of  Eleusis, 
marched  thither  ;  and  having  persuaded  the 
people  to  go  unarmed  out  of  their  city,  on 
the  pretence  of  numbering  them,  the  mons 
ters  instantly  commenced  an  indiscriminate 
massacre.  But  the  forces  of  Thrasybulus 
increasing  daily,  he  seized  on  the  Peinisus, 
which  he  fortified  in  the  best  manner  he 
could  ;  and  although  the  tyrants  came  dowc 


422 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


against  him  with  the  utmost  force  they  could 
raise,  he  defended  himself  with  so  much 
obstinacy,  that  in  the  end  they  were  forced 
to  retreat,  having  lost  before  the  place  not 
only  a  great  number  of  their  men,  but  Critias, 
the  president  of  the  Thirty,  and  other  mem 
bers  of  this  sanguinary  oligarchy.  By  this 
gallant  resistance  the  fate  of  the  oligarchy 
was  sealed.  The  people  indeed  differed 
among  themselves  ;  and  the  sanguinary 
monsters,  who  during  their  short  adminis 
tration  had  destroyed  more  men  than  had 
fallen  during  half  the  Peloponnesian  war, 
had  still  a  considerable  party  in  Athens. 
But  happily  the  cause  of  humanity  prevail 
ed  ;  the  tyrants  were  expelled,  and  withdrew 
to  Eleusis. 

But  although  the  citizens  had  changed  the 
government,  they  had  made  no  agreement 
with  those  in  the  Peineus  ;  whilst  the  tyr 
ants,  who  had  retired  to  Eleusis,  sent  depu 
ties  to  Lacedflemon  to  announce  the  revolt 
of  the  Athenians,  and  request  assistance  to 
reduce  them.  !Nor  did  their  application 
prove  fruitless.  Besides  remitting  them  a 
large  sum  of  money  to  aid  their  intrigues, 
the  Lacedaemonians  appointed  Lysander  com- 
mander-in-ch:ef,  and  his  brother  admiral ; 
resolving  to  send  both  a  fleet  and  an  army, 
in  order  to  reduce  Athens  a  second  time, 
and,  as  most  of  the  Greek  states  then  strong 
ly  suspected,  to  add  it  to  their  other  domin 
ions.  Nor  is  it  improbable  that  this  design 
would  have  taken  effect,  had  not  Pausanias, 
the  rival  and  enemy  of  Lysander,  resolved 
to  obstruct  it  by  every  means  in  his  power. 
With  tlu's  view  he  caused  another  army  to 
be  raised,  of  which  he  took  the  command, 
and  immediately  marched  for  the  ostensible 
purpose  of  besieging  the  Peineus.  But 
while  he  lay  before  the  place,  and  pretended 
to  attack  it,  he  entered  into  a  private  corres 
pondence  with  Thrasybulus,  instructing  him 
what  propositions  to  make  in  order  to  induce 
the  Lacedemonians,  who  were  suspected  by 
their  allies,  to  abandon  the  contest,  and  con 
clude  peace  upon  equitable  terms.  These 
intrigues  had  all  the  success  that  could  be 


desired.  The  Ephori  who  were  with  Paus 
anias  in  the  camp  concurred  in  his  measures ; 
and  in  a  short  time  a  treaty  was  concluded, 
by  which,  amongst  other  things,  it  was  pro 
vided  that  all  the  citizens  of  Athens  should 
be  restored  to  their  homes  and  privileges, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Thirty,  the  Eleven 
who  had  acted  as  their  ministers,  and  tho 
Ten  who  during  the  time  of  the  oligarchy 
had  been  constituted  governors  of  the  Pei- 
raeus ;  that  all  should  remain  quiet  for  the 
future  in  the  city ;  and  that,  if  any  persons 
were  afraid  to  trust  to  this  agreement,  they 
should  have  permission  to  retire  unmolested 
to  Eleusis.  Pausanias  then  marched  away 
with  the  Spartan  army  ;  and  Thrasybulus  at 
the  head  of  his  forces  entered  Athens,  where, 
having  laid  down  their  arms,  they  sacrificed 
with  the  rest  of  their  fellow-citizens  in  the 
temple  of  Athena,  and  then,  to  the  great 
delight  of  all,  restored  the  popular  form  of 
government,  which  was  afterwards  consoli 
dated  by  an  act  of  general  amnesty  and 
oblivion. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  this  transaction 
the  conduct  of  Thrasybulus  was  admirable. 
When  he  first  seized  the  castle  of  Phyle, 
the  tyrants  privately  offered  to  receive  him 
into  their  number  instead  of  Theramenes, 
and  to  pardon  at  his  request  any  twelve  per 
sons  whom  he  might  choose  to  name.  But 
he  nobly  replied  that  he  considered  his  exile 
far  more  honorable  than  any  authority  could 
be,  purchased  on  such  terms  ;  and  by  persist 
ing  in  his  design  he  accomplished  the  deliv 
erance  of  his  country  from  a  ferocious  and 
sanguinary  oligarchy  which,  as  Isocrates  in 
forms  us,  had  put  1400  citizens  to  death 
without  any  form  of  law,  and  had  driven 
5000  more  into  banishment,  besides  commit 
ting  a  variety  of  other  acts  of  cruelty  and 
oppression. 

But,  although  Athens  was  thus  restored 
to  liberty  by  the  virtuous  patriotism  of 
Thrasybulus,  the  age  of  Athenian  glory  had 
passed  away.  From  this  period  till  the  reign 
of  Philip  of  Macedonia  the  republic  grad 
ually  sunk  in  energy  though  it  still  eon 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


423 


tinned  to  enjoy  tolerable  prosperity ;  and 
although  many  of  the  great  masterpieces  of 
Athenian  genius  were  the  productions  of  a 
later  age,  the  most  splendid  of  these  only 
serve  to  prove  beyond  all  question  that  the 
national  spirit  had  degenerated,  and  that, 
"  sunk  in  its  glory,  decayed  in  its  worth," 
the  Athenian  Demos,  which,  had  once  been 
the  wonder  and  terror  of  the  world,  was 
now  prepared  to  receive  the  law  from  the 
hands  of  almost  any  master. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  Peloponnesian 
war  the  Spartans  had  received  much  assist 
ance  from  the  younger  Cyrus,  son  of  Darius, 
the  Persian  monarch,  and  satrap  of  Lydia, 
Phrygia  and  Cappadocia.  In  return  for  this, 
when  Cyrus  meditated  an  expedition  to  de 
throne  his  brother  Artaxerxes,  he  obtained 
the  aid  of  ten  thousand  Spartan  soldiers. 
The  troops  were  levied  in  Sparta  under  the 
pretence  of  a  campaign  against  the  mountain 
bandits  of  Asia  Minor,  and  their  real  pur 
pose  was  kept  a  secret  even  from  their  lead 
ers.  The  Greeks  who  enlisted  in  this  army 
were  tempted  by  the  fabulous  reports  of  the 
rewards  that  they  might  expect  from  the  im 
mense  wealth  of  the  Persians  and  the  known 
liberality  of  Cyrus.  Among  the  volunteers 
was  the  Athenian  knight,  Xenophon,  who 
wrote  a  history  of  the  expedition.  The 
Greeks  joined  the  Persian  army  at  Sardis,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  year  401  B.C.  Cyrus 
led  his  forces  through  Lydia  and  Phrygia 
and  entered  Cilicia.  When  he  passed  Pisi- 
dia  the  Greeks  saw  that  they  had  been  de 
ceived,  and  refused  to  proceed ;  Cyrus,  how 
ever,  prevailed  upon  them  to  go  on,  by 
raising  their  pay.  At  Issus  they  were  join- 
ad  by  a  reinforcement  which  had  arrived 
from  Greece  by  sea.  Abrocomas,  the  gen 
eral  of  the  royal  army  in  Syria  and  Phoeni 
cia,  retreated  before  the-  invaders.  Encour 
aged  by  the  apparent  fear  of  the  enemy,  Cy 
rus  crossed  the  Euphrates  and  directed  his 
course  to  Babylon.  Artaxerxes,  however, 
was  prepared  to  meet  him,  and  the  hostile 
armies  soon  approached  each  other,  and 
in  the  desperate  battle  of  Cumaxa  follow 


ed,  in  Cyrus  himself  was  killed,  and  his 
army  suffered  great  loss.  The  Greeks  wish 
ed  to  continue  the  conflict  and  to  place 
Aliceus,  the  general  who  succeeded  Cyrus, 
upon  the  Persian  throne.  This,  however, 
was  impossible,  and  nothing  was  left  for 
them  but  to  retreat,  upon  the  best  terms  they 
could.  They  obtained  permission  from 
Artaxerxes  to  depart  in  peace,  and  he  even 
gave  them  provisions,  and  sent  one  of  his 
generals,  Tissaphernes,  to  conduct  them 
home.  They  began  their  march,  accom 
panied  by  the  Persian  troops,  but  they  had 
not  gone  far  when  suspicions  of  the  fidelity  of 
their  guides  began  to  be  aroused.  The  Greeks 
demanded  an  interview  with  the  Persian  lead 
ers,  and  five  Greek  generals  with  two  hundred 
soldiers  proceeded  to  the  Persian  camp.  They 
had  no  sooner  entered  the  Persian  lines  than 
the  soldiers  and  captains  were  cut  down,  and 
the  generals  put  in  irons,  and  sent  to  the 
Persian  court,  where  they  were  subsequently 
beheaded.  The  Greeks,  upon  hearing  of 
this  treachery,  were  in  great  despair,  for  they 
were  in  an  unknown  and  hostile  country, 
more  than  a  thousand  miles  from  home,  and 
without  provisions.  They  found  a  leader, 
however,  in  the  young  Athenian,  Xenophon, 
whom  they  immediately  chose  as  general  in 
consequence  of  a  dream  which  lie  declared 
to  them.  They  now  pursued  their  course, 
harassed  by  the  enemy,  to  the  Tigris,  which 
they  found  too  deep  to  ford.  They  were  then 
obliged  to  turn  aside  and  fight  their  way 
through  the  narrow  mountain  passes  of 
Armenia,  filled  with  hostile  tribes.  At  last 
they  reached  the  Euxine,  and  when  the 
water  first  flashed  upon  their  sight,  a  cry  of 
joy  burst  from  the  whole  army.  "  Thalatta ! 
Thalatta ! "  they  exclaimed,  "  the  sea,  the 
sea ! "  A  few  days  march  brought  them  to 
a  Grecian  city,  Trapezus.  on  the  Euxine. 
The  inhabitants  received  them  well,  and  the 
worst  of  their  hardships  were  now  ovev. 
The  remnant  of  the  ten  thousand  succeeded 
in  making  their  way  to  Perganus,  in  Mysia, 
where  they  joined  the  Spartan  army  of 
Thimbron,  and  Xenophon  returned  to.  Athens 


424 


HISTORY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


After  the  fall  of  Athens,  Sparta  remained 
the  chief  power  in  Greece.  She  immediately 
took  advantage  of  her  position  to  demand 
satisfaction  from  the  Eleans  for  the  insult 
they  had  offered  her  in  excluding  her  from 
the  Olympic  games  and  from  the  sacrifices 
to  the  oracle.  The  Spartans  required  that 
the  Eleans  should  pay  their  share  of  the  ex 
penses  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  and  should 
relinquish  their  authority  over  Triphylia. 
Upon  their  refusal  they  sent  a  large  army 
into  Elis,  but  the  expedition  was  checked 
by  an  earthquake,  which  was  deemed  a  re 
monstrance  from  the  gods.  Another  at 
tempt  in  the  next  year  was  more  successful. 
This  time,  the  Spartans,  with  their  allies, 
among  whom  there  were  even  some  Atheni 
ans,  overran  and  laid  waste  the  territory  of 
Elis,  and  compelled  the  Eleans  to  submit  to 
humiliating  terms. 

Ly sander,  in  the  mean  time,  had  attained 
to  such  influence  in  the  state,  by  means  of 
his  power  and  wealth,  that  he  began  to  con 
ceive  the  idea  of  setting  aside  the  reigning 
dynasty,  and,  by  putting  the  election  of  the 
king  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  open  the 
way  to  obtain  the  crown  for  himself. 
Failing,  however,  in  securing  the  support  of 
the  priests,  which  was  necessary  for  his  pro 
ject,  he  was  forced  to  content  himself  with 
placing  Agesilaus  upon  the  throne  in  the 
place  of  his  younger  brother,  at  the  death  of 
king  Agis.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
reign  of  Agesilaus  he  was  disturbed  by  a  con 
spiracy  of  the  lower  classes,  which  was 
promptly  suppressed.  It  was  occasioned  by 
the  discontent  which  the  change  now  going 
on  in  the  Spartan  government  produced. 
Sparta  had  now  extended  her  authority  over 
the  cities  which  before  had  been  under  the 
Athenian  Empire.  In  each  of  these  a  Dech- 
archy  or  government  of  ten  was  establish 
ed,  with  a  Spartan  Harmost  or  governor  at 
the  head.  These  governors  exercised  a  very 
corrupt  and  despotic  rule,  and  were  regarded 
with  detestation  by  the  people  over  whom 
they  ruled.  The  ancient  rigor  of  the  Spar 
tan  system  ha/1  a'so  begun  to  degenerate. 


The  iron  money  of  Lycurgus  had  been  super 
seded  by  gold  and  silver,  and  the  public 
table  was  discontinued. 

Another  war  with  the  Persians  in  Asia 
Minor  now  broke  out.  After  the  death  of 
Cyrus,  his  satrapy  had  been  given  to  Tissa- 
pherncs,  who,  as  soon  as  he  took  possession 
of  his  province,  began  an  attack  upon  the 
Ionian  cities,  under  the  protection  of  Sparta. 
A  Greek  force  under  Thimbron  was  sent  to 
their  relief,  and  this  was  afterward  reinforced 
by  the  arrival  of  the  remnant  of  the  Ten 
Thousand.  Upon  Thimbron  failing  to  do 
anything,  Dercyllidas,  a  man  of  a  great 
reputation  for  cunning,  was  raised  to  the 
command.  This  general  immediately  made 
a  truce  with  Tissaphernes  and  turned 
his  whole  force  against  Pharnabazus,  who 
was  his  personal  enemy.  In  eight  days 
he  took  nine  ^Eolian  towns,  and  estab 
lished  himself  securely  in  Eithynia.  In 
the  next  spring  he  marched  with  his  army 
into  Thrace,  and  built  a  strong  wall  across 
the  Chersonese,  for  the  security  of  the  Greek 
colony  on  that  peninsula.  Upon  his  returr 
he  was  ordered  to  attack  Tissaphernes  in 
Caria  with  the  aid  of  the  Spartan  fleet. 
Tissaphernes  and  Pharnabazus  had  now, 
however,  united  their  armies,  and  the  com 
bined  force  was  too  powerful  to  be  attacked 
by  Dercyll  idas.  The  Spartan  commander,  in 
deed,  found  himself  in  a  position  where  he 
would  have  suffered  severely  if  his  enemies 
had  been  more  active.  He  therefore  sought 
to  make  terms,  and  an  armistice  was  agreed 
upon.  The  truce  was  employed  by  the  Per 
sians  in  preparing  for  a  more  energetic  pro 
secution  of  the  war  ;  they  assembled  rein 
forcements  and  equipped  a  fleet,  which  they 
entrusted  to  the  command  of  Caron,  the 
Athenian  admiral,  who  was  defeated  at 
^Egospotami. 

Agesilaus,  on  hearing  of  these  formidable 
preparations,  determined  to  take  the  field 
himself.  At  the  suggestion  of  Lysander  he 
proposed  to  take  with  him  only  thirty  Spar 
tan  citizens,  and  to  make  up  the  rest  of  his 
force  of  enfranchised  Helots,  and  soldiers  of 


HISTOEY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


425 


the  allied  states.  Lysander  intended  to 
place  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Spartans,  and 
thus  obtain  the  actual  control  of  the  expe 
dition.  In  396  B.C.  Agesilaus  reached  Ephe- 
sus,  and  took  the  command  of  the  Greek 
army.  He  renewed  the  truce,  and  demanded 
tl.o  terms  which  had  been  before  set  forth 
by  Dercyllidas — the  complete  independence 
of  the  Greek  cities  in  Asia.  During  the 
suspension  of  hostilities,  Lysander  offended 
the  Spartans  and  their  king  by  his  excessive 
arrogance  and  pretensions,  so  that  finally  he 
was  obliged  to  retire  from  the  camp  to  escape 
the  humiliations  to  which  the  natural  resent 
ment  of  his  insults  exposed  hire. 

When  the  truce  had  expired,  Tissaphernes 
sent  a  notice  to  Agesilaus,  bidding  him  leave 
Asia.  Agesilaus  returned  a  defiant  answer, 
and  forthwith  made  preparations  as  if  he  in 
tended  to  attack  Tissaphernes  in  Caria  ;  but 
havino;  thus  called  off  the  attention  of  the 

o 

Persians,  he  turned  his  march  to  Phrygia, 
and  got  as  far  as  Dascylium,  the  residence 
of  the  satrap  himself,  before  he  was  obliged 
ic  retreat,  by  meeting  with  a  body  of  Per 
sian  horse,  for  he  had  no  cavalry.  He  sup 
plied  this  deficiency  in  his  army  during  the 
following  winter  at  Ephesus,  and  in  the  next 
spring  he  set  out  to  attack  Sardis.  On  the 
banks  of  the  Pactolus  he  defeated  the  Per 
sians  and  took  their  camp.  Before  Sardis 
could  fall  into  his  hands,  Tissaphernes  was 
deposed  and  executed,  and  Tithraustes  was 
appointed  to  his  place,  and  negotiations  for 
peace  were  again  entered  upon,  and  a  truce 
was  made  in  order  to  communicate  with 
the  authorities  in  Greece.  Tithraustes  pre 
vailed  upon  Agesilaus  by  a  heavy  bribe  to 
quit  his  dominions  in  the  meantime,  and  to 
take  up  his  quarters  in  Phrygia.  The  com 
mand  of  the  naval  power  was  now  given  to 
Agesilaus,  in  view  of  the  threatening  atti 
tude  of  the  immense  fleet  under  Conon. 
Soon  after,  in  compliance  with  the  urgent 
remonstrances  of  Pharnabazus,  he  left  Phry 
gia  and  encamped  in  the  plains  of  Thebe ; 
but  while  he  was  making  ready  for  a  grand 
expedition  into  the  interior  of  the  country, 


he  was  called  back  to  Sparta  to  defend  her 
from  the  dangers  by  which  she  was  menaced. 
In  the  following  summer  Conon  gained  a 
great  victory  over  the  Lacedaemonian  fleet. 

The  preeminence  which  Sparta  had  ob 
tained  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  other 
Grecian  states,  and  Tithraustes  determined 
to  avail  himself  of  this  feeling  to  excite  a 

o 

combination  against  the  Spartans.  He  wras 
so  far  successful  as  to  engage  Thebes  and 
Corinth  and  Argos  in  a  confederacy  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  Spartan  supremacy.  The 
war  opened  with  Thebes.  The  Locrians  and 
the  Phocians  were  at  enmity  respecting 
their  boundaries.  The  Locrians  appealed 
for  aid  to  the  Thebans,  who  invaded  Phoeis, 
and  the  Phocians  in  their  turn  called  upon 
the  Lacedaemonians  for  assistance.  The 
Lacedaemonians  readily  listened  to  them, 
and  sent  Lysander,  who  was  very  eager  in 
promoting  the  war,  to  attack  the  town  of 
Haliartus  in  Boeotia.  The  Thebans  in  the 
meantime  obtained  the  support  of  the  Athe 
nians.  The  battle  of  Haliartus  proved  dis 
astrous  to  the  Spartans ;  their  re-enforcements 
failed  to  join  them  before  the  attack,  and  their 
army  was  totally  routed  and  Lysander  killed. 
The  allies  now  openly  declared  hostilities,  and 
nearly  all  the  states  of  Greece  joined  the 
league  against  Sparta.  They  assembled 
their  forces  at  Corinth.  Almost  as  soon  as 
they  had  started  on  their  march  to  invade 
the  territory  of  their  enemies,  they  were 
met  by  a  body  of  Lacedeemonians  with  their 
allies,  who  compelled  them  to  fall  back  up 
on  Corinth,  but  in  the  battle  which  ensued  a 
few  days  afterwards  the  Spartans  gained  a 
slight  advantage.  Agesilaus  soon  after  this 
arrived  from  Asia,  and  completely  turned 
the  fortune  of  the  war  by  the  great  victory 
of  Coronea.  But  the  naval  power  of  Athens 
was  re-established  by  the  victory  of  Conon 
at  Cnidus  ;  and  in  the  subsequent  course  of 
the  war  the  prestige  of  the  Spartan  arms 
was  much  weakened  by  the  defeat  which 
they  sustained  from  Iphicrates.  The  war 
continued  with  varying  success  till  it  was 
brought  to  a  close  by  the  peace  of  Antalci- 


426 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


das  in  387.  This  treaty  was,  on  the  whole, 
favorable  to  Sparta  ;  and  about  this  time 
that  nation  had  attained  the  highest  pitch 
of  power  which  it  ever  reached.  By  the 
peace  of  Antalcidas  the  Thebans  were  de 
prived  of  the  government  of  Boeotia,  which 
they  had  for  t  ong  time  enjoyed,  and  they 
were  so  much  provoked  that  at  first  they  ab 
solutely  refused  to  accede  to  the  treaty ;  but 
as  Agesilaus  made  great  preparations  to  at 
tack  them,  they  at  last  thought  proper  to 
comply.  It  was  not,  however,  long  before  a 
new  war  was  commenced,  which  threatened 
the  total  subversion  of  the  Spartan  state. 
As  by  the  peace  of  Antalcidas  the  king  of 
Persia  had,  in  a  manner,  guaranteed  the 
sovereignty  of  Greece  to  Sparta,  this  re 
public  very  soon  began  to  exercise  its  power 
to  the  utmost  extent.  The  Mantineans  were 
the  first  who  felt  the  weight  of  their  resent 
ment,  although  they  had  been  their  allies 
and  confederates.  In  order  to  find  a  pretext 
for  making  war  against  them,  they  command 
ed  them  to  quit  their  city,  and  to  retire  into 
five  old  villages,  which  they  said,  had  served 
their  forefathers,  and  where  they  would  live 
in  peace  themselves,  and  give  no  umbrage 
to  their  neighbors.  As  they  refused  to  obey, 
an  army  was  sent  against  them  to  besiege 
their  city.  The  siege  was  continued  through 
the  summer  with  very  little  success  on  the 
part  of  the  Spartans  ;  but  having,  during 
the  winter  season,  dammed  up  the  river  on 
which  the  city  stood,  the  water  rose  to  such 
a  height  as  either  to  overflow  or  throw  down 
the  houses ;  and  the  Mantineans  were  thus 
compelled  to  submit  to  the  terms  prescribed 
to  them,  and  to  retire  into  the  villages.  The 
Spartan  vengeance  next  fell  on  the  Phlias- 
ians  and  Olynthians,  whom  they  forced  to 
agree  to  such  measures  as  they  thought 
proper. 

The  Thebans  continued  under  the  power 
of  the  Spartans  for  three  years ;  but  at  length 
a  conspiracy  being  formed  against  them  by 
Pelopidas  and  some  of  the  principal  people 
in  the  city,  the  Spartans  were  all  massacred 
cr  driven  out,  and  the  citadel  was  regained. 


These  transactions  so  exasperate ;  the  Spar- 
tans  that  their  king  Cleombrc  tus  immediately 
marched  against  Thebes,  though  it  was  then 
the  depth  of  winter.  The  Athenians  at  first 
declined  to  assist  the  Thebans ;  but  an  at 
tempt  rashly  made  by  the  Spartan  general, 
Sphodrias,  on  the  Piraeus,  determined  them 
to  take  up  arms.  Thus,  the  Thebans  grad 
ually  recovered  all  the  towns  of  Bccotia,  and 
at  length  began  to  act  on  the  offensive 
against  their  enemies,  and  invaded  Phocis. 
In  the  numerous  encounters  which  took 
place,  Pelopidas  always  signalized  himself; 
and  at  Tegyra,  in  375,  he  gained  a  complete 
victory  over  the  Spartan?,  which  proved  a 
prelude  of  the  more  celebrated  and  decisive 
battle  of  Leuctra. 

The  rising  power  of  the  Thebes  now  be 
gan  to  excite  the  alarm  of  the  Athenians, 
and  led  them  to  make  overtures  for  a  gen 
eral  peace.  Accordingly,  in  371  B.C.,  a  con 
gress  was  held  at  Sparta,  at  which  the  Athe 
nian  envoys  proposed  to  the  other  states  the 
same  terms  as  had  been  included  in  the 
peace  of  Antalcidas,  namely,  that  the  in 
dependence  of  all  the  Grecian  states  should 
be  guaranteed.  A  treaty  on  these  terms 
was  drawn  up  and  agreed  to  ;  but  as  Sparta 
did  not  hold  herself  precluded,  cither  by 
this  or  the  former  treaty,  from  acting  in  the 
name  of  her  subjects  in  Laconia  and  Mes- 
senia,  the  Thebans,  as  on  a  former  occasion, 
put  forward  a  claim  to  sign  the  treaty  in  the 
name  of  Bosotia.  This  claim  was,  as  for 
merly,  rejected  by  the  other  contracting 
parties ;  and  as  this  demand  was  insisted 
on,  Thebes  was  excluded  from  the  treaty. 
The  Spartans  immediately  declared  war,  and 
instructed  Cleombrotus,  who  was  then  in 
Phocis,  to  invade  Bceotia.  The  Thebans, 
though  alone  opposed.to  the  whole  power  of 
Sparta,  resolved  to  resist  to  the  last.  Epami- 
nondas,  as  Bcootarch,  commanded  their  army, 
which  did  not  amount  to  a  third  of  the  Spar 
tan  forces ;  and  his  skill,  along  with  the 
valor  of  his  friend  Pelopidas,  who  command 
ed  what  was  called  the  Sacred  Band,  con- 
sistino-  of  men  who  had  sworn  to  conquer 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


427 


or  die,  secured  the  independence  of  Thebes. 
The  Spartan  general,  not  trusting  himself  to 
an  encounter  among  the  mountains  of  Pliocis, 
conveyed  his  men  by  sea  to  the  port  of  Creu- 
sis,  where  he  landed  and  encamped  on  the 
plain  in  front  of  Leuctra.  Epaminondas  re 
solved  to  give  battle  ;  and  one  of  the  most 
obstinate  and  bloody  encounters  recorded  in 
Greek  history  took  place.  The  result  was 
the  total  defeat  of  the  Spartan  army  and 
the  death  of  Cleombrotus. 

The  victorious  general,  desirous  to  improve 
this  great  victory,  sent  a  herald,  crowned 
with  garlands,  to  communicate  it  in  form 
to  the  Athenians,  in  hopes  that  this  would 
be  an  effectual  means  to  reunite  them  to  the 
Theban  interest.  But  the  Athenians,  whose 
policy  it  now  was  to  prevent  either  Sparta 
or  Thebes  from  obtaining  the  sovereignty  of 
Greece,  would  not  even  grant  their  herald 
an  audience.  The  Thebans  took  care  to 
strengthen  themselves  by  alliances,  and  had 
brought  the  Phocians,  Locrians,  Acarnan- 
ians,  Euboeans  and  other  states,  under  their 
dependence  ;  so  that  they  were  now  in  a 
condition  to  act  offensively  against  the 
Spartans.  At  the  same  time,  the  state  of 
affairs  in  the  Peloponnese  gave  them  a  pre 
text  and  an  opportunity  for  interfering  to 
their  own  advantage.  The  Mantineans  re 
stored  their  city,  which  had  been  formerly 
destroyed  by  the  Spartans,  and,  along  with 
the  Tegeans,  formed  a  scheme  for  establish 
ing  Arcadia  as  a  united  state  independent 
of  Sparta,  and  founding  a  new  capital,  Me 
galopolis.  This  scheme  was  highly  approved 
by  the  Thebans ;  and,  in  order  to  promote 
its  success,  Epaminondas  undertook  his  first 
invasion  of  the  Peloponnese.  He  was  join 
ed  by  the  Arcadian  and  other  confederate 
forces ;  so  that  the  whole  amounted  to  40,000, 
or,  according  to  some  accounts,  50,000  men, 
besides  great  numbers  of  those  who  followed 
the  camp,  rather  for  plunder  than  fighting, 
and  were  computed  at  about  20,000  more. 
The  army  was  divided  into  four  columns, 
and  moved  towards  Sellasia,  the  place  of  ren 
dezvous,  from  which  they  pursued  their  march 


with  fire  and  sword  towards  Sparta.  The 
city  was  saved  by  the  skill  and  vigor  of 
|  Agesilaus ;  but  Epaminondas  succeeded  in 
inflicting  an  irreparable  blow  on  the  supro 
macy  of  Sparta.  Although  the  legal  term 
of  office  for  which  he  and  Pelopidas  had 
been  elected  had  expired,  they  remained 
in  the  Peloponnese  till  they  had  not  only 
seen  the  secure  establishment  of  the  Arca 
dian  confederacy,  but  restored  the  Messen- 
ians  to  their  ancient  country,  and  rebuilt 
their  capital.  After  this  successful  campaign 
the  Thebans  returned  homeward,  foiling  on 
their  way  an  attempt  of  the  Athenians,  under 
Iphicrates,  to  interrupt  them  at  the  isthmus. 
But  on  their  return  the  generals  were  both 
arrested  as  state-prisoners,  for  having  pro 
longed  their  command  four  months  lon^ci 

0  O 

than  the  time  limited  by  law.  At  last,  how 
ever,  in  consideration  of  their  services,  they 
were  both  honorably  acquitted.  This  pro 
secution  had  been  chiefly  carried  on  and 
encouraged  by  Meneclides,  a  discontented 
Theban,  and  a  bold  and  able  speaker,  who 
by  his  artful  calumnies  at  the  trial,  so  far 
prevailed  as  to  get  Epaminondas  deprived 
of  the  office  of  Boeotarch  for  a  whole  year, 
though  he  could  not  gain  the  same  advan 
tage  against  Pelopidas,  who  was  a  greater 
favorite  of  the  people. 

Meanwhile  the  Spartans,  with  much  diffi 
culty,  had  recovered  themselves  from  their 
great  defeat  at  Leuctra,  and  were  careful  to 
strengthen  themselves  with  auxiliaries  from 
other  states,  especially  from  Athens,  with 
which  they  renewed  their  old  treaty.  Soon 
after  the  Arcadians  renewed  the  war,  and 
took  Pallene  in  Laconia  by  storm,  put  the 
garrison  to  the  sword,  and  were  presently 
assisted  by  the  Archives  and  Eknns,  and 
especially  by  the  Thebans,  who  sen:  to  them 
7000  foot  and  500  horse,  under  the  command 
of  Epaminondas.  This  measure  so  alarmed 
the  Athenians,  that  they  immediately  sent 
Chabrias  with  some  forces  to  oppose  his  pass 
age,  who,  though  he  did  not  succeed  in  in- 
tercepting  their  advance,  repulsed  the  The- 
baii  forces  in  an  attack  upon  Corinth.  Foi 


428 


HISTOEY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


this  ill  success  Epaminondas  was  deprived 
of  his  con  jnand,  and  reduced  to  the  condi 
tion  of  a  private  citizen.  An  occasion,  how 
ever,  soon  offered  to  make  his  services  again 
necessary  to  the  state.  The  Thessalians, 
who  had  groaned  some  time  under  the  ty 
ranny  of  the  usurper  Alexander  of  Phene, 
sent  an  embassy  to  Thebes,  to  implore  their 
aid  and  protection ;  upon  which  Pelopidas 
was  immediately  sent  as  an  ambassador  to 
expostulate  with  him  on  their  behalf.  He 
proceeded  directly  to  Pharsalus  in  Thessaly, 
where  he  was  met  by  the  tyrant  at  the  head 
of  a  numerous  army,  while  he  himself  was 
only  accompanied  by  a  very  small  band ; 
and  no  sooner  had  Alexander  got  him  into 
his  power,  than  he  caused  him  to  be  seized 
and  sent  prisoner  to  Pherse.  The  Thcbans, 
highly  resenting  the  indignity  offered  to 
their  ambassador,  sent  immediately  an  army 
into  Thessaly ;  but  the  generals  were  repuls 
ed  with  great  loss,  and  it  was  owing  to  Epa 
minondas,  who  was  among  them  in  a  subor 
dinate  position,  that  they  were  not  totally 
cut  off.  Epaminondas  was  then  reinstated 
in  the  command,  and  sent  with  a  new  army 
to  repair  the  late  dishonor,  and  prosecute 
their  revenge.  The  news  of  his  being  in 
full  march  greatly  alarmed  Alexander,  who 
was  glad  to  accept  of  a  truce  of  thirty  days, 
and  to  release  Pelopidas,  upon  which  Epami 
nondas  withdrew  his  forces  and  returned  to 
Thebes. 

The  Thebans,  having  now  risen  by  their 
success  in  war  to  a  position  of  superiority 
over  the  other  Greek  states,  wished  to  secure 
this  advantage  by  a  general  treaty ;  and  as 
Sparta  had  consolidated  her  power  by  the 
peace  of  Antalcidas,  through  the  intervention 
of  Persia,  they  determined  to  follow  that  ex 
ample,  and  sent  Pelopidas  as  an  ambassador 
to  the  court  of  Susa.  He  was  successful  in 
his  negotiations  with  the  king,  and  returned 
with  conditions  highly  favorable  to  Thebes, 
pn  which  the  Persian  monarch  would  con 
clude  an  alliance  with  Greece.  The  most 
important  of  these  conditions  were  that 
Sparta  should  give  up  Messenia,  and  Athens 


her  command  of  the  sea.  A  congress  waa 
assembled  at  Thebes  to  consider  these  pro 
posals;  but  with  all  their  efforts  the  Tlie- 
bans  could  not  procure  the  acceptance  of 
the  treaty,  and  the  war  with  Sparta  was  con 
tinued.  Epaminondas  invaded  the  Pelopon- 
nese  the  third  time,  in  3GG,  in  order  to  gain 
over  the  Achaian  states  to  the  cause  of 
Thebes.  This  he  succeeded  in  doing,  but 
not  without  exciting  the  jealousy  of  the 
Arcadians,  who  had  even  before  viewed 
with  dislike  the  growing  power  of  Thebes. 
Meanwhile  the  gallant  but  rash  Pelopidas 
had  fallen  in  an  expedition  against  Alex 
ander  of  Pherae;  although  the  ultimate 
issue  of  the  expedition  was  successful.  Af 
fairs  in  the  Peloponnese  were,  however,  be 
ginning  to  assume  an  unfavorable  aspect. 
A  war  had  broken  out  between  Arcadia  and 
Elis,  which,  though  terminated  by  the  inter 
vention  of  the  Achaians,  led  to  the  return 
of  Elis  to  the  Spartan  side,  and  was  soon 
renewed  with  increased  fury.  The  leading 
party  among  the  Arcadians,  who  were  in  the 
interest  of  Thebes,  took  the  rash  step  of 
seizing  upon  the  sacred  treasury  at  Olympia; 
and  this  not  only  embittered  the  hostility  of 
their  enemies,  but  produced  a  reaction  in 
Arcadia  itself,  so  that,  notwithstanding  the 
remonstrances  of  the  Theban  party,  a  peace 
with  Elis  was  concluded  at  Tegea.  On 
learning  this,  Epaminondas  immediately  de 
clared  that  the  Thebans  would  again  enter 
the  Peloponnese,  and,  with  those  allies  that 
still  remained  faithful,  carrj  on  the  war  with 
Sparta.  Alarmed  at  this  announcement,  the 
Eleans,  Achaians  and  Arcadians  sent  to  Ath 
ens  and  Sparta,  and  formed  with  them  a  coa 
lition  against  Thebes.  Epaminondas  was 
nothing  daunted  by  the  adverse  circum 
stances  ;  but  though  he  had  only  the  Mes- 
senians  and  Argives,  with  the  towns  of  Me 
galopolis  and  Tegea  to  rely  upon  in  the 
Peloponnese,  and  Thessaly,  Lociis  and  Eu- 
bcea  in  Northern  Greece,  collecting  an  army, 
he  hastened  to  the  south,  and,  in  3G2,  passed 
the  istlm.us  for  the  fourth  and  last  time.  At 
Te«-ea  he  effected  a  June  tion  with  the  forces 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


429 


of  his  allies,  which  raised  the  whole  mmber 
of  his  army  to  30,000  infantry  and  3000 
cavalry.  The  confederate  army  against  him 
had  ordered  their  rendezvous  at  Mantinea, 
the  place  which  they  naturally  concluded 
would  he  the  first  attacked,  as  being  the 
chief  seat  of  those  who  had  revolted  from 
the  Thebans.  But  while  they  were  securing 
themselves  on  that  side,  Epaminondas,  who 
wisely  considered  how  far  this  confederacy 
and  expedition  must  have  drained  the  city 
of  Sparta  of  its  main  strength,  broke  up 
privately  from  Tegea,  and  marched  all  night, 
with  a  design  to  have  surprised  the  capital. 
His  project  being  discovered,  Agesilaus  took 
measures  to  disconcert  it ;  so  that,  though 
the  Theban  general  made  several  vigorous 
assaults  on  that  city,  he  was  so  stoutly  re 
pulsed,  and  the  Spartans  behaved  with  such 
intrepid  valor,  that  he  was  forced  to  retire. 
He  next  attempted  to  take  Mantinea  by  sur 
prise  ;  and  would  most  probably  have  suc 
ceeded  had  not  a  body  of  Athenian  cavalry 
come  unexpectedly  to  its  relief,  and  given 
him  a  fresh  repulse.  These  two  defeats 
greatly  exasperated  the  Theban  general, 
who  had  never  before  experienced  such  dis 
asters  ;  moreover  the  time  allotted  him  for 
his  expedition  was  almost  expired,  and  he 
was  in  the  midst  of  his  enemy's  country, 
without  any  certainty  of  obtaining  supplies. 
Under  all  these  difficulties,  he  rightly  con 
sidered  that  he  must  immediately  resolve 
upon  a  decisive  battle,  in  which  he  might  at 
once  retrieve  his  affairs,  or  fall  honorably  in 
the  attempt.  In  the  battle  winch  ensued, 
Epaminondas  drew  up  his  troops  with  his 
usual  skill,  and  charged  with  such  vigor  and 
intrepidity  as,  after  an  obstinate  resistance, 
to  gain  a  complete  victory.  But  in  the  very 
height  of  his  success  he  was  carried  mortally 
wounded  from  the  field  ;  and  hardly  had  he 
learned  the  fact  of  his  victory  before  he  ex 
pired.  The  results  of  this  victory  did  not 
compensate  to  Thebes  for  the  loss  of  such  a 
man  as  Epaminondas  to  guide  her  counsels, 
and  lead  her  armies  to  victory.  A  general 
peace  was  concluded,  in  which  indeed  the 


independence  of  Messenia  was  recognized, 
but  no  importent  change  took  place  in  the 
relation  of  the  different  Greek  states.  Sparta, 
which  during  the  preceding  ten  years  had 
been  preserved  from  utter  ruin  chiefly  by  the 
ability  of  Agesilaus,  never  again  rose  even 
to  the  second  position  in  Greece ;  and  Thebes 
was  unable  to  retain  the  supremacy  that 
Epaminondas  and  Pelopidas  had  secured  for 
her.  Athens,  on  the  other  hand,  notwith 
standing  all  her  former  reverses,  had  been, 
ever  since  the  victory  of  Conon  at  Cnidus 
in  394,  slowly  but  steadily  recovering  her 
ancient  power  ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the 
old  enmity  which  still  subsisted  between 
Thebes  and  Athens,  these  states  might  to 
gether  have  defended  the  liberty  of  Greece 
against  the  power  of  Macedon,  that  soon 
began  to  threaten  it.  But  in  place  of  this 
the  two  states  were  constantly  opposed 
to  each  other,  until  it  was  too  late  to  resist 
the  common  enemy,  who  gained  strength 
by  the  policy  pursued  by  the  Theban  gov 
ernment.  As  early  as  358  a  war  broke  out 
between  Thebes  and  Athens  for  the  posses 
sion  of  Eubcea,  which  the  Athenians  finally 
succeeded  in  obtaining.  Tke  next  important 
contest  in  which  Thebes  was  engaged  was 
the  Phocian  or  Sacred  War,  which  began  in 
357  B.C.,  and  in  which  Thebes  was  again  op 
posed  to  Athens  and  Sparta,  but  supported 
by  the  power  of  Philip  of  Macedon.  [For 
an  account  of  the  war,  see  MACEDONIA.]  It 
terminated  in  346,  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  Philip,  but  without  increasing  the  power 
of  Thebes.  Thebes  continued  in  alliance 
with  Philip,  until,  on  the  occasion  of  a  dis 
pute  between  Ainphissa  and  the  Amphicty- 
onic  council,  that  monarch  suddenly  entered 
Greece,  and  seized  the  commanding  position 
of  Elatea  in  Phocis.  On  the  news  l>f  this 
event  reaching  Athens,  the  utmost  alarm 
and  confusion  prevailed  ;  but  some  measure 
of  confidence  was  speedily  restored,  when, 
on  the  motion  of  Demosthenes,  an  alliance 
was  proposed  and  successfully  effected  with 
the  Thebans,  who  were  now  fully  alive  to 
the  impending  darger.  In  338  the  allies 


430 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


sent  an  army  into  the  field  against  Philip, 
but  suffered  a  total  defeat  at  Chseronea. 
This  battle  decided  the  fate  of  Greece ; 
Thebes  opened  its  gates  to  the  conqueror, 
and  the  chief  citizens  were  put  to  death  or 
banished.  A  Macedonian  garrison  was  sta 
tioned  in  the  citadel,  and  the  sovereignty  of 
Thebes  over  Bceotia  was  abolished. 

Philip  of  Macedon  invaded  Laconia  after 
his  victory  at  Choeronea.  The  Spartans, 
however,  maintained  their  ground  with  great 
resolution  against  the  celebrated  Pyrrhus 
king  of  Epirus,  whom  they  repulsed  for  three 
days  successively,  though  not  without  assist 
ance  from  one  of  the  captains  of  Antigonus. 
Soon  after  this  one  of  the  kings  of  Sparta, 
named  Agis,  perceiving  the  universal  degen 
eracy  that  had  taken  place,  made  an  attempt 
to  restore  the  laws  and  discipline  of  Lycur- 
gus,  by  which  he  hoped  the  state  would  be 
restored  to  its  former  glory.  But  though  at 
first  he  met  with  some  appearance  of  success, 
he  was  in  a  short  time  tried  and  condemned 
by  the  ephors  as  a  traitor  to  his  country. 
Cleomenes,  however,  who  ascended  the 
throne  in  216  B.  c.,  accomplished  the  reforma 
tion  which  Agis  had  in  vain  attempted.  lie 
suppressed  the  ephoralty ;  cancelled  all  debts ; 
divided  the  lands  equally,  as  they  had  been 
in  the  time  of  Lycurgus ;  and  put  an  end  to 
the  luxury  wliich  prevailed  among  the  citi 
zens.  Cleomenes  also  gained  several  victories 
over  the  Achaean  league,  and  conquered  a 
large  part  of  the  Peloponnese ;  but  Antigonus 
Doson,  king  of  Macedonia,  who  had  been 
summoned  to  the  aid  of  the  Achasans,  totally 
defeated  him  in  the  battle  of  Sellasia.  The 
Spartan  king  then  fled  to  Egypt,  where  he 
put  an  end  to  his  own  life.  With  him  per 
ished  every  hope  of  retrieving  the  affairs  of 
Sparta ;  the  city  fell  into  the  hands  of  Anti 
gonus,  after  which  a  succession  of  tyrants 
gained  and  lost  the  ascendency,  till  at  last  all 
disturbances  were  ended  by  the  Romans, 
who  reduced  Greece  to  the  condition  of  a 
province. 

Sparta  and  the  rest  of  the  Peloponnesus 
4c  not  appear  in  any  distinct  events  during 


the  history  of  the  empire  and  the  middle 
ages.  As  the  Morea  it  formed  a  part  of  the 
Turkish  empire,  until  the  revolution  which 
raised  Greece  to  an  independent  kingdom. 

After  Chceronaea,  Corinth  shared  the  fate 
of  the  other  states  of  Greece,  and  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  Macedonian  conquerors.  Its 
citadel  was  by  them  regarded  as  the  key  of 
the  Peloponnesus,  and  they  always  took  care 
to  maintain  a  strong  garrison  in  it.  In  243 
B.  c.  Corinth  was  stormed  by  Aratus,  the 
general  of  the  Achrean  league,  and  incorpo 
rated  by  him  with  the  other  states  wliich 
formed  that  confederation.  It  M'as  shortly 
afterwards  made  over  once  more  to  the  Mace 
donians  ;  in  whose  hands  it  continued  till  the 
defeat  of  the  last  Macedonian  king  by  the 
Romans  at  the  battle  of  Cynoscephalse  in 
197  B.  c.  By  the  Romans  it  was  re-annexed 
to  the  Achaean  league  and  declared  a  free 
city ;  but  its  citadel  was  occupied  by  a  Ro 
man  garrison.  The  same  year  which  wit 
nessed  the  destruction  of  Carthage  witnessed 
also  that  of  Corinth.  The  Achceans  rebelled 
against  their  Roman  conquerors.  Their 
troops  were  routed  with  great  slaughter ;  and 
Mummius  the  Roman  general  entered  Cor 
inth  in  triumph.  The  city  was  sacked  ;  its 
magnificent  temples  and  buildings  were  lev 
elled  with  the  ground  ;  its  paintings,  marbles, 
bronzes,  and  priceless  works  of  art,  were  car 
ried  off  to  Rome;  and  the  male  inhabitants 
slaughtered  to  a  man,  while  the  women  and 
children  were  sold  into  captivity.  Xo  at 
tempt  was  made  to  raise  the  city  from  its 
ruins  till  the  days  of  Julius  Cccsar,  who  estab 
lished  there  a  colony  of  his  veterans  two 
years  before  his  death.  The  city  soon  rose 
from  its  ashes,  and  began  again  to  prosper. 
In  the  days  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  who  visited 
it  about  the  middle  of  the  first  century  of  the 
Christian  era,  it  was  a  considerable  place. 
Two  of  the  most  important  letters  of  that 
apostle  were  addressed  by  him  to  the  mem 
bers  of  the  church  which  he  had  founded 
there.  The  subsequent  history  of  Corinth  is 
an  unbroken  record  of  disasters.  In  the  later 
days  of  Rome  it  stared  the  fate  of  the  mis- 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOBLD. 


tress  of  the  world,  and  was  sacked  by  the 
Visigoths  under  Alaric,  about  the  beginning 
of  the  fifth  century.  On  the  downfall  of  the 
Koinan  empire  in  the  east,  it  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Venetians,  who  retained  it  till 
the  overthrow  of  the  western  empire.  In 
145  S  it  was  taken  by  tne  Turks,  who  held  it 
till  the  year  1687,  when  it  once  more  fell 
under  the  Venetian  yoke.  In  1715  it  was 
again  occupied  by  the  Turks,  who  retained 
it  till  the  re-establishment  of  Greece  as  an 
independent  kingdom. 

The  history  of  Athens,  from  the  death  of 
Alexander  to  the  present  time,  may  be  com 
pressed  within  comparatively  narrow  limits. 
Soon  after  the  premature  decease  of  the 
Macedonian  hero,  the  citizens  revolted ;  but 
they  were  defeated  by  Antipater,  who  garri 
soned  Munychia.  Another  insurrection  fol 
lowed  with  no  better  success.  The  garrison 
and  oligarchy  were  reinstated;  Demetrius, 
surnamed  the  Phalerean,  was  appointed  gov 
ernor  of  the  city ;  and  no  less  than  three 
h  imdred  statues  were  erected  in  honor  of  this 
man,  by  the  degenerate  descendants  of  those 
Athenians  who  had  thought  a  place  in  the 
foreground  of  a  picture,  painted  at  the  public 
expense,  an  adequate  reward  for  the  victory 
of  Marathon.  But  Demetrius,  surnamed  Po- 
liorcetes,  "  the  shame  of  Greece  in  peace,  her 
thunderbolt  in  war,"  withdrew  the  garrison, 
and  restored  the  democracy;  a  service  for 
which  he  was  deified  by  the  Athenians,  who 
assigned  him  a  residence  in  the  opisthodo- 
mos  of  the  Parthenon,  as  a  guest  worthy  of 
being  entertained  by  Athena  herself,  and  af 
terwards  placed  the  Peirseus,  with  Munychia, 
at  his  disposal.  As  usual,  however,  they 
soon  became  weary  of  their  idol,  expelled  his 
garrison  and  regained  t-heir  independence ; 
chiefly,  as  is  said,  by  the  intercession  of  Cra- 
terus  the  philosopher,  who  persuaded  Deme 
trius  to  leave  them  in  possession  of  their  lib 
erty.  Antigonus  Gonatas,  the  next  king  of 
Macedonia,  proved  less  scrupulous  than  "  the 
Taker  of  Cities,"  and  again  seized  upon 
Athens,  where  he  established  a  garrison. 
But  on  the  death  of  Demetrius,  son  of  Gona-  i 


tas,  the  people,  aided  by  Aratus,  recovered 
their  liberty ;  and  the  Peirseus,  Munychia, 
Salamis,  and  Sunium  were  restored  to  them 
on  payment  of  a  considerable  sum  of  mone} 
by  way  of  equivalent.  Disregarding  this  ar- 
ragement,  however,  Philip,  the  son  of  Deme 
trius,  invaded  Attica,  and  encamping  near 
the  city,  burned  and  destroyed  the  sepul 
chres  and  temples  of  the  villages,  slaughtered 
the  inhabitants,  and  laid  waste  the  greater 
part  of  the  country. 

Driven  to  despair  by  these  barbarous  pro 
ceedings,  the  Athenians  were  forced  to  so 
licit  the  protection  of  the  Romans,  which  was 
readily  granted,  and  to  receive  a  garrison 
into  the  citadel,  which  it  continued  to  occupy 
until  the  war  with  Mithridates,  king  of  Pon- 
tus.  But  taking  advantage  of  the  embarrass 
ments  of  Koine,  occasioned  by  one  of  the 
most  arduous  contests  in  which  she  had  yet 
engaged,  the  Athenians,  at  the  instigation  of 
Aristion,  general  of  the  royal  linguist,  rose 
upon  their  protectors  and  expelled  the  garri 
son.  This  act  of  ingratitude  met  with  an 

o 

exemplary  punishment.  War  was  immedi 
ately  declared ;  and  Sulla  soon  afterwards 
appeared  in  Attica  at  the  head  of  a  powerful 
army.  Unable  to  withstand  the  fury  of  the 
Romans,  Archelaus,  the  Athenian  general, 
relinquished  the  defence  of  the  long  walls, 
and  retired  into  the  Peiroeus  and  Munychia. 
Sulla,  on  the  other  hand,  immediately  laid 
siege  to  the  Peiraeus,  as  well  as  to  the  city 
itself  where  Aristion  commanded ;  and  hav 
ing  received  information  that  some  persons 
had  been  overheard  conversing-  in  the  Cera- 
micus,  and  blaming  Aristion  for  his  neglect 
of  the  avenues  near  the  Heptachalcos,  where 
the  wall  was  accessible,  he  instantly  resolved 
to  assault  the  town  in  that  quarter.  Accord 
ingly,  about  midnight  he  entered  the  city  by 
the  gate  Dipylum,  which  he  forced,  and  hav 
ing  overcome  every  obstacle  between  it  and 
the  Peiraic  gate,  was  soon  master  of  Athens. 
Aristion  fled  to  the  Acropolis  ;  but  being  at 
length  compelled  to  surrender  from  want  of 
water,  the  supply  of  which  had  been  cutofl 
he  was  dragged  from  the  sanct7iary  of  Athe 


432 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


na,  where  he  had  sought  refuge,  and  instantly 
put  to  death.  This  event  took  place  in  the 
year  of  Rome  668,  or  about  eighty-six  years 
before  the  Christian  era.  Sulla  raged  against 
the  unfortunate  city  with  the  fury  of  a  bar 
barian  ;  burning  the  Peirosus  and  Munychia, 
defacing  the  monuments  in  the  town  and 
suburbs,  and  not  even  sparing  the  sepulchres 
of  the  dead  in  the  Ceramicus. 

In  the  civil  war  between  Caesar  and  Pom- 
pey,  the  Athenians  declared  for  the  cham 
pion  of  liberty.  But,  although  the  battle  of 
Pharsalia  placed  them  at  the  mercy  of  Coesar, 
that  great  and  generous  conqueror,  "  whose 
brow  was  girt  with  laurels  more  than  hair," 
scorned  to  sully  the  lustre  of  his  renown  by 
any  act  of  vengeance,  and  with  a  magnanim 
ity  native  to  his  character,  dismissed  the  en 
voys  who  had  been  sent  to  propitiate  him, 
with  this  fine  observation :  "  I  am  content  to 
spare  the  living  for  the  sake  of  the  dead." 
The  same  lingering  affection  for  liberty 
which  had  led  the  Athenians  to  side  with 
Pompey,  also  induced  them  to  take  part  with 
Brutus  and  Cassius,  in  the  wars  of  the  sec 
ond  triumvirate  ;  and  they  had  even  the 
spirit  to  erect  statues  to  the  two  Roman  pa 
triots,  beside  those  of  their  own  deliverers, 
Harmodius  and  Ariatogeiton.  But  at  Phi- 
lippi,  as  at  Pharsalia,  the  gods  declared 
against  liberty,  and  the  Athenians  were  again 
on  the  losing  side.  Nor  were  they  more  for 
tunate  in  the  contest  which  ensued  between 
Octavius  and  Antony ;  for  having  joined  the 
latter,  who  gave  them  ^Egina,  Cea,  and  other 
islands,  they  incurred  the  resentment  of  Au 
gustus,  now  become  master  of  the  Roman 
world,  who  treated  them  with  the  utmost 
harshness  and  severity.  Under  Tiberius  the 
city  declined,  but  it  still  continued  to  enjoy 
a.  considerable  share  of  freedom,  and  was  re 
garded  as  an  ally  of  the  Romans.  Germani- 
cus  conferred  upon  it  the  privilege  of  having 
a  lictor  to  precede  the  magistrates ;  but  he 
was  censured  for  this  act  of  condescension, 
as  "  the  race  of  noble  bloods'  was  now  be 
lieved  to  be  extinct,  and  the  Athenian  peo 
ple  a  mixture  of  all  nations.  iNerva  also 


proved  rather-  indulgent  to  Athens  ;  and  un 
der  his  successor.  Trajan,  Pliny  exhorted 
Maximus,  when  intrusted  with  the  govern 
ment,  to  be  mindful  of  the  ancient  glory  of 
that  classic  land,  and  to  rule  Greece  as  if  V 
had  still  been  composed  of  free  cities.  Ha 
drian,  prouder  of  the  archonship  of  Athens 
than  of  his  imperial  dignity,  gave  the  city  a 
digest  of  laws  compiled  from  the  codes  of 
Draco,  Solon,  and  other  legislators,  and  testi 
fied  his  affection  for  it  by  unbounded  munifi 
cence.  Antoninus  Pius,  who  succeeded  Ha 
drian,  and  Antoninus  the  philosopher,  also 
proved  themselves  benefactors  of  Athens, 
though  on  a  less  magnificent  scale  than  theii 
predecessor. 

In  the  reign  of  Valerian,  the  northerr 
barbarians  first  appeared  in  the  north  of 
Greece,  where  they  laid  siege  to  Thessaloni 
ca.  This  extraordinary  apparition  having 
alarmed  all  Greece,  the  Athenians  restored 
their  city  wall,  which  Sulla  had  dismantled, 
and  otherwise  placed  the  town  in  a  state  of 
defence  sufficient  to  secure  it  against  a  coup- 
de-main.  But  under  Gallicnus,  the  next 
emperor,  Athens  was  besieged,  and  the 
archonship  abolished ;  upon  which  the  stra- 
tegos  or  genera],  who  had  previously  acted 
as  inspector  of  the  Agora,  became  the  chief 
magistrate.  Under  Claudius  the  city  was 
taken,  but  recovered  soon  afterward,-?.  Con 
stantino  the  Great  gloried  in  the  title  of 
General  of  Athens,  which  had  been  conferred 
upon  him,  and  expressed  high  satisfaction  on 
obtaining  from  the  people  the  honor  of  a 
statue  with  an  inscription ;  a  distinction 
which  he  acknowledged  by  sending  to  the 
city  a  yearly  gratuity  of  grain.  He  ulso 
conferred  on  the  governor  of  Attica  and 
Athens  the  title  of  Mt'ycf  Ao£|,  or  Grand 
Duke,  which  soon  became  hereditary;  ,md 
his  son  Constans  bestowed  several  island;)  on 
the  city,  in  order  to  supply  it  with  corn.  In 
the  time  of  Theodosius  I.,  that  is,  towards 
the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  the  Goths  laid 
waste  Thessa  y  and  Epirus ;  but  Theodoras, 
general  of  tl  e  Greeks,  acted  with  so  much 
prudence  fliat  he  saved  the  Greek  citici 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


433 


from  pillage  and  the  inhabitants  from  cap- 
tivit}  ,  a  service  which  was  most  gratefully 
acknowledged.  But  this  deliverance  proved 
only  temporary.  The  fatal  period  was  now 
fast  approaching ;  and,  in  a  real  barbarian, 
Athens  was  doomed  to  experience  a  con 
queror  yet  more  savage  and  remorseless  than 
Sulla.  This  was  Alaric,  king  of  the  Goths, 
who,  under  the  Emperors  Arcadius  and 
Honorius,  overran  both  Italy  and  Greece; 
sacking,  pillaging,  and  destroying.  Never 
indeed  did  the  fury  even  of  barbarian  con 
quest  discharge  itself  in  a  fiercer  or  more 
desolating  tempest.  The  Peloponnesian  cities 
were  overturned ;  Arcadia  and  Lacedsemon 
were  both  laid  waste ;  the  gulfs  of  Lepanto 
and  ^Egina  were  illuminated  with  the  flames 
of  Corinth ;  and  the  Athenian  matrons  were 
dragged  in  chains  to  satisfy  the  brutal  de 
sires  of  these  rampant  barbarians.  The  in 
valuable  treasures  of  antiquity  were  removed ; 
stately  and  magnificent  structures  were  re 
duced  to  heaps  of  ruin  ;  and  Athens,  stripped 
of  the  monuments  of  her  ancient  splendor, 
was  compared  by  Synesius,  a  writer  of  that 
age,  to  a  victim  of  which  the  body  had  been 
consumed,  and  the  skin  only  remained. 

After  this  dreadful  visitation  Athens  sank 
into  insignificance,  and  became  as  obscure  as 
it  had  once  been  illustrious.  We  are  indeed 
informed  that  the  cities  of  Hellas  were  put 
in  a  state  of  defence  by  Justinian,  who  re 
paired  the  walls  of  Corinth,  which  had  been 
overturned  by  an  earthquake,  and  those  of 
Athens,  which  had  fallen  into  decay  through 
age.  But  from  the  time  of  this  emperor  a 
chasm  of  nearly  seven  centuries  ensues  in  its 
history;  except  that,  about  the  year  1130,  it 
furnished  Roger,  the  first  king  of  Sicily,  with 
a  number  of  artificers,  who  there  introduced 
the  culture  of  silk,  which  afterwards  passed 
into  Italy.  The  worms,  it  seems,  had  been 
brought  from  India  to  Constantinople  in  the 
reign  of  Justinian. 

Doomed  apparently  to  become  the  prey 

of  every  spoiler,  Athens  again  emerges  from 

oblivion  in   the   thirteenth   century,   under 

Baldwin  and  his  crusaders,  at  a  time  when 

55 


it  was  besieged  by  a  general  of  Theodoras 
Lascaris,  the  Greek  emperor.  In  1427  it 
was  taken  by  Sultan  Murad  ;  but  some  time 
afterwards  it  M'as  recovered  from  the  infidels 
by  another  body  of  crusaders,  under  the 
Marquis  of  Montferrat,  a  powerful  baron  of 
the  "West,  who  bestowed  it,  along  with 
Thebes,  on  •  Otho  de  la  Eoche,  one  of  his 
principal  followers.  For  a  considerable  time 
both  cities  were  governed  by  Otho  and  his 
descendants,  with  the  title  of  dukes ;  but  be 
ing  unable  to  maintain  themselves  in  their 
Greek  principality,  they  were  at  length  suc 
ceeded  by  Walter  of  Brienne,  who,  soon 
after  his  succession,  was  expelled  by  his  new 
subjects,  aided  by  the  Spaniards  of  Catalonia. 
The  next  rulers  of  Athens  were  the  Acciaioli, 
an  opulent  family  of  Florence,  in  whose  pos 
session  it  remained  until  1455,  wrhen  it  was 
taken  by  Omar,  a  general  of  Mahomet  II., 
and  thus  fell  a  second  time  into  the  hands 
of  the  barbarians.  The  victorious  sultan 
settled  a  Mahometan  colony  in  his  new  con 
quest,  which  he  incorporated  with  the  Otto 
man  empire ;  and  Athens,  as  well  as  Greece, 
continued  to  form  an  integral  part  of  the 
Turkish  dominions,  until  the  treaty  of 
Adrianople  in  1829,  following  up  the  pro 
visions  and  stipulations  of  the  Treaty  of 
London,  7th  July,  1827,  established  within 
certain  limits  the  new  state  of  Greece,  of 
which  ancient  Athens  is  now  the  capital. 

From  the  period  of  the  Ottoman  conquest 
to  the  commencement  of  the  insurrection  in 
1821,  Athens  was  only  known  in  history  by, 
two  attempts,  on  the  part  of  the  Venetians, 
to  expel  the  Turks  and  make  themselves 
masters  of  the  city.  The  first  of  these  took 
place  in  1464,  only  nine  years  after  its  cap 
ture  by  the  Osmanlis,  and  proved  an  entire 
failure.  But  the  second,  which  was  under 
taken  in  1C87,  more  than  two  centuries  later, 
was  crowned  with  a  temporary  and  fatal 
success.  In  the  month  of  September  of  that 
year,  Count  Xonigsmarck,  a  Swede  in  the 
service  of  Venice,  having  disembarked  at  the 
Peirceus  a  force  of  8000  foot  and  870  horse, 
forming  part  of  the  armament  under  Fran- 


134 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


cesco  Morosini,  afterwards  doge,  marched  to 
Athens  ;  and  ha^  ing  sum  .noned  the  citadel 
without  effect,  he  erected  a  battery  of  heavy 
ordnance  on  the  hill  of  the  Pnyx,  and  placing 
two  mortars  near  the  Latin  convent  at  the 
western  foot  of  the  Acropolis,  bombarded  it 
for  several  days.  The  fire  of  the  cannon  was 
chiefly  directed  against  the  Propylaea,  and 
the  modern  defences  below  the  edifice ; 
whilst  the  mortars  continued,  without  inter 
mission,  to  throw  shells  into  the  citadel. 
The  consequence  was,  that  the  beautiful  lit 
tle  temple  of  Nike  Apteros,  the  frieze  of 
which  is  now  in  the  British  Museum,  was 
completely  destroyed  by  the  breaching  bat 
tery;  and  the  Parthenon,  besides  being 
greatly  injured  by  the  bursting  of  shells, 
was,  towards  the  close  of  the  attack,  almost 
rent  in  pieces  by  the  explosion  of  a  powder 
magazine,  which  reduced  the  middle  of  the 
temple  to  a  heap  of  ruins,  threw  dowrn  the 
whole  of  the  wall  at  the  eastern  extremity, 
anc  precipitated  to  the  ground  every  statue 
on  the  eastern  pediment.  The  western  ex 
tremity  was  fortunately  less  injured,  and  a 
part  of  the  opisthodomos  was  still  left  stand 
ing,  together  with  some  of  the  lateral  col 
umns  of  the  peristyle  adjoining  to  the  cell. 
But  the  shock  was  nevertheless  abundantly 
disastrous ;  and  when  the  Turks  afterwards 
regained  possession  of  the  citadel  (from 
which,  on  this  occasion,  they  were  expelled), 
they  did  all  in  their  powrer  to  complete  the 
destruction  which  the  Venetians  had  so  vigor 
ously  begun,  by  defacing,  mutilating,  or 
burning  for  lime  every  fragment  of  the  edi 
fice  within  their  reach. 

Having  thus  given  a  general  sketch  of  the 
history  of  Greece,  it  remains  only  to  say  a 
few  words  about  the  Grecian  character,  as 
shown  in  its  highest  representatives,  the  Athe 
nians,  and  to  notice  briefly  the  celebrated 
literature  that  sprung  from  it. 

The  Athenians  surpassed  all  the  other 
Greeks  in  physical  conformation  no  less  than 
in  mental  endowments.  Among  this  people, 
indeed,  strength  and  symmetry  of  body  were 
happily  united  wit)  many  of  the  rarest  at 


tributes  of  mind.  For  these  advantages 
they  were  indebted  partly  to  nature,  and 
partly  to  a  system  of  education,  which,  ap 
parently  limited  and  imperfect,  was  never 
theless  singularly  calculated  to  develop  their 
peculiar  capabilities.  Habitual  exercise  may 
not  be  capable  of  creating  beauty  of  form 
originally,  but  it  certainly  tends  greatly  to 
improve  it ;  and  in  the  human  frame  ele 
gance  and  grace  are  seldom  divorced  from 
the  free  and  flexible  vigor  acquired  in  the 
palaestra.  A  similar  observation  may  ho 
applied  to  the  human  mind.  Admitting 
that  certain  tribes  or  races  of  men  are,  taken 
as  a  whole,  gifted  by  nature  with  finer  facul 
ties,  nicer  perceptions,  and  more  acute  sensi 
bilities,  than  others,  no  one  can  doubt  that 
these  may  be  prodigiously  improved  by  edu 
cation  ;  which,  in  fact,  is  to  the  mind  what 
the  chisel  of  the  sculptor  is  to  the  rude  block 
of  marble — that  which  fashions  it,  by  scarce 
ly  perceptible  degrees,  into  the  fairest  pro 
portions,  and  gives  animation  and  c\  />ressiou 
to  that  which  was  originally  a  rude  and  inort 
block.  The  Athenians  were  early  sensible 
of  this  important  truth ;  and  although,  till 
the  age  of  Pericles,  the  three  principal  pre 
ceptors  of  their  youth  were  the  grammarian, 
the  teacher  of  music,  and  the  master  of  the 
gymnasium,  yet  even  this  limited  circle  of 
instructors  was  not  ill  adapted  to  call  forth 
and  keep  in  exercise  the  peculiar  faculties 
for  wrhich  they  were  so  remarkably  dis 
tinguished,  and  to  prepare  them  for  a  more 
extended  range  of  instruction.  To  the  study 
of  music,  indeed,  they  were  enthusiastically 
devoted,  because  in  that  delightful  art  they 
found  a  natural  scope  for  the  gratification  of 
those  nice  and  delicate  perceptions  which 
constituted  a  prominent  characteristic  of 
their  minds;  nor  will  its  union  with  tho 
study  of  grammar  be  deemed  surprising, 
when  we  reflect  that  it  was  probably  thia 
circumstance,  aided  by  an  organic  and  intel 
lectual  sensibility  altogether  unrivalled, 
which  gave  form  to  the  most  harmonious 
language  ever  spoken  among  men,  and 
guided  invention  to  the  structure  of  that 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


435 


rerse  which,  even  under  the  gross  disguise 
of  modern  pronunciation,  is  still  universally 
charming. 

Important  as  was  the  employment  of 
sculpture  among  the  most  ancient  nations, 
and  valuable  as  are  the  monuments  that 
time  has  left  us,  it  was  not  until  the  Greek 
mind  perceived  its  capability  of  develop 
ment  that  the  entire  value  of  the  art  was 
recognised  as  a  means  of  physically  illus 
trating  the  perfection  of  nature's  noblest 
work.  It  strikes  us  now  with  wonder  and 
astonishment  that  so  long  a  period  could  have 
elapsed  between  the  first  invention  and  rude 
practice  of  sculpture,  and  the  perfection  it 
was  destined  to  reach  among  the  Greeks. 
Sicyon  was  founded  above  2000  B.C.,  Argos, 
1856  B.C.,  and  yet  it  was  not  till  between  700 
and  GOO  B.C.  that  those  first  changes  are  per 
ceived  in  that  region  of  the  world,  which  then 
led  so  rapidly  to  the  consummation  of  sculp 
ture  in  the  great  schools  of  Myron,  Phidias, 
and  Polycletus,  in  the  time  of  Pericles. 

There  seems  to  have  been  one  established 
quality  in  the  Greek  mind,  which,  inde 
pendently  of  other  circumstances,  necessita 
ted,  if  it  may  be  so  said,  the  development  of 
an  imitative  art  to  a  high  excellence.  This 
was  its  sensibility  to  beauty.  The  habits  of 
the  Greeks  fostered  this  appreciation  of  the 
beautiful.  The  mode  of  life  of  the  people, 
and  the  constant  occurrence  of  public  exer 
cises,  taught  all  classes  to  be  judges  of  the 
human  figure.  The  gymnasia,  or  schools  of 
training  for  the  games,  were  universally 
frequented.  The  public  found  there  their 
rulers,  statesmen,  philosophers,  poets,  and 
artists,  taking  interest  in  the  exercises; 
and  thus  all  were  accustomed  to  see  the  hu 
man  form  in  its  highest  condition,  whether 
in  action  or  repose.  The  education  or  train 
ing  of  young  men  who  intended  to  take  part 
in  the  great  contests  for  prizes  was  also  a 
subject  of  the  greatest  care.  The  fullest  de 
velopment  was  given  to  the  muscles,  and 
constant  practice  prepared  them  for  those 
trials  of  strength  and  agility  which  were  wit 
nessed  by  the  eager  multitude  of  all  classes, 


and  from  which  the  successful  candidate  ia 
sued  not  only  a  crowned  victor,  but  the  sub 
ject  of  the  poet's  noblest  odes,  and  of  the 
sculptor's  art.  The  highest  honor  that  could 
be  awarded,  and  this  was  granted  only  to 
those  who  had  been  conquerors  a  certain 
number  of  times,  was  to  be  allowed  to  dedi 
cate  an  Iconic  or  portrait  statue,  represent 
ing  the  fortunate  candidate,  in  the  Altis,  or 
sacred  grove,  near  the  temple  of  the  Olym 
pian  Jupiter.  These  statues  were  seen  by 
the  crowds  who  assembled  periodically  to 
witness  or  take  part  in  the  games ;  and  thus 
was  the  memory  of  the  prowess  or  agility  of 
the  individual  perpetuated,  constantly  inciting 
others  to  deserve  a  similar  distinction.  The 
opening  afforded  by  this  custom  for  the  exer 
cise  and  improvement  of  sculpture  is  obvious. 
These  statues  were  portraits  of  the  individuals 
who  had  gained  their  crowns  by  the  exhibition 
of  their  superiority  in  certain  exercises.  Thus 
the  sculptor  found  in  the  successful  wrestler 
a  peculiar  development  which  was  evidence 
of  strong  physical  power ;  in  the  victor  in 
the  foot  race  the  clean  limbs  and  light  pro 
portions  which  enabled  him  to  outrun  his 
competitors ;  while  the  combination  of  simi 
lar  qualities  of  strength  and  lightness  gave 
the  type  of  the  general  athlete.  Here, 
then,  are  seen  the  elements  of  those  fine  cre 
ations  which  have  stamped  Greek  sculpture 
with  its  enduring  character  of  excellence. 
From  such  studies  were  produced  the  statues 
of  Hercules  and  others  of  that  class,  or  those 
of  the  light  and  active  Mercury,  or  again 
the  Discoboli,  and  similar  productions ;  and 
from  the  skillful  application  of  the  principles 
discoverable  in  such  forms,  the  whole  class 
and  variety  of  ideal  subjects,  either  of  sub 
limity  or  beauty,  in  the  statues  of  divinities 
and  heroes,  had  their  existence.  The  noble 
object  to  which  sculpture  was  thus  applied, 
to  do  honor  to  worth  and  to  decorate 
the  temples  of  the  gods,  gave  a  dignity  to 
the  art,  and  an  honorable  character  to  the 
pursuit,  while  the  recognition  of  the  princi 
pie  that  an  imitative  art  was  constantly  to 
aim  at  reproducing  and  repeating  the  finest 


436 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


forms  which  vt  ere  presented  for  its  guidance, 
led  to  its  perfection  as  an  objective  art.  It 
was  precisely  this  union,  which  had  not  be 
fore  been  established  by  any  nation  of  artists, 
which  gave  to  Greek  sculpture  its  extraordi 
nary  excellence ;  and,  it  may  be  said,  has 
maintained  the  superiority  of  Greek  art 
through  a  long  succession  of  ages.  No  me 
chanical  copying  of  Greek  statues,  however 
skillful  and  however  zealous  the  copyist,  can 
ever  secure  for  modern  sculpture  the  same 
noble  and  effective  character  it  possessed 
among  the  Greeks,  for  the  simple  and  intel 
ligible  reason  that  the  imitation,  close  as  may 
be  the  resemblance,  is  but  the  result  of  the 
eye  and  hand,  while  the  original  was  the  ex 
pression  of  a  true  and  deeply  felt  sentiment. 
Another  circumstance  highly  conducive  to 
the  progress  and  development  of  art  must 
also  be  taken  into  consideration,  This  \vas 
the  general  appreciation  of  sculpture  among 
a  people  sensitively  alive  to  beauty  in  all  its 
forms.  Art  was  not  here  sustained  by  the 
patronage  of  a  few,  who  having,  or  affecting 
to  have  what  is  called  taste,  bought  the 
services  of  the  sculptor,  and  paid  him  to 
decorate  a  gallery  to  order.  In  Greece,  the 
artist,  himself  a  Greek,  having  a  common 
feeling  for  the  beautiful  with  his  countrymen, 
produced  his  works  for  the  public ;  they 
were  to  be  erected  in  places  of  honor,  to  be 
dedicated  in  the  temples  of  the  gods  ;  and  no 
small  motives  influenced  his  labors.  These 
were  the  conditions  which  carried  the  art  to 
its  highest  perfection.  When  they  were  in 
vaded,  and  the  objects  of  art  lowered  to  suit 
a  change  of  feeling,  sculpture  immediately 
began  so  show  symptoms  of  decline. 

Four  principal  periods  of  Greek  sculpture 
"nay  be  distinguished,  each  characterised  by 
striking  peculiarities  of  style  or  treatment. 
The  first  comprehends  all  that  uncertain  age 
of  which  no  reliable  record  remains,  and  of 
which  our  only  knowledge  is  in  the  traditions 
preserved  by  ancient  writers,  down  to  the 
period  of  the  first  art-movement  exhibited  in 
the  archaic  Eginetan  School,  at  about  600 
B.C.  The  second  extends  to  the  perfection 


of  sculpture  by  Phidias  and  his  contempor 
aries  at  from  450  to  400  «.c.  The  third 
period  includes  the  practice  of  the  art  from 
this  time  to  about  250  or  200  B.C.,  when  tho 
more  voluptuous  execution  and  style  of  de 
sign  of  Praxiteles  and  his  scholars,  and  of 
Lysippus  and  his  followers,  effected  a  most 
important  change  in  the  condition  of  the 
art.  The  fourth  and  the  last  period  of  true 
Greek  sculpture  is  that  of  its  decline,  under 
mere  imitators  or  bad  innovators ;  when 
manner  took  the  place  of  style,  and  when 
that  pure  simplicity  and  noble  grandeur  that 
had  hitherto  characterized  sculpture  were  re 
presented  by  minute  details,  mechanical  and 
tasteless  execution,  and  littleness  and  poverty 
of  treatment. 

Painting,  introduced  into  Greece  at  a 
period  when  sculpture  had  already  made 
some  progress,  always  remained  closely  allied 
to  the  earlier  ?nd  more  favorite  art.  Confining 
themselves  chiefly  to  the  correct  delineation 
of  the  human  form,  the  Greek  painters  subordi 
nated  color,  and  light,  and  shade,  and  effect 
of  composition,  to  perfection  of  outline  and 
grace  of  action,  so  that,  judged  by  the  modern 
notions  of  the  art,  their  productions  may 
rather  be  considered  as  statues  and  bas-reliefs, 
designed  upon  a  flat  surface,  than  as  pictures. 
As  they  painted  either  upon  the  walls  of 
houses  or  on  tablets  of  wood,  their  works  did 
not  long  survive  the  artists,  and  the  only 
estimate  that  we  can  form  of  their  merits  is 
derived  from  the  judgments  of  contempor 
aries  and  the  few  specimens  of  later  Greek 
painting  that  have  been  preserved  to  us  on 
the  walls  of  Ilerculaneum  arid  Pompeii ;  and 
even  from  these  fragments  of  the  art  in  its  dec:- 

<j  o 

radation  and  decay  we  can  easily  see  that  in 
its  best  period  its  masters,  in  their  own 
branch  of  design,  must  have  rivalled  the 
triumphs  of  later  times,  even  if  we  were 
not  assured  of  their  excellence  by  the  fact 
that  the  Athenians  familiar  with  the  crea 
tions  of  Phidias  and  Praxite.es,  applauded 
the  productions  of  the  pencil  of  Zeuxis  and 
Apelles. 

In   simplicity    of  form  and  harmony    oi 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


437 


proportion  the  Greek  architecture  has  never 
been  surpassed,  and  the  subtle  grace  and 
matchless  elegance  of  the  Grecian  structures 
have  baffled  all  the  imitative  efforts  of  their 
admirers  wherever  they  have  attempted  to 
revive  them  in  modern  days.  The  Acropolis 
of  Athens  was  the  centre  of  an  architectural 
splendor,  which  no  capital  of  the  world  has 
ever  equalled.  It  was  covered  with  the 
temples  of  gods  and  heroes;  and  thus  its 
summit  presented  not  only  a  sanctuary  but 
a  museum,  containing  the  finest  productions 
of  the  architect  and  the  sculptor,  in  which 
the  whiteness  of  the  Pentelic  marble  was 
relieved  by  brilliant  colors,  and  rendered 
still  more  dazzling  by  the  transparent  clear 
ness  of  the  Athenian  atmosphere.  It  was 
surrounded  by  walls  and  was  divided  into 
terraces.  It  was  approached  only  by  a  mag 
nificent  flight  of  steps  from  the  agora,  at  the 
top  of  which  stood  the  Propylaea,  a  suitable 
entrance  to  the  exquisite  works  within.  This 
Propylaea  consisted  of  a  central  portico  of 
fluted  columns,  with  a  Doric  temple  at  each 
side.  One  of  these  was  called  the  Pina- 
cotheca,  from  its  walls  being  covered  with 
paintings.  On  passing  through  these  gates 
all  the  glories  of  the  Acropolis  became  visi 
ble.  The  chief  building  was  the  Parthenon, 
or  temple  of  Minerva,  the  most  perfect  pro 
duction  of  Grecian  architecture,  and  was 
erected  under  the  superintendence  of  Phidi 
as.  The  pediments  and  friezes  were  adorned 
with  the  most  exquisite  sculptures,  executed 
by  the  greatest  statuaries  of  the  time,  and 
within  the  building  stood  the  masterpiece  of 
Athenian  art,  the  colossal  statue  of  the  Yirgin 
Goddess,  executed  by  Phidias  himself.  It 
was  wrought  in  gold  and  ivory,  and  its 
height,  including  the  base,  was  above  forty 
feet.  All  the  drapery  was  of  pure  gold, 
while  the  uncovered  parts  were  of  solid 
Ivory.  There  was  another  colossal  statue  of 
Hinerva,  by  the  same  sculptor,  which  stood 
in  the  open  air  opposite  the  Propylsea.  The 
Erectheum  was  the  most  important  of  the 
other  monuments  on  the  Acropolis.  It  was 
dedicafed  to  Neptune,  who  as  Poseidon 


Erecthetis  shared  the  worship  of  the  Atheni 
ans  with  their  protector  Pallas.  As  the 
Parthenon  was  the  finest  specimen  of  the 
Doric  order  of  architecture,  so  the  Erectheum 
was  considered  the  most  perfect  model  of  the 
Ionic.  Below  the  Acropolis,  at  its  south 
eastern  extremity,  was  situated  the  Dionysiac 
theatre,  partly  excavated  out  of  the  solid 
rock,  and  capable  of  accommodating  the 
whole  body  of  Athenian  citizens  as  well  as 
the  strangers  who  came  to  witness  the  Diony 
siac  festival.  A  love  of  profound  research 
and  curious  speculation  also  seems  to  have 
been  as  inherent  in  their  character,  and  as 
congenial  to  their  national  temperament,  as 
a  love  of  poetry,  music,  and  the  fine  arts. 

The  fire  which  T hales  lighted  up  was  never 
afterwards  wholly  extinguished  amongst  the 
Greeks.  He  had  kindled  his  torch  at  the 
altar  of  science  in  Egypt,  and  it  burned 
brightly  in  the  propitious  atmosphere  to 
which  it  was  transferred  by  the  father  of 
Greek  philosophy.  The  Ionian  school,  of 
which  this  philosopher  became  the  founder, 
was  followed  in  quick  succession  by  the  Ital 
ian  and  Eleatic,  where  the  physical  and  met 
aphysical  sciences  were  cultivated  with  equal 
success ;  and  in  the  dialogues  of  Plato  am 
ple  evidence  may  be  found  of  the  zeal  and 
ardor  with  which  the  laws  both  of  mind  and 
matter  were  investigated  in  Athens,  ae  soon 
as  the  violence  of  political  contention  had 
subsided,  and  a  respite  from  wars  and  revo 
lutions  gave  leisure  for  the  discussion  of  such 
subjects.  God,  the  Universe,  and  Man,  at 
once  divided  and  engrossed  the  whole  of 
their  attention.  The  question  first  asked 
was,  What  is  God  ?  and  to  this  various  and 
discordant  answers  were  of  course  necessa 
rily  given.  According  to  Thales,  he  is  the 
most  ancient  of  all  things,  for  he  is  without 
beginning;  he  is  air,  said  Anaximenes;  he 
is  a  pure  mind,  quoth  Anaxagoras;  he  is 
both  air  and  mind,  contended  Archelaus. 
Democritus  thought  him  mind  in  a  spherical 
form  ;  Pythagoras,  a  monad,  and  the  princi 
ple  of  good ;  Heracleitus,  an  eternal  circular 
fire ;  Parmenides,  the  finite  and  immovable 


438 


HISTORY    OF   THE   WORLD, 


principle,  in  a  spherical  form ;  Melissus  and 
Zeno,  one  and  everything,  the  only  eternal 
and  infinite.  But  these  answers,  being  all 
more  or  less  physical,  did  not  satisfy  the 
question ;  a  vacuity  was  still  left ;  and  Neces 
sity,  Fate,  and  Fortune  or  Accident,  were 
the  principles  called  in  to  fill  it  up.  The 
Universe  gave  rise  to  another  set  of  disputa 
tions.  According  to  some,  what  is  has  ever 
been,  and  the  world  is  eternal.  Others,  again, 
argued  that  the  world  is  not  eternal,  but  that 
matter  is  eternal.  And  here  a  multitude  of 
questions  arose.  Was  this  matter  susceptible 
of  forms,  of  one  or  one  of  many  ?  Was  it 
water,  or  air,  or  fire,  or  an  assemblage  of  cor 
puscular  atoms,  or  an  infinite  number  of  inde 
structible  elements  ?  Had  it  subsisted  with 
out  movement  in  the  void,  or  had  it  an  irreg 
ular  movement  ?  Did  the  world  appear  by 
intelligence  communicating  its  action  to  it, 
or  did  the  Deity  ordain  it  by  penetrating  it 
with  a  part  of  his  essence  ?  Did  these  atoms 
move  in  the  void,  and  was  the  universe  the 
result  of  their  fortuitous  concourse?  Are 
there  but  two  elements  in  nature,  earth 
and  fire ;  and  by  these  are  all  things  pro 
duced  ?  or  are  there  four  elements,  whose 
parts  are  united  by  attraction  and  separated 
by  repulsion?  In  a  word,  causes  and  es 
sences;  bodies,  forms,  and  colors;  produc 
tion  and  dissolution ;  the  great  phenomena 
of  visible  nature — the  magnitudes,  figures, 
eclipses,  and  phases,  of  the  two  heavenly  lu 
minaries  ;  the  nature  and  division  of  the  sky  ; 
the  magnitude  and  situation  of  the  earth ; 
the  sea,  with  its  ebbs  and  flows ;  the  causes  of 
thunder,  lightning,  winds  and  earthquakes ; 
— all  these  furnished  disquisitions  which  were 
pursued  with  an  eagerness  of  research  and 
intenseness  of  application  peculiar  to  the 
Greeks.  ISTor  did  Man  form  a  subject  of  less 
interesting  and  curious  speculation  than  the 
universe  of  which  he  was  considered  an  epi 
tome.  All  allowed  him  a  soul  and  an  intel 
ligence,  but  all  differed  widely  in  their  ideas 
respecting  this  soul  or  intelligence.  Some 
maintained  that  it  was  always  in  motion,  and 
that  it  moved  by  itself;  others  thought  it  a 


number  in  motion  ;  some  considered  it  the 
harmony  of  the  four  elements ;  others,  again, 
variously  represented  it  as  water,  fire,  blood, 
a  fiery  mixture  of  things  perceptible  by  the 
intellect,  which  have  globose  shapes  and  th« 
force  of  fire,  a  flame  emanating  from  the  sun, 
an  assemblage  of  fiery  and  spherical  atoms, 
like  those  subtile  particles  of  matter  which 
are  seen  floating  in  the  rays  of  the  sun. 

Such  were  a  few  of  the  speculations  which 
science  had  devised  for  employing  the 
thoughts  of  the  active-minded  men  in  Greece, 
particularly  in  Attica ;  and  when  to  these 
we  add  the  ethical  and  political  systems  of 
the  Academy,  the  Lyceum,  the  Porch,  and 
the  Gardens,  to  say  nothing  of  that  of  the 
New  Academy  founded  by  Arcesilaus,  and 
ably  maintained  by  Carneades,  or  of  the  at 
tention  paid  by  almost  all  the  philosophers 
to  the  cultivation  of  pure  geometry,  some 
idea  may  be  formed  of  the  extent  of  Plu 
tarch's  misrepresentation  of  the  Athenian 
mind  when  he  described  it  as  incapable  of 
pursuing  laborious  researches,  and  as  wanting 
in  persevering  and  continuous  attention. 

Grecian  poetry  begins  with  Homer  ;  of  his 
works  we  have  already  spoken.  Poets,  in 
deed,  existed  in  Greece  before  his  time,  but 
the  fact  of  their  existence  is  all  that  remains 
of  them.  The  poems  of  Homer  are  at  once 
the  first  and  the  last  great  specimen  of  heroic 
song  in  Grecian  poetry  ;  for  it  were  out  of 
place  in  an  outline  like  this  to  allude  to  the 
middle  school  of  the  epic,  while  even  the 
attempt  to  revive  heroic  poetry  m  the  Alex- 
drine  period  proved  only  that  its  life  and 
soul  were  extinct. 

The  Homeric  hymns,  a  series  of  composi 
tions  in  praise  of  the  gods,  and  probably  of  a 
later  date  than  Ilesiod,  who  lived  some  time 
after  Homer,  seem  to  bridge  over  the  passage 
from  the  epic  and  heroic  poetry  to  the  lyrical 
The  steps  of  the  transition  may  be  traced  in 
the  gradual  ascendancy  acquired  by  the  mu 
sical  accompaniment  which  had  ircm  the 
first  been  employed  in  the  recitation  of  the 
epic,  but  to  which  a  greater  predominance 
was  given  in  the  hymns,  thus  leading  on  to 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


439 


the  decided  influence  of  the  lyre  and  pipe, 
and  consequent  accommodation  both  of  the 
poem  and  character  of  the  poetry  to  that  lyric 
mould  in  which  it  was  thenceforward  to  be 
cast.  Terpander  himself  composed  the  music 
for  these  Homeric  rhapsodies;  and  Ilesiod 
himself  is  said  to  have  been  denied  admit 
tance  to  the  Pythian  games  because  he  could 
not  accompany  his  verses  on  the  harp.  These 
hymns,  strange,  quaint,  some  almost  comic; 
others  like  that  of  Hermes,  full  of  a  wild  and 
dancing  gaiety ;  almost  all  treating  the  in 
habitants  of  Olympus  with  a  free  and  easy 
familiarity;  abounding  in  rapid  transitions, 
invocations,  and  reflections,  or  sentiments  of 
the  writer ;  prepared  the  way  for  the  more 
regular  lyric  as  it  appeared  in  the  strains  of 
Archilochus,  to  whom  is  assigned  the  dis 
tinction  of  being  the  father  of  the  Grecian 
lyric. 

The  perfection  of  the  Greek  lyric  had 
grown  out  of  the  intimate  connection  of  po 
etry  with  music,  fusing  the  finest  results  of 
both  into  a  whole,  which,  charming  the 
senses  and  the  soul  at  once,  hurried  away  the 
listener  with  an  irresistible  sweep  of  enthu 
siasm.  Every  thing  in  the  circumstances  of 
Greece  contributed  to  its  rapid  development 
and  unfailing  effect.  A  spirit  of  gaiety  and 
social  enjoyment  was  the  national  character 
istic,  heightened  by  the  influence  of  a  de 
lightful  climate,  and  by  a  religion  whose  airy 
and  fantastic  character  interposed  no  gloomy 
reflection  to  check  the  enjoyment  of  the  pres 
ent.  The  public  and  family  festivals,  sacri 
fices,  games,  and  poetical  contests,  assembling 
multitudes  together,  exciting  the  spirit  of 
rivalry,  and  gratifying  the  poet  as  it  were 
with  a  foretaste  of  his  poetical  immortality ; 
the  high  honors  and  distinctions  everywhere 
paid  to  song,  rapidly  advanced  the  art  to 
perfection.  It  is  probable,  that  if  the  whole 
mass  of  the  Greek  lyric  poetry  could  now  be 
recovered,  not  only  would  Horace,  Catullus, 
and  the  Latin  lyric  writers,  be  unquestion 
ably  shorn  of  many  of  their  finest  passages, 
but,  in  ah1  probability,  we  should  be  presented 
toith  tl.e  noblest  and  most  varied  collection 


that  the  world  has  ever  produced.  For  if 
the  light  luxurious  bacchanalian  spirit  of  the 
time  be  imaged  in  the  graceful  trifling  of 
Anacreon's  festive  songs,  we  know  how  the 
deeper  and  more  gloomy  sentiments  of  a 
genuine  passion  were  embodied  in  the  bum- 
ing  lines  of  Sappho ;  the  ardor  of  military 
enthusiasm  in  him  who  sang  his  verses  to  the 
Spartan  fife,  Tyrtaeus ;  the  inspiring  themes 
of  patriotism  in  "  Alcseus,  fancy  drest,  sing 
ing  the  sword  in  myrtles  dressed ;"  the  touch 
ing  tenderness  of  maternal  affection  in  the 
Danae  of  Simonides,  weeping  over  her  child 
in  her  frail  and  sea  beaten  prison ;  and,  above 
all,  the  loftiest  strains  of  religious  fervor,  the 
praises  of  demigods  and  heroes,  all  the  pride, 
pomp,  and  circumstance  of  human  existence, 
in  the  odes  of  the  greatest  master  of  the  Gre 
cian  lyre,  Pindar.  But,  unfortunately,  of 
the  works  of  the  nine  who  are  enumerated 
by  the  ancients  as  forming  the  constellation 
of  the  lyric  writers,  and  embracing  the  period 
from  the  death  of  Ilesiod  down  to  the  great 
era  of  the  Persian  war,  viz.,  Pindar,  Bacchv- 
lides,  Sappho,  Anacreon,  Stesichorus,  Simo 
nides,  Ibycus,  Alcseus,  and  Alcman,  some 
have  completely  perished,  and  of  others  only 
the  most  trifling  fragments  remain.  Ana 
creon  and  Pindar  are  the  only  two  of  which 
we  possess  any  considerable  specimens. 

Judging  from  the  few  fragments  we  pos 
sess  of  Sappho,  the  loss  of  her  works  is  par 
ticularly  to  be  deplored ;  for  she  appears  to 
have  possessed  not  merely  that  wild  fire  and 
hurry  of  passion  which  predominate  in  her 
celebrated  ode,  but  a  tenderness  of  heart,  a 
power  of  presenting  imagery  in  a  line  or  a 
word,  not  surpassed  by  any  of  the  ancient 
writers,  and  justly  entitling  her  to  the  lofty 
title  of  the  Tenth  Muse,  bestowed  upon  her 
by  antiquity. 

Pindar  unquestionably  occupied  the  high 
est  place  among  the  Greek  lyrists;  and 
though  it  is  certain  that  we  are  in  possession 
of  only  a  small  part  of  his  works,  for  he  ap 
pears  to  have  written  on  every  Tariety  of 
theme,  enough  remains  to  satisfy  us  that  tha 
judgment  of  antiquity,  which  raised  him  tc 


440 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  lyric  throne,  was  well  founded.  Forty- 
five  triumphal  lays,  in  honor  of  the  victors  in 
the  public  games,  have  descended  to  us. 
They  are  characterized  by  the  most  splendid 
imagery.  The  glow  of  piety  shines  brightly 
in  his  odes,  sometimes  breaking  out  in  ex 
pressions  of  the  deepest  awe,  or  in  sublime 
pictures  of  deity,  and  sometimes  assuming  an 
aspect  of  moral  beauty,  adding  force  and 
lustre  to  the  lessons  of  wisdom. 

There  is  little  to  be  said  of  the  declining 
portion  of  Greek  poetry.  General  corrup 
tion,  introduced  by  luxury,  and  the  evil 
principles  of  the  sophists  ;  loss  of  liberty, 
when  all  the  powers  of  Greece  had  yielded 
to  the  sway  of  Alexander  ;  the  introduction 
of  a  tumid  and  oriental  taste  into  eloquence 
and  composition  in  general ;  such  are  the 
features  which  mark  the  period  from  the 
rise  of  Alexander  the  Great  to  the  extinc 
tion  of  the  poetical  literature  of  Greece. 
After  the  death  of  Alexander,  indeed,  a 
strong  effort  was  made  by  the  Ptolemies  to 
render  Alexandria  the  rival  of  Athens,  and 
to  assemble  about  their  court  poets,  orators 
and  men  of  science.  In  the  latter  point 
only  their  efforts  were  successful.  Science 
continued  to  flourish,  and  long  after  Greece 
had  ceased  to  produce  any  great  works  in 
the  fine  arts,  we  find  geometrical  invention 
carried  to  a  height  by  Euclid,  whilst  the  won 
der-working  science  of  Archimedes  struck 
the  Romans  at  the  siege  of  Syracuse  with 
terror  and  astonishment.  But  eloquence 
remained,  as  before,  hollow  and  pompous, 
while  poetry  was  wasted  in  the  vain  attempt 
to  give  life  and  interest  to  science.  This 
was  the  period  of  the  learned  or  didactic 
poetry ;  mythology,  astronomy,  botany  were 
the  favorite  subjects  to  which  the  art  of  the 
poet  was  devoted.  One  attempt  to  revive 
the  epic  taste  is  visible  in  the  elegant  Argon- 
autics  of  Apollonius  Rhodius.  The  most 
interesting,  however,  and  by  far  the  most 
original  of  the  works  of  the  decline  of 
Greek  poe:ry  are  the  Idylls  of  Theocritus. 
They  are,  as  the  name  Implies,  little  poet 
ical  pictures  or  representations  in  miniature, 


sometimes  of  mythological  subjects,  at  other 
times  of  matters  of  common  life  ;  but  al 
most  always  amorous  in  their  purpose  or 
termination.  With  Theocritus  may  be 
named  the  showy  Bion  and  the  delicate 
Moschus,  the  last  names  of  any  note  which 
precede  the  period  of  exhaustion,  when  the 
days  of  high  imagination  and  great  works 
being  over,  those  of  mere  cleverness  and 
neatness  of  execution,  of  slender  trifles, 
epigrams  and  anthologies,  commenced. 

When  the  lyric  poetry  of  Greece  had 
reached  its  perfection  in  Pindar,  its  drama 
rose  into  shape  and  grandeur  in  the  tragedies 
of  ^schylus. 

The  Grecian  drama  had  its  origin  in  the 
fantastic  orgies  of  shepherds  and  peasants, 
who  solemnized  the  rites  of  Bacchus  by  the 
sacrifice  of  a  goat,  by  tumultuous  dances, 
and  by  a  sort  of  masquerade.  Their  faces 
were  covered  with  the  lees  of  wine,  and 
their  songs  and  jests  corresponded  in  coarse 
ness  to  the  character  of  the  satyrs  of  their 
patron  Bacchus.  Music  always  formed  a 
part  of  this  rude  festivity.  Out  of  such 
slight  materials  Thespis  is  supposed  to  have 
been  the  first  who  framed  something  like  an 
approach  to  a  more  regular  entertainment. 
The  actors  were  then,  instead  of  running 
about  wild  among  the  audience,  exalted  by 
him  upon  a  cart,  or  upon  a  scaffold  of  boards 
laid  upon  tressels. 

The  drama  in  Greece  had  scarcely  begun 
to  develop  itself  from  barbarism,  ere,  with 
rapid  strides  it  advanced  towards  perfection. 
Thespis  flourished  about  four  hundred  and 
forty  or  fifty  years  before  the  Christian  era. 
The  battle  of  Marathon  was  fought  in  the 
year  490  B.C.  ;  and  it  was  upon  ^Eschylus, 
one  of  the  Athenian  generals  on  that  me 
morable  occasion,  that  Greece  conferred  the 
honored  title  of  the  Father  of  Tragedy. 
Not  only  did  he  introduce  the  regular  form 
of  the  poetical  drama,  but,  improving  upon 
the  invention  of  the  stage  by  Thespis,  he 
constructed  a  permanent  theatre,  first  of 
wood,  and  afterwards  of  stone,  thus  reduc 
ing  the  casual  and  disorderly  mob  of  spec 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


441 


tators  to  a  regular  and  attentive  audience. 
The  use  of  the  wine  lees  on  the  faces  of  the 
actors  was  superseded  by  masks,  which  were 
adapted  to  the  character  that  was  represent 
ed,  and  the  illusion  was  aided  by  the  intro 
duction  of  scenery.  The  theatrical  perform 
ances  were  always  regarded  as  of  a  devotional 
character,  and  they  we're  generally  begun 
with  a  lustration  and  prayer  to  Bacchus. 

The  three  great  tragic  writers  of  Greece, 
^Eschylus,  Sophocles  and  Euripides,  flour 
ished  almost  at  the  same  time.  Never,  per 
haps,  did  there  arise  within  so  short  a  space 
such  a  succession  of  brilliant  talents.  To 
J^schylus  the  sanction  of  antiquity  has  as 
cribed  unrivalled  power  over  the  realms  of 
astonishment  and  terror.  At  his  summons  the 
mysterious  and  tremendous  volume  of  destiny 
seemed  to  open  and  display  its  leaves  of  iron 
before  the  appalled  spectators ;  the  more 
than  mortal  voices  of  deities,  titans  and  de 
parted  heroes  were  heard  in  awful  confer 
ence  ;  heaven  bowed,  and  its  divinities 
descended  ;  earth  yawned  and  gave  up  the 
pale  spectres  of  the  dead,  and  the  yet  more 
undefined  and  grisly  horrors  of  those  infer 
nal  deities  who  struck  horror  into  the  gods 
themselves.  It  was  the  object  of  Sophocles 
to  move  sorrow  and  compassion  rather  than 
to  excite  indignation  and  terror.  He  studied 
the  progress  of  action  more  than  ^Eschylus, 
and  excelled  in  that  modulation  of  history 
by  which  interest  is  excited  at  the  beginning 
of  a  drama,  maintained  in  its  progress  and 
gratified  at  its  conclusion.  His  subjects  are 
also  of  a  nature  more  melancholy  and  less 
sublime  than  those  of  his  predecessor.  He 
loved  to  paint  heroes  rather  in  their  forlorn 
than  in  their  triumphant  fortunes,  aware  that 
the  contrast  offered  new  sources  of  the  pa 
thetic  to  the  author.  The  passion  of  love 
predominates  in  the  pieces  of  Euripides,  and 
he  is  the  first  tragedian  who  paid  tribute  to 
the  passion  which  has  been  made  too  exclu 
sively  the  moving  cause  of  interest  on  the 
modern  stage.  He  was  accused  of  having 
degraded  the  character  of  his  personages,  by 
admitting  more  alloy  of  human  weakness, 
5(5 


folly  and  vice,  than  was  consistent  with  the 
high  qualities  of  the  heroic  age.  yEschylus, 
it  was  said,  transported  his  audience  into  a 
new  and  more  sublime  race  of  beings ;  Soph 
ocles  painted  mankind  as  they  ought  to  be, 
and  Euripides  as  they  actually  were. 

Grecian  comedy,  in  its  earliest  form,  ge 
nerally  turned  upon  parodies,  in  which  the 
heroes  of  the  tragic  drama  were  introduced 
as  objects  of  ridicule,  and  the  absurdity  was 
heightened  by  the  appearance  of  animals 
and  inanimate  objects  as  part  of  the  dramatis 
personce.  But  the  Athenians  were  too  judi 
cious  to  be  long  gratified  with  mere  extrava 
gance.  Cratino,  Eupolis,  and  particularly 
Aristophanes,  a  daring,  powerful  and  appa« 
rently  unprincipled  writer,  converted  com 
edy  into  an  engine  for  assailing  the  credit 
and  character  of  private  individuals,  as  well 
as  the  persons  and  political  measures  of 
those  who  administered  the  state.  The 
doctrines  of  philosophy,  the  power  of  the 
magistrate,  the  genius  of  the  poet,  the  rites 
proper  to  the  deity,  were  alternately  made 
the  subject  of  the  most  uncompromising  and 
severe  satire.  The  use  of  the  mask  enabled 
Aristophanes  to  render  his  satire  yet  more 
pointedly  personal ;  for,  by  forming  it  so  as 
to  imitate  the  features  of  the  object  of  his 
ridicule,  and  by  imitating  the  dress  and  man 
ner  of  the  original,  the  player  stepped  upon 
the  stage  a  walking  and  speaking  caricature 
of  the  hero  of  the  night.  In  this  manner 
Aristophanes  ridiculed  Socrates,  the  wisest 
of  the  Athenians,  and  Cleon,  the  demagogue, 
when  at  the  height  of  his  power. 

The  ancient  comedy  was  of  a  character 
too  licentious  to  be  long  tolerated.  It  was 
suppressed  by  an  order  of  the  oligarchy  to 
ward  the  end  of  the  Peloponnesian  war. 
It  was  succeeded  by  the  Middle  Comedy,  in 
which  personal  satire  was  avoided,  and  the 
wit  of  the  poet  was  confined  to  general  sub 
jects  of  burlesque  raillery.  But  the  old 
comedy,  thus  deprived  of  its  point  and  sting, 
soon  gave  way  to  an  entirely  different  clasa 
of  drama,  which  the  ancients  called  the  New 
Comedy,  and  which  more  resembled  the 


HISTOKY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


modern  plays.  It  had  for  its  subject  the 
incidents  of  private  life.  The  plots  were 
generally  of  a  ludicrous  turn,  but  sometimes 
there  were  serious  and  pathetic  scenes  intro 
duced.  Menander  and  others  obtained 
much  celebrity  ill  this  class  of  composition. 
Their  works  are  almost  entirely  lost,  and  we 
can  judge  of  them  only  by  the  Latin  imita 
tions  of  Plautus  and  Terence. 

In  the  higher  branches  of  prose  writing 
Greece  was  no  less  distinguished  than  in 
her  poetry ;  her  historians  and  philosophers 
have  furnished  the  models  and  standards  for 
the  works  of  succeeding  ages.  Herodotus, 
her  earliest  historian,  has  won  the  lofty  title 
of  the  Father  of  History.  His  most  cele 
brated  followers  were  Thucydides  and  Xeno- 
phon.  Herodotus  is  the  Homer  of  history. 
He  has  all  the  majesty  and  simplicity  of  the 
great  epic  bard,  and  all  the  freshness  and 
vivacity  of  coloring  which  mark  the  founder 
of  a  new  literary  epoch.  The  style  of  Thu 
cydides  is  brief  and  sententious,  snd  whe 
ther  in  moral  or  political  reasoning,  or  in 
description,  gains  wonderful  force  from  its 
condensation.  It  is  this  brevity  and  simpli 
city  that  renders  his  account  of  the  plague 
of  Athens  so  striking  and  tragic,  but  this 
characteristic  is  sometimes  carried  to  a 
faulty  extent,  so  as  to  render  his  style  harsh 
and  his  meaning  obscure.  The  genius  of 
Xenophon  was  not  of  the  highest  order ;  it 
was  practical  rather  than  speculative  ;  but 
he  is  distinguished  for  his  good  sense,  his 
moderate  views,  his  humane  temper,  and  his 
earnest  piety. 

The  latter  days  of  literary  Athens  were 
chiefly  distinguished  by  the  genius  of  her 
orators  and  philosophers.  Both  rhetoric  and 
philosophy  were  first  cultivated  exclusively 
by  the  Sophists,  and  till  the  time  of  Sophocles, 
remained  almost  completely  in  their  hands. 
Socrates,  by  directing  the  attention  of  philo 
sophers  to  the  more  useful  question  of  mor 
als,  effected  a  separation  between  rhetoric 
and  philosophy.  Hitherto  the  sophists  who 
professed  philosophy  had  only  aimed  at  con 
futing  their  antagonists  with  logical  quibbles, 


and  thus  displaying  their  super,  .jr  cleverness, 
without  reference  to  the  merits  of  the  ques 
tion  they  discussed.  Socrates,  however,  did 
not  talk  for  mere  vain  show  and  ostentation, 
but  for  the  sake  of  gaining  clear  ideas  and 
arriving  at  the  truth,  so  as  to  get  actual 
wisdom,  rather  than  skill  in  argument. 
The  earnestness  with  which  he  opposed  the 
sophists  raised  up  many  enemies  against  him, 
who  finally  procured  his  condemnation  by 
the  Athenian  courts,  and  he  was  compelled 
to  take  poison.  The  account  of  his  death 
and  his  last  discussion  is  given  in  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  dialogues  of  his  celebrated 
disciple,  Plato.  From  the  teachings  of  Soc 
rates,  many  different  schools  of  philosophy 
arose  in  Greece,  among  which  the  Academic, 
founded  by  Plato,  was  the  most  famous. 

The  democratic  nature  of  the  government 
of  Athens  favored  the  cultivation  of  oratory. 
When  every  man  could  take  part  in  the  as 
semblies,  and  could  address  the  people,  the 
art  of  speaking  with  effect,  would,  of  course, 
be  highly  valued.  Schools  of  rhetoric  were 
accordingly  established  in  the  earliest  times. 
The  first  Athenian  orator  who  professed  the 
art,  appears  to  have  been  Antiplion,  who 
was  born  B.C.  480.  Thucydides  was  among 
his  pupils.  Of  all  the  Attic  orators  the 
most  distinguished  was  Demosthenes.  The 
verdict  of  posterity  has  pronounced  him  the 
greatest  speaker  that  ever  lived.  He  sought 
the  chief  uses  of  his  eloquence  in  the  public 
emergencies  of  his  agitated  time.  He  lived 
and  acted  in  the  last  struggle  which  Greece 
maintained  for  freedom  ;  and  he  died  when 
the  battle  was  lost,  a  sacrifice  to  the  ven 
geance  of  his  conquerors.  While  he  was 
an  active  leader  in  the  field,  he  encouraged 
and  inspired  the  people  with  his  fiery  elo 
quence.  The  effect  of  his  speeches  was 
irresistible.  "  Could  his  manner  be  copied," 
says  David  Hume,  "  its  success  would  be  in 
fallible  over  a  modern  asscmlly.  It  is  rapid 
harmony  exactly  adjusted  to  the  sense  ;  it  is 
vehement  reasoning  without  any  appearance 
of  art ;  it  is  disdain,  anger,  boldness,  free« 
dom,  involved  in  a  continual  stream  of  argil 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


ment ;  and  of  all  human  productions,  the 
orations  of  Demosthenes  present  to  us  the 
models  wlacli  approach  the  nearest  to  per 
fection." 

With  the  fall  of  Greece  by  the  conquest 
of  Alexander,  Grecian  literature  did  not  be 
come  at  once  extinct ;  the  language  linger 
ed  on,  for  a  time,  with  the  Alexandrine  and 
Byzantine  -writers,  as  a  living  tongue,  until 
the  taking  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks. 
Then  its  national  existence  perished,  and 
transported  to  Europe,  it  became  the  study 
of  the  learned  of  other  nations.  Its  intro 
duction  to  the  west  in  the  fifteenth  century 
was  the  signal  for  the  commencement  of  an 


entire  revolution  in  human  ideas.  The 
wider  and  deeper  philosophy  of  Socrates 
and  Plato  soon  overcame  the  narrow  and 
artificial  subtleties  which  the  ingenuity  of 
the  schoolmen  had  evolved  from  the  Aris 
totelian  logic,  and  the  slender  stream  of 
human  knowledge,  which  had  hitherto  flowed 
in  turbid  rivulets  in  the  contracted  channels 
of  Dante's  seven  rivers  of  learning,  the 
Trivium  and  Quadrivium  of  the  schools, 
now  breaking  through  the  barriers  which 
the  ignorance  of  the  dark  ages  had  raised 
against  it,  swept  on  in  a  fertilizing  flood,  be 
fore  which  the  strength  of  medievalism  and 
superstition  was  of  no  avail. 


MACEDONIA. 


A  LL  the  stories  relative  to  the  early  his- 
J~\..  tory  of  the  Macedonian  monarchy — 
*nd  they  were  various — agree  in  tracing  the 
origin  of  the  family  to  the  Temenids  of  Ar- 
gos.  There  is  an  air  of  genuineness  about 
the  tradition  of  Herodotus  (viii.,  137-138). 
According  to  this  historian,  Perdiccas,  a  Te- 
rnenid,  with  two  brothers  of  the  same  race, 
being  driven  from  their  native  Argos  into 
Macedonia,  were  compelled,  from  straitened 
circumstances,  to  serve  as  shepherds  to  the 
petty  King  of  Labaea.  A  prodigy  happened 
to  Perdiccas,  which  at  once  indicated  his 
future  success,  and  led  to  his  present  dis 
missal  by  the  Labsean.  His  escape  being 
secured  by  the  rising  of  a  river,  which  was 
afterwards  held  sacred  by  the  Macedonian 
kings,  this  hardy  shepherd  established  him 
self  near  the  garden  of  Midas,  on  Mount  Ber- 
inius,  and  from  him  sprang  the  royal  line  of 
Edessa.  It  was  a  common  Greek  opinion, 
moreover,  during  the  reign  of  Alexander,  son 
of  Amyntas,  that  the  family  of  that  prince 
was  of  Hellenic  extraction  ;  so  much  so,  that 
he  found  a  place  at  the  Olympic  games,  to 


which  none  but  a  genuine  Greek  could  lay 
claim. 

To  command  was  the  prerogative  of  the 
Greek  mind,  and  for  a  courageous  Argeian 
to  acquire  ascendancy  and  transmit  authority 
over  the  Macedonian  barbarians  was  doubt 
less  a  task  of  comparatively  little  difficulty. 
From  the  legend  alluded  to  till  the  reign  of 
Amyntas  (520-500  B.  c.)  and  his  son  Alex 
ander  (480  B.  c.),  we  have  nothing  but  a  long 
blank.  Xames  or  dates  there  are  none  ;  yet 
we  can  dimly  infer  the  growing  influence 
and  importance  of  the  Temenids.  They  ac 
quire  Pieria,  a  place  of  great  importance,  ly 
ing  between  Mount  Bermius  and  the  sea. 
Amyntas  accordingly  heired  an  extensive  do 
minion  on  his  coming  to  the  throne.  Dur 
ing  his  reign  he  kept  up  a  friendly  connexion 
with  the  Pisistratidse  at  Athens,  a  relation 
ship  afterwards  continued  between  his  son 
Alexander  and  the  Athenians.  It  was  dur 
ing  the  reign  of  Amyntas  that  Macedonia 
first  became  formally  subject  to  the  Persian 
power.  Darius  intrusted  his  officer  Megaba- 
zus  with  the  important  task  of  ratifying  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


submission  which  Amyntae  had  proposed, 
and  the  Persian  warrior  and  diplomatist  had 
fulfilled  his  mission  so  well,  that  after  marry 
ing  the  sister  of  Amyntas,  he  returned  to  his 
master  with  a  new  province  added  to  his 
empire. 

The  Macedonians  distinguished  themselves 
in  the  time  of  the  Persian  invasion  of  Greece 
by  furnishing  their  allies  with  200,000  re 
cruits  ;  though  some  cities,  particularly  Po- 
tidoea,  Olynthtis,  and  Pallene,  adhered  to  the 
Grecian  interest.  The  last  two  were  taken 
and  razed,  and  the  inhabitants  massacred  by 
the  Persians ;  but  Potidaea  escaped  by  rea 
son  of  the  sea  breaking  into  the  Persian 
camp,  where  it  did  great  damage.  Alexan 
der,  however,  afterwards  thought  proper  to 
court  the  favor  of  the  Greeks,  by  giving  them 
intelligence  of  the  time  when  Mardonius  de 
signed  to  attack  them.  The  remaining  trans 
actions  of  this  reign  are  entirely  unknown, 
further  than  that  the  king  enlarged  his  do 
minions  as  far  as  the  river  Nessus  on  the  E., 
and  the  Axius  on  the  "W. 

Alexander  I.  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Perdiccas  II.,  who  is  said  to  have  inherited 
his  father's  abilities,  though  not  his  integ 
rity.  From  the  duplicity  with  which  he 
acted,  both  to  the  Greeks  and  the  Persians, 
it  does  not  appear,  indeed,  that  he  had  much 
to  boast  of  as  to  the  latter  quality.  In  the 
Peloponnesian  war  he  espoused  the  cause  of 
the  Spartans  against  the  Athenians,  from 
whom  he  was  in  danger  by  reason  of  their 
numerous  settlements  on  the  Macedonian 
coast,  and  their  great  power  by  sea.  For 
some  time,  however,  he  amused  the  Athe 
nians  with  a  show  of  friendship ;  but  at  last, 
under  pretence  of  enabling  Olynthus  and 
some  other  cities  to  recover  their  liberties, 
he  assisted  in  destroying  the  influence  of  the 
Athenians  in  those  places,  hoping  to  establish 
that  of  the  Macedonians  in  its  stead.  But 
this  design  failed  of  success ;  the  Olynthian 
confederacy  was  broken  up ;  and  the  mem 
bers  of  it  became  subject  to  Sparta,  until  at 
iast,  by  the  misfortune  of  that  republic,  they 
grew  suflj  cieii  y  powerful,  not  only  to  resist 


the  encroachments  of  the  Macedonians,  but 
to  make  considerable  conquests  in  their 
country. 

Perdiccas  II.  was  succeeded  about  41(>  B.  c 
by  Archelaus  I.  He  enlarged  his  dominions 
by  the  conquest  of  Pydna  and  other  places 
in  Pieria,  though  his  ambition  seems  rather 
to  have  been  to  improve  his  dominions  than 
greatly  to  extend  them.  He  facilitated  com 
munication  between  the  principal  towns  of 
Macedonia,  by  cutting  straight  roads  through 
the  greater  part  of  the  country ;  ho  built 
walls  and  fortresses  in  such  places  as  afforded 
favorable  situations  ;  he  encouraged  agricul 
ture  and  the  arts,  particularly  those  subser 
vient  to  war ;  he  formed  magazines  of  arms  ; 
he  raised  and  disciplined  a  considerable  body 
of  cavalry ;  and,  in  a  word,  he  added  more 
to  the  solid  grandeur  of  Macedonia  than  had 
been  done  by  all  his  predecessors  put  to 
gether.  Nor  was  he  regardless  of  the  arts 
of  peace.  His  palace  was  adorned  by  the 
works  of  the  Grecian  painters.  Euripides 
was  long  entertained  at  his  court ;  Socrates 
was  earnestly  solicited  to  live  there  ;  men  of 
merit  and  genius  in  the  various  walks  of 
literature  and  science  were  invited  to  reside 
in  Macedonia,  and  treated  with  distinguished 
regard  by  a  monarch  equally  attentive  to  ad 
vance  his  own  glory  and  promote  the  happi 
ness  of  his  subjects. 

This  great  monarch  died  after  a  reign  of 

O  O 

six  years,  a  space  by  far  too  short  to  accom 
plish  the  magnificent  projects  he  had  formed. 
After  his  death  the  kingdom  fell  under  the 
power  of  usurpers,  or  of  weak  and  wicked 
monarchs.  A  number  of  competitors  con 
stantly  appeared  for  the  throne ;  and  these 
by  turns  called  to  their  assistance  the  Thra- 
cians,  Illyrians,  Thessalians,  the  Olynthian 
confederacy,  Athens,  Sparta,  and  Thebes. 
Bardyllis,  an  active  and  daring  chief,  who, 
from  being  the  head  of  a  gang  of  robbers, 
had  become  sovereign  of  the  Illyrians,  enter 
ed  Macedonia  at  the  head  of  a  numerous 
army ;  deposed  Amyntas  II.,  father  of  Philif  ; 
and  set  up  in  his  stead  one  Argreus,  who 
consented  to  become  tributary  to  the  Illyri- 


HISTOE^   OF  THE  WOELD. 


445 


ans.  Another  candidate  for  the  throne, 
named  Pausanias,  was  supported  by  the  Thra- 
cians ;  but  by  the  assistance  of  the  Thessa- 
lians  and  Olynthians,  Amyntas  was  at  length 
enabled  to  resume  the  government.  After 
his  restoration,  however,  the  Olynthians  re 
fused  to  deliver  up  several  places  of  impor 
tance  belonging  to  Macedonia,  which  Amyn 
tas  had  either  intrusted  to  their  care,  or  which 
they  had  taken  from  his  antagonist.  Amyn 
tas  complained  to  Sparta,  and  that  republic 
readily  complied  with  his  wishes.  Two  thou 
sand  Spartans,  under  the  command  of  Euda- 
miclas,  were  ordered  into  Macedonia,  where 
they  performed  essential  service.  The  ap 
pearance  of  a  Spartan  army  at  once  encour 
aged  the  subjects  and  allies  of  the  Olynthians 
to  revolt ;  and  the  city  of  Potidsea,  a  place 
of  great  importance  in  the  isthmus  of  Pal- 
lene,  surrendered  soon  after  his  arrival  in  the 
country.  Elated  with  his  success,  Eudami- 
das  approached  so  near  the  city  of  Olynthus, 
that  he  was  unexpectedly  attacked,  defeated, 
and  killed,  in  a  sally  of  the  citizens.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Teleutias,  brother  of  Age- 
silaus,  who  had  under  his  command  a  body 
of  ten  thousand  men,  and  was  further  assisted 
by  Amyntas,  king  of  Macedonia,  and  Derdas 
his  brother,  the  governor  or  sovereign  of  the 
most  westerly  province  of  Macedonia,  which 
abounded  in  cavalry.  By  these  formidable 
enemies  the  Olynthians  were  discomfited  in 
a  series  of  battles,  obliged  to  shut  themselves 
up  in  their  city,  and  prevented  from  culti 
vating  their  territory ;  upon  which  Teleutias 
advanced  with  his  whole  forces  to  invest  the 
city  itself.  The  Olynthians  allowed  them  to 
come  on,  and  the  Lacedemonians  impru 
dently  advanced  under  the  towers  and  bat 
tlements  of  the  city.  The  townsmen  then 
mounted  the  walls,  and  discharged  upon 
them  a  shower  of  darts,  arrows,  and  other 
missile  weapons,  whilst  the  flower  of  the 
Olynthian  troops,  who  had  been  purposely 
posted  behind  the  gates,  sallied  forth  and  at 
tacked  them  with  the  greatest  fury.  Teleu- 
tias,  attempting  to  rally  his  men,  was  slain 
in  the  first  onset ;  the  Spartans  who  attended 


him  were  defeated,  and  the  whole  army  dia 
pered  with  great  slaughter,  and  obliged  tc 
shelter  themselves  in  the  towns  of  Acanthus^ 
Apollonia,  Spartolus,  and  Potidsea. 

The  Spartans,  undismayed  by  this  disaster 
prosecuted  the  war  with  much  spirit.  The 
Olynthians  held  out  for  nine  or  ten  months, 
but  were  at  last  obliged  to  submit  on  very 
humiliating  conditions.  They  formally  re 
nounced  ah1  claim  to  the  dominion  of  Chalcis, 
and  ceded  the  Macedonian  cities  to  their  an 
cient  governor ;  and  in  consequence  of  this, 
Amyntas  left  the  city  of  ^Egse,  or  Edessa, 
where  till  now  he  had  held  his  royal  resi 
dence,  and  fixed  it  at  Pella,  a  city  of  great 
strength  and  beauty,  situate  upon  an  emi 
nence,  which,  together  with  a  plain  of  con 
siderable  extent,  was  defended  by  impassa 
ble  morasses,  and  also  by  the  rivers  Axius 
and  Lydias.  It  was  distant  about  fifteen 
miles  from  the  ^Egean  Sea,  with  which  it 
communicated  by  means  of  the  above-men 
tioned  rivers.  It  was  originally  founded  by 
the  Greeks  who  had  conquered  and  peopled 
it ;  but  in  consequence  of  the  misfortunes  of 
Olynthus,  it  now  became,  and  continued  ever 
after  to  be,  the  capital  of  Macedonia. 

Amyntas  being  thus  established  in  his  do 
minions,  continued  to  enjoy  tranquillity  dur 
ing  the  remaining  part  of  his  life.  The  reign 
of  his  son  Alexander  was  short,  and  disturbed 
by  invasions  of  the  Illyrians,  from  whom  he 
was  obliged  to  purchase  a  peace.  He  left 
behind  him  two  brothers,  Perdiccas  and 
Philip,  both  very  young,  so  that  Pausanias 
again  found  means  to  usurp  the  throne,  be 
ing  supported  not  only  by  the  Thracians,  but 
by  a  considerable  number  of  Greek  merce 
naries,  as  well  as  a  powerful  party  in  Mace 
donia  itself.  In  this  critical  juncture,  how 
ever,  Iphicrates  the  Athenian  happening  to 
be  on  an  expedition  to  Amphipolis,  was  so 
warmly  addressed  by  Eurydice,  the  widow 
of  Amyntas,  in  behalf  of  her  two  sons,  whom 
she  presented  to  him,  that  he  interested  him 
self  in  their  behalf,  and  got  Perdiccas,  the 
eldest,  established  on  the  throne.  Durinq 
the  minority  of  the  young  prince,  however 


±46 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


his  brother  Ptolemy,  who  was  his  guardian, 
openly  aspired  to  the  throne ;  but  he  was 
deposed  by  the  Theban  general  Pelopidas, 
who  reinstated  Perdiccas  in  his  dominions, 
and  in  order  to  secure  the  dependence  of 
Macedonia  upon  Thebes,  carried  along  with 
him  thirty  Macedonian  youths  as  hostages, 
amongst  whom  was  Philip,  the  younger 
brother  of  the  king.  Perdiccas,  elated  by 
the  protection  of  such  powerful  allies,  now 
forgot  Iphicrates  and  the  Athenians,  and 
even  disputed  with  them  the  right  to  the  city 
of  Amphipolis,  which  had  been  decreed  to 
them  by  the  general  council  of  Greece,  but 
which  his  opposition  rendered  it  impossible 
for  them  to  recover.  In  a  battle  with  the 
Illyrians,  the  Macedonians  were  defeated 
with  the  loss  of  4000  men,  and  Perdiccas 
himself  was  taken  prisoner,  and  soon  after 
wards  died  of  his  wounds. 

The  kingdom  was  now  left  in  the  most  de 
plorable  state.  Amyntas,  the  legitimate  heir 
to  the  throne,  was  an  infant ;  the  Thebans, 
in  whom  Perdiccas  had  placed  so  much  con 
fidence,  were  deprived  of  the  sovereignty  of 
Greece;  the  Athenians,  justly  provoked  at 
the  ungrateful  behavior  of  the  late  monarch, 
showed  a  hostile  disposition;  the  Illyrians 
ravaged  the  western,  and  the  Pseonians  the 
northern  quarter  of  the  kingdom  ;  the  Thra- 
cians  still  supported  the  cause  of  Pausanias, 
and  proposed  to  send  him  into  Macedonia  at 
the  head  of  a  numerous  army ;  whilst  Ar- 
gacus,  the  former  rival  of  Amyntas,  renewed 
his  pretensions  to  the  throne,  and  by  flatter 
ing  the  Athenians  with  the  hopes  of  recov 
ering  Amphipolis,  easily  induced  them  to 
support  his  claims,  in  consequence  of  which 
they  fitted  out  a  fleet,  having  on  board  3000 
heavily  armed  soldiers,  which  they  sent  to 
the  coast  of  Macedonia. 

Philip,  the  late  king's  brother,  no  sooner 
heard  of  his  defeat  and  death,  than  he  set 
out  privately  from  Thebes,  and  on  his  arrival 
in  Macedonia  found  matters  in  the  situation 
which  we  have  just  described.  Fired  with 
an  insatiable  ambition,  it  is  probable  that 
from  the  verv  first  moment  he  had  resolved 


to  seize  the  kingdom  for  himself;  yet  it  wag 
necessary  at  first  to  pretend  that  he  assumed 
the  throne  only  to  preserve  it  for  his  nephew. 
Philip,  as  has  already  been  mentioned,  had 
been  carried  off  as  a  hostage  by  Pelopidas, 
but  for  a  long  time  past  had  remained  in 
such  obscurity  that  historians  are  not  agreed 
as  to  his  place  of  residence,  some  placing  him 
in  Thebes,  and  others  in  Macedonia.  It  is 
certain,  however,  that  from  the  age  of  fifteen 
he  had  been  very  much  in  the  family  of  Epa- 
minondas,  from  whose  lessons  he  could  not 
but  derive  the  greatest  advantage.  It  is  also 
probable  that  he  accompanied  this  celebrated 
general  in  many  of  his  expeditions ;  and  it  is 
certain  that,  with  an  attendance  suitable  to 
his  rank,  he  visited  most  of  the  principal  re 
publics,  and  paid  great  attention  to  their  in 
stitutions,  both  civil  and  military.  Having 
easy  access  to  whomsoever  he  pleased,  he 
cultivated  the  friendship  of  the  first  people 
in  Greece.  Even  in  Athens,  where  no  good 
will  subsisted  to  Macedonia,  the  philosophers 
Plato,  Isocrates,  and  Aristotle,  cultivated  his 
acquaintance  ;  and  the  connection  he  formed 
with  the  principal  leaders  of  that  republic  in 
the  early  period  of  his  life  no  doubt  contrib 
uted  greatly  to  the  accomplishment  of  the 
designs  in  which  he  afterwards  proved  so 
successful. 

Philip's  return  to  Macedonia  instantly 
changed  the  face  of  affairs.  The  Macedo 
nian  army,  though  defeated,  was  not  entirely 
destroyed ;  and  the  remainder  of  them  secured 
themselves  in  the  fortresses  which  had  been 
built  by  Archelaus.  There  were  also  con 
siderable  garrisons  in  the  fortresses  and  wall 
ed  towns  scattered  over  the  kingdom;  and 
the  Illyrians,  who  had  made  war  only  for  the 
sake  of  plunder,  soon  returned  home  to  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  their  victory.  His  other  ene 
mies,  the  Thracians  and  Pseonians,  were 
much  less  formidable  than  the  Illyrians,  be 
ing  still  in  a  very  rude  and  uncivilized  state, 
incapable  of  uniting  under  one  head  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  bring  any  formidable  army 
into  the  field.  Whilst  the  Illyrians  therefore 
gave  up  the  campaign  through  mere  caprice 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


447 


and  unsteadiness,  Philip  himself  applied  to 
the  Pseonians,  and  by  fair  promises  and  flat 
tery,  prevailed  upon  them  to  desist.  The 
King  of  Thrace,  by  means  of  a  sum  of  money, 
was  easily  induced  to  abandon  the  cause  of 
Pausanias ;  so  that  Philip,  freed  from  these 
barbarians,  was  now  at  liberty  to  oppose  the 
Athenians,  who  supported  Argseus,  and 
threatened  a  very  formidable  invasion. 

The  appearance  of  the  Athenian  fleet  be 
fore  Methone,  and  the  presence  of  Argseus 
at  the  head  of  a  numerous  army  in  Pieria, 
filled  the  whole  country  with  consternation ; 
and  Philip,  who  was  by  no  means  deficient 
in  the  talents  necessary  to  recommend  him 
self  to  the  good  graces  of  the  people,  took  the 
opportunity  of  getting  Amyntas  set  aside,  and 
himself  declared  king,  for  which  proceeding, 
indeed,  the  clanger  of  the  times  afforded  a 
very  plausible  pretext.  In  the  meantime, 
Argreus  advanced  with  his  Athenian  allies 
towards  Edessa,  or  ^Egse,  but  was  defeated 
by  Philip  in  a  general  engagement,  in  which 
Argoaus  himself,  with  the  flower  of  his 
army,  was  cut  in  pieces,  and  the  rest  taken 
prisoners.  This  first  instance  of  success  con 
tributed  greatly  to  raise  the  spirits  of  Philip's 
party  ;  and  he  himself  took  care  to  improve 
it  in  the  best  manner  possible.  Having  made 
a  great  number  of  prisoners,  both  Macedo 
nians  and  Athenians,  he  determined,  by  his 
treatment  of  them,  to  ingratiate  himself  with 
both  parties.  The  former  were  called  into 
his  presence,  and,  after  a  gentle  reprimand, 
admitted  to  swear  allegiance  to  him,  after 
which  they  were  distributed  throughout  the 
army.  The  Athenians  were  entertained  at 
his  table,  and  dismissed  without  ransom,  and 
their  baggage  was  restored  to  them.  The 
prisoners  were  just  allowed  time  to  return  to 
their  native  city,  and  to  spread  abroad  the 
news  of  Philip's  generosity,  when  they  were 
followed  by  ambassadors  from  Macedonia 
with  proposals  for  peace.  As  he  knew  that 
the  loss  of  Amphipolis  had  greatly  irritated 
them,  he  now  thought  proper  to  renounce 
his  jurisdiction  over  that  city.  It  was  ac 
cordingly  declared  free  and  independent,  and 


subject  only  to  the  government  of  its  own 
free  and  equitable  laws.  Tliis  prudent  con 
duct,  together  with  his  kind  treatment  of  the 
prisoners,  so  wrought  upon  the  minds  of  the 
Athenians,  that  they  consented  to  the  renew 
al  of  a  treaty  which  had  formerly  subsisted 
between  them  and  his  father  Amyntas.  Thus 
he  found  means  to  remove  all  jealousy  of  his 
ambition,  and  to  induce  them  to  engage  in  a 
ruinous  war  with  their  allies,  which  occu 
pied  their  attention  until  Philip  had  an  op 
portunity  of  getting  matters  so  well  estab 
lished  that  it  was  impossible  to  overthrow 
him. 

The  new  king  being  thus  at  liberty  to 
regulate  his  domestic  concerns,  began  to 
circumscribe  the  power  of  his  chiefs  and 
nobles,  who,  especially  in  the  more  remote 
provinces,  paid  very  little  regard  to  the 
authority  of  the  king  of  Macedonia.  To 
counteract  the  ambition  of  these  chiefs 
Philip  chose  a  body  of  the  bravest  Mace 
donian  youths,  whom  he  entertained  at  hit 
own  table,  and  honored  with  many  testi 
monies  of  his  friendship,  giving  them  the 
title  of  his  "  companions,"  and  allowing 
them  constantly  to  attend  him  in  war  and 
hunting.  Their  intimacy  with  the  sovereign, 
which  was  considered  as  a  sure  indication 
of  their  merit,  oViged  them  to  use  superior 
diligence  in  all  the  severe  duties  of  military 
discipline  ;  so  that  they  thus  formed  a  useful 
seminary  for  future  generals,  by  whom  both 
Philip  and  Alexander  were  afterwards  greatly 
assisted  in  their  conquests. 

Whilst  the  king  thus  took  the  best  meth 
ods  to  render  himself  secure  at  home  and 
formidable  abroad,  the  Paeonians  again  began 
to  make  incursions  into  the  kingdom.  The 
death  of  Agis,  their  king,  however,  who  was 
a  man  of  great  military  skill,  deprived  them 
of  almost  all  power  of  resistance  when  they 
were  attacked.  Philip,  in  consequence,  over 
ran  their  country  with  little  opposition,  and 
reduced  them  to  the  state  of  tributaries  tc 
Macedonia.  No  sooner  was  this  accomplish 
ed,  than  he  undertook  a  winter's  campaign 
against  the  Illyrians,  who  had  long  been  the 


448 


HISTOKY  OF  THE    IVORLD. 


natural  enemies  of  Macedonia.  After  an 
ineffectual  negotiation,  he  was  met  by  their 
leader  Bardyllis  at  the  head  of  a  consider 
able  body  of  infantry,  but  with  only  400 
horse.  They  made  a  gallant  resistance  for 
some  time ;  but  being  unable  to  contend 
with  so  skillful  a  general  as  Philip,  they 
were  defeated  with  the  loss  of  7000  men, 
amongst  whom  was  Bardyllis,  who  fell  at 
the  age  of  ninety. 

By  this  disaster  the  Illyrians  were  so  much 
disheartened,  that  they  sent  ambassadors  to 
Philip,  humbly  begging  for  peace  upon  any 
terms.  The  conqueror  granted  them  the 
same  conditions  which  had  been  imposed 
upon  the  Paeonians,  viz.,  becoming  tributary, 
and  yielding  up  to  him  a  considerable  part 
of  their  country.  This  territory,  hitherto 
unconnected  with  any  foreign  power,  grad 
ually  sunk  into  such  absolute  dependence 
upon  Macedonia,  that  many  ancient  geo 
graphers  supposed  it  to  be  a  province  of  that 
country. 

Philip  had  no  sooner  reduced  the  Illyrians, 
than  he  began  to  put  in  execution  greater 
designs  than  any  which  he  had  yet  attempt 
ed.  Sensible  of  the  importance  of  Amphi- 
polis  as  a  maritime  station,  he  directed  all 
his  efforts  towards  the  reduction  of  that  city. 
It  had  indeed  been  declared  independent  by 
Philip  himself  in  the  beginning  of  his  reign  ; 
but  this  was  only  to  prevent  a  rupture  with 
the  Athenians,  who  still  asserted  their  right 
to  it  as  an  ancient  colony,  though,  by  reason 
of  the  perfidy  of  Charidemus,  a  native  of 
Eubcea,  they  had  hitherto  failed  in  their  at 
tempts  to  recover  it.  The  Amphipolitans, 
however,  having  once  enjoyed  the  sweets  of 
liberty,  prepared  to  maintain  themselves  in 
their  independence.  In  the  meantime,  the 
hostile  designs  of  Philip,  which  all  his  pre 
caution  had  not  been  able  to  conceal,  alarm 
ed  the  inhabitants  to  such  a  degree  that 
they  thought  proper  to  put  themselves  under 
the  protection  of  the  Olynthians.  By  them 
they  were  readily  received  into  the  confed 
eracy,  and,  trusting  to  the  strength  of  their 
new  allies,  behaved  in  such  ai  insolent  man 


ner  to  Philip,  that  he  waa  not  long  in  find 
ing  a  specious  pretext  for  hostility  ;  on  which 
the  Olynthians,  greatly  alarmed,  sent  am 
bassadors  to  Athens,  requesting  their  assist 
ance  against  such  a  powerful  enemy.  Phuip, 
however,  justly  alarmed  at  such  a  formidable 
conspiracy,  sent  agents  to  Athens  with  such 
expedition  that  they  arrived  there  before 
anything  could  be  concluded  with  the  Olyn- 
thian  deputies.  Having  gained  over  tho 
popular  leaders  and  orators,  he  deceived  and 
flattered  the  magistrates  and  senate  in  such 
an  artful  manner,  that  a  negotiation  was  in 
stantly  set  on  foot,  by  which  Philip  engaged 
to  conquer  Amphipolis  fur  the  Athenians, 
upon  condition  that  they  surrendered  to  him 
the  strong  fortress  of  Pydnn,  a  place  which 
he  represented  as  of  much  less  importance 
to  them ;  promising  also  to  confer  upon 
them  many  other  advantages,  which,  how 
ever,  he  did  not  specify  at  that  time.  Thus 
the  Athenians,  deceived  by  the  perfidy  of 
their  own  magistrates,  elated  with  the  hopes 
of  recovering  Amphipolis,  and  outwitted  by 
the  superior  policy  of  Philip,  rejected  with 
disdain  the  proffers  of  the  Olynthians. 

The  ambassadors  of  Olynthus  returned 
home  highly  disgusted  with  the  reception 
they  had  met  with,  but  had  scarcely  time  to 
communicate  their  news  to  their  countrymen, 
when  the  ambassadors  of  Philip  arrived 
at  Olynthus.  He  pretended  to  condole  with 
them  on  the  affront  they  had  received  at 
Athens,  but  also  testified  his  surprise  that 
they  should  court  the  assistance  of  that  dis 
tant  and  haughty  republic,  when  they  could 
avail  themselves  of  the  powerful  kingdom 
of  Macedonia,  which  wished  for  nothing 
more  than  to  enter  into  equal  and  lasting 
engagements  with  the  confederacy.  As  a 
proof  of  his  moderation  and  sincerity,  he 
offered  to  put  them  in  possession  of  Anthe- 
mus,  an  important  town  in  the  neighbor 
hood,  of  which  the  Macedonians  had  long 
claimed  the  jurisdiction  ;  making  many 
other  fair  prcioses,  and,  amongst  the  rest, 
that  he  would  reduce  for  them  the  cities  of 
Pydna  and  Potidaea,  which  he  chose  rathe/ 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


449 


to  see  in  dependence  on  Olynthus  than  Ath 
ens.  Tims  he  prevailed  upon  the  Olynthians 
not  only  to  abandon  Amphipolis,  but  to  as 
sist  him  with  all  their  power  in  the  execu 
tion  of  his  designs. 

Philip  now  lost  no  time  in  executing  his 
purposes  against  Amphipolis,  and  pressed 
the  city  so  closely  that  the  people  were  glad 
to  apply  to  the  Athenians  for  relief.  Accord 
ingly,  they  despatched  two  of  their  most 
eminent  citizens,  llierax  and  Stratocles,  to 
represent  the  danger  of  an  alliance  between 
Philip  and  the  Olynthians,  and  to  profess 
their  sorrow  for  having  so  deeply  offended 
the  parent  state.  This  representation  had 
such  an  effect,  that  though  the  Athenians 
were  then  deeply  engaged  in  the  Social 
War,  they  would  probably  have  paid  some 
attention  to  the  Amphipolitans,  had  not 
Philip  taken  care  to  send  them  a  letter  with 
fresh  assurances  of  friendship,  acknowledg 
ing  their  right  to  Amphipolis,  and  which  he 
hoped  shortly  to  put  into  their  hands  in 
terms  of  his  recent  agreement.  By  these 
specious  pretences  the  Athenians  were  per 
suaded  to  pay  as  little  regard  to  the  depu 
ties  of  the  Amphipolitans  as  they  had  al 
ready  done  to  those  of  the  Olynthians ;  so 
that  the  city,  unable  to  defend  itself  alone 
against  so  powerful  an  enemy,  at  last  sur 
rendered  at  discretion  in  the  year  357  before 
Christ. 

Finding  that  it  was  not  his  interest  at  this 
time  to  fall  out  with  the  Olynthians,  Philip 
cultivated  the  friendship  of  that  republic 
with  great  assiduity,  and  took  the  cities  of 
Pydna  and  Potidsea,  which  he  readily  yield 
ed  to  the  Olynthians,  though  they  had  given 
him  but  little  assistance  in  the  reduction  of 
these  places.  Potidaea  had  been  garrisoned 
by  the  Athenians,  and  them  the  artful  king 
sent  back  without  ransom,  lamenting  the 
necessity  of  his  affiiirs,  which  obliged  him, 
contrary  to  his  inclination,  to  oppose  their 
republic.  Though  this  was  rather  too  gross, 
the  Athenians  were  then  so  much  engaged 
with  the  Social  "War,  that  they  had  not  leis 
ure  to  attend  to  the  affairs  of  other  nations. 
57 


Philip  made  the  best  use  of  his  time,  and 
next  projected  the  conquest  of  the  gold 
mines  of  Thrace.  These  had  formerly  been 
worked  by  colonies  from  Thasos  and  Athens : 
but  the  colonists  had  long  since  been  expel 
led  by  the  barbarous  Thracians,  who  knew 
not  how  to  make  use  of  the  treasure  they 
were  in  possession  of.  Philip  took  the 
trouble  to  descend  into  the  mines  himself, 
in  order  to  inspect  the  works ;  and,  having 
caused  them  to  be  repaired,  planted  a  Ma 
cedonian  colony  at  Crenidae,  bestowed  upon 
it  the  name  of  Philippi,  and  drew  an 
nually  from  the  gold  mines  to  the  value  of 
nearly  1000  talents,  or  £200,000  sterling,  an 
immense  sum  in  those  days.  The  coins 
struck  here  were  likewise  called  Philippi. 

Philip  having  obtained  this  valuable  ac 
quisition,  next  undertook  to  settle  the  affairs 
of  Thessaly,  where  everything  was  in  the 
greatest  confusion.  This  country  had  been 
formerly  oppressed  by  Alexander,  tyrant  of 
Phera?,  after  whose  death  three  others  ap 
peared,  viz.,  Tissiphornus,  Pitholaus  and 
Lycophron,the  brothers-in-law  of  Alexander, 
who  had  likewise  murdered  him.  By  the 
united  efforts  of  the  Thessalians  and  Mace 
donians,  however,  these  usurpers  were  easily 
overthrown,  and  effectually  prevented  from 
making  any  disturbance  for  the  future  ;  and 
the  Thessalians,  from  a  mistaken  gratitude, 
surrendered  to  Philip  all  the  revenues  aris 
ing  from  their  fairs  and  towns  of  commerce, 
as  well  as  all  the  conveniences  of  their  har 
bors  and  shipping ;  a  concession  which 
Philip  took  care  to  secure  in  the  most  effect 
ual  manner. 

Having  now  no:  only  established  his  sov 
ereignty  in  the  most  effectual  manner,  but 
rendered  himself  very  powerful  and  formi 
dable  to  his  neighbors,  Philip  determined 
to  enjoy  some  repose  from  his  fatigues. 
Having  formed  an  alliance  with  Arybbas, 
king  of  Epirus,  he,  in  the  year  357  B.C., 
married  Olympias,  the  sister  of  that  prince ; 
a  match  thought  the  more  eligible,  as  the 
kings  of  Epirus  were  supposed  to  be  de 
scended  from  Achilles.  The  nuptials  were 


450 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


solemnized  with  great  pomp  at  Pella,  and 
several  months  were  spent  in  shows  and 
diversions,  during  which  Philip  showed  such 
an  extreme  proneness  to  vice  of  every  kind, 
as  disgraced  him  in  the  eves  of  his  neigh 
bors,  and  most  probably  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  future  domestic  unhappiness.  So  much 
was  this  behavior  of  the  Macedonian  mon 
arch  taken  notice  of  by  the  neighboring 
states,  that  the  Pteonians  and  Tllyrians  threw 
off  the  yoke,  engaging  in  their  schemes  the 
king  of  Thrace  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the 
insane  state  of  that  prince,  their  designs 
were  now  carried  on  with  more  judgment 
than  was  usual  with  barbarians.  Philip, 
however,  notwithstanding  his  dissipation, 
got  warning  of  his  danger  in  sufficient  time 
to  prevent  the  evil  consequences  which  might 
have  ensued  had  the  confederates  had  time 
to  bring  their  schemes  to  a  proper  bearing. 
Early  in  the  spring  of  356  he  took  the  field 
with  the  flower  of  the  Macedonian  troops. 
Having  marched  in  person  against  the  Pce- 
cnians  and  Thracians,  he  despatched  Parme- 
nio,  his  best  general,  into  Illyria.  Both 
enterprises  proved  successful ;  and  whilst 
Philip  returned  victorious  from  Thrace,  he 
received  an  account  of  the  victory  gained 
:by  Parmenio  ;  a  second  messenger  informed 
•him  of  a  victory  gained  by  his  chariot  at 
the  Olympic  games  ;  and  a  third  announced 
that  -Olympian  had  been  delivered  of  a  son 
at  Pella. 

This  was  the  celebrated  Alexander  to 
whom  the  diviners  prophesied  the  highest 
prosperity  and  glory,  as  being  bom  in  such 
auspicious  circumstances.  A  short  time  after 
the  birth  of  Alexander,  Philip  wrote  a  let 
ter  to  the  philosopher  Aristotle,  whom  he 
chose  as  preceptor  to  his  son.  The  letter 
was  written  with  great  brevity,  containing 
only  the  following  words :  "  Know  that  a  son 
is  born  to  us.  We  thank  the  gods  not  so 
much  for  their  gift,  as  for  bestowing  it  at  a 
time  when  Aristotle  lives.  We  assure  cur 
t-elves  that  you  will  form  him  a  prince  wor 
thy  of  his  father,  and  worthy  of  Macedonia." 

Philip  next  set  about  the  further  enlarge 


ment  of  his  territories,  which  were  already 
very  considerable.  He  easily  perceived  that 
the  affairs  of  the  Greeks  were  coming  to  a 
crisis,  and  he  determined  to  watch  the  issue 
of  their  mutual  dissensions.  He  found  oc 
casion  of  interference  for  the  first  time  witli 
the  affairs  of  Greece,  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Phocian  or  Sacred  War.  The  true  cause 
of  the  persecution  of  the  Phocians,  it  is  be 
lieved,  was  the  hatred  with  which  that  people 
had  inspired  the  Thebans  by  refusing  them 
aid  in  their  recent  contest  with  Sparta,  Pri 
vate  individuals  also  of  the  neighboring  com 
munities  advanced  doubtful  motives  of  per 
sonal  offence.  Such  were  the  passions  which 
moved  the  Thebans  to  a  course  of  rash  and 
cruel  warfare,  which  eventually  wrought 
their  own  ruin,  and  led  to  the  destruction 
of  Grecian  freedom.  Prompted  by  ambi 
tion  and  avarice,  they  aspired  to  absolute 
control  in  the  Amphictyonic  Council,  and  to 
undivided  authority  over  the  temple  of  Del 
phi  and  its  treasures,  then  in  the  rightful 
possession  of  the  Phocians.  A  quarrel  was 
sought  with  this  unoffending  people.  They 
were  charged  by  their  rapacious  neighbors 
with  having  cultivated  lands  which  had  been 

O 

devoted  to  the  god  of  Delphi.  Ascendant 
in  the  council,  the  Thebans  easily  found 
means  of  criminating  the  Phocians  ;  they 
accordingly  condemned  that  much-wronged 
people  to  pay  a  fine,  for  the  liquidation  of 
which  their  entire  country  was  pronounced 
forfeit  to  the  god.  The  Phocians  boldly 
seized  upon  Delphi,  and  appealed  to  arms 
(B.C.  357) ;  and  under  the  encouragement  of 
Athens  and  Sparta,  they  engaged  in  a  long 
and  sanguinary  war  with  Thebes  and  her 
allies.  It  was  during  this  contest  that  Philip 
first  gained  a  footing  in  Thessaly.  This  he 
effected  by  aiding  certain  of  the  Thessalian 
nobles  against  the  tyrants  of  Pherse,  who 
had  the  Phocians  and  Athenians  for  their 
allies.  This  movement  brought  Philip  into 
collision  with  the  Athenians.  When  that 
republic  attempted,  together  with  the  people 
of  Methone,  to  thwart  the  influence  of  Philip 
on  the  coasts  of  Thrace,  ho  suddenly  mada 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


451 


a  descent  upon  that  place,  and  made  it  his 
own  after  a  determined  siege,  in  which  he 
lost  an  eye  by  an  arrow  shot. 

During  all  this  time  the  Phoolan  war 
raged  with  the  greatest  fury,  and  involved 
in  it  all  the  states  of  Greece.  Lycophron, 
one  of  the  Thessalian  tyrants  whom  Philip 
had  formerly  deprived  of  his  authority,  had 
again  found  means  to  reestablish  himself; 
and  his  countrymen  having  taken  part  with 
the  Phocians,  Lycophron  called  in  Onomar- 
chns,  the  Phocian  general,  to  protect  mm 
against  the  power  of  Philip,  by  whom  he 
was  sensible  that  he  would  soon  be  attacked. 
The  king  accordingly  inarched  into  Thessaly 
with  a  considerable  army,  and  defeated  Phy- 
allus,  the  brother  of  Onomarchus,  whom  the 
latter  had  sent  into  the  country  with  a  de 
tachment  of  TOOO  men.  After  this  he  be 
sieged  and  took  the  city  of  Pegasog,  driving 
the  enemy  towards  the  frontiers  of  Phocis. 
Onomarchus  then  advanced  with  the  whole 
army ;  and  Philip,  though  inferior  in  num 
bers,  did  not  decline  the  engagement.  The 
Phocians  at  first  gave  ground,  on  which  the 
Macedonians  pursued,  in  good  order ;  but 
coming  near  a  precipice,  on  the  top  of  which 
Onomarchus  had  posted  a  detachment  of 
soldiers,  the  latter  rolled  down  stones  and 
fragments  of  the  rock  in  such  a  manner  as 
did  dreadful  execution,  and  threw  them  into 
the  utmost  disorder.  Philip,  however,  ral 
lied  his  troops  Avith  great  presence  of  mind, 
and  prevented  the  Phocians  from  gaining 
any  further  advantage  ;  saying,  as  he  with 
drew  his  troops,  that  they  did  not  retreat 
through  fear,  but  only  like  rams,  in  order  to 
strike  with  the  greater  vigor.  Nor  was  he 
long  before  he  made  good  his  assertion  ;  for, 
having  recruited  his  army  with  the  greatest 
expedition,  he  returned  into  Thessaly  at  the 
head  of  20,000  foot  and  500  horse,  and  w^as 
there  met  by  Onomarchus.  The  Macedo 
nians  at  this  time  were  superior  in  number 
to  their  enemies  ;  and  Philip,  moreover,  took 
sare  to  remind  them  that  their  quarrel  was 
that  of  heaven,  and  that  their  enemies  had 
been  guilty  of  sacrilege,  by  profaning  the 


temple  of  Delphi.  That  they  might  be  still 
more  animated  in  the  cause,  he  put  crowns 
of  laurel  on  their  heads.  Thus  fired  with 
enthusiasm,  and  having  besides  the  advan 
tage  of  numbers,  the  Phocians  were  alto 
gether  unable  to  withstand  them.  They 
threw  away  their  arms  and  fled  towards  the 
sea,  where  they  expected  to  have  been  re 
lieved  by  Chares,  who,  with  the  Athenian 
fleet,  was  near  to  the  shore  ;  but  in  this  they 
were  disappointed,  for  he  made  no  attempt 
to  save  them.  Upwards  of  6000  perished 
in  the  field  of  battle  or  in  the  pursuit,  and 
3000  were  taken  prisoners.  The  body  of 
Onomarchus  being  found  amongst  the  slain, 
was,  by  order  of  Philip,  hung  upon  a  gibbet, 
as  a  mark  of  infamy,  on  account  of  his  hav 
ing  polluted  the  temple  ;  and  the  bodies  of 
the  rest  were  thrown  into  the  sea,  as  being 
all  partakers  of  the  same  crime. 

The  Olynthians  now  applied  to  Athens  for 
aid  against  the  ambitious  schemes  of  their 
former  ally  of  Macedonia ;  a  call  to  which 
the  Athenians,  moved  by  the  voice  of  De 
mosthenes,  gave  a  ready  response,  and  sent 
successive  reinforcements  to  their  relief. 
Philip  ultimately  defeated  this  allied  force, 
and  subsequently  captured  Olynthus  (B.C.  34:7). 
The  Athenians  and  Macedonians  concluded 
a  treaty  of  peace  the  following  year,  from 
which  the  Phocian  allies  of  Athens,  by  the 
unprincipled  dexterity  of  Philip,  were  ex 
cluded.  That  brave  and  unfortunate  people 
now  found  themselves  at  the  mercy  of  their 
more  powerful  enemies.  The  Thebans,  who 
had  borne  an  unequal  share  in  the  conflict, 
now  in  their  hour  of  need  solicited  the  will 
ing  aid  of  Philip.  Passing  the  unguarded 
defiles  of  Thermopylae,  he  made  a  swift  des 
cent  upon  Greece  proper,  and  from  the  mis 
conduct  and  treachery  of  the  Phocian  lead 
ers,  was  entirely  successful.  The  Phocians 
were  compelled  to  surrender  at  mercy,  and 
the  Amphictyons,  in  solemn  council,  decreed 
that  their  towns  should  be  destroyed,  their 
inhabitants  disarmed  and  heavily  assessed, 
and  that  their  Delphian  privileges  and  votes 
in  the  council  should  revert  to  the  picas  M-i- 


452 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


ccdonian.  Thus  ended  tlie  Sacred  War  (B.C. 
346). 

Athens  and  Macedon  were  now  gradually 
approaching  a  collision :  the  former  had  for 
a  lengthened  period  struggled  for  the  inde 
pendence  of  Greece,  while  the  latter  aspired 
to  general  supremacy  in  her  government  and 
councils.  But  Athens  had  not  only  to  main 
tain  a  contest  with  the  Macedonian  ; — she 
had  discontented  factions  within  her  own 
borders  more  dangerous  to  her  safety  than 
even  her  northern  foe.  There  was  an  aristo 
cratic  and  a  democratic  party.  The  voice  of 
the  former  was  for  peace,  that  ofi  the  latter 
for  war.  The  peace  party  regarded  resistance 
against  such  odds  as  fatal.  They  looked  on 
the  democrats  with  contempt;  and  with  a 
painful  assurance  of  the  utterly  degenerate 
character  of  that  faction,  probably  saw  no 
cure  for  the  evils  of  intestine  strife  except  a 
diversion  against  Persia,  headed  by  Philip 
of  Macedon.  The  peace  party  was  led  by 
the  tried  patriots  Isocrates  and  Phocion ; 
but  there  were  men  of  a  very  different  stamp 
who  found  shelter  among  them.  The  pay  of 
Philip  had  wrought  its  way  among  the  base 
and  the  treacherous.  Chief  of  these  hire 
lings  were  the  orators  ^Eschines  and  Dema- 
des.  The  democratic  .party,  on  the  other 
hand,  eager  for  the  license  and  plunder  which 
hang  in  the  skirts  of  war,  were  guided  by 
the  base  Chares  and  the  mercenary  Charide- 
rrms.  But  this  party  was  fortunate  enough 
to  have  among  its  ranks  a  patriot  of  generous 
enthusiasm  and  of  noble  independence,  who, 
while  he  was  alarmed  at  the  unscrupulous 
ambition  of  Philip,  was  yet  determined  to 
offer  a  brave  resistance  to  the  formidable 
front  of  the  aspiring  king.  This  was  none 
other  than  the  celebrated  Demosthenes. 

After  the  Phocian  war  had  been  brought 
to  a  close,  Philip  directed  his  efforts  to  the 
consolidation  of  his  empire  in  the  north  of 
Greece.  The  towns  of  the  Propontis  and 
the  Thracian  Chersonese  he  soon  made  his 
own.  lie  invested  Perinthus  and  Byzantium  ; 
but  the  voice  of  Demosthenes  was  now  raised 
against  him.  Phocion,  with  an  armament 


of  Athenians,  bore  down  upon  him  and  com 
pelled  him  to  raise  the  siege  of  those  cities. 
But  the  triumph  of  the  orator  and  the  dis 
appointment  of  the  prince  were  alike  mo 
mentary.  The  one  had  to  act  upon  a  fickle 
and  divided  multitude,  the  other  upon  splen 
didly  disciplined  armies.  The  plans  of  the 
one  were  open  to  all,  those  of  the  other  were 
shrouded  in  the  profoundest  mystery  till  the 
moment  for  action  brought  them  to  the  light. 
In  the  following  year,  appointed  by  the  obse 
quious  Amphictyons  to  chastise  the  people 
of  Amphissa  for  cultivating  certain  devoted 
lands,  Philip,  after  reducing  that  city,  seized 
Elateia  at  the  head  of  32,000  veteran  sol 
diers.  Alarm  and  dismay  seized  the  Athe 
nians,  but  the  eloquence  of  Demosthenes,  by 
gaining  over  the  Thebans  and  Corinthians. 
revived  the  expiring  courage  of  the  republi 
cans.  Consummate  generalship  and  discipline, 
however,  proved  more  than  a  match  for  nu 
merical  superiority,  and  the  fatal  battle  of 
Chceronea  (B.C.  338)  saw  the  confederates 
defeated,  and  the  liberties  of  ancient  Greece 
extinguished  for  ever.  Nothing  attested  more 
the  efficiency  of  Philip's  improved  phalanx 
than  this  bloody  victory.  After  the  battle, 
Philip  immediately  stopped  the  slaughter; 
and  (if  we  may  credit  the  story)  when,  on 
revisiting  the  field  after  a  night's  carouse,  he 
beheld  the  Sacred  Band  of  the  Thebans  lying 
in  swathes  where  the  scythe  of  war  had 
mowed  them  down,  he  burst  into  tears,  and 
exclaimed, — "  Perish  they  who  imagine  those 
to  have  done  or  suffered  wrong."  This  burst 
of  generous  feeling  did  not,  however,  extend 
to  the  Thebans  who  survived.  The  hostile 
party  in  their  city  he  treated  with  great 
harshness  and  severity,  while  he  conducted 
himself  towards  the  Athenians  with  the  ut 
most  clemency. 

To  all  appearance  the  great  object  of  Phil 
ip's  ambition  was  now  within  his  grasp.  In 
consideration  of  the  wrongs  which  Persia 
had  inflicted  upon  Greece,  it  was  resolved  in 
the  assembly  that  war  should  be  declared  on 
a  national  scale  against  that  power,  with  the 
of  Macedonia  as  the  commander  of  the 


HISTOET  OF  THE  WORLD. 


453 


expedition.  But  another  was  destined  to  en 
joy  the  laurels  which  Philip  had  all  but  won. 
While  celebrating  the  nuptials  of  his  daughter 
Cleopatra  with  the  King  of  Epirus,  a  young 
Macedonian  of  his  own  body-guard,  named 
Pausanias,  stabbed  him  to  the  heart.  As  the 
assassin  died  on  the  spot,  his  motive  for  the 
deed  could  not  be  ascertained;  but  it  was 
generally  supposed  to  have  arisen  from  per 
sonal  revenge,  on  the  king's  refusal  to  redress 
a  foul  insult  received  from  the  uncle  of  the 
queen.  Some  say  he  was  secretly  urged  to 
commit  the  deed  by  Olympias  (now  supersed 
ed  by  the  new  queen,  Cleopatra),  and  her  son 
Alexander,  who  had  quarrelled  with  his  fa 
ther  a  short  time  previously.  Thus  fell  this 
aspiring  king  at  the  early  age  of  forty-seven 
(B.C.  330),  full  of  life  and  energy,  with  a  vista 
of  glory  opening  up  before  him.  Despite 
the  scantiness  of  our  information  respecting 
him,  the  great .  outlines  of  his  character  and 
achievements  can  be  easily  traced.  He  rais 
ed  the  Macedonian  kingdom  from  a  narrow 
territory  to  a  vast  possession,  reaching  from 
the  shores  of  the  Propontte  to  the  Thermaic 
Gulf.  lie  was  possessed  of  fine  political  and 
military  talent,  and  fortune  smiled  on  his  en 
deavors  ;  but  the  splendor  of  his  name  is 
dimmed  by  base  perjury  and  gross  intempe 
rance.  Theopompus,  his  contemporary  and 
warm  admirer,  stigmatizes  his  conduct  as 
follows :  "  His  Macedonian  and  Grecian 
body-guard,  800  in  number,  was  a  troop  in 
which  no  decent  man  could  live ;  distinguish 
ed  indeed  for  military  bravery  and  aptitude, 
but  sated  with  plunder,  and  stained  with  such 
shameless  treachery,  sanguinary  rapacity,  and 
unbridled  lust,  as  befitted  only  Centaurs  and 
Lsestrygons."  There  can  be  little  doubt  that 
the  hopeless  degeneracy  of  Grecian  spirit 
and  national  feeling  acted  as  a  foil  to  Philip's 
brilliant  talent  for  conquest. 

Iso  sooner  did  the  news  of  Philip's  death 
reach  Athens,  than,  as  if  all  danger  had  been 
past,  the  inhabitants  showed  the  most  extra 
vagant  signs  of  joy.  Demosthenes  and  his 
party  put  on  chaplets  of  flowers,  and  behav 
ed  as  if  they  had  gained  a  great  victory. 


Phocion  reproved  them  for  this  madness, 
bidding  them  remember  that  "  the  army 
which  had  beaten  them  at  Chaeronea  was 
lessened  but  by  one."  This  reproof,  how 
ever,  had  very  little  effect.  The  people  heard 
with  pleasure  all  the  harsh  tilings  which  the 
orators  could  say  of  the  young  Alexander, 
King  of  Macedonia,  whom  they  represented 
as  a  giddy,  wrong- headed  boy,  ready  to  grasp 
all  things  in  his  imagination,  and  able  to  per 
form  nothing.  The  affairs  of  Macedonia  in 
deed  were  in  a  very  distracted  state  on  the 
accession  of  Alexander;  for  all  the  neigh 
bouring  nations  had  the  same  notion  of  the 

O 

young  king  with  the  Athenians,  and,  being 
irritated  by  the  usurpations  of  Philip,  im 
mediately  revolted,  and  the  states  of  Greece 
entered  into  a  confederacy  against  him.  The 
Persians  had  been  contriving  how  to  transfer 
the  war  to  Macedonia;  but  as  soon  as  the 
news  of  Philip's  death  reached  them,  they 
behaved  as  if  all  danger  had  been  terminat 
ed.  At  the  same  time,  Attains,  one  of  the 
Macedonian  commanders,  aspired  to  the 
crown,  and  sought  to  draw  off  the  soldiers 
from  their  allegiance. 

In  the  councils  held  upon  this  occasion, 
Alexander's  best  friends  advised  him  rather 
to  make  use  of  dissimulation  than  force,  and 
to  try  to  cajole  those  whom  they  thought  he 
could  not  subdue.  These  advices,  however, 
were  ill  suited  to  the  temper  of  their  mon 
arch.  He  thought  that  vigorous  measures 
only  were  proper,  and  therefore  immediately 
led  his  army  into  Thessaly.  Here  he  ha 
rangued  the  princes  so  effectually,  that  he 
thoroughly  gained  them  over  to  his  interest, 
and  was  by  them  declared  general  of  Greece ; 
upon  which  he  returned  to  Macedonia,  where 
he  caused  Attains  to  be  seized  and  put  to 
death. 

In  the  spring  of  the  next  year  (335  before 
Christ),  Alexander  resolved  to  subdue  the 
Triballians  and  Illyrians,  who  inhabited  the 
countries  now  called  Bulgaria  and  Sclavonia, 
and  had  been  very  formidable  enemies  to  the 
Macedonian  power.  In  this  expedition  he 
discovered,  though  then  bufc  twenty  years  of 


454 


HISTORY  OP   THE  WORLD. 


age,  a  surprising  degree  of  military  knowl 
edge.  Having  advanced  to  the  passes  of 
Mount  Haemus  (the  Balkan),  he  learned  that 
the  barbarians  had  posted  themselves  in  the 
in)st  advantageous  manner.  Upon  the  tops 
of  the  cliffs,  and  at  the  head  of  every  passage, 
they  had  placed  their  carriages  and  waggons 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  form  a  kind  of  para 
pet,  with  their  shafts  inwards,  that  when  the 
Macedonians  should  have  half  ascended  the 
rock,  they  might  be  able  to  push  these  heavy 
carriages  down  upon  them  ;  and  they  reck 
oned  the  more  upon  this  contrivance,  because 
of  the  close  order  of  the  phalanx,  which, 
they  imagined,  would  be  terribly  exposed  by 
the  soldiers  wanting  room  to  stir,  and  there 
by  to  avoid  the  falling  waggons.  But  Alex 
ander,  having  directed  his  heavy-armed 
troops  to  march,  gave  orders  that,  where  the 
way  would  permit,  they  should  open  to  the 
right  and  left,  and  suffer  the  carriages  to  go 
through  ;  but  that,  in  the  narrow  passes,  they 
should  throw  themselves  on  their  faces  with 
their  shields  behind  them,  that  the  carts  might 
run  over  them.  This  had  the  'desired  effect, 
and  the  Macedonians  reached  the  enemy's 
works  without  the  loss  of  a  man.  The  dis 
pute  was  then  quickly  decided.  The  barba 
rians  were  driven  from  their  posts  with  great 
slaughter,  and  left  behind  them  a  consider 
able  booty  for  the  conquerors. 

The  next  exploits  of  Alexander  were 
against  the  Getce,  the  Tanlantii,  and  some 
other  nations  inhabiting  the  country  upon  the 
other  side  of  the  Danube.  These  he  also 
overcame  ;  showing  in  all  his  actions  the 
most  perfect  skill  in  military  affairs,  joined 
with  the  greatest  valor.  In  the  meantime, 
however,  all  Greece  was  thrown  into  commo 
tion  by  a  report  which  had  been  confidently 
spread  abroad,  that  the  king  was  dead  in 
Illyria.  The  Thebans,  on  this  news,  seized 
Amyntas  and  Timolaus,  two  eminent  officers 
in  the  Macedonian  garrison  which  held  their 
citadel,  dragged  them  to  the  market-place, 
and  put  them  to  death  without  either  form 
of  process  or  any  crime  being  alleged  against 
them.  Alexander  however,  did  not  suffer 


the  Thebans  to  remain  long  in  theii  mistake 
lie  marched  with  such  expedition,  that  in 
seven  days  he  reached  Pallene  in  Thessaly  ; 
and  in  six  days  more  he  entered  Boeotia,  before 
the  Thebans  had  anv  intelligence  of  his  hav- 

v  O 

ing  passed  the  Straits  of  Thermopylae.  Even 
then  they  would  not  believe  that  the  king 
was  alive,  but  insisted  that  the  Macedonian 
army  was  command  by  Antipater,  or  by  one 
Alexander  the  son  of  yEropus.  The  rest  of 
the  Greeks,  however,  were  not  so  hard  of 
belief,  and  therefore  sent  no  assistance  to  the 
Thebans,  who  were  thus  obliged  to  bear  the 
consequences  of  their  own  folly  and  obstina 
cy.  Their  city  was  taken  by  assault,  and 
the  inhabitants  were  for  some  hours  massacred 
without  distinction  of  age  or  sex,  after  which 
the  houses  were  demolished,  excepting  that 
of  Pindar,  the  famous  poet,  which  was  spar 
ed  out  of  respect  to  the  merit  of  its  owner, 
and  because  he  had  celebrated  Alexander, 
King  of  Macedonia.  The  lands,  except  those 
destined  to  religious  uses,  were  shared 
amongst  the  soldiers,  and  all  the  prisoners 
sold  as  slaves,  by  which  440  talents  were 
brought  into  the  king's  treasury. 

By  this  severity  the  rest  of  the  Grecian 
states  wrere  so  thoroughly  humbled,  that  they 
thought  no  more  of  making  any  resistance, 
and  Alexander  had  nothing  further  to  hin 
der  him  from  pursuing  his  favorite  project 
of  invading  Asia.  Very  little  preparation 
was  necessary  for  the  Macedonian  monarch, 
who  went  as  to  an  assured  conquest,  and  reck 
oned  upon  being  supplied  chiefly  by  the  spoils 
of  his  enemies.  Historians  are  not  agreed 
as  to  the  number  of  his  army.  Arrian  says 
that  there  were  thirty  thousand  foot  and  five 
thousand  horse.  Plutarch  tells  us  that  accord 
ing  to  a  moderate  computation,  Alexander 
had  thirty  thousand  foot  and  five  thousand 
horse ;  and  that  according  to  the  largest  es 
timate,  he  had  thirty-four  thousand  foot  and 
four  thousand  horse.  As  to  his  fund  for  the 
payment  of  the  army,  Aristobulus  says  it 
was  but  seventy  talents;  and  OnesicrituB, 
who  was  also  present  in  this  expedition,  not 
only  takes  wvay  the  seventy  talents,  Sut 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


455 


affirms  that  the  king  was  two  hundred  in 
debt.  As  for  provisions,  there  was  just 
sufficient  for  a  month  and  no  more ;  and  to 
prevent  disturbances,  Antipater  was  left  in 
Macedonia  with  twelve  thousand  foot  and 
fifteen  hundred  horse. 

The  army  having  assembled  at  Amphipo- 
lis,  Alexander  marched  thence  to  the  mouths 
of  the  River  Strymon ;  then  crossing  Mount 
Pan<ra3us,  ne  took  the  road  to  Abdera.  Cross- 

o 

ing  the  Eiver  Ebrus,  he  proceeded  through  the 
country  of  Pretis,  and  in  twenty  days  reached 
Sestos ;  thence  he  marched  to  Eteus,  where 
he  sacrificed  on  the  tomb  of  Protesilaus,  be 
cause  he  was  the  first  amongst  the  Greeks  who 
at  the  siege  of  Troy  set  foot  upon  the  Asiatic 
shore.  He  did  this  that  his  landing  might 
be  more  propitious  than  that  of  the  hero  to 
whom  he  sacrificed,  who  was  soon  afterwards 
slain.  The  greatest  part  of  his  army,  under 
the  command  of  Parmenio,  embarked  at 
Sestos,  on  board  of  a  hundred  and  sixty 
galleys  of  three  benches  of  oars,  besides  small 
craft.  Alexander  himself  sailed  from  Elanis ; 
and  when  he  was  in  the  middle  of  the  Helle 
spont,  offered  a  bull  to  Xeptune  and  the 
Xereids,  pouring  forth  at  the  same  time  a  li 
bation  from  a  golden  cup.  When  he  drew 
near  to  the  shore,  he  launched  a  javelin, 
which  stuck  in  the  earth  ;  then,  in  complete 
armour,  he  leaped  upon  the  strand ;  and  hav 
ing  erected  altars  to  Jupiter,  Minerva,  and 
Hercules,  he  proceeded  to  Ilium.  Here  again 
he  sacrificed  to  Minerva ;  and  taking  down 
some  arms 'which  had  hung  in  the  temple  of 
that  goddess  since  the  time  of  the  Trojan 
war,  he  consecrated  his  own  in  their  stead. 
He  sacrificed  also  to  the  ghost  of  Priam,  to 
avert  liis  wrath  on  account  of  the  descent 
which  he  himself  claimed  from  Achilles. 

In  the  meantime  the  Persians  had  assemb 
led  a  great  army  in  Phrygia,  amongst  whom 
was  one  Memnon,  a  Rhodian,  the  best  officer 
in  the  service  of  Darius.  Memnon  gave  it 
as  his  opinion  that  they  should  burn  and  des 
troy  all  the  country  round,  that  they  might 
deprive  the  Greeks  of  the  means  of  subsist 
ing,  and  then  transport  a  part  of  their  army 


into  Macedonia.  But  the  Persians,  depend 
ing  on  their  cavalry,  rejected  this  salutary 
advice,  and  posted  themselves  along  the  river 
Granicus,  in  order  to  await  the  arrival  of  the 
Greeks.  Alexander,  as  soon  as  he  had  per 
formed  all  the  ceremonies  which  he  judged 
necessary,  marched  directly  towards  the  ene 
my.  In  the  engagement  which  ensued  on 
the  banks  of  that  river,  the  Persians  were 
defeated,  and  Alexander  became  master  of 
all  the  neighbouring  country,  which  he  im 
mediately  began  to  take  care  of,  as  if  it  had 
been  part  of  his  hereditary  dominions.  The 
city  of  Sardis  was  immediately  delivered  up  : 
and  here  Alexander  built  a  temple  to  Jupiter 
Olympius.  After  this,  he  restored  the  Ephe- 
sians  to  their  liberty,  ordered  the  tribute 
which  they  formerly  paid  to  the  Persians  to 
be  applied  towards  the  rebuilding  of  the 
magnificent  temple  of  Diana,  and  having 
settled  the  affairs  of  the  city,  marched  against 
Miletus.  This  place  was  defended  by  Mem 
non  with  a  considerable  body  of  troops,  who 
had  fled  thither  after  the  battle  of  Granicus, 
and  therefore  made  a  vigorous  resistance. 
The  fortune  of  Alexander,  however,  prevail^ 
ed ;  and  the  city  was  soon  reduced,  though 
Memnon  with  part  of  the  troops  escaped  to 
Halicarnassus.  After  this,  the  king  dismis 
sed  his  fleet,  a  proceeding  for  which  various 
causes  have  been  assigned,  though  it  is  prob 
able  that  the  chief  reason  was  to  show  his 
army  that  their  only  resource  now  lay  in 
subverting  the  Persian  empire. 

Almost  all  the  cities  between  Miletus  and 
Halicarnassus  submitted  as  soon  as  they  heard 
that  the  former  was  taken  ;  but  Halicarnas 
sus,  where  Memnon  commanded  with  a  very 
numerous  garrison,  made  an  obstinate  de 
fence.  ^Nothing,  however,  was  capable  of 
resisting  the  Macedonian  army,  Memnon 
was  at  last  obliged  to  abandon  the  place ; 
upon  which  Alexander  took  and  razed  the 
city  of  Tralles  in  Phrygia,  received  the  sub 
mission  of  several  princes  tributary  to  the 
Persians,  and  having  destroyed  the  Marma- 
rians,  a  people  of  Lycia,  who  had  fallen  upon 
the  rear  of  his  army,  put  an  end  to  the  cam- 


456 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


paign  ;  after  which  he  sent  home  all  the 
new-married  men,  which  endeared  him  more 
to  his  soldiers  than  almost  any  other  action 
of  his  life. 

As  soon  as  the  season  would  permit,  Alex 
ander  quitted  the  province  of  Phaselis ;  and 
having  sent  part  of  his  army  through  the 
mountainous  country  to  Perga,  by  a  short 
but  difficult  road,  took  his  route  by  a  certain 
promontory,  where  the  way  is  altogether  im 
passable  except  when  the  north  winds  blow. 
At  the  time  of  the  king's  march  the  south 
wind  had  held  for  a  long  time;  but  of  a 
sudden  it  changed,  and  blew  from  the  north 
so  violently,  that,  as  he  and  his  followers  de 
clared,  they  obtained  a  safe  and  easy  passage 
through  divine  assistance.  He  continued  his 
inarch  towards  Gordium,  a  city  of  Phrygia  ; 
the  enemy  having  abandoned  the  strong  pass 
of  Telmissus,  through  which  it  was  necessary 
for  him  to  march.  When  he  arrived  at  Gor 
dium,  and  found  himself  under  the  necessity 
of  staying  there  some  time  till  the  several 
corps  of  his  army  coulcl  be  re-united,  he  ex 
pressed  a  strong  desire  of  seeing  Gordius's 
chariot,  and  the  famous  knot  in  the  harness, 
of  which  such  strange  stories  had  been  pub 
lished  to  the  world.  The  cord  in  which  this 
knot  \vas  tied  was  made  of  the  inner  rind  of 
the  cornel  tree  ;  and  no  eye  could  perceive 
where  it  began  or  ended.  Alexander,  when 
he  could  find  no  possible  way  of  untying,  and 
yet  was  unwilling  to  leave  it  tied,  lest  it 
should  cause  some  fears  in  the  breasts  of  his 
soldiers,  is  said  by  some  authors  to  have  cut 
the  cords  with  his  sword,  saying,  "  It  matters 
not  how  it  is  undone."  A  great  tempest  of 
thunder,  lightning,  and  rain,  happening  the 
succeeding  night,  it  was  held  declarative  of 
Jie  true  solution  of  this  knot,  and  that  Alex 
ander  would  become  master  of  Asia. 

The  king  having  left  Gordium,  marched 
towards  Cilicia,  where  he  was  attended  with 
his  usual  good  fortune,  the  Persians  aban 
doning  all  the  strong  passes  as  he  advanced. 
As  soon  as  he  entered  the  province,  he  re 
ceived  advice  that  Arsames,  whom  Darius 
had  made  governor  of  Tarsus,  was  about  to 


abandon  it,  and  that  the  inhabitants  were 
very  apprehensive  that  he  in-tended  to  plun 
der  them  before  he  withdrew.  To  prevent  this. 
the  king  marched  incessantly,  and  arrived 
just  in  time  to  save  the  city.  But  his  saving 
it  had  well  nigh  cost  him  his  life  ;  for,  either 
through  the  excessive  fatigue  of  marching, 
as  some  say,  or,  according  to  others,  by  his 
plunging  when  very  hot  into  the  River  Cyd- 
nus,  which,  as  it  runs  through  thick  shades, 
has  its  waters  excessively  cold,  he  fell  into 
such  a  distemper  as  threatened  immediate 
dissolution.  Philip  the  Acarnanian  alone 
preserved  self-command  enough  to  examine 
the  nature  of  the  king's  disease,  the  worst 
symptom  of  which  was  a  continual  shivering, 
which  he  removed  by  means  of  a  potion,  and 
in  a  short  time  the  king  recovered  his  usual 
health. 

Soon  after  Alexander's  recovery,  he  re 
ceived  the  agreeable  news  that  Ptolemy  and 
Asander  had  defeated  the  Persian  generals, 
and  made  great  conquests  on  the  Hellespont ; 
and  a  little  after  that  he  met  the  Persian 
army  at  Issus,  commanded  by  Darius  him 
self.  A  bloody  engagement  ensued,  in 
which  the  Persians  were  defeated  with  great 
slaughter  (B.C.  333).  The  consequences  of 
this  victory  were  very  advantageous  to  the 
Macedonians.  Amongst  the  number  of 
those  places  which,  within  a  short  space  aftei 
the  battle  of  Issus,  sent  deputies  to  submit 
to  the  conqueror,  was  the  city  of  Tyre.  The 
king,  whose  name  was  Azelmicus,  was  ab 
sent  in  the  Persian  fleet ;  but  his  son  was 
amongst  the  deputies,  and  was  very  favora 
bly  received  by  Alexander.  The  king  proba 
bly  intended  to  confer  particular  honors 
upon  the  city  of  Tyre,  for  he  acquainted  the 
inhabitants  that  he  would  come  and  sacrifice 
to  the  Tyrian  Hercules,  the  patron  of  their 
city,  to  whom  they  had  erected  a  most  mag 
nificent  temple.  But  these  people,  like  most 
other  trading  nations,  Avere  far  tco  suspi 
cious  to  think  of  admitting  such  an  enter 
prising  prince  with  his  troops  within  their 
walls.  Alexander  then  assembled  a  council 
of  war,  in  which  he  insisted  strongly  on  the 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD. 


457 


disaffected  state  of  Greece  (for  most  of  the 
Grecian  states  had  sent  ambassadors  to  Da 
rius,  to  enter  into  a  league  with  him  against 
the  Macedonians),  the  power  of  the  Persians 
by  sea,  and  the  folly  of  carrying  on  the  war 
in  distant  provinces,  whilst  Tyre  was  left 
unreduced  behind  them ;  he  also  remarked, 
that  if  once  this  city  was  subdued,  the  sov 
ereignty  of  the  sea  would  be  transferred  to 
them,  because  it  would  fix  their  possession 
of  the  coast ;  and  as  the  Persian  fleet  was 
composed  chiefly  of  tributary  squadrons, 
those  tributaries  would  fight  the  battles,  not 
of  their  late,  but  of  their  present  masters. 

For  these  reasons  the  siege  of  Tyre  was 
resolved  on.  The  town  was  not  taken,  how 
ever,  without  great  difficulty,  which  provok 
ed  Alexander  to  such  a  degree  that  he  treat 
ed  the  inhabitants  with  the  greatest  cruelty. 
After  the  reduction  of  Tyre,  Alexander, 
though  the  season  was  already  far  advanced, 
resolved  to  make  an  expedition  into  Syria  ; 
and  in  his  way  thither  proposed  to  chastise 
the  Jews,  who  had  highly  offended  him  dur 
ing  the  siege  of  Tyre ;  for  when  he  sent  to 
them  to  demand  provisions  for  his  soldiers, 
they  answered,  that  they  were  the  subjects 
of  Darius,  and  bound  by  oath  not  to  supply 
his  enemies.  The  king,  however,  was  paci 
fied  by  their  submission,  and  not  only  par 
doned  them,  but  conferred  many  privileges 
upon  them. 

From  Jerusalem  Alexander  marched  di 
rectly  to  Gaza,  the  only  place  in  that  part  of 
the  world  which  still  held  out  for  Darius. 
The  governor  Batis  defended  the  place  with 
great  valor,  and  several  times  repulsed  his 
enemies ;  but  at  last  it  was  taken  by  storm, 
and  all  the  garrison  slain  to  a  man ;  and  this 
secured  to  Alexander  an  entrance  into  Egypt, 
which  having  before  been  very  impatient  of 
the  Persian  yoke,  admitted  the  Macedonians 
peaceably.  Here  the  king  laid  the  founda 
tion  of  the  city  of  Alexandria,  which  for 
many  years  afterwards  continued  to  be  the 
capital  of  the  country.  Whilst  he  remained 
here,  he  also  formed  the  singular  design  of 
visiting  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Ammon.  As 
58 


to  the  motives  by  which  he  ^as  induced  to 
take  this  extraordinary  journey,  authors  are 
not  agreed ;  but  certain  it  is,  that  he  hazard 
ed  himself  find  his  troops  in  the  highest  de 
gree,  there  being  two  dangers  in  this  inarch, 
which,  with  the  example  before  him  of  Cam- 
by  ses,  who  lost  the  greater  part  of  his  army 
in  it,  might  have  terrified  anybody  but  Alex 
ander.  The  first  was  the  want  of  water, 
wliich,  in  the  sandy  deserts  surrounding  the 
temple,  is  nowhere  to  be  found ;  the  other, 
the  uncertainty  of  the  road  from  the  fluctua 
tion  of  the  sands,  which,  changing  their 
situation  every  moment,  leave  the  traveler 
neither  a  road  to  walk  in,  nor  a  mark  to 
march  by.  These  difficulties,  however,  Alex 
ander  overcame,  though  not  without  a 
miraculous  interposition,  as  is  pretended  by 
all  his  historians. 

Alexander  having  consulted  the  oracle, 
and  received  a  favorable  answer,  returned  to 
pursue  his  conquests.  Having  settled  the 
government  of  Egypt,  he  appointed  the  gen 
eral  rendezvous  of  his  forces  at  Tyre.  Here 
he  met  with  ambassadors  from  Athens,  re 
questing  him  to  pardon  such  of  their  coun 
trymen  as  he  found  serving  the  enemy.  The 
king  being  desirous  to  oblige  such  a  famous 
state,  granted  their  request,  and  also  sent  a 
fleet  to  the  coast  of  Greece,  to  prevent  the 
effects  of  some  commotions  which  had  lately 
happened  in  Peloponnesus.  He  then  directed 
his  march  to  Thapsacus  ;  and  having  passed 
the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  met  with  Darius 
near  Arbela  (jErbil),  where  the  Persians  were 
again  overthrown  with  prodigious  slaughter, 
and  by  this  victory  Alexander  became  in  ef 
fect  master  of  the  Persian  empire. 

After  this  important  victory,  Alexander 
marched  directly  to  Babylon,  which  was  im 
mediately  delivered  up,  the  inhabitants  being 
greatly  disaffected  to  the  Persian  interest. 
After  thirty  days'  stay  in  this  country,  the 
king  marched  to  S  [sa,  which  had  already 
surrendered  to  Philoxenus  ;  and  here  he  re 
ceived  the  treasures  of  the  Persian  monarch, 
amounting,  according  to  the  most  generally 
received  account,  to  50,000  talents.  Having 


158 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


received  also  at  this  time  a  supply  of  6000 
foot  and  500  horse  from  Macedonia,  he  set 
about  reducirg  the  nations  of  Media,  amongst 
whom  Darius  had  retired.  He  first  reduced 
the  Uxians,  and  having  ^rced  a  passage  to 
Persepolis,  the  capital  of  the  empire,  he,  like 
a  barbarian,  destroyed  the  stately  palace 
there,  a  pile  of  buildings  not  to  be  equaled  in 
in  any  part  of  the  world,  after  having  given 
up  the  city  to  be  plundered  by  his  soldiers. 
In  the  palace  he  found  120,000  talents,  which 
he  appropriated  to  his  own  use,  and  caused 
immediately  to  be  carried  away  upon  mules 
and  camels;  for  he  had  such  an  extreme 
aversion  to  the  inhabitants  of  Persepolis,  that 
he  determined  to  leave  nothing  valuable  in 
that  city. 

During  the  time  that  Alexander  remained 
at  Persepolis,  he  received  intelligence  that 
Darius  remained  at  Ecbatana,  the  capital  of 
Media,  upon  which  he  pursued  him  with 
the  greatest  expedition,  marching  at  the  rate 
of  nearly  forty  miles  a  day.  In  fifteen  days 
he  reached  Ecbatana,  where  he  was  inform 
ed  that  Darius  had  retired  from  thence  five 
days  before,  with  an  intent  to  pass  into  the 
remotest  provinces  of  his  empire.  At  this 
place  the  Thessalian  cavalry  and  many  of  the 

±  V  V 

allies,  having  terminated  their  service,  were 
dismissed  with  full  pay.  Some  who  prefer 
red  it  were  enrolled  as  volunteers.  The  king 
bought  the  horses  of  the  Thessalians,  who, 
with  the  rest  of  the  Greeks,  were  conducted 
in  safety  to  the  Mediterranean. 

On  receiving  fresh  information  concerning 
the  state  of  Darius's  affairs,  the  king  again 
set  out  in  pursuit  of  him,  advancing  as  far 
as  Rhaga3,  a  city  one  day's  journey  from  the 
Caspian  Gates.  There  he  understood  that 
Darius  had  some  time  before  passed  those 
straits ;  and  this  information  leaving  him 
again  without  hopes,  he  halted  for  five  days. 
Oxidates,  a  Persian  whom  Darius  had  left 
prisoner  at  Susa,  was  made  governor  of  Me 
dia,  whilst  the  king  departed  on  an  expedi 
tion  into  Parthia.  The  Caspian  Gates  he 
passed  immediately  without  opposition,  and 
he  then  gave  directions  to  his  officers  to  col 


lect  a  quantity  of  provisions  sufficient  to 
serve  his  army  on  a  long  march  through  a 
wasted  country.  But  before  his  officers 
could  accomplish  these  commands,  the  king 
received  intelligence  that  Darius  had  been 
murdered  by  one  of  his  own  subjects,  Bessus. 
the  governor  of  Bactria. 

As  soon  as  Alexander  had  collected  hi3 
forces  together,  and  settled  the  government 
of  Parthia,  he  entered  Hyrcania ;  and  having, 
according  to  his  usual  custom,  committed 
the  greater  part  of  his  army  to  the  care  of 
Craterus,  he,  at  the  head  of  a  choice  body  of 
troops,  passed  through  certain  craggy  roads, 
and,  before  the  arrival  of  Craterus,  who  took 
an  open  and  easy  path,  struck  the  whole 
provinces  with  such  terror,  that  all  the  prin 
cipal  places  were  immediately  put  into  his 
hands ;  and  soon  afterwards  the  province  of 
Aria  also  submitted,  and  the  king  continued 
Satibarzanes,  the  governor,  in  his  employ 
ment.  The  reduction  of  this  province  com 
pleted  the  conquest  of  Persia;  but  the  am 
bition  of  Alexander  to  become  master  of 
every  nation  of  which  he  had  the  least  intel 
ligence,  induced  him  to  enter  the  country  of 
Mardi,  merely  because  its  rocks  and  barren 
ness  had  hitherto  prevented  any  one  from 
conquering,  or  indeed,  from  attempting  to 
conquer  it.  This  conquest  however,  lie 
easily  accomplished,  and  obliged  the  whole 
nation  to  submit  to  his  pleasure.  But  in  the 
meantime  disturbances  began  to  arise  in  Al 
exander's  new  empire,  and  amongst  his 
troops,  which  all  his  activity  could  not  thor 
oughly  suppress.  He  had  scarcely  left  the 
province  of  Aria,  when  he  received  intelli 
gence  that  the  traitor  Bessus  had  caused  him 
self  to  be  proclaimed  king  of  Asia  by  the 
name  of  Artaxerxes ;  and  that  Satibarzanes 
had  joined  him,  after  having  massacred  all 
the  Macedonians  who  had  been  left  in  the 
province.  Alexander  appoint-id  one  Arsa- 
mes  governor  in  the  room  of  Satibarzanes, 
and  marched  thence  with  h  f  army  against 
the  Zarangce. 

The  immense  treasure  which  the  Macedo 
nians  had  acquired  in  the  conquest  of  Persia 


HISTOKY    OF    THE    WOKLD. 


•159 


now  began  to  all'ect  their  discipline.  The 
king  himself  was  of  a  most  generous  disposi- 
sition,  and  liberally  bestowed  his  gifts  on 
those  around  him  ;  but  they  made  a  bad  use 
of  his  bounty,  and  foolishly  indulged  in  those 
vices  by  which  the  former  possessors  of  that 
wealth  had  lost  it.  The  king  did  all  in  his 
power  to  discourage  the  lazy  and  inactive 
pride  which  now  began  to  show  itself 
amongst  his  officers ;  but  neither  his  dis 
courses  nor  his  example  had  any  considerable 
effect.  The  form  of  his  civil  government  re 
sembled  that  of  the  ancient  Persian  kings ; 
in  military  affairs,  however,  he  strictly  pre 
served  the  Macedonian  discipline ;  but  then 
he  made  choice  out  of  the  provinces  of  thirty 
thousand  boys,  whom  he  caused  to  be  in 
structed  in  the  Greek  language,  and  directed 
to  be  brought  up  in  such  a  manner  as  that 
from  time  to  time  he  might  with  them  recruit 
the  phalanx.  The  Macedonians  observed 
with  great  concern  these  extraordinary  meas 
ures,  which  suited  very  ill  with  their  gross 
understandings ;  for  after  all  the  victories 
they  had  gained,  they  expected  to  be  abso 
lute  lords  of  Asia,  and  to  possess  not  only 
the  riches  .of  its  inhabitants,  but  to  rule  the 
inhabitants  themselves ;  whereas  they  now 
found  that  Alexander  meant  no  such  thing, 
but  that,  on  the  contrary,  he  conferred  gov 
ernments,  offices  at  court,  and  all  other  marks 
of  confidence  and  favor,  indiscriminately  both 
on  Greeks  and  Persians.  From  this  time 
also  the  king  seems  to  have  given  proofs  of  a 
cruelty  which  he  had  never  shown  before. 
Philotas,  his  most  intimate  friend,  was  seized, 
tortured,  and  put  to  death  for  a  conspiracy 
of  which  it  could  never  be  proved  that  he 
was  guilty ;  and  soon  afterwards  Parmenio, 
the  father  of  the  former,  and  some  others, 
were  executed  without  any  crime  at  all,  real 
or  alleged.  These  things  very  much  disturb 
ed  the  army.  Some  of  them  wrote  home  to 
Macedonia  respecting  the  king's  suspicions 
of  his  friends,  and  his  disposition  to  hunt  out 
enemies  at  the  very  extremities  of  the  world. 
Alexander  having  intercepted  some  of  these 
letters,  and  procured  the  best  information  he 


could  concerning  their  authors,  picked  out 
these  dissatisfied  people,  and  having  disposed 
them  into  a  corps,  gave  it  the  title  of  the 
"  turbulent  battalion,"  hoping  by  this  means 
to  prevent  the  spirit  of  disaffection  from  per 
vading  the  whole  army.  As  a  further  pre 
caution  against  any  future  conspiracy,  Alex 
ander  thought  fit  to  appoint  Hephsestion  and 
Clitus  generals  of  the  auxiliary  horse ;  being 
apprehensive  that  if  this  authority  was  lodged 
in  the  hands  of  a  single  person,  it  might 
prompt  him  to  dangerous  undertakings,  and 
at  the  same  time  furnish  him  with  the  means 
of  carrying  them  into  execution.  To  keep 
his  forces  in  action,  he  suddenly  marched 
into  the  country  of  the  Euergetse,  or  Bene 
factors,  and  found  them  full  of  the  kind  and 
hospitable  disposition  for  which  that  name 
had  been  bestowed  on  their  ancestors  by  the 
first  Cyrus ;  he  therefore  treated  them  with 
great  respect,  and  at  his  departure  added 
some  lands  to  their  dominions,  which  lay 
contiguous,  and  which  for  that  reason  they 
had  requested  of  him. 

Alexander  spent  the  greater  part  of  the 
autumn  and  winter  in  the  reduction  of 
the  region  around  Dragiana,  the  modern 
Afghanistan,  Seistan,  and  western  Cabool. 
Any  resistance  he  met  with  was  fitful  and 
desultory  ;  but  his  soldiers  suffered  severely 
from  cold  and  want  of  food.  Arrian  re 
marks,  after  his  own  fashion :  "  Alexander 
moved  forward  not  a  whit  the  less ;  with 
difficulty,  indeed,  through  deep  snow,  and 
without  provisions  ;  but  still  he  moved  on." 
He  founded  a  new  city  called  Alexandria 
ad  Caucasum,  at  one  of  the  southern  passes 
of  the  Hindoo-Koosh.  Here  he  planted 
7000  old  Macedonian  soldiers  as  colonists. 
By  a  fifteen  days'  march  through  snow  he 
crossed  the  vast  mountain  range  of  the 
Hindoo-Koosh,  and  entered  the  region  of 
Bactria. 

Bessus,  who  had  assumed  the  name  of 
Artaxerxes,  when  he  was  assured  that  Alex 
ander  was  marching  towards  him,  immedi 
ately  began  to  waste  all  the  country  between 
Paropamisus  and  the  River  Oxus,  which 


4GO 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


river  lie  passed  witli  all  his  forces,  and  then 
burned  all  the  vessels  he  had  made  use  of 
for  transporting  them,  retiring  to  Xautaca, 
a  city  of  Sogdia,  fully  persuaded  that,  by 
the  precautions  he  had  taken,  Alexander 
would  be  compelled  to  give  over  his  pursuit. 
This  conduct  of  his,  however,  disheartened 
liis  troops,  an  1  gave  the  lie  to  all  his  preten 
sions  ;  for  he  had  affected  to  censure  Darius' 
conduct,  and  had  charged  him  with  coward 
ice,  in  not  defending  the  River  Euphrates 
and  Tigris,  whereas  he  now  quitted  the 
banks  of  the  most  defensible  river  perhaps 
in  the  whole  world.  As  to  his  hopes,  though 
it  cannot  be  said  they  were  ill-founded,  yet 
they  proved  absolutely  vain ;  for  Alexander, 
continuing  his  march,  notwithstanding  the 
hardships  his  soldiers  sustained,  reduced  all 
Bactria  under  his  obedience,  particularly  the 
capital  Bactria  and  the  strong  castle  Aornus. 
In  the  latter  he  placed  a  garrison  nnder  the 
command  of  Archelaus,  but  the  government 
of  the  province  he  committed  to  Artabazns. 
lie  then  continued  his  march  to  the  River 
Oxus,  on  the  banks  of  which,  when  he  ar 
rived,  he  found  it  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
in  breadth,  its  depth  more  than  proportional 
to  its  breadth,  its  bottom  sandy,  its  stream 
so  rapid  as  t)  render  it  almost  unnavigable, 
and  neither  boat  nor  tree  in  its  neighbor 
hood  ;  so  that  the  ablest  commanders  in  the 
Macedonian  army  were  of  opinion  that  the 
army  would  be  obliged  to  march  back. 
The  king,  however,  having  first  sent  away, 
under  a  proper  escort,  all  his  infirm  and 
worn-out  soldiers,  that  they  might  be  con 
ducted  safely  to  the  seaports,  and  thence 
transported  to  Greece,  devised  a  method  of 
passing  this  river  without  either  boat  or 
bridge,  by  causing  the  hides  which  covered 
the  soldiers'  tents  and  carriages  to  be  stuffed 
with  straw,  and  then  tied  together,  and 
thrown  into  the  river.  Having  crossed  the 
Oxus,  he  marched  directly  towards  the  camp 
of  Bessus,  where,  when  he  arrived,  he  found 
it  abandoned  ;  but  at  the  same  time  receiv 
ed  letters  from  Spitamenes  and  Dataphernes, 
who  were  the  chief  commanders  under  Bes-  J 


sus,  signifying,  that  if  he  would  send  a 
small  party  to  receive  Bossus,  they  would 
deliver  him  into  his  hands  ;  which  they  did 
accordingly,  and  the  traitor  was  immediately 
put  to  death,  after  cruel  mutilation. 

A  supply  of  horses  having  now  arrived, 
the  Macedonian  cavalry  were  remounted. 
Alexander  continued  his  inarch  to  Mara- 
canda,  the  capital  of  Sogdia,  whence  he  ad 
vanced  to  the  River  laxartes.  Here  he  per 
formed  extraordinary  exploits  against  the 
Scythians,  from  whom,  however,  though  he 
overcame  them,  his  army  suffered  much ; 
and  the  revolted  Sogdians,  being  headed  by 
Spitamenes,  gave  him  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 
Here  also  he  married  Roxana,  the  daughter 
of  Oxyartes,  a  prince  of  the  country  whom 
he  had  subdued.  But  during  these  expedi 
tions,  the  king  greatly  disgusted  his  army 
by  the  murder  of  his  friend  Clitus  in  a 
drunken  quarrel  at  a  banquet,  and  by  his 
extravagant  vanity  in  claiming  divine  hon- 
nors.  At  last  he  arrived  at  the  River  Indus, 
where  Ilephsestion  and  Perdiccas  had  al 
ready  provided  a  bridge  of  boats  for  the 
passage  of  that  river.  He  then  ordered  the 
vessels  of  which  his  bridge  had  been  com 
posed  to  be  taken  to  pieces,  that 'they  might 
be  brought  to  the  Ifydaspes,  where  he  was 
informed  that  Porus  with  a  great  army  lay 
encamped  to  dispute  his  passage. 

Alexander  experienced  no  resistance  till 
he  met  the  brave  Indian  prince,  Porus,  who, 
with  a  formidable  force,  stood  on  the  further 
side  of  a  river,  prepared  to  dispute  his  pass 
age.  The  Macedonians,  by  a  series  of  skill 
ful  manoeuvres,  eluded  the  watchfulness  of 
the  Indians,  crossed  the  river  at  a  point 
above  where  the  army  lay,  and  completely 
overthrew  Porus  and  his  brave  host.  This 
gigantic  prince,  who  was  mounted  on  an 
elephant,  moved  about  among  his  scattered 
trc  >ps  with  signal  spirit  and  intrepidity, 
cheering  on  the  dispirited,  and  reviving  the 
expiring  courage  of  the  wavering.  He  saw 
i^  of  his  sons  fall  by  his  side,  and  had 
himself  received  a  severe  wound ;  yet  he 
fought  on  almost  single-handed  with  tlw 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


461 


fierce  energy  of  proud  despair.  It  was  with 
considerable  difficulty  that  Alexander  suc 
ceeded  in  preserving  the  life  of  this  invin 
cible  hero.  AY  lien  Porus  was  brought  before 
him,  Alexandei,  over  whose  passionate  na 
ture  external  impressions  exercised  a  strong 
influence,  was  much  struck  with  his  hand 
some  figure  and  undaunted  mien.  He  show 
ed  this  prince  the  utmost  generosity,  not 
only  by  reinstating  him  in  his  kingdom,  but 
also  by  extending  its  boundaries  ;  and  Porus 
proved  in  return  a  faithful  ally  to  Alexander. 
'•"  This  was,"  says  Grote,  "  the  greatest  day 
of  Alexander's  life,  if  we  take  together  the 
splendor  and  difficulty  of  the  military 
achievement,  and  the  generous  treatment  of 
his  conquered  opponent." 

To  perpetuate  the  memory  of  this  victory, 
Alexander  ordered  two  cities  to  be  erected  ; 
one  on  the  field  of  battle,  which  he  named 
Kiccea,  the  other  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  which  he  called  Bucephala,  in  honor 
of  his  horse  Bucephalus,  who  died  here,  as 
Arriau  says,  of  mere  old  age,  being  on  the 
verge  of  thirty.  All  the  soldiers  who  fell 
in  the  battle  he  buried  with  great  honors, 
offered  solemn  sacrifices  to  the  gods,  and  ex 
hibited  pompous  shows  on  the  banks  of  the 
Hydaspes,  where  he  had  forced  his  passage. 
He  then  entered  the  territories  of  the  Glausce, 
in  which  there  were  thirty-seven  good  cities 
and  a  multitude  of  populous  villages.  All 
these  were  delivered  up  to  him  Avithout 
fighting ;  and  as  soon  as  he  received  them, 
he  presented  them  to  Porus,  and  having  re 
conciled  him  to  Taxiles,  he  sent  the  latter 
home  to  his  own  dominions.  About  this 
time  ambassadors  arrived  from  several  Indian 
princes  Avith  their  submissions ;  and  Alex 
ander  having  conquered  the  dominions  of 
another  Porus,  which  lay  on  the  Hydraotes, 
a  branch  of  the  Indus,  added  them  to  those 
of  Porus  his  ally. 

In  the  middle  of  all  this  success,  hoAvever, 
news  arrived  that  the  Cathei,  Oxydracos,  and 
the  Malli,  the  most  warlike  nations  of  India, 
were  confederated  against  the  Macedonians, 
and  had  draAvn  together  a  great  army.  The 


king  immediately  marched  to  give  them 
battle,  and  in  a  feAV  days  reached  a  city  call 
ed  Sangala,  seated  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  and 
having  a  fine  lake  behind  it.  Before  this 
city  the  confederate  Indians  lay  encamped, 
having  three  circular  lines  of  carriages  loci' 
ed  together,  and  their  tents  pitched  in  the 
centre.  These  defences  being  forced,  they 
took  refuge  within  their  Avails,  and  resolved 
to  evacuate  by  night.  Informed  by  deser 
ters  of  this  project,  Alexander  succeeded  in 
defeating  it.  Next  day  he  stormed  the 
toAvn,  killing,  as  Arrian  records,  17,000  In 
dians,  and  taking  70,000  captives.  His  own 
loss  was  less  than  100  killed  and  1200 
Avounded.  After  razing  Sangala,  he  annex 
ed  the  territory  to  the  kingdom  of  his  In 
dian  ally. 

Alexander,  still  unsated  with  conquest, 
noAV  prepared  to  pass  the  Hyphasis.  The 
chief  reason  Avhich  induced  him  to  think  of 
this  expedition,  was  the  information  he  had 
received  of  the  state  of  the  countries  be 
yond  that  river.  He  was  told  that  they 
were  in  themselves  rich  and  fruitful ;  that 
their  inhabitants  were  not  only  a  ATery  mar 
tial  people,  but  very  civilized  ;  that  they 
were  governed  by  the  nobility,  Avho  Avere 
themselves  subject  to  the  laAvs  ;  and  that  as 
they  lived  in  happiness  and  freedom,  it  Avas 
likely  they  would  fight  obstinately  in  de 
fence  of  those  blessings.  He  was  further 
told,  that  amongst  these  nations  there  Avere 
the  largest,  strongest,  and  most  useful  ele 
phants  bred  and  tamed ;  and  Avas  therefore 
fired  with  an  earnest  desire  of  reducing  such 
a  bold  and  brave  people  under  his  rule,  and 
of  attaining  to  the  possession  of  the  many 
valuable  things  that  AATere  said  to  be  amongst 
them.  As  exorbitant,  however,  as  his  per 
sonal  ambition  was,  he  found  it  impossible 
to  infuse  any  part  of  it  into  the  minds  of 
his  soldiers,  Avho  were  so  far  from  Avishing  to 
triumph  over  neAV  and  remote  countries, 
that  they  Avere  highly  desirous  of  leaving 
those  that  they  had  already  conquered. 
When,  therefore,  they  were  informed  of  the 
king's  intentions,  they  privately  consulted 


462 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


together  in  the  :amp  about  the  situation  of 
their  own  affairs.  At  this  consultation,  the 
gravest  and  best  of  the  soldiers  lamented 
that  they  were  made  use  of  by  their  king, 
not  as  lions,  who  fall  fiercely  upon  those  who 
have  injured  them,  but  as  mastiffs,  who  fly 
upon  and  tear  those  who  are  pointed  out  to 
them  as  enemies.  The  rest  were  not  go 
modest,  but  expressed  themselves  roundly 
against  the  king's  humor  for  leading  them 
from  battle  to  battle,  from  siege  to  siege, 
and  from  river  to  river  ;  protesting  that  they 
would  follow  him  no  further,  nor  lavish  their 
blood  any  longer  to  purchase  for  him  the 
fame  he  coveted.  Alexander  had  too  much 
penetration  not  to  perceive  that  his  troops 
were  very  uneasy,  lie  therefore  harangued 
them  from  his  tribunal ;  but  though  his 
eloquence  was  great,  and  the  love  his  army 
had  for  him  was  yet  very  strong,  they  did 
not  relent.  For  some  time  the  soldiers  re 
mained  sullen  and  silent ;  and  at  last  turned 
their  eyes  on  Ccenus,  an  old  and  experienced 
general,  whom  Alexander  loved,  and  in  whom 
the  army  put  great  confidence.  He  had  the 
generosity  to  undertake  their  cause,  and  told 
Alexander  frankly,  "  that  men  endured  toil 
in  hopes  of  repose  ;  that  the  Macedonians 
were  already  much  reduced  in  their  num 
bers  ;  and  of  those  wTho  remained,  the  greater 
part  were  invalids  ;  and  that  they  expected, 
in  consideration  of  their  former  services,  that 
he  would  now  lead  them  back  to  their  native 
country,  an  act  which,  of  all  others,  would 
most  contribute  to  his  own  great  designs, 
since  it  would  encourage  the  youth  of  Mace 
donia,  and  even  of  all  Greece,  to  follow  him 
in  whatever  new  expedition  he  pleased  to 
undertake."  The  king  was  far  from  being 
pleased  with  this  speech  of  Co2nus,  and 
much  less  with  the  disposition  of  his  army, 
which  continued  in  deep  silence.  He  there 
fore  dismissed  the  assembly.  But  next  day 
he  called  another,  in  which  he  told  the  sol 
diers  plainly  that  he  would  not  be  driven 
from  his  purpose  ;  that  he  would  proceed  in 
his  conquests  with  such  as  should  follow  him 
voluntarily ;  and  that,  as  for  the  rest,  he 


would  not  detain  them,  but  would  leave 
them  at  liberty  to  go  home  to  Macedonia, 
where  they  might  publish,  "  that  they  had 
left  their  king  in  the  midst  of  his  enemies.' 
Even  this  expedient  had  no  success ;  his 
army  was  so  thoroughly  tired  with  long 
marches  and  desperate  battles,  that  they 
were  determined  to  advance  no  further ; 
upon  which  Alexander  retired  to  his  tent, 
where  he  refused  to  see  his  friends,  and 
evinced  the  same  gloomy  temper  that  reign 
ed  amongst  his  troops. 

For  three  days  things  remained  in  this 
situation.  At  last  the  king  suddenly  appear 
ed  ;  and,  as  if  he  had  been  fully  determined 
to  pursue  his  first  design,  he  gave  orders  to 
sacrifice  for  the  good  success  of  his  new 
undertaking.  But  Aristander,  the  augur, 
reported  that  the  omens  were  altogether  in 
auspicious  ;  upon  which  the  king  said,  that 
since  his  proceeding  farther  was  neither 
pleasing  to  the  gods  nor  grateful  to  his  army, 
he  would  return.  When  this  was  rumored 
amongst  the  army,  they  assembled  in  great 
numbers  about  the  royal  tent,  saluting  the 
king  with  loud  acclamations,  wishing  him 
success  in  all  his  future  designs,  and  giving 
him  at  the  same  time  hearty  thanks,  inas 
much  as  "  he  who  was  invincible  had  suf 
fered  himself  to  be  overcome  by  their 
prayers."  A  stop  being  thus  put  to  the 
conquests  of  Alexander,  he  determined  to 
make  the  Hyphasis  the  boundary  of  his  do 
minions  ;  and  having  erected  twelve  altars 
of  an  extraordinary  magnitude,  he  sacrificed 
upon  them,  after  which  he  exhibited  shows 
in  the  Grecian  manner  ;  and,  having  added 
all  the  conquered  country  in  these  parts  to 
the  dominions  of  Porus,  he  began  to  return. 
Having  arrived  at  the  Hydaspes,  he  made 
the  necessary  preparations  for  sailing  down 
the  Indus  to  the  ocean.  For  this  purpose, 
he  ordered  vast  quantities  of  timber  to  be 
felled  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Hydaspes, 
through  which  he  was  to  sail  into  the  Indus  ; 
and  by  the  beginning  of  Vovernber,  he,  with 
a  fleet  of  2000  boats,  began  his  voyage  down 
the  Hydaspes.  Craterus  and  Hepha3stion_ 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


463 


with  their  divisions,  moved  down  the  banks 
of  the  river.  The  king  kept  on  board  the 
fleet,  which  was  commanded  by  Nearchus. 
The  main  stream  of  the  Indus  was  gradually 
reached,  down  which  they  sailed  to  the 
ocean.  The  entire  voyage  occupied  nine 
months,  from  November  326  B.C.  to  August 
325  B.C.  But  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
Alexander  contented  himself  with  the  un 
broken  monotony  of  this  tedious  expedition. 
All  tribes  bordering  on  the  river  which  did 

o  . 

not  offer  voluntary  submission,  were  attack 
ed,  subdued  and  slaughtered.  Among  these 
were  the  Malli.  Attacking  this  brave  people 
with  his  accustomed  energy,  Alexander  drove 
them  within  the  walls  of  their  strongest  city. 
Having  pursued  them  to  the  gates,  the  king, 
in  his  hot  impatience  at  the  tardy  arrival  of 
the  troops  with  the  scaling-ladders,  managed 
..a  mount  the  wall,  and  after  striking  down 
its  defenders,  flung  himself  into  the  fortress, 
where  he  made  his  way,  single-handed,  for  a 
time  against  all  opposition.  He  was  on  the 
point  of  falling,  however,  from  a  severe 
wound,  when  his  soldiers  dashed  in,  rescued 
their  brave  general,  and  took  the  citadel. 
The  Indians  were  now  slaughtered  without 
mercy  ;  but  Alexander  continued  for  some 
time  in  a  very  dangerous  condition.  How 
ever,  he  at  last  recovered  his  strength,  and 
showed  himself  again  to  his  army,  which  filled 
them  with  the  greatest  joy. 

On  the  king's  return  to  Pattala,  he  resolv 
ed  to  sail  down  the  other  branch  of  the  In 
dus,  that  he  might  see  whether  it  was  more 
safe  and  commodious  for  his  fleet  than  that 
which  he  had  already  tried ;  an  d  for  this 
he  had  very  good  reasons,  lie  had  resolved 
to  send  Nearchus  with  his  fleet  by  sea, 
through  the  Persian  Gulf,  up  the  River 
Tigris,  to  meet  him  and  his  army  in  Meso 
potamia  ;  but  as  the  possibility  of  this  voyage 
depended  on  the  ceasing  of  the  etesian  winds, 
there  was  a  necessity  for  laying  up  the  fleet 
til]  the  season  should  prove  favorable.  Alex 
ander,  therefore,  sailing  through  tliis  branch 
of  the  Indus,  sought  on  the  sea-coast  for 
bays  and  creeks,  where  his  fleet  might  anchor 


in  safety ;  he  also  caused  pits  to  be  sunk, 
which  might  be  filled  with  fresh  water  for 
the  use  of  his  people,  and  took  all  imagin 
able  precautions  for  preserving  them  in  ease 
and  safety  till  the  season  would  allow  them 
to  continue  their  voyage.  In  this  he  succeed 
ed  to  his  wish  ;  for  he  found  this  branch  of 
the  river  Indus,  at  its  mouth,  spread  ovei 
the  plain  country,  and  forming  a  kind  of 
lake,  in  which  a  fleet  might  ride  with  safety. 
He  therefore  appointed  Leonatus,  and  a  part 
of  his  army,  to  carry  on  such  works  as  were 
necessary,  causing  them  to  be  relieved  by 
fresh  troops  as  often  as  there  was  occasion  ; 
then  having  given  his  last  instructions  to 
Xearchus,  he  departed  with  the  rest  of  the 
army,  in  order  to  march  back  to  Babylon. 

Before  the  king's  departure,  many  of  his 
friends  advised  him  against  the  route  which 
he  intended  to  take.  They  told  him  that 
nothing  could  be  more  rash  or  dangerous 
than  this  resolution.  They  informed  him, 
that  the  country  through  which  he  was  to 
travel  was  a  wild  uncultivated  desert ;  that 
Semiramis,  when  she  led  her  soldiers  this 
way  out  of  India,  brought  home  but  twenty 
of  them;  and  that  Cyrus  attempting  to  do 
the  same,  returned  with  only  seven.  But  all 
this  was  so  far  from  deterring  Alexander, 
that  it  more  than  ever  determined  him  to 
pursue  no  other  route.  As  soon,  therefore, 
as  he  had  put  things  in  order,  he  marched  at 
the  head  of  a  sufficient  body  of  troops  to 
reduce  the  Oritse,  who  had  never  vouchsafed 
either  to  make  their  submission  or  to  court 
his  friendship.  Their  territories  lay  upon 
the  other  side  of  a  river  called  Arabis,  which 
Alexander  crossed  so  speedily,  that  they  had 
no  intelligence  of  his  march ;  whereupon 
most  of  them  quitted  their  country,  and  fled 
into  the  deserts.  Their,  capital  he  found  so 
well  situate,  that  he  resolved  to  take  it  out 
of  their  hands,  and  to  cause  a  new  and  noble 
city  to  be  founded  there,  the  care  of  which 
he  committed  to  Ilephsestion.  Then  he  re 
ceived  the  deputies  of  the  Oritae  and  Gedro- 
si ;  and  having  assured  them  that  if  the 
people  returned  to  their  villages,  they  should 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


be  kindly  treated,  and  having  appointed 
Apolloplienes  president  of  the  OritaB,  and 
left  a  considcraHe  body  of  troops  under  Leon- 
atus  to  secure  their  obedience,  he  began  his 
inarch  through  Gedrosia.  In  :his  march  his 
troops  suffered  incredible  hardships.  The 
road  was  very  uncertain  and  troublesome,  on 
account  of  its  lying  through  deep  and  loose 
Bands,  rising  in  many  places  into  hillocks, 
which  forced  the  soldiers  to  climb,  at  the 
game  time  that  it  sunk  under  their  feet ;  there 
were  no  towns,  villages,  nor  places  of  refresh 
ment,  to  be  met  with  ;  so  that,  after  excessive 
marches,  they  were  forced  to  encamp  among 
these  dry  sands.  As  to  provisions,  they  hard 
ly  met  wilh  any  during  their  whole  march, 
the  soldiers  were  therefore  obliged  to  kill 
their  beasts  of  carriage ;  and  such  as  were 
sent  to  bring  some  corn  from  the  sea-side, 
were  so  grievously  distressed,  that,  though  it 
was  sealed  with  the  lung's  signet,  they  cut 
open  the  bags,  choosing  rather  to  die  a  viol 
ent  death  for  disobedience  than  perish  by 
hunger.  When  the  king,  however,  was  in 
formed  of  this,  he  freely  pardoned  the  offen 
ders  ;  he  wras  also  forced  to  accept  the  excuses 
that  were  daily  made  for  the  loss  of  mules, 
horses,  &c.,  which  were  in  truth  eaten  by  the 
soldiers,  and  their  carriages  broken  in  pieces  to 
avoid  further  trouble.  As  for  water,  their 
want  of  it  was  a  great  misfortune,  and  yet 
their  finding  it  in  plenty  was  sometimes  a 
greater ;  for,  as  in  the  one  case  they  perish 
ed  with  thirst,  so  in  the  other  they  were 
thrown  into  dropsies,  and  rendered  incapable 
of  travel.  Frequently  they  met  with  no 
water  for  the  whole  day  together ;  sometimes 
they  were  disappointed  of  it  at  night,  in 
which  case,  if  they  were  able,  they  marched 
on;  so  that  it  was  common  with  them  to 
travel  30,  40,  50,  or  even  GO  miles  without 
encamping.  Through  these  hardships  num 
bers  were  obliged  to  fall  into  the  rear ;  and 
of  these  many  were  left  behind,  and  perish 
ed  ;  for  indeed  scarcely  any  of  them  ever 
joined  the  army  again.  Their  miseries,  how 
ever,  they  sustained  with  incredible  patience, 
being  encouraged  by  the  example  of  their 


king,  who,  on  this  occasion,  suffered  greater 
hardships  than  the  meanest  soldier  in  his 
army. 

At  last  they  arrived  at  the  capital  of  Ged 
rosia,  where  they  refreshed  themselves,  and 
staid  some  time ;  after  which  they  marched 
into  Caramania,  which  being  a  very  plentiful 
country,  made  them  ample  amends  for  the 
hardships  and  fatigues  which  they  had  sus 
tained.  Here  they  were  joined,  first  by  Crat- 
erus  with  the  troops  under  his  command, 
along  with  a  number  of  elephants ;  then  came 
Stasanor,  president  of  the  Arians,  and  Pha- 
rismanes,  the  son  of  Phratapliernes,  the  gov 
ernor  of  Parthia.  They  brought  with  them 
camels,  horses,  and  other  beasts  of  burden, 
in  vast  numbers ;  having  foreseen  that  the 
king's  march  through  Gedrosia  would  be 
attended  with  the  loss  of  the  greater  part,  if 
not  all,  of  the  cavalry  and  beasts  belonging 
to  his  army.  During  Alexander's  stay  in 
Caramania,  he  redressed  the  injuries  of  his 
people,  who  had  been  grievously  oppressed 
by  their  governors  during  his  absence.  Here 
also  he  was  joined  by  his  admiral,  Xearchus, 
who  brought  with  him  an  account  that  all 
under  his  command  were  in  perfect  safety 
and  in  excellent  condition  ;  intelligence  with 
which  the  king  was  mightily  pleased,  and, 
after  having  bestowed  on  him  singular  marks 
of  his  favor,  sent  him  back  to  the  navy.  Alex 
ander  next  set  out  for  Persia,  where  great 
disorders  had  been  committed  during  his 
absence.  These  he  also  redressed,  and  caus 
ed  the  governor  to  be  crucified  ;  appointing 
in  his  room  Peucestas,  who  had  saved  his  life 
when  he  fought  singly  against  a  whole  garri 
son,  as  before  related.  The  new  governor 
was  no  sooner  invested  with  his  dignity  than 
he  laid  aside  the  Macedonian  garb,  and  put 
on  that  of  the  Medes,  being  the  cnly  one  of 
Alexander's  captains  who,  by  coir  plying  with 
the  manners  of  the  people  he  governed,  gain 
ed  their  affection. 

Whilst  Alexander  visited  the  different 
parts  of  Persia,  he  took  a  view,  amongst  the 
rest,  of  the  ruins  of  Persepolis,  where  he  is 
said  to  have  expressed  great  sorrow  for  *he 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


465 


destruction  he  had  formerly  occasioned.  From 
Persepolis,  ho  marched  to  Susa,  where  he 
gave  an  extraordinary  loose  to  pleasure,  resolv 
ing  to  make  himself  and  his  followers  some 
amends  for  the  difficulties  which  they  had 
hitherto  undergone,  purposing  at  the  same 
time  so  effectually  to  unite  his  newly-conquer 
ed  with  his  hereditary  subjects,  that  the 
jealousies  and  fears  which  had  hitherto  tor 
mented  both  should  no  longer  subsist.  With 
this  view  he  married  two  wives  of  the  blood- 
royal  of  Persia  —  Barsine  or  Statira,  the 
daughter  of  Darius,  and  Parysatis,  the  daugh 
ter  of  Ochus.  Drypetis,  another  daughter 
of  Darius,  he  gave  to  Hephoestion ;  Amas- 
trine,  the  daughter  of  Oxyartes,  the  brother 
of  Darius,  married  Craterus ;  and  to  the  rest 
of  his  friends,  to  the  number  of  eighty,  he 
gave  other  women  of  the  highest  quality. 
All  these  marriages  were  celebrated  at  once, 
Alexander  himself  bestowing  fortunes  upon 
them.  He  likewise  directed  that  an  account 
should  be  taken  of  the  number  of  his  officers 
and  soldiers  who  had  married  Asiatic  wives ; 
and  though  they  appeared  to  be  ten  thousand, 
yet  he  gratified  each  of  them  according  to 
his  rank.  He  next  resolved  to  pay  the  debts 
of  his  army,  and  thereupon  issued  an  edict 
directing  every  man  to  register  his  name,  and 
the  sum  he  owed ;  an  order  with  which  the 
soldiers  complying  slowly,  from  an  apprehen 
sion  that  there  was  some  design  against  them, 
Alexander  ordered  tables  heaped  with  money 
to  be  set  in  all  quarters  of  the  camp,  and 
caused  every  man's  debts  to  be  paid  on  his 
bare  word,  without  even  making  any  entry 
of  his  name,  though  the  whole  sum  amount 
ed  to  twenty  thousand  talents.  On  such  as 
had  distinguished  themselves  in  an  extraor 
dinary  manner  he  bestowed  crowns  of  gold. 
Peucestas  received  the  first,  Leonatus  the 
second,  Xearchus  the  third,  Onesicritus  the 
fourth,  Ilephsestion  the  fifth,  and  the  rest  of 
his  guards  had  each  of  them  one.  After  this 
he  made  other  dispositions  for  conciliating, 
as  he  supposed,  the  differences  amongst  his 
subjects.  He  reviewed  the  thirty  thousand 
youths  whom  at  his  departure  for  India  he 
59 


had  ordered  to  be  taught  Greek  and  the  Ma 
cedonian  discipline,  expressing  high  satisfac 
tion  at  the  fine  appearance  they  made,  which 
rendered  them  worthy  of  the  appellation  he 
bestowed  on  them,  that  of  Epigoni,  or  suc 
cessors.  He  promoted  also,  without  any  dis 
tinction  of  nation,  all  those  who  had  served 
him  faithfully  and  valiantly  in  the  Indian 
war.  When  all  these  regulations  were  made, 
he  gave  the  command  of  his  heavy-armed 
troops  to  Hephsestion,  and  ordered  him  to 
march  directly  to  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  ; 
whilst  in  the  meantime  a  fleet  wTas  equipped 
for  carrying  the  king  and  the  troops  which 
he  retained  with  him  down  to  the  ocean. 

Thus  ended  the  exploits  of  Alexander,  the 
greatest  conqueror  that  ever  the  world  saw, 
at  least  with  respect  to  the  rapidity  of  his 
conquests.  In  the  course  of  twelve  years  he 
had  brought  under  his  subjection  Egypt, 
Libya,  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  Phoenicia,  Pales 
tine,  Babylonia,  Persia,  with  part  of  India  and 
Tartary.  Still,  however,  he  meditated  great 
er  things.  He  had  now  got  a  great  taste  for 
maritime  affairs,  and  is  said  to  have  meditat 
ed  a  voyage  to  the  coasts  of  Arabia  and 
Ethiopia,  and  thence  round  the  whole  conti 
nent  of  Africa  to  the  Straits  of  Gibral 
tar.  But  of  this  there  is  no  great  certainty, 
though  that  he  intended  to  subdue  the  Car 
thaginians  and  Italians  is  more  than  prob 
able.  All  these  designs,  however,  were  frus 
trated  by  his  death,  which  happened  at  Ba 
by  1'on  in  the  year  323  B.C.  He  is  said  to  have 
received  several  warnings  of  his  approach 
ing  fate,  and  to  have  been  advised  to  avoid 
that  city,  which  advice  he  either  despised  or 
could  not  follow.  He  died  of  a  fever,  after 
eight  days'  illness,  without  naming  any  suc 
cessor  ;  having  only  given  his  ring  to  Perdie- 
cas,  and  left  the  kingdom,  as  he  said,  "to 
the  strongest." 

The  character  of  this  great  prince  has  been 
variously  represented;  but  most  historians 
seem  to  have  looked  upon  him  rather  as  an 
illustrious  madman  than  one  upon  whom  the 
epithet  of  Great  could  be  properly  bestowed. 
From  a  careful  observation  of  his  conduct, 


4GG 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


however,  it  must  appear  that  he  possessed 
not  only  a  capacity  to  plan,  but  likewise  to 
execute,  the  greatest  enterprises  which  ever 
entered  into  the  mind  of  any  of  the  human 
race.  From  whatever  cause  the  notion  orig 
inated,  it  is  plain  that  he  imagined  himself  a 
divine  person,  and  born  to  subdue  the  whole 
world ;  and  extravagant  and  impracticable 
as  this  scheme  may  appear  at  present,  it  can 
not  at  all  be  looked  upon  in  the  same  light 
in  the  age  of  Alexander.  The  Greeks  were 
in  his  time  the  most  powerful  people  in  the 
world  in  respect  to  their  skill  in  the  military 
art,  and  the  Persians  wrere  the  most  powerful 
with  respect  to  wealth  and  numbers.  The 
only  other  powerful  nations  in  the  world 
were  the  Carthaginians,  Gauls,  and  Italian 
nations.  From  a  long  series  of  wars  which 
the  Carthaginians  carried  on  in  Sicily,  it  ap 
peared  that  they  were  by  no  means  capable 
of  contending  with  the  Greeks,  even  when 
•they  had  an  immense  superiority  of  num 
bers:  and  much  less  could  they  have  sustain 
ed  an  attack  from  the  whole  power  of 
Greece  and  Asia  united.  The  Gauls  and 
Italians  were  indeed  very  brave,  and  of  a 
martial  disposition ;  but  they  were  barbarous, 
and  could  not  have  resisted  armies  well  dis 
ciplined,  and  under  the  command  of  such  a 
skillful  leader  as  Alexander.  Even  long  after 
this  time,  it  appeared  that  the  Romans  them 
selves  could  not  have  resisted  the  Greeks, 
since  Kegulus,  after  having  defeated  the  Car 
thaginians,  and  reduced  them  to  the  utmost 
distress,  was  totally  unable  to  resist  a  Car 
thaginian  army  commanded  by  a  Greek  ge 
neral,  and  trained  to  Greek  discipline. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  scheme  of  Alex 
ander  cannot  by  any  means  be  accounted 
that  of  a  madman,  or  of  one  who  projects 
great  things  without  judgment,  and  the 
means  necessary  to  execute  them.  If  from 
his  actions  we  consider  the  end  which  he 
most  probably  had  in  view  could  his  scheme 
have  been  accomplished,  we  shall  find  it  not 
only  tlie  greatest,  but  the  best,  which  can 
possibly  be  imagined.  He  did  not  conquer 
to  destroy,  enslave,  or  oppress,  but  to  civilize 


and  to  unite  the  whole  world  as  one  nation. 
!No  sooner  was  a  province  conquered  than  ho 
took  care  of  it  as  if  it  had  been  part  of  his 
paternal  inheritance.  He  allowed  not  his 
soldiers  to  oppress  and  plunder  the  Persians, 
which  they  were  very  much  inclined  to  do  ; 
on  the  contrary,  by  giving  in  to  the  oriental 
customs  himself,  he  strove  to  extinguish  that 
inveterate  hatred  which  had  so  long  subsist 
ed  between  the  two  nations.  In  the  Scythian 
countries  which  he  subdued  he  pursued  the 
same  excellent  plan.  His  courage  and  mili 
tary  skill,  in  which  he  never  was  excelled, 
were  displayed,  not  with  a  view  to  rapine  or 
desultory  conquest,  but  to  civilize  and  induce 
the  barbarous  inhabitants  to  employ  them 
selves  in  a"  more  proper  way  of  life.  Amidst 
the  hardships  of  a  military  life,  obstinate 
sieges,  bloody  battles,  and  dear-bought  vic 
tories,  he  still  respected  the  rights  of  man 
kind,  and  practised  the  mild  virtues  of  huma 
nity.  The  conquered  nations  enjoyed  their 
ancient  laws  and  privileges;  the  rigors  of 
despotism  were  softened ;  arts  and  industry 
encouraged  ;  and  the  proudest  Macedonian 
governors  compelled,  by  the  authority  and 
example  of  Alexander,  to  observe  the  rules 
of  justice  towards  their  meanest  subjects.  To 
bridle  the  fierce  inhabitants  of  the  Scythian 
plains,  he  founded  cities  and  established  colo 
nies  on  the  banks  of  the  laxartes  and  Oxus ; 
and  those  destructive  campaigns  usually  as 
cribed  to  his  restless  activity  and  blind  ambi 
tion  appeared  to  the  discernment  of  this  ex 
traordinary  man,  not  only  essential  to  the 
security  of  the  conquests  which  he  had  al 
ready  made,  but  necessary  for  the  more  re 
mote  and  splendid  expeditions  which  he 
still  purposed  to  undertake,  and  which  ho 
performed  with  singular  boldness  and  un 
exampled  success. 

He  was  of  a  low  stature,  and  somewhat' 
deformed  ;  but  the  activity  and  elevation  of 
his  mind  animated  and  ennobled  his  frame. 
By  a  life  of  continual  labor,  and  by  an  ear 
ly  and  habitual  practice  of  the  gymnastic 
exercises,  he  had  hardened  his  body  against 
the  impressions  of  cold  and  heat,  hunger  and 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD 


467 


thirst,  and  prepared  his  robust  constitution 
for  bearing  such  exertions  o'f  strength  and 
activity  as  have  appeared  incredible  to  the 
undisciplined  softness  of  modern  times.  In 
generosity  and  in  prowess  he  rivalled  the 
greatest  heroes  of  antiquity ;  and  in  the  race 
of  glory,  having  finally  outstripped  all  com 
petitors,  became  ambitious  to  surpass  him 
self.  His  superior  skill  in  war  gave  uninter 
rupted  success  to  his  arms ;  and  his  natural 
humanity,  enlightened  by  the  philosophy  of 
Greece,  taught  him  to  improve  his  conquests 
to  the  best  interests  of  mankind.  In  his  ex 
tensive  dominions  he  built  or  founded  not 
less  than  seventy  cities  ;  the  situation  of 
which,  being  chosen  with  consummate  wis 
dom,  tended  to  facilitate  communication,  to 
promote  commerce,  and  to  diffuse  civilization 
through  the  greatest  nations  of  the  earth.  It 
may  be  suspected,  indeed,  that  he  mistook 
the  extent  of  human  power,  when  in  the 
course  of  one  reign  he  undertook  to  change 
the  face  of  the  world ;  and  that  he  miscalcu 
lated  the  stubbornness  of  ignorance  and  the 
force  of  habit,  when  he  attempted  to  en 
lighten  barbarism,  to  soften  servitude,  and  to 
transplant  the  improvements  of  Greece  into 
an  African  and  Asiatic  soil,  where  they  have 
never  been  known  to  flourish.  Yet  let  not 
the  designs  of  Alexander  be  too  hastily  accus 
ed  of  extravagance.  Whoever  seriously  con- 
eiders  what  he  actually  performed  before  his 
thirty-third  year,  will  be  cautious  of  deter 
mining  what  heinight  have  accomplished  had 
he  reached  the  ordinary  term  of  human  life. 
His  resources  were  peculiar  to  himself;  and 
such  views  as  well  as  actions  became  him,  as 
would  have  become  none  besides.  In  the 
language  of  a  distinguished  historian,  "he 
seems  to  have  been  given  to  the  world  by  a 
peculiar  dispensation  of  Providence,  being  a 
man  like  to  none  other  of  the  human  kind." 
With  the  death  of  Alexander  fell  also  the 
glory  of  the  Macedonians,  who  very  soon  re 
lapsed  into  a  situation  as  bad  as,  or  perhaps 
worse  than,  that  in  which  they  had  been  be 
fore  the  reign  of  Philip.  This  was  occasion 
ed  principally  by  his  not  having  distinctly 


named  a  successor,  and  having  no  child  of 
his  own  come  to  the  years  of  discretion  to 
whom  the  kingdom  might  seem  naturally  to 
belong.  The  ambition  and  jealousy  of  his 
mother  Olympias,  of  his  Queen  Roxana,  and 
especially  of  the  great  commanders  of  his 
army,  not  only  prevented  a  successor  from 
being  ever  named,  but  occasioned  the  death 
of  every  person,  whether  male  or  female, 
who  was  in  the  least  related  to  Alexander. 
To  have  a  just  notion  of  the  origin  of  these 
disturbances,  it  is  necessary,  in  the  first  place, 
to  understand  the  state  of  Macedonian  af 
fairs  at  the  time  of  Alexander's  death. 

When  Alexander  set  out  for  Asia,  he  left 
Antipater  in  Macedonia,  to  prevent  any  dis 
turbances  that  might  arise  either  there  or  in 
Greece.  The  Greeks,  even  during  the  life 
time  of  Alexander,  bore  the  superiority  which 
he  exercised  over  them  with  great  impa 
tience;  and  though  nothing  could  be  more 
gentle  than  the  government  of  Antipater, 
yet  he  was  exceedingly  hated,  because  he 
obliged  them  to  be  quiet.  One  of  the  last 
actions  of  Alexander's  life  set  all  Greece  in  a 
flame.  He  had,  by  an  edict,  directed  all  the 
cities  of  Greece  to  recall  their  exiles ;  which 
edict,  when  it  was  published  at  the  Olympic 
games,  created  much  confusion.  Many  of 
the  cities  were  afraid  that  when  the  exiles 
returned  they  would  change  the  government ; 
most  of  them  doubted  their  own  safety  if  the 
edict  took  effect ;  and  all  of  them  held  this 
peremptory  decree  to  be  a  total  abolition  of 
their  liberty.  No  sooner,  therefore,  did  the 
news  of  Alexander's  death  arrive  than  they 
prepared  for  war. 

In  Asia  the  state  of  things  was  not  much 
better;  not  indeed  through  any  inclination 
of  the  conquered  countries  to  revolt,  but 
through  the  dissensions  amongst  the  com 
manders.  In  the  general  council  which  wag 
called  soon  after  the  death  of  Alexander,  it 
was  at  last  agreed,  or  rather  commanded  by 
the  soldiers,  after  much  confusion  and  alter 
cation,  that  Aridseus,  the  brother  of  Alexan 
der,  who  had  always  accompanied  the  king, 
and  had  been  w^ont  to  sacrifice  with  him, 


468 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


should  assume  the  sovereignty.  This  Ari- 
dseus  was  a  man  of  slender  parts  and  judg 
ment,  not  naturally,  but  by  the  wicked  prac 
tices  of  Olympias,  who  had  given  him  poi 
sonous  draughts  in  his  infancy,  lest  he  should 
stand  in  the  way  of  her  son  Alexander,  or 
any  of  his  family ;  and  for  this,  or  some  other 
reason,  Perdiccas,  Ptolemy,  and  most  of  the 
cavalry  officers,  resented  his  promotion  to 
such  a  degree  that  they  quitted  the  assembly, 
and  even  the  city.  However,  Meleager,  at 
the  head  of  the  phalanx,  vigorously  supported 
their  first  resolution,  and  threatened  loudly 
to  shed  the  blood  of  those  who  affected  to 
rule  over  their  equals,  and  to  assume  a  king 
dom  which  nowise  belonged  to  them.  Ari- 
doeus  was  accordingly  arrayed  in  royal  robes, 
had  the  arms  of  Alexander  put  upon  him, 
and  was  saluted  by  the  name  of  Philip,  to 
render  him  more  popular.  Thus  were  two 
parties  formed,  at  the  head  of  which  were 
Meleager  and  Perdiccas,  both  of  them  pre 
tending  vast  concern  for  the  public  good, 
yet  at  bottom  desiring  nothing  more  than 
their  own  advantage.  Perdiccas  was  a  man 
of  high  birth,  and  had  a  supreme  command 
in  the  army,  was  much  in  favor  with  Alex 
ander,  and  one  in  whom  the  nobility  had 
placed  great  confidence.  Meleager  had  be 
come  formidable  by  the  phalanx  being  on 
his  side,  and  having  the  nominal  king  en 
tirely  in  his  power;  for  Aridaeus,  or  Philip, 
was  obliged  to  comply  with  whatever  he 
thought  proper,  and  publicly  declared  that 
whatever  he  did  was  by  the  advice  of  Melea 
ger  ;  so  that  he  made  his  minister  account 
able  for  his  own  schemes,  and  nowise  endan 
gered  himself.  The  Macedonians  also,  be 
sides  their  regard  for  the  deceased  king, 
soon  began  to  entertain  a  personal  love  for 
Philip  on  account  of  his  moderation. 

It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  notwith 
standing  all  the  favors  which  Alexander  had 
conferred  upon  his  officers,  and  the  fidelity 
with  which  they  had  served  him  during  his 
life,  only  two  of  them  were  attached  to  the 
interests  of  his  family  after  his  death.  These 
were  Antipater  and  Eumenes  the  Cardian, 


whom  he  had  appointed  his  secretary.  An 
tipater,  as  we 'have  already  seen,  was  cm- 
broiled  with  the  Greeks,  and  could  not  assist 
the  royal  family,  who  were  in  Asia ;  and 
Eumenes  had  not  as  yet  a  sufficient  interest 
to  form  a  party  in  their  favor.  In  a  short 
time,  however,  Perdiccas  prevailed  against 
Meleager,  and  caused  him  to  be  murdered ; 
by  which  means  the  supreme  power  for  a 
time  fell  into  his  hands.  His  first  step,  in 
consequence  of  this  power,  was  to  distribute 
the  provinces  of  the  empire  amongst  the 
commanders,  in  order  at  once  to  prevent 
competitors,  and  to  satisfy  the  ambition  of 
the  principal  leaders  of  the  army.  Aridseus. 
and  the  son  of  Roxana,  born  after  the  death 
of  his  father,  were  to  enjoy  the  regal  author 
ity.  Antipater  had  the  government  of  the 
European  provinces.  Craterus  received  the 
title  of  Protector.  Perdiccas  was  made  gen 
eral  of  the  household  troops,  in  the  room  of 
Ilephcestion.  Ptolemy,  the  son  of  Lagus, 
obtained  Egypt,  Libya,  and  that  part  of  Ara 
bia  which  borders  upon  Egypt.  Cleomenes, 
a  man  of  infamous  character,  whom  Alexan 
der  had  appointed  receiver-general  in  Egypt, 
was  made  Ptolemy's  deputy.  Leomedon 
had  Syria;  Philotas,  Cilicia;  Python,  Me 
dia  ;  Eumenes,  Cappadocia,  Paphlagonia, 
and  all  the  country  bordering  on  the  Euxine 
Sea,  as  far  as  Trapczus  ;  but  these  were  not 
yet  conquered,  so  that  he  was  a  governor 
without  a  province.  Antigomis  received 
Pamphylia,  Lycia,  and  Phrygia  Major ;  Cas- 
sander,  Caria ;  Menander,  Lydia  ;  Lconatus, 
Phrygia,  on  the  Hellespont. 

In  the  meantime,  not  only  Alexander's 
will,  but  even  his  remains,  were  so  much 
neglected,  that  his  body  was  allowed  to  lie 
seven  days  before  any  notice  was  taken  of 
it,  or  any  orders  were  given  for  its  being  em 
balmed.  The  only  will  he  left  was  a  short 
memorandum  of  six  things  which  he  wished 
to  have  done.  1.  A  fleet  of  one  thousand 
stout  galleys  was  to  be  built  and  employed 
against  the  Carthaginians  and  other  nations 
who  might  oppose  the  reduction  qf  the  sea* 
coasts  of  Africa  and  Spain,  with  al  the  ad 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


469 


jacent  islands  as  far  a  Sicily.  2.  A  large 
and  regular  highway  was  to  be  constructed 
along  the  coast  of  Africa,  as  far  as  Ceuta  and 
Tangier.  3.  Six  temples  of  extraordinary 
magnificence  were  to  be  erected,  at  the  ex 
pense  of  one  thousand  five  hundred  talents 
each.  4.  Castles,  arsenals,  havens,  and  yards 
for  building  ships  were  to  be  established  in 
proper  places  throughout  his  empire.  5. 
Several  new  cities  were  to  be  built  in  Eu 
rope  and  Asia;  those  in  Asia  to  be  inhabited 
by  colonies  from  Europe,  and  those  in  Europe 
to  be  filled  with  Asiatics ;  that  by  blending 
the  people  and  the  manners  of  both,  the  he 
reditary  antipathy  which  had  hitherto  sub 
sisted  between  the  inhabitants  of  these  two 
continents  might,  if  possible,  be  eradicated. 
Lastly,  he  had  projected  the  building  of  a 
pyramid,  equal  in  size  and  beauty  to  the 
largest  in  Egypt,  in  honor  of  his  father  Philip. 
But  all  these  designs  were,  on  the  pretence 
of  their  being  expensive,  referred  to  a  coun 
cil  of  Macedonians,  to  be  held  nobody  knew 
when  or  where. 

The  government  being  now  in  the  hands 
of  Perdiccas  and  Roxana,  soon  became  cruel 
and  distasteful.  Alexander  was  scarcely  dead 
when  the  queen  sent  for  Statira  and  Drype- 
tis,  the  two  daughters  of  Darius,  one  of 
whom  had  been  married  to  Alexander,  and 
the  other  to  Hephrcstion  ;  and  as  soon  as  they 
arrived  at  Babylon,  she  caused  them  both  to 
be  murdered,  that  no  son  of  Alexander  by 
any  other  woman,  or  of  Ilephaestiori,  might 
give  any  trouble  to  her  or  her  son  Alexan 
der.  Sisygambis,  the  mother  of  Darius,  no 
sooner  heard  that  Alexander  the  Great  was 
dead,  than  she  laid  violent  hands  on  herself, 
being  apprehensive  of  the  calamities  which 
were  about  to  ensue. 

"War  was  first  declared  in  Greece  against 
Antipater  in  the  year  321  B.  c. ;  and  through 
the  treachery  of  the  Thessalians,  that  general 
was  defeated,  with  the  army  he  had  under 
his  own  command.  Leonatus  was  therefore 
sent  from  Asia,  with  a  very  considerable  ar 
my,  to  his  assistance ;  but  both  were  over 
thrown  with  great  loss  by  the  confederates, 


and  Leonatus  himself  was  killed.  In  a  short 
time,  however,  Craterus  arrived  in  Greece 
with  a  great  army,  the  command  of  which 
|  he  resigned  to  Antipater.  The  army  of  the 
confederates  amounted  to  about  twenty-five 
thousand  foot  and  three  thousand  horse ;  but 
Antipater  commanded  no  fewer  than  forty 
thousand  foot,  three  thousand  archers,  and 
five  thousand  horse.  In  such  an  unequal 
contest,  therefore,  the  Greeks  were  defeated, 
and  forced  to  sue  for  peace,  which  they  did 
not  obtain  except  on  condition  of  their  re 
ceiving  Macedonian  garrisons  into  several  of 
their  cities.  At  Athens  also  the  democratic 
government  was  abrogated ;  and  such  a 
dreadful  punishment  did  this  seem  to  the 
Athenians,  that  twenty-two  thousand  of  them 
left  their  country  and  retired  into  Mace 
donia. 

Whilst  these  things  were  doing  in  Greece, 
disturbances  began  also  to  arise  in  Asia  and 
in  Thrace.  The  Greek  mercenaries,  who 
were  dispersed  throughout  the  inland  prov 
inces  of  Asia,  despairing  of  ever  being  al 
lowed  to  return  home  by  fair  means,  deter 
mined  to  attempt  it  by  force.  For  this  pur 
pose  they  assembled  to  the  number  of  twenty 
thousand  foot  and  three  thousand  horse ;  but 
they  were  all  cut  off  to  a  man  by  tlie  Macedo 
nians.  In  Thrace,  Lysimachus  was  attacked 
by  one  Seuthes,  a  prince  of  that  country, 
who  claimed  the  dominions  of  his  ancestors, 
and  had  raised  an  army  of  twenty  thousand 
foot  and  two  thousand  horse.  But  though 
the  Macedonian  commander  was  forced  to 
engage  this  army  with  no  more  than  four 
thousand  foot  and  two  thousand  horse,  yet 
he  kept  the  field  of  battle,  and  could  not  be 
driven  out  of  the  country. 

Perdiccas,  in  the  meantime,  by  pretending 
friendship  to  the  royal  family,  had  gained 
over  Eumenes  entirely  to  his  interest ;  and 
at  last  put  him  in  possession  of  the  province 
of  Cappadocia  by  the  defeat  of  Ariarathes, 
king  of  that  country,  whom  he  afterwards 
caused  to  be  crucified.  His  ambition,  how 
ever,  now  began  to  involve  him  in  difficul 
ties.  At  the  first  division  of  the  provinces 


470 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


Perdiccas,  to  strengthen  his  own  authority, 
had  proposed  to  marry  Niccea,  the  daughter  j 
of  Antipater ;  and  so  well  was  this  proposal 
relished,  that  her  brethren,  Jollas  and  Ar- 
chias,  conducted  her  to  him,  in  order  to  be 
present  at  the  celebration  of  the  nuptials. 
But  Perdiccas  had  now  other  objects  in  view. 
He  had  been  solicited  by  Olympias  to  marry 
her  daughter  Cleopatra,  the  widow  of  Alex 
ander  King  of  Epirus,  and  who  then  resided 
at  Sardis,  in  Lydia.  Eumenes  promoted  this 
match  to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  because 
he  thought  it  would  be  for  the  interest  of  the 
royal  family ;  and  his  persuasions  had  such 
an  effect  on  Perdiccas,  that  he  was  sent  to 
Sardis  to  compliment  Cleopatra,  and  to  carry 
presents  to  her  in  name  of  her  new  lover. 
In  the  absence  of  Eumenes,  however,  Alce- 
tas,  the  brother  of  Perdiccas,  persuaded  him 
to  marry  Niccea ;  but  in  order  to  gratify  his 
ambition,  he  resolved  to  divorce  her  imme-' 
diately  after  the  marriage,  and  to  many  Cle 
opatra.  By  this  last  alliance  he  hoped  to 
have  a  pretence  for  altering  the  government 
of  Macedonia ;  and,  as  a  necessary  measure 
preparative  to  these,  he  entered  into  contriv 
ances  for  destroying  Antigonus.  Unfortu 
nately  for  himself,  however,  he  ruined  all  his 
schemes  by  his  own  jealousy  and  precipitate 
cruelty.  Cynane,  the  daughter  of  Philip  by 
his  second  wife,  had  brought  her  daughter 
Adda,  who  was  afterwards  named  Eurydice, 
to  court,  in  hopes  that  King  Arida3us  might 
marry  her.  Against  Cynane,  Perdiccas,  from 
some  political  motives,  conceived  such  a 
grudge,  that  he  caused  her  to  be  murdered. 
This  raised  a  commotion  in  the  army,  which 
frightened  Perdiccas  to  such  a  degree  that 
he  now  promoted  the  match  between  Ari- 
da3us  and  Eurydice,  to  prevent  which  he  had 
imirdered  the  mother  of  the  young  princess. 
But  in  the  meantime  Antigonus,  knowing 
the  designs  of  Perdiccas  against  himself,  fled 
with  his  son  Demetrius  to  Greece,  there  to 
take  shelter  under  the  protection  of  Antipa 
ter  and  Craterus,  whom  he  informed  of  the 
ambition  and  cruelty  of  the  regent. 

A  civil  war  was  now  kindled  up.     Anti- 


pater,  Craterus,  Keoptolemus,  and  Antigo 
nus  were  combined  against  Perdiccas ;  and 
it  was  the  misfortune  of  the  emrare  in  gen 
eral  that  Eumenes,  the  most  able  general,  as 
well  as  the  most  virtuous  of  all  the  command 
ers,  was  on  the  side  of  Perdicca«,  because 
he  believed  him  to  be  in  the  interest  of  Al 
exander's  family.  Ptolemy  in  the  meantime 
remained  in  quiet  possession  of  Egypt,  but 
without  the  least  intention  of  owning  any 
person  as  his  superior.  However,  he  also 
acceded  to  the  league  formed  against  Perdic 
cas,  and  thus  the  only  person  in  the  whole 
empire  who  consulted  the  interest  of  the 
royal  family  was  Eumenes. 

It  was  now  thought  proper  to  bury  the 
body  of  Alexander,  which  had  been  kept  for 
two  years,  during  all  which  time  prepara 
tions  had  been  making  for  its  interment. 
Aridceus,  to  whose  care  it  was  committed, 
set  out  from  Babylon  for  Damascus,  in  order 
to  carry  the  the  king's  body  to  Egypt.  This 
was  much  against  the  will  of  Perdiccas  ;  for 
it  seems  there  was  a  superstitious  report, 
that  wherever  the  body  of -Alexander  was 
laid,  that  country  should  flourish  most.  Per 
diccas,  therefore,  out  of  regard  to  his  native 
soil,  would  have  it  conveyed  to  the  royal 
sepulchres  in  Macedonia  ;  but  Aridseus, 
pleading  the  late  king's  express  direction, 
was  determined  to  carry  it  into  Egypt,  from 
thence  to  be  conveyed  to  the  temple  of  Jupi 
ter  Ammon.  The  funeral  was  accordingly 
conducted  with  all  imaginable  magnificence. 
Ptolemy  came  to  meet  the  body  as  far  as 
Syria ;  but  instead  of  burying  it  in  the  tem 
ple  of  Jupiter  Ammon,  he  erected  a  stately 
temple  for  it  in  the  city  of  Alexandria ;  and 
by  the  respect  which  he  showed  for  his  dead 
master,  induced  many  of  the  Macedonian 
veterans  to  join  him,  who  were  afterwards 
of  the  greatest  service. 

No  sooner  was  the  funeral  over  than  the 
parties  above  mentioned  came  to  blows. 
Perdiccas  marched  against  Ptolemy,  but  was 
slain  by  his  own  men,  who,  after  the  death 
of  their  general,  submitted  to  his  antagonist ; 
and  thus  Eumenes  was  left  alone  to  contend 


r 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


471 


against  all  the  other  generals  who  had  served 
under  Alexander.  In  this  contest,  however, 
he  would  by  no  means  have  been  overmatch 
ed,  had  his  soldiers  been  attached  to  him ; 
but  as  they  had  been  accustomed  to  serve 
under  those  very  generals  against  whom  they 
were  now  to  fight,  they  were  upon  all  occa 
sions  ready  to  betray  and  desert  Eumenes. 
However,  he  defeated  and  killed  ]STeoptole- 
mus  and  Craterus ;  but  then  found  himself 
obliged  to  contend  with  Antipater  and  Anti- 
gonus.  Antipater  was  now  appointed  pro-- 
tector  of  the  kings,  with  sovereign  power ; 
and  Eumenes  was  about  the  same  time  de 
clared  a  public  enemy.  A  new  division  of 
Alexanders  empire  took  place.  Egypt,  Lib 
ya,  and  the  parts  adjacent,  were  given  to 
Ptolemy,  because  they  could  not  be  taken 
from  him.  Syria  was  confirmed  to  Leome- 
don.  Philoxenus  received  Cilicia.  Meso 
potamia  and  Arbelitus  were  given  to  Amphi- 
rnacus.  Babylon  was  bestowed  on  Seleucus. 
Susiana  fell  to  Antigenes,  who  commanded 
the  Macedonian  Argyraspidce,  or  Silver 
Shield?,  because-he  was  the  first  who  opposed 
Perdiccas.  Peucestas  held  Persia ;  Tlepole- 
mus  had  Caramania ;  Python  had  Media  as 
far  as  the  Caspian  Straits ;  Stasander  had 
Aria  and  Drangia ;  Philip,  Parthia ;  Staso- 
nor,  Bactria  and  Sogdia ;  Sibirtius,  Aracopa; 
Oxyartes,  the  father  of  Roxana,  Paropami- 
sus.  Another  Python  had  the  country  be- 
this  province  and  India.  Porus  and  Taxiles 
retained  what  Alexander  had  given  them, 
refusing  to  part  with  any  portion  of  their  do 
minions.  Cappadocia  was  assigned  to  Nica- 
nor.  Phrygia  Major,  Lycaonia,  Pamphylia, 
and  Lycia  were  given  to  Antigonus ;  Caria 
to  Cassander  ;  Lydia  to  Clytus  ;  and  Phrygia 
the  Less  to  Aridasus.  Cassander  was  ap 
pointed  general  of  the  horse ;  whilst  the 
command  of  the  household  troops  was  given 
to  Antigonus,  with  orders  to  prosecute  the 
war  against  Eumenes.  Antipater,  having 
thus  settled  everything,  returned  to  Mace 
donia  with  the  two  kings,  to  the  great  joy  of 
his  countrymen,  having  left  his  son  Cassander 
as  a  check  upon  Antigonus  in  Asia. 


Matters  now  seemed  to  wear  a  better  as 
pect  than  they  had  yet  done  ;  and  if  Etime- 
nes  had  believed  that  his  enemies  really  con 
sulted  the  interest  of  Alexander's  family, 
there  is  not  the  least  doubt  that  the  war 
would  have  been  immediately  terminated. 
He  saw,  however,  that  the  design  of  Anti 
gonus  was  altogether  a  selfish  one,  and  con 
sequently  he  refused  to  submit.  From  thia 
time,  therefore,  the  Macedonian  empire  in 
Asia  ceased  to  exibt ;  and  the  Macedonian 
affairs  were  now  entirely  confined  to  that 
kingdom  itself  and  to  Greece.  Antipater 
had  not  been  long  in  Macedonia  after  his 
return  when  he  died  ;  and  the  last  act  of  his 
life  completed  the  ruin  of  Alexander's 
family.  With  a  view  to  the  public  good, 
he  had  appointed  Polysperchon,  one  of  the 
eldest  of  Alexander's  captains,  to  be  pro 
tector  and  governor  of  Macedonia.  This 
failed  not  to  disgust  his  son  Cassander,  who 
thought  he  had  a  natural  right  to  these 
offices,  and  of  course  kindled  up  a  new  civil 
war  in  Macedonia.  This  was  indeed  highly 
promoted  by  his  first  actions  as  a  governor. 
He  began  with  attempting  to  remove  all 
the  governors  appointed  in  Greece  by  Anti 
pater,  and  to  restore  democracy  wherever  it 
had  been  abolished.  The  immediate  conse 
quence  of  this  was,  that  the  people  refused 
to  obey  their  magistrates  ;  the  governors  re 
fused  to  resign  their  places,  and  applied  for 
assistance  to  Cassander.  Polysperchon  had 
also  the  imprudence  to  recall  Olympias  from 
Epirus,  and  to  allow  her  a  share  in  the  ad 
ministration,  which  Antipater,  and  even 
Alexander  himself,  had  always  refused  her. 
The  consequence  of  all  this  was,  that  Cas 
sander  invaded  Greece,  where  he  prevailed 
against  Polysperchon.  Olympias  returned 
to  Macedonia,  where  she  cruelly  murdered 
Aridseus  and  his  wife  Eurydice.  But  she  was 
herself  put  to  death  by  Cassander,  wrho  after 
wards  caused  Roxana  and  her  son  to  be 
murdered ;  and  Polysperchon  being  driven 
into  ./Etolia,  first  raised  to  the  crown  Her- 
eules,  the  son  of  Alexander  by  the  daughter 
;f  Darius,  and  then,  by  the  instigation  of 


472 


HISTORY    OF    THE  WORLD. 


Cassnnder,  murdered  him,  by  which  means 
the  line  of  Alexander  the  Great  became  to 
tally  extinct. 

Cassander  having  thus  destroyed  all  the 
royal  family,  assumed  the  regal  title,  as  he 
had  for  sixteen  years  before  had  all  the  power. 
But  he  enjoyed  the  title  of  King  of  Mace 
donia  only  three  years,  after  which  he  died, 
about  298  B.C.  By  Thessalonica,  the  daughter 
of  Philip,  King  of  Macedonia,  he  left  three 
sons  —  Philip,  Antipater  and  Alexander. 
Philip  succeeded  him,  but  soon  afterwards 
died  of  a  consumption,  and  a  contest  im 
mediately  began  between  the  two  brothers, 
Antipater  and  Alexander.  Antipater  seized 
the  kingdom,  and,  to  secure  himself  in  it, 
murdered  his  mother  Thessalonica.  Alex 
ander  invited  Pyrrhus,  King  of  Epirus,  and 
Demetrius,  the  son  of  Antigonus,  to  assist 
him,  and  revenge  the  death  of  his  mother. 
But  Pyrrhus  being  bought  off,  and  a 
peace  concluded  between  the  brothers,  Al 
exander  afraid  of  having  too  many  pro 
jectors,  formed  a  scheme  of  getting  Deme 
trius  assassinated.  Instead  of  this,  however, 
both  he  and  Antipater  were  put  to  death ; 
and  Demetrius  became  King  of  Macedonia, 
four  years  after  the  death  of  Cassander. 

In-  28 T  before  Christ,  Demetrius  was 
driven  out  by  Pyrrhus,  who  was  again 
driven  out  two  years  after  by  Lysimachus, 
who  was  soon  afterwards  killed  by  Seleucus 
Kicator  ;  and  Seleucus  in  his  turn  was  mur 
dered  by  Ptolemy  Ceraunus,  who  became 
King  of  Macedonia  about  280  before  our 
era.  The  new  king  was  in  a  short  time  cut 
oft',  with  his  whole  army,  by  the  Gauls  ;  and 
Antigonus  Gonatus,  the  son  of  Demetrius 
Poliorcetes,  became  King  of  Macedonia  in 
278  B.C.  lie  proved  successful  against  the 
Gauls,  but  was  driven  out  by  Pyrrhus,  King 
of  Epirus,  who,  however,  soon  disobliged 
his  subjects  to  such  a  degree  that  Antigonus 
recovered  a  great  part  of  his  kingdom.  But 
in  a  little  time,  Pyrrhus  being  killed  at  the 
siege  of  Argos  in  Greece,  Antigonus  was 
restored  to  the  whole  ef  Macedonia ;  but 
scarcely  was  he  seated  o  i  the  throne,  when 


he  wras  driven  from  it  by  Alexander  the  son 
of  Pyrrhus.  The  new  invader  was  in  his 
turn  expelled  by  Demetrius  the  son  of  An 
tigonus,  who,  though  at  that  time  but  a  boy, 
had  almost  made  himself  master  of  Epirus. 
In  this  enterprise,  however,  he  was  disap 
pointed  ;  but  by  his  means  Antigonus  was 
restored  to  his  kingdom,  which  he  governed 
for  many  years  in  peace.  By  a  stratagem 
he  made  himself  master  of  the  city  of  Cor 
inth,  and  from  that  time  began  to  form 
schemes  for  the  thorough  conquest  of  Greece. 
The  method  he  took  to  accomplish  this  was, 
to  support  the  petty  tyrants  of  Greece  against 
the  free  states,  which  indeed  weakened  the 
power  of  the  latter,  but  involved  the  whole 
country  in  so  many  calamities,  that  these 
transactions  redound  but  little  to  the  reputa 
tion  either  of  his  arms  or  of  his  honor.  He 
died  about  the  year  243,  leaving  the  king 
dom  to  his  son  Demetrius  II. 

Neither  Demetrius  nor  his  successor,  An 
tigonus  Doson,  performed  anything  remark 
able.  In  221  B.C.,  the  kingdom  fell  to  Philip, 
the  last  but  one  of  the  Macedonian  inon- 
archs.  To  him  Hannibal,  after  the  battle  of 
Cannae,  applied  for  assistance,  which  he  re 
fused  ;  and  the  same  imprudence  which 
made  him  refuse  this  assistance  prompted 
him  to  embroil  himself  with  the  Romans, 
and  at  last  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  them, 
by  which  he  in  effect  became  their  subject, 
being  tied  up  from  making  peace  or  war  ex 
cept  according  to  their  pleasure.  In  179  B.C. 
he  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son  Perseus, 
under  whom  the  war  with  the  Romans  wras 
renewed.  Even  yet  the  Macedonians  were 
terrible  in  war ;  and  their  phalanx,  when 
properly  conducted,  seems  to  have  been  ab 
solutely  invincible  by  any  method  of  mak 
ing  war  at  that  time  known.  The  Romans 
had  never  encountered  such  a  terrible  enemy ; 
and  in  the  first  battle,  which  happened  171 
B.C.,  they  were  defeated  with  the  loss  of 
2200  men,  whilst  the  Macedonians  lost  no 
more  than  sixty.  The  generals  of  Perseus 
now  pressed  him  to  storm  the  enejny's  camp; 
but  he  being  naturally  of  a  cowardly  dispo 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


473 


sition,  refused  to  comply,  and  thus  the  best 
opportunity  he  ever  had  was  lost.  Still, 
however,  the  "Romans  gained  little  or  no  ad 
vantage  over  it,  until  the  year  168  B.C.,  when 
Paulus  ^Einilius.  a  most  experienced  com 
mander,  was  sent  to  Macedonia.  Perseus 
now  put  everything  upon  the  issue  of  a  gen 
eral  engagement ;  ^Emilius,  with  all  his 
courage  and  military  experience,  would  have 
been  defeated,  had  the  Macedonians  been 
commanded  by  a  general  of  the  smallest 
courage  or  conduct.  The  light-armed  Ma 
cedonians  charged  with  such  vigor,  that, 
after  the  battle,  some  of  their  bodies  were 
found  within  two  furlongs  of  the  Roman 
camp.  When  the  phalanx  came  to*  charge, 
the  points  of  their  spears  striking  into  the 
Roman  shields,  kept  the  heavy-armed  troops 
from  making  any  motion ;  whilst,  on  the 
other  hand,  Perseus's  light-armed  men  did 
terrible  execution.  On  this  occasion,  it  is 
said  that  yEmilius  tore  his  clothes,  and  gave 
np  all  hopes.  However,  the  Roman  general, 
perceiving  that  as  the  phalanx  gained  ground 
it  lost  its  order  in  several  places,  caused  his 
own  light-armed  troops  to  charge  in  those 
placas,  whereby  the  Macedonians  were  soon 
thrown  into  confusion.  Perseus  with  his 
horse  took  to  flight,  and  the  infantry  at  last 
did  the  same,  but  not  till  20,000  of  them  had 
lost  their  lives. 

This  battle  decided  the  fate  of  Macedonia, 
which  immediately  submitted  to  the  con 
queror.  The  cowardly  king  took  refuge  in 
the  island  of  Samothrace,  but  was  at  last 
obliged  to  surrender  to  the  Roman  consul, 
by  whom  he  was  carried  to  Rome,  led  in 
triumph,  and  afterwards  most  barbarously 
treated.  Some  pretenders  to  the  throne 
afterwards  appeared  ;  but  being  unable  to 
defend  themselves  against  the  Romans,  the 
country  was  reduced  to  a  Roman  province 
in  the  year  148  B.C. 

The  kings  of  EPIRUS  claimed  to  be  de 
scended  from  Pyrrhus,  son  of  Achilles,  who 
settled  in  this  country  after  the  taking  of 
Troy,  and  transmitted  his  kingdom  to  Mo- 
60 


lossns,  his  son  by  Andromache ;  but  the 
early  history  of  the  kings  of  the  Molossi  is 
involved  in  much  obscurity.  Admetus  sat 
on  the  throne  of  Epirus  480  B.C.,  at  the  time 
of  the  invasion  of  Greece  by  the  Persians. 
and  he  remained  neutral  till  their  defeat, 
when  he  solicited  an  alliance  with  the  Athe 
nians.  This  was  refused  chiefly  through  the 
persuasion  of  Themistocles ;  yet  Admetus 
was  generous  enough  to  forget  this  circum 
stance  wlum  Themistocles  Avas  banished, 
471  B.C.,  by  his  ungrateful  countrymen,  and 
received  him  with  every  mark  of  respect 
and  esteem. 

Alexander  was  the  first  prince  who  raised 
the  character  and  reputation  of  his  country 
amongst  foreign  nations.  Having  been  ap 
plied  to  by  the  Tarentines  for  assistance 
against  the  Samnites  and  I  Iranians,  he  pass 
ed  into  Italy  with  a  considerable  force,  made 
a  descent  (332  B.C.)  at  Paestum,  a  city  near 
the  mouth  of  the  river  Silarus,  and  reduced 
under  his  dominion  several  cities  of  the 
Lucani  and  Brutii.  In  his  second  attack 
upon  Italy  he  was  surrounded  by  the  enemy, 
defeated,  and  slain,  near  the  city  Pandosia, 
in  the  territory  of  the  Brutii. 

(Eacides,  the  son  of  Arymbas  II.,  succeed 
ed  to  Alexander,  and  espoused  the  cause  of 
Olympias  against  Cassander ;  but  his  soldiers, 
having  mutinied,  dethroned  him,  though  he 
was  in  a  short  time  reinstated.  He  was 
killed  the  same  year,  313  B.C.,  in  a  battle 
against  Philip,  brother  of  Cassander.  This 
prince  had  by  his  wife  Phthia,  the  celebrated 
Pyrrhus,  and  two  daughters,  Deidamia  and 
Troas,-  of  whom  the  former  married  Deme 
trius  Poliorcetes.  His  brother  Alcetas,  who 
succeeded  him,  continued  •  the  war  with  Cas 
sander  till  he  was  defeated,  and  his  domi 
nions  were  overrun  by  the  enemy.  He 
was  afterwards  put  to  death  by  his  rebellious 
subjects,  295  B.C.  Pyrrhus  now  ascended 
the  throne  ;  but  he  had  only  reigned  five 
years  when  the  adverse  party  among  his 
subjects  suddenly  gained  the  ascendancy, 
and  drove  him  to  take  refuge  with  his  bro 
ther-in-law  Demetrius.  So  hard,  indeed, 


474 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


did  misfortune  press  upon  him,  that  he  was 
at  last  glad  to  go  into  Egypt  as  a  hostage 
for  the  prince  jus<-  mentioned.  At  this 
point,  however,  the  tide  of  events  began  to 
turn  in  Pjrrhus'  favor.  Admiring  his  great 
abilities,  and  his  pleasing  and  virtuous  bear 
ing,  Berenice,  the  wife  of  King  Ptolemy, 
took  the  charge  of  his  fortunes.  The  hand 
of  her  daughter  Antigone  was  given  to  him 
in  preference  to  many  princely  rivals. 
Money  and  men  were  then  placed  at  his 
disposal,  to  enable  him  to  take  possession  of 
his  hereditary  kingdom.  Nor  did  success 
fail  to  accompany  him  to  Epirus.  His  sub 
jects  received  him  with  acclamation ;  he 
was  appointed  colleague  to  Neoptolemus, 
the  sovereign  who  then  occupied  the  throne ; 
and  his  power  grew  so  great  that,  in  205 
B.C.,  he  ventured  to  make  away  with  his 
rival,  and  to  wield  the  sceptre  alone. 

In  29-i  B.C.  Pyrrhus  began  his  aggressive 
policy  by  acquiring  an  ascendancy  over  Al 
exander  of  Macedonia.  The  overthrow  of 
that  impotent  prince  soon  afterwards  by 
Demetrius  did  not  long  retard  his  ambitious 
designs.  His  admirable  qualities  proved  too 
strong  for  his  former  friend  and  brother-in- 
law.  In  a  battle  fought  in  /Etolia  in  289 
B.C.,  against  Pantauchus,  the  brave  general 
of  his  enemy,  he  won  from  the  Macedonian 
troops  not  only  victory  but  generous  admira 
tion.  They  went  home  lauding  his  wonder 
ful  achievements  in  the  fight,  comparing 
him  to  that  favorite  monarch,  the  dead  Al 
exander,  and  desiring  an  opportunity  to 
transfer  to  him  their  allegiance  and  their 
services.  No  sooner,  therefore,  did  they  see 
his  lofty  plume  and  his  crest  of  goat's  horns 
before  the  city  of  Beroea  in  287  B.C.,  than 
they  went  over  to  him  in  a  body.  It  is 
true  that,  changing  sides  once  -more,  they 
soon  deserted  him  for  their  old  general  Lys- 
imachus,  and  left  him  no  alternative  but  to 
abandon  Macedonia.  Yet  his  exploits  in 
this  campaign  had  gained  for  him  a  reputa 
tion  which  extended  to  other  countries,  and 
which,  in  course  of  time,  was  the  means  of 
opening  up  before  him  a  new  path  to  victory. 


It  was  in  281  B.  c.  that  the  Tarentines,  at 
tracted  by  the  military  renown  of  Pyrrhus, 
implored  him  to  assist  them  against  the  ag 
gressive  tyranny  of  Rome.  Too  impatient 
to  wait  until  the  rude  winter  was  past,  he 
embarked  early  in  280  B.  c.,  and  after  being 
nearly  engulfed  by  the  boisterous  waves  of 
the  Ionian,  he  landed  on  the  coast  of  Italy, 
and  commenced  his  measures.  He  first  ap 
plied  a  rigorous  system  of  reform  to  the 
pleasure-seeking  city  of  Tarentum.  The  the 
atres  were  closed ;  all  revels  were  proscribed  ; 
and  the  lounging  citizens  were  subjected  to 
military  drill.  Then  taking  the  field,  he 
made  a  vigorous  attack  upon  a  Roman  army 
under  the  consul  Loevinus,  as  it  was  crossing 
the  River  Siris.  The  hardy  legionaries,  in 
deed,  like  men  accustomed  to  conquer,  were 
loath  to  yield.  During  a  whole  spring  day 
did  they  stubbornly  grapple  with  him  fur  the 
prize  of  victory.  But  he  routed  them  with 
great  slaughter,  and  began  to  take  measures 
to  improve  his  victory.  By  the  orator  Cineas 
he  offered  terms  of  peace  to  the  Roman  Sen 
ate.  When  these  were  disdainfully  rejected, 
he  advanced  by  forced  marches  to  within 
twenty-four  miles  of  the  enemy's  capital. 
The  intelligence,  that  the  army  of  Etruria 
had  just  arrived  in  Rome,  induced  him  to 
retreat  to  winter  quarters  in  Tarentum ;  but 
did  not  make  him  slacken  in  his  efforts  to 
accomplish  the  object  of  his  enterprise.  He 
continued  to  ply  the  Senate  with  proposals 
of  peace  until  the  spring  arrived.  He  then 
took  the  field,  and  defeated  the  enemy  in  a 
hard-fought  battle  at  Asculum  in  Apulia. 
Nor  was  it  until  he  discovered  how  fast  his 
army  was  wasting  away,  and  how  difficult  it 
was  to  obtain  any  reinforcements  from  home, 
that  he  desisted  from  the  attempt  to  bend 
the  Romans  either  by  negotiation  or  by  force. 

From  this  period  may  be  dated  the  decline 
of  the  power  and  reputation  of  Pyrrhus.  In 
vited  over  to  Sicily  in  278  B.  c.  to  aid  the 
natives  against  the  Carthaginians,  he  entered 
upon  his  first  course  of  disaster.  It  is  true 
that,  for  some  time  after  his  landing,  his  arma 
were  victorious.  The  enemy  was  everywhere 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD 


475 


put  to  the  rout  before  him  ;  the  strong  town 
of  Eryx  was  taken  by  a  brilliant  coup  de 
main  ;  and- the  Punic  invaders  were  driven 
to  sue  in  vain  for  peace.  But  the  failure  of 
his  attack  on  Lilybreum  turned  the  tide  of 
fortune.  So  completely  did  he  lose  the  good 
will  of  the  Sicilians  that  he  was  glad,  in  276 
B.  c.,  to  depart  ingloriously  for  Italy.  Nor 
was  misfortune  left  on  the  shore  behind  him. 
As  he  was  crossing  the  strait,  the  Cartha 
ginian  fleet,  attacking  him,  destroyed  seventy 
of  his  ships.  When  he  landed,  the  warlike 
Mamertines,  who  had  hastened  from  Sicily 
to  intercept  him,  harassed  his  march  towards 
Tarentum.  The  Romans  also,  two  years 
afterwards,  gained  the  complete  mastery  over 
him.  His  forces  were  cut  to  pieces  at  Bene- 
ventum  by  the  consul  Curius ;  and  there  was 
no  alternative  left  for  him  but  to  return  to 
Epirus,  beggared  in  resources,  and  with  a 
mere  handful  of  soldiers.  A  short  interval 
of  prosperity  intervened  in  the  life  of  Pyr- 
rhus  after  his  arrival  in  his  own  kingdom. 
Invading  the  territories  of  Antlgonus,  king 
of  Macedonia,  and  coming  to  an  engagement 
with  the  troops  of  that  prince,  he  routed  the 
Gauls  which  formed  the  rear  of  the  hostile 
army,  brought  the  Macedonian  soldiers  over 
to  him  by  holding  out  his  hand  invitingly, 
and  thus  gained  a  kingdom  by  one  magnifi 
cent  stroke  of  combined  force  and  persuasion. 
But  this  success  only  tempted  him  to  rush 
into  new  calamities.  Consenting  in  272  B.  c. 
to  interfere  in  the  quarrels  of  Cleonymus,  the 
ex-king  of  Lacedsemon,  he  hazarded  a  rash 
attack  upon  Sparta.  The  attack  roused  the 
deathless  Spartan  valor,  and  he  was  soon 
forced  to  desist.  Still  more  unfortunate  was 
the  attempt  which  he  then  made  to  co 
operate  with  Aristeas,  the  leader  of  one  of 
the  factions  in  Argos.  Admitted  by  Aris 
teas  durino;  the  nirfit  into  the  distracted  citv, 

o  tj  / 

he  was  immediately  detected.  The  alarm 
was  raised ;  those  of  the  opposite  party  seized 
the  strongest  positions  in  the  town ;  and  he 
and  his  men  were  soon  hemmed  in  on  all 
sides.  Day  dawned,  and  found  him  fighting 
his  way  back  amid  a  weltering  sea  of  ene 


mies.  He  had  cut  liis  passage  as  far  as  a 
narrow  street,  and  was  dealing  blows  of  death 
upon  all  around  him,  when  an  old  woman, 
looking  down  from  a  roof  immediately  above, 
and  seeing  him  in  the  act  of  overpowering 
her  son,  seized  a  large  tile  with  both  her 
hands,  and  let  it  fall  upon  his  head.  The 
blow  struck  him  senseless  from  his  horse ; 
and  one  of  his  antagonists,  dragging  him  into 
a  porch,  dispatched  him  with  an  Illyrian 
blade. 

Alexander,  in  272  B.C.,  succeded  his  father 
Pyrrhus,  when  he  attempted  to  seize  on 
Macedonia.  He  defeated  Antigonus  Gon- 
atus,  but  was  himself  shortly  afterwards 
driven  from  his  kingdom  by  Demetrius,  soil 
of  that  prince.  He  recovered  it,  however, 
and  spent  the  rest  of  his  reign  in  peace. 
At  the  expiration  of  two  other  insignificant 
reigns,  the  family  of  Pyrrhus  became  ex 
tinct,  upon  which  the  inhabitants  of  Epirus 
changed  the  form  of  their  government, 
electing  annually  a  prsetor  in  a  general  as 
sembly  of  the  nation  held  at  Passaron,  a 
city  of  the  Molossi.  Epirus  imprudently 
espoused  the  cause  of  Perseus  in  his  war 
against  the  Romans,  when  he  was  defeated 
and  taken  prisoner,  168  B.C.  ;  and  it  was  ex 
posed  to  the  unrelenting  fury  of  the  Romans, 
who  destroyed  seventy  towns,  and  carried 
away  to  slavery  150,000  of  the  inhabitants. 
It  never  recovered  from  this  fatal  blow. 
At  the  dissolution  of  the  Achosan  league, 
146  B.C.,  this  country  became  part  of  the 
province  of  Macedonia  tinder  the  name  of 
"Vetus  Epirus,  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from 
Nova  Epirus,  which  lay  to  the  east. 

On  the  division  of  the  empire  it  became 
the  inheritance  of  the  emperors  of  the  East, 
and  remained  under  them  until  the  taking 
of  Constantinople  by  the  Latins,  in  1204, 
when  Michael  Comnenes  seized  on  ./Etolia 
and  Epirus.  After  passing  through  the 
hands  of  the  Saracens  and  Venetians,  it  fell 
under  the  power  of  the  Turks,  in  whose  pos 
session  it  sti.  remains,  and  forms  part  of 
Albania. 


i76 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


R  0  M  E. 


THE  ?ito  of  Rome  occupies  a  cluster  of 
low  eminences  threaded  by  the  wind 
ing  stream  of  the  Tiber.  The  Campagna, 
the  modern  name  for  the  tract  of  land  which 
encompasses  it,  stretching  from  the  sea  to  the 
Apennines,  is  not  a  wholly  level  surface,  but 
is  generally  varied  with  gentle  undulations. 
Such  a  site  might  naturally  tempt  the  wan 
dering  brigands  of  Central  Italy  to  fix  on  it 
their  pennanent  settlements.  Though  traces 
may  be  discovered  in  the  later  manners  of 
the  Italians  of  their  original  descent  from  a 
race  of  nomades,  yet  we  find  them  distin 
guished  at  the  first  dawn  of  history  by  the 
general  adoption  of  settled  habitations.  The 
idea  of  the  city,  and  of  municipal  institu 
tions  was  as  strongly  developed  in  Italy  as 
:n  Greece;  aid  in  this  respect  the  earliest 
known  inhabitants  of  either  peninsula  were 
equally  distinguished  from  the  Gaul,  the  Bri 
ton,  and  the  German.  The  strongholds  of 
these  people  were  the  summits  of  bold  emi 
nences,  such  as  rose  sometimes  in  clusters, 
sometimes  with  insulated  projections,  from 
the  plains  or  the  scarped  ridge  of  a  mountain 
spur ;  and  the  cultivators  of  the  little  territo 
ry  around  them  resided  generally  within  the 
shelter  of  their  walls.  But  the  domain  of 
the  first  fortress  on  the  Palatine  was  limited 
by  the  conflicting  claims  of  the  occupants  of 
similar  retreats  on  almost  every  height  around 
it.  The  Tarpeian  hill,  looking  northward 
up  the  stream  of  the  Tiber,  was  the  site, 
according  to  an  early  legend,  of  a  town  de 
nominated  Saturnia;  the  Janiculan,  across 


the  river,  bore  a  city  of  its  own  name ;  the 
Quirinal,  which  stood  next  in  order  to  the 
Tarpeian,  was  settled  by  a  tribe  of  Sabineg, 
the  people  of  the  district  reaching  north 
eastward  to  the  Apennines ;  the  Latins,  who 
held,  with  a  confederacy  of  thirty  states,  the 
great  plain  of  the  Campagna  to  the  south 
east,  had  a  place  of  meeting  on  the  Aven- 
tine ;    the  whole  of  the  right  bank  of  the 
Tiber  belonged  to  the  still  more  powerful 
nation  of  the  Etruscans.     The  earliest  leg 
ends  of  Rome  indicate  the  seizure  of  the 
Palatine   by  an   offset  from  a  Latin  tribe, 
and  its  conversion  into  a  stronghold  for  the 
unsettled  brigandage  of  the   neighborhood. 
But  this   confined   and  secluded   eminence 
afforded  a  retreat  indeed,  but  no  sustenance, 
to  its  primeval  occupants ;  and  from  the  first 
the  Romans  were  compelled  by  the  sternest 
necessity   to  fight  with  every  neighbor  for 
their  daily  living.     If  constant  warfare  was 
thus,  on  the  one  hand,  from  the  first  the  law 
of  their  existence,  not  less  were  they  com 
pelled  in  self-defence  to  seek  alliances  arid 
cultivate  peaceful  relations  on  the  other;  and 
they  soon  learned  to  relax  the  rigid  exclusive- 
ness  of  manners  and  family  ties  which  cha 
racterized  the  politics  of  the  Italian  races. 
While  the  martial   temper  of  the   Roman 
people  was  formed  in  the  school  of  perpetual 
aggression  or  defence,  they  had  the  good  for 
tune  to  be  driven  by  circ'imstances  to  frater 
nize  liberally  with  their  allies  an  1  depend 
ents,  and  the  habit  of  admitting  fresh  infu 
sions  of  foreign  blood  continued  to  be  main- 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


477 


tained  by  a  necessity  ever  increasing  as  the 
sphere  of  their  foreign  relations  widened.  It 
was  the  remark  of  their  own  statesmen,  as 
well  as  of  later  students  of  their  history, 
that  the  illustrious  career  of  Roman  conquest 
was  maintained  by  the  seasonableness  with 
which,  however  reluctantly,  the  franchise  of 
the  city,  with  all  its  privileges  and  burdens, 
was  conceded  at  every  crisis  to  strangers. 

Extending  our  view  beyond  the  cluster  of 
hills  over  which  the  name  of  Home  was  even 
tually  to  be  extended,  we  may  observe,  Avith 
the  map  of  Italy  before  us,  how  critically 
the  future  mistress  of  the  world  was  placed 
cvith  reference  to  the  powers  around  her. 
Three  considerable  nations,  the  names  of 
which  have  been  already  mentioned,  met 
just  at  this  point.  The  Tiber,  descending 
almost  due  south  from  the  Apennines  to  the 
Mediterranean,  and  making  with  that  sea  an 
acute  angle  on  the  right,  an  obtuse  one  on 
the  left,  separated  the  country  of  the  Etrus 
cans  from  that  of  the  Sabines  and  of  the  La 
tins.  Again  the  Anio,  running  west  from 
the  central  ridge  of  the  peninsula,  and  strik 
ing  perpendiculary  upon  the  Tiber  three 
miles  above  the  spot  just  designated,  formed 
the  line  of  demarcation  between  the  Sabines 
and  the  Latins  themselves.  Home,  therefore, 
Avas  placed  almost  at  the  point  of  junction 
of  the  three  riA'al  nationalities. 

The  institution  of  the  fortified  city  as  the 
nucleus  of  the  political  combination,  such  as 
we  find  it  to  have  existed  throughout  Central 
Italy  in  these  early  times,  may  be  taken  as  a 
sign  that  the  country  is  in  possession  of  a 
foreign  race,  which  has  subdued  the  original 
inhabitants  and  holds  their  lands  by  the  right 
of  conquest.  Wherever  a  tribe  has  settled 
upon  soil  hitherto  unoccupied,  we  find  that 
It  has  spread  itself  along  the  sides  of  the 
rivers  and  over  fertile  plains,  clearing  the 
forest  rood  by  rood,  and  planting  its  scatter 
ed  habitations  securely  on  every  spot  to 
which  chance  or  convenience  has  conducted 
it.  Thus  the  inhabitants,  first  known  to  us, 
of  Gaul  and  Germany,  may  seem  to  have 
been  the  Aborigines,  of  the  land. They  found 


perhaps,  on  their  arrival  no  prior  possessors 
of  the  soil  on  which  they  planted  themselves, 
and  they  had  no  need  to  defend  their  acqui 
sitions  by  the  establishment  of  fortified  posts 
and  armed  garrisons  in  the  centre  of  every 
plot  of  ground  they  occupied.  But  in  Italy, 
on  the  contrary,  both  tradition  and  early 
ethnological  traces  confirm  our  natural  infe 
rence  from  the  mode  of  its  ancient  inhabita 
tion,  and  assure  us  that  neither  Etruscans, 
Sabines,  nor  Latins  Avere  aboriginal  possessors 
of  the  peninsula,  but  were  themselves  in 
truders  upon  the  heritage  of  feebler  and 
probably  more  peaceful  races.  The  early 
connection  of  these  aborigines  with  the 
Greeks  appears  from  the  identity  of  many 
of  their  words,  such  especially  as  refer  to 
agricultural  usages  and  ideas.  The  formation 
of  the  Latin  tongue  is  also  closely  allied  to 
the  Greek.  This  apparent  identity  of  race 
AVG  signalize  by  giving  to  the  Italians  the 
name  of  Pelasgians.  But  it  is  in  these  frag 
ments  of  their  language  only  that  Ave  can 
trace  the  character  of  this  primitive  people. 
The  Sabines  and  Latins  have  conquered  and 
degraded  them ;  these  new-comers  have  long 
maintained  themselves  in  their  fortified  and 
inaccessible  citadels,  like  the  Norman  barons 
in  their  castles,  in  the  midst  of  their  con 
quered  serfs ;  and  the  institution  of  the  city 
remains  to  attest  the  fact  of  conquest,  long 
after  the  elements  of  resistance  Avhich  first 
suggested  it  have  been  trampled  into  the 
dust.  Throughout  the  territory  of  the  Etrus 
cans  the  conquest  has  been  even  more  com 
plete.  Here  the  conquered  people  have  not 
left  even  a  feeble  trace  of  their  existence  in 
the  language  of  their  conquerors. 

Resembling  one  another  in  this  main  fea 
ture  of  their  politics,  the  Etruscans,  the  Sa 
bines,  and  the  Latins  are  distinguished  in 
other  important  particulars.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  course  of  migration  Avhich  led 
the  Etruscans  to  their  final  seats  in  Central 
Italy,  their  early  connection  with  the  East 
seems  proved  from  the  character  of  their  in 
stitutions.  Their  religion  Avas  a  mystery 
and  a  craft,  like  the  Egyptian  and  other  East- 


478 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


era  systems,  jealously  guarded  and  profes 
sionally  communicated ;  though  its  priests 
were  no  longer  on  the  freer  soil  of  Italy  a 
special  casts,  like  the  Druids,  the  Magi,  and 
the  Brahmins,  but  were  at  the  same  time  the 
warriors,  the  proprietors,  and  the  statesmen 
of  the  commonwealth.  Such  was  the  Etrus 
can  Lucumo,  king,  priest,  soldier,  and  land 
lord,  and  such  he  maintained  himself  in  spite 
of  the  advance  of  commercial  ideas  among 
the  people,  some  of  whose  cities  on  the  Tyr 
rhene  coast  had  become  emporia  of  the  traffic 
of  the  Mediterranean.  But  in  the  eighth 

c? 

century  B.  c.  the  power  of  the  Etruscans  had 
already  sustained  a  blow  ;  they  had  lost  their 
hold  of  the  countries  they  once  possessed 
north  of  the  Apennines ;  the  connection  with 
their  advanced  posts  in  Latium  and  Campa 
nia  seems  to  have  been  dislocated ;  they  were 
confined  to  a  confederacy  of  twelve  cities  in 
Etruria  proper,  strictly  allied,  and  still  by 
far  the  strongest  and  most  important  section 
of  the  Italian  communities. 

The  Etruscan  religion  was  a  refined  theo- 
Bophy.  It  proclaimed  the  existence  of  a  Su 
preme  Being,  a  Providence  or  Fate,  who 
was  rather  the  soul  of  the  world  than  a  per 
son  exterior  to  it.  The  lesser  gods,  like  those 
of  Egypt  and  India,  were  emanations  from 
this  being.  The  world  itself  was  subject  to 
periodical  mutations ;  men  and  things  had 
their  appointed  courses ;  there  was  a  future 
state  of  rewards  and  punishments.  The  Etrus 
cans  conceived,  like  ether  heathens,  that  the 
will  of  the  divinity  and  the  course  of  future 
events  might  be  ascertained  by  the  observa 
tion  of  omens.  Their  soothsayers  drew  au 
guries  from  the  flight  of  birds,  but  they  had 
a  special  gift  of  interpreting  the  signs  of  vic 
tims'  entrails  and  of  meteoric  phenomena. 

The  religious   ideas   of  the  Sabines  and 
Latins,  on  the  other  hand,  were  less  refined, 
and  affected  less  mystery.     The  indigenous 
cult  of  Italy  had  regarded  the  daily  and  com 
mon  wants  of  men:  the  husbandman  wor 
shipped  the  genii  of  the  wind?  and  skies,  the  j 
shepherd  those  who  protected  his  fiocks  from  I 
the  wild  beast  or  the  murrain,  the  warrior 


those  by  whom  his  arrows  were  wafted  tc 
the  mark  or  the  crafty  stratagem  suggested. 
It  was  also  domestic,  and  concerned  the  pres 
ervation  of  property,  the  guardianship  of  fam 
ily  rights  and  affections,  the  prolonged  ex 
istence  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  The  Sa 
bines  maintained  these  ideas  in  the  greatest 
purity  and  simplicity ;  the  Latins  seem,  from 
their  position  on  the  coast,  to  have  had  an 
earlier  connection  with  the  Greeks,  some  of 
whose  colonies  were  planted  on  their  soil ; 
and  they  partook  more  than  their  ruder 
neighbors  of  the  Greek  devotion  to  moral  ab 
stractions,  such  as  wisdom,  power  and  beauty. 
But  they  both  agreed  in  the  infinite  multi 
plication  of  their  objects  of  worship.  Every 
city  had  its  guardian  divinity ;  every  wood 
and  stream  its  Genius,  its  Nymph,  or  Faun  ; 
every  family  offered  a  special  service  to  the 
patron  of  the  house,  the  deified  spirit  of  its 
earliest  ancestor.  The  maintenance  of  tin's 
family  worship  was  a  solemn  obligation  de 
scending  to  the  heir  of  the  estate,  and  in  de 
fault  of  natural  heirs  the  practice  of  adop 
tion  was  enjoined  for  its  preservation.  The 
cult  of  the  Lares  and  Penates,  the  domestic 
fetishes  of  the  house,  seems  to  have  been 
common,  with  some  variety  of  usage,  tc 
Etruscans,  Sabines,  and  Latins. 

Tke  religion  of  the  Sabines  and  Latins 
was  simple  and  impulsive  ;  that  of  the  Etrus 
cans  philosophical  and  reflective.  The  one 
bowed  with  submission  to  the  gods,  the  other 
inquired  into  their  nature  and  explored  their 
will.  But  whatever  difference  we  may  trace 
between  them,  we  find  them  amalgamated 
together  in  the  cult  of  the  Roman  people, 
who  were  placed,  as  we  have  seen,  at  the 
point  where  these  ideas  might  first  come  in 
contact  and  coalesce.  We  shall  find  the 
threefold  origin  of  the  state  marked  no  less 
strongly  in  its  political  institutions.  From 
Etruria  came  the  division  into  tribes,  curies, 
and  centuries ;  the  array  of  battle,  the  orna 
ments  of  the  magistracy,  the  laticlave,  the 
proetexta,  the  apex,  the  curule  chairs,  the 
lictors,  the  triumphs,  and  public  games,  the 
whole  apparatus  of  the  calendar,  the  sacred 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


479 


character  of  property,  the  terminal  science, 
and,  in  short,  the  political  religion  of  the 
state.  From  Latium  the  names  of  praetor  and 
dictator,  the  institution  of  the  fecials;  the 
habits  of  husbandry  and  respect  for  the 
plough ;  and,  finally,  the  Latin  language  it 
self.  From  Sabellia  were  derived  the  names 
of  military  weapons,  and  of  the  spear  or  qui- 
ris,  which  gave  one  of  its  designations  to  the 
Roman  people.  The  Roman  title  of  Impera- 
tor  seems  to  be  a  popular  application  of  the 
Sabine  word  embmtur.  The  patriciate  and 
patronship  belonged  more  or  less  to  all  the 
nations  which  surrounded  Rome,  and  so  did 
the  habit  of  dwelling  in  cities,  and  the  insti 
tution  of  municipal  governments.  Such  was 
the  case  also  with  the  division  into  gentes, 
clans,  or  septs,  and  the  remarkable  extent  of 
authority  accorded  to  the  father  and  the 
husband.  This  mixed  formation  of  Roman 
society  is  mythically  represented  to  us  by  the 
legends  which  describe  the  first  and  third  of 
the  kings  as  Latins,  the  second  and  fourth 
as  Sabines,  the  fifth  and  two  following  as 
Etruscans.  But  there  is  probably  some  his 
toric  truth  in  the  claims  of  the  chief  families 
to  descent  from  one  or  the  other  people  re 
spectively. 

The  early  history  of  Rome,  as  written  for 
us  by  Livy  and  Dionysius,  has  no  claim  to 
be  considered  as  a  record  of  actual  facts,  and 
such  truths  as  it  really  may  contain  cannot 
be  sifted  with  any  certainty  from  the  mass 
of  fiction  with  which  it  is  embedded'  by  the 
science  of  the  historian  or  the  political  phi 
losopher.  We  can  only  regard  it  as  an  at 
tempt  to  account,  under  the  guise  of  history, 
for  existing  institutions  and  political  phe 
nomena  at  Rome,  at  a  period  when  the  con 
sciousness  of  the  people  was  aroused  to  seek 
the  origin  of  their  own  life  and  being.  The 
primitive  legends  of  the  flight  of  Saturn  to 
Latium,  the  advent  of  Hercules,  the  arrival 
of  Evander,  the  settlement  of  ./Eneas  at  Alba, 
are  attempts  to  explain  the  apparent  presence 
of  an  Hellenic  element  in  the  language  and 
usages  of  Italy.  The  story  of  the  birth  of 
Romulus  and  Remus  from  Mars  and  Rhea 


illustrates  the  warlike  spirit  and  victorious 
career  of  the  Rdman  nation  ;  the  suckling  of 
the  twins  by  the  wolf,  the  slaughter  of  the 
wicked  uncle,  the  collection  of  a  horde  ol 
outlaws,  the  opening  of  an  asylum  for  fngi 
tives  and  robbers,  the  quarrel  of  the  broth 
ers,  the  rape  of  the  Sabine  women — all  com 
bine  to  represent  the  fierce  and  aggressive 
spirit  of  the  race  of  conquerors  whose  hand 
was  to  be  against  every  man,  and  every  man's 
hand  against  them.  The  contest  of  the  Ro 
mans  and  Sabines  for  the  Tarpeian  citadel, 
and  the  final  pacification  and  alliance  be 
tween  them,  soon  followed  by  the  accession 
of  the  Sabine  Numa,  the  founder  of  law  and 
religion,  indicate  a  consciousness  of  the  early 
introduction  of  a  Sabine  element  into  the 
Roman  polity.  The  wars  of  Tullus  with 
Alba  shadow  forth  the  ancient  conquest  of 
territory  eastward  of  the  city,  and  the  first 
extension  of  the  Roman  domain  beyond  the 
walls  of  Rome.  The  establishment  of  a  Sa- 
biiie  colony  on  the  Quirinal,  a  Latin  on  the 
Aventine,  an  Etruscan  on  the  Cselian,  all 
finally  comprehended  in  a  single  inclosure, 
testify  the  rapid  growth  of  the  city  by  the 
fusion  of  the  three  rival  nations  at  their  point 
of  junction.  The  legends  of  the  death  of 
Remus  and  the  slaughter  of  Horatia  seem  to 
aim  at  explaining  the  origin  of  actual  relig 
ious  ceremonies,  and  if  we  knew  more  of  the 
domestic  antiquities  of  Rome,  we  might  trace 
perhaps  the  ideas  which  gave  birth  to  many 
other  stories,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  treach 
cry  of  Tarpeia.  The  murder  of  Romulus  by 
the  Senate  typifies  a  protest  of  the  commons 
against  the  violence  of  the  aristocracy,  while 
the  accompanying  legend  of  the  victim's  ex 
altation  into  the  heavens  justifies  the  hero- 
worship  of  the  state  and  of  the  Gentes.  Or. 
the  other  hand,  the  reign  of  Numa  is  evi 
dently  painted  by  the  faction  of  the  nobles- 
Numa  is  the  founder  of  the  rites  and  institu 
tions  of  Rome  ;  and  these  are  the  charter  of 
the  Roman  aristocracy.  The  death  of  Tul 
lus  Hostilius,  the  third  king,  is  another  in 
stance  of  this  class  of  legends :  he  is  struck 
with  lightning  for  abusing  the  legitimate 


480 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


worship  of  the  gods,  of  which  the  nobles  are 
the  guardians  and  expounders.  Ancus,  how 
ever,  his  successor,  is  the  king  after  the  peo 
ple's  heart ;  his  reign  is  contrasted  with  that 
of.Tullus,  as  that  of  Nuraa  with  his  prede 
cessors,  as  an  epoch  cf  peace  instead  of  war ; 
but  Ancus,  unlike  ISuima,  is  celebrated  for  the 
favor  he  extended  to  the  lower  unprivileged 
classes,  for  liis  courting  the  breeze  of  popu 
lar  applause,  and  publishing  the  mysteries 
of  the  aristocratic  religion ;  nevertheless  he 
is  the  founder  of  the  prison  under  the  Tar- 
peian  hill,  long  known  to  the  citizens  as  the 
terror  of  the  oppressed  and  degraded  as  well 
as  of  the  wrong-doer,  a  shief  instrument  in 
maintaining  the  hateful  ascendancy  of  the 
oligarchs. 

The  classes  opposed  to  one  another  through 
out  political  history  are  the  nobles  and  the 
commons.  The  aristocracy  and  the  people 
are  known  in  the  Roman  records  by  the  spe 
cial  name  of  patricians  and  plebeians.  The 
first  founders  of  the  commonwealth,  wrhether 
by  settlement  on  vacant  soil,  or  by  conquest 
of  a  more  primitive  population,  formed  the 
original  body  of  citizens,  with  equal  rights 
of  dealing,  of  marriage,  of  suffrage,  among 
themselves.  Such  were  the  patricians  of 
Rome.  The  subjects  of  this  dominant  race, 
whether  by  original  conquest,  or  by  later 
acquisition,  including  such  as  ranged  them- 
pelves,  of  their  own  free  will,  under  the  pow 
erful  protection  of  the  Roman  city,  became 
known  by  the  general  name  of  plebeians  (the 
plebs\  and  were  admitted  to  no  share  in  the 
government,  to  no  equal  rights,  social,  politi 
cal,  or  religious,  with  the  citizens.  They 
remained,  according  to  the  significant  expres 
sion  of  a  Roman  patrician,  "  without  au- 
Bpices,  without  families,  without  ancestors." 
They  were  distinguished,  however,  from  the 
slaves  of  the  Roman  household,  having  their 
personal  freedom,  property,  and  liberty  to 
exercise  handicraft  trades  for  their  own  ben 
efit.  They  were  subject  also  to  the  military 
conscription.  But  such  immunities  as  they 
enjoyed  were  secured  to  them,  not  by  law, 
but  by  the  protection  of  the  patricians,  to 


whom  they  stood  individually  in  the  relation 
of  clients  to  patrons.  Thus  every  plebeian 
was  originally  the  client  of  a  patrician ;  but 
as  the  plebeians  gradually  acquired  legiti 
mate  civic  rights  of  their  own,  the  status  of 
the  client  was  transferred  to  the  ever-growing 
class  of  subjects  who  were  not  citizens  at  all. 

The  political  institutions  ascribed  to  Rom 
ulus  must  l)e  regarded  as  affecting  the  patri 
cians  only.  This  Roman  people  was  formed, 
we  are  told,  into  three  tribes — the  Itamnes, 
the  Titles,  and  subsequently,  but  with  infe 
rior  rights,  the  Lucercs.  It  is  conjectured 
that  the  first  of  these  represents  the  original 
Latin  people  of  the  Palatine,  the  second  tho 
Sabines  of  the  Quirinal,  the  third  an  Etrus 
can  element  in  the  population,  which,  accord 
ing  to  tradition,  was  settled  on  the  CreliaL 
hill.  Each  tribe  was  subdivided  into  ten 
curice,  and  these  bodies  met  in  general-  as 
semblies,  or  comitia,  called  after  their  name 
curiata,  in  which  resided  the  sovereign  power 
of  the  state  deputed  by  it  to  a  king.  The 
Senate  was  a  body  chosen  from  the  curies 
as  a  council  of  state,  consisting  first  of  100 
members,  soon  afterwards  doubled  by  the  in 
corporation  of  the  Sabines ;  but  the  Luceres 
were  not  originally  admitted  to  a  share  in 
this  dignity.  Each  tribe  was  bound  to  fur 
nish  one  thousand  men  on  foot,  and  one  hun 
dred  to  serve  on  horseback ;  and  this  body 
formed  the  legion.  The  horsemen,  originally 
designated  Celeres,  became  in  course  of  time 
a  distinct  order  in  the  state,  under  the  well- 
known  title  of  Equites  or  Knights. 

As  Romulus,  the  founder  of  Rome,  was 
the  author  of  the  military  institutions  which 
upheld  the  fabric  of  the  state,  so  Kuma  the 
Sabine,  was  regarded  as  the  framer  of  its  re 
ligious  rites,  the  foundation  of  law  and  order. 

O  ' 

He  appointed  as  the  guardians  of  the  na 
tional  religion  four  pontiffs,  the  first  of  whom 
was  specially  designated  the  Pontifex  Maxi- 
mus ;  he  assigned  two  Flamens  to  the  special 
service  of  the  tutelary  gods  of  Rome,  Gradi- 
vus  and  Quirinus,  and  a  third  to  that  of  Ju 
piter.  He  instituted  the  College  of  AugurE 
and  of  the  Salii,  who  bore  on  their  heack  the 


HISTOBY    OF    THE    WOELD. 


481 


eacred  shields  of  Mara ;  and  established  the 
priesthood  of  the  sacred  Yirgin,  who  tended 
the  never-dying  flame  on  the  altar  of  Vesta, 
brought  from  the  shrine  of  the  goddess  at 
Alba,  the  mother  city  of  Rome.  ISTuma  is 
also  said  to  have  built  the1  temple  of  Janus, 
the  double  god,  whose  faces  looked  both  be 
fore  and  after,  and  to  have  closed  its  portals 
in  sign  of  peace.  He  appointed  also  a  long 
series  of  ceremonial  observances  connected 
with  the  seasons  of  the  Roman  year,  and  first 
completed  the  calendar  by  the  addition  to  it 
of  the  two  months  of  January  and  February. 
The  year  of  !N\ima  consisted  of  twelve  lunar 
months  and  one  day  over,  making  three 
hundred  and  fifty-five  days  in  all.  In  all 
these  institutions  he  sought  and  enjoyed  the 
counsel  of  the  Camoena,  or  goddess  Egeria,  a 
deity  of  the  Sabines,  and  the  grotto  at  which 
he  was  wont  nightly  to  meet  her,  near  the 
Parta  Capena,  continued  to  be  shown  at 
Rome  for  many  ages. 

The  first  four  reigns  represent  the  strug 
gles  of  Rome  with  the  Sabines  and  the 
Latins,  and  she  is  described  as  victorious 
throughout  a  succession  of  wars.  The  next 
period  bears  a  different  character.  Rome  is 
now  under  the  sway  of  an  Etruscan  dynasty, 
and  to  this  epoch  are  ascribed  certain  works, 
still  partly  existing,  which  attest  more  surely 
than  record  or  tradition  the  fact  of  an 
Etruscan  domination  on  the  spot.  The 
chiefs  under  whom  the  low  grounds  of  the 
city  were  drained  by  the  vast  Cloaca,  and 
the  national  temple  erected  on  the  scarped 
brow  of  the  Tarpeian  rock,  and  under  whom 
the  Seven  Hills,  crowned  with  separate  forti 
fications,  were  united  within  one  continuous 
inclosure,  were  assuredly  Etruscans ;  and  they 
must  have  exercised  their  authority  with 
the  strong  hand  cf  conquerors  and  despots. 

The  legends,  however,  say  nothing  of  an 
Etruscan  conquest  of  Rome.  Tarquinius 
Priscus,  or  the  Elder,  is  represented  as  the 
son  of  a  Grecian  refugee  who  removed  from 
Tarquinii  in  Etruria  to  Rome,  by  the  ad 
vice  of  his  wife,  the  prophetess  Tanaquil. 
Appointed  tutor  to  the  sons  of  Ancus,  he 
61 


succeeds,  on  the  king's  death,  in  supplant 
ing  them  on  the  throne.  Rome  receives 
from  him  her  first  architectural  embellish 
ments  ;  he  establishes  the  circus  for  national 
games,  constructs  the  Cloaca,  and  com 
mences  the  Capitol.  The  expense  of  these 
great  works  is  supposed  to  be  defrayed,  not 
by  the  forced  labor  of  a  nation  of  serfs,  but 
by  plunder  seized  from  the  Latins  and  Sa 
bines.  Tarquin  celebrates  the  first  Roman 
triumph  after  the  Etruscan  fashion,  in  a  robe 
of  gold  and  purple,  and  his  chariot  is  drawn 
by  four  white  horses.  Many  of  the  ensigns 
both  of  war  and  of  civil  office  are  assigned 
to  this  epoch.  And  now  we  meet  with  the 
admission  of  one  hundred  plebeians  into  the 
Senate,  and  the  formation  of  three  new  cen 
turies  of  knights.  The  opposition  of  the 
patricians  to  this  democratic  innovation  is 
signalized  in  the  legend  of  Attus  Navius, 
the  augur,  who  resists  the  policy  of  the  sov 
ereign,  and  confirms  his  resistance  with  the 
sanction  of  a  miracle.  A  statue  of  Attus, 
standing  for  many  centuries  in  the  Forum, 
attested  the  stroke  of  the  augur's  razor, 
which  cut  the  stone  at  Tarquin's  bidding. 

These  attempts  at  relaxing  the  stern  ex- 
clusiveness  of  the  Roman  polity  were  con 
tinued,  it  is  said,  and  effected  more  triumph 
antly  by  the  next  king.  Servius  Tullius, 
described  in  one  account  as  originally  a 
slave,  is  said  to  have  married  a  daughter  of 
Tarquin,  and  to  have  gained  the  throne  by 
the  contrivance  of  Tanaquil.  Another,  and 
probably  the  Etruscan  legend,  represented 
him  as  a  soldier  of  fortune  from  Etruria, 
who  attached  himself  to  Cseles  Yibenna,  the 
founder  of  an  Etruscan  city  on  the  Caslian 
hill.  His  original  name,  Mastarna,  was 
changed  to  that  of  Servius,  by  which  alone 
he  became  known  in  the  native  history  of 
Rome.  Servius  connected  the  Yiminal,  the 
Quirinal  and  the  Esquiline,  the  three  Sabine 
hills,  with  the  Palatine,  the  Tarpeian,  now 
ailed  Capitoline,  the  Aventine,  and  the 
Cselian,  thus  completing  the  fated  number 
of  seven.  The  agger,  or  mound,  with  which 
he  defended  this  city  to  the  north,  may  be 


482 


HISTOBY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


traced  to  this  day  ;  and  some  vestiges  have 
been  discovered  of  the  massive  stone  walls 
which  encompassed  it  in  other  quarters. 
He  divided  the  city  thus  completed  into 
four  regions,  the  Palatine,  Suburran,  Colline 
and  Esquiline. 

The  chief  external  event  of  this  reign, 
according  to  our  records,  was  the  formation 
of  an  alliance  with  the  thirty  cities  of  Lat- 
ium,  confirmed  by  the  erection  of  a  com 
mon  temple  to  Diana  on  the  Aventinc. 
The  lands  which  Serving  won  from  the 
Veians  and  Etruscans  he  divided  among  the 
plebeians,  thereby  incurring  the  hostility  of 
the  patricians  towards  a  foreign  dynasty, 
and  especially  to  the  slave-born  sovereign 
himself,  the  patron  of  the  upstart  common 
alty.  For  the  policy  of  Serving  was  directed 
to  raising  the  subjects  of  the  state  to  a  po 
litical  equality  with  their  rulers,  and  carry 
ing  out  the  liberal  views  already  indicated 
by  his  predecessor.  His  plan,  however,  was 
not,  we  are  told,  to  raise  the  plebeian  fam 
ilies  to  patrician  rank,  and  introduce  them 
into  the  special  assembly  of  the  curies,  but 
to  create  a  new  general  assembly,  under  the 
name  of  the  centuries^  which  should  com 
prehend  both  classes  alike.  The  Servian 
constitution,  such  as  later  ages  loved  to  pic 
ture  it,  though  confessing  that  it  never  really 
came  into  practical  operation,  was  the  en 
rolment  of  the  whole  body  of  the  citizens, 
patrician  and  plebeian,  in  one  great  military 
array,  according  to  their  census  or  means, 
and  the  arms  which  they  could  bring  into 
the  field.  Thus  enrolled  and  accoutred,  they 
were  to  assemble  in  the  Field  of  Mars,  out 
side  the  city,  and  decide  on  all  the  gravest 
affairs  of  state,  of  peace  and  war,  of 
laws  and  ceremonies,  with  the  full  powers 
hitherto  enjoyed  by  the  curies  alone.  But 
though  this  division  into  classes  existed  only 
on  paper  in  the  histories  of  a  later  age,  the 
division  of  the  people  into  its  tribes,  from 
twenty  to  thirty  in  number,  was  an  actual 
fact,  whether  rightly  ascribed  to  Servius  or 
not.  The  tribes  of  Romulus  were  only 
three,  sc^.d  were  confined  to  the  patricians; 


those  of  Servius  embraced  the  great  body 
of  the  plebeians.  The  former  referred  only 
to  birth  ;  the  latter  defined  the  habitation  of 
the  members  belonging  to  them.  Of  the 
Servian  tribes,  four  only  were  in  the  city, 
the  rest  were  assigned  to  country  localities 
in  the  domain  of  the  state.  The  names  of 
most  of  these  tribes,  which  continued  to  ex 
ist  with  various  additions  to  a  very  late 
period,  have  been  mostly  preserved  to  us ; 
but  though  they  formed  the  basis  of  another 
assembly  of  the  people  which  pluyed  a  great 
part  in  the  subsequent  history  of  Rome,  so 
little  interest  or  importance  ataches  to  them 
that  even  their  number  at  this  and  at  latei 
periods  is  involved  in  the  greatest '  uncer 
tainty.  The  legend  of  Servius  brings  him 
to  the  wonted  end  of  a  democratic  reformer. 
Assailed  by  his  own  children,  the  favor  of 
the  multitude  is  unable  either  to  defend  or 
to  avenge  him.  The  people  can  do  nc  more 
than  consecrate  his  memory  in  undying  tra 
dition,  and  mark  the  day  of  his  assassina 
tion  by  a  religious  ceremony  repeated  every 
month.  The  street  in  which  the  abomin 
able  Tullia  drove  her  car  over  her  father's 
body,  continued  ever  after  to  bear  the  name 
of  "  The  Accursed." 

The  reign  of  the  second  Tarquin,  or  the 
Proud,  is  an  attempt  to  usurp  the  power 
both  of  the  nobles  and  the  commons,  and 
establish  a  pure  despotism  on  the  ruins  of 
the  democratic  monarchy.  Wars  are  waged 
with  the  Latins  and  Etruscans,  but  the  lower 
classes  are  deprived  of  their  arms,  and  em 
ployed  in  the  servile  occupation  of  erecting 
monuments  of  regal  magnificence,  while  the 
tyrant  recruits  his  armies  from  his  own  re 
tainers  and  the  forces  of  foreign  allies.  The 
completion  of  the  fortress-temple  on  the  Ca- 
pitoline  confirms  his  authority  over  the  city 
of  Rome,  and  a  connection  by  marriage 
with  the  dictator  of  the  Tusculans,  secures 
him  powerful  assistance  in  the  field.  Il« 
reigns  with  bloodshed  and  violence,  oppress 
ing  the  poor  by  his  exactions,  and  crushing 
the  rich  by  slaughter  and  proscriptions.  The 
outrage  of  his  son  Sextns  on  the  chaste  Lu 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


483 


cretia  at  last  precipitates  a  revolt ;  and  L. 
Junius  Brutus,  supported  by  the  injured 
husband  and  father,  proclaims  the  fall  of 
the  foreign  dynast}7,  and  the  establishment 
of  a  republic.  The  name  of  Brutus  was 
given  in  the  Latin  language  to  an  idiot ;  and 
hence  arose  a  legend  that  the  hero  of  the 
Regifuge,  or  flight  of  the  kings,  had  simu 
lated  madness  to  deceive  the  Tarquins,  in 
whose  house  he  had  been  bred.  Another 
conjecture  has  been  hazarded  by  modern 
critics,  that  the  term  means  a  slave,  especi 
ally  a  revolted  or  fugitive  slave,  and  indi 
cates  in  this  story  the  insurrection  of  the 
commons,  oppressed  and  degraded  slaves  of 
the  monarchy,  against  the  tyranny  of  their 
foreign  masters. 

But  the  legend  of  the  Tarquins  does  not 
terminate  with  their  fall  from  power.  Ban 
ished  from  the  city,  they  take  refuge  with 
their  allies  at  Tarquinii  and  Yeii,  and  in 
trigue  for  the  recovery  of  their  throne. 
While  the  citizens  were  organizing  their 
commonwealth,  appointing  Brutus  and  Col- 
latinus  their  first  consuls  (prcetors  they  were 
originally  called),  with  powers  hardly  less 
than  regal,  but  limited  to  a  single  year,  the 
emissaries  of  Tarquin  engage  the  sons  of 
Brutus  in  a  plot  to  restore  him,  the  execu 
tion  of  whom,  when  discovered,  by  their 
own  father's  decree,  was  recorded  as  a  strik 
ing  instance  of  the  sternness  of  the  ancient 
patriotism.  A  second  attempt  with  an  army 
of  Yeians  and  Tarquinians  was  not  more 
successful,  though  Brutus  himself  fell  in  the 
combat  which  gave  victory  to  the  Romans. 
Tarquin  made  a  third  effort,  with  the  aid  of 
Porsenna,  chief  of  the  whole  Etruscan  con 
federacy,  and  this  powerful  ally  penetrated 
to  the  Tiber,  and  would  have  followed  the 
flying  Romans  into  the  city,  but  for  the 
courage  with  which  Codes  defended  the 
bridge,  till  it  could  be  broken  dowii  behind 
him.  This  ancient  peril  of  Rome  was  illus 
trated  by  the  popular  traditions  of  Mucius 
and  Cloelia ;  but  though  it  continued  to  be 
confidently  believed  that  the  invader  was 
compelled  to  retreat  discomfited,  later  in 


quirers  professed  to  have  discovered  docu 
ments  proving  that  the  city  had  in  fact  capi 
tulated  to  him,  that  the  Romans  had  been 
subjected  to  Etruscan  authority,  and  forbid 
den,  like  the  Israelites  under  the  sway  of 
the  Philistines,  the  use  of  iron  even  in  their 
domestic  implements. 

To  continue  the  popular  story,  however  : 
we  next  read  of  Tarquin  betaking  himself 
to  his  allies  at  Tusculum,  of  a  great  Latin 
confederation  for  his  restoration,  and  of  the 
battle  at  Lake  Regillus,  in  which  the  exiles 
were  finally  defeated  by  the  assistance  of 
Castor  and  Pollux,  who  fought  on  the  side 
of  the  Romans,  conspicuous  on  white  horses. 
The  Latins  make  peace  with  Rome,  aban 
doning  Tarquin  to  his  fate ;  and  the  old 
king  dies  eventually,  fourteen  years  after 
his  expulsion,  at  the  court  of  the  Grecian 
tyrant  of  Cumte. 

The  first  circumstance  which  strikes  us  in 
the  received  account  of  the  beginnings  of 
the  republic  is,  that  the  victory  gained  by 
the  people  over  their  tyrants  turns  to  the 
advantage  of  the  aristocracy  only.  "We 
hear  no  more  of  the  popular  constitution  of 
Servius.  The  patricians  are  masters  of  the 
Senate  and  of  the  curies ;  while  by  their 
wealth  and  the  number  of  their  clients,  they 
retain  the  chief  influence  in  the  centuries, 
and  as  expounders  of  the  state  religion,  hold 
in  their  hands  the  most  potent  instrument 
of  political  warfare.  The  struggle,  however, 
which  soon  ensues  between  the  patricians 
and  plebeians  is  no  longer  represented  as 
arraying  two  races  or  castes  against  one  an 
other  ;  Rome  has  entered  upon  a  second 
phase  of  political  existence ;  the  rich  pro 
prietors  are  struggling  to  maintain  their  as 
cendancy  over  the  poorer  classes.  The  pa 
trician  generally  represents  the  man  of 
family  and  civic  honors,  residing  in  the 
city,  but  owner  of  domains  in  the  territory 
of  the  state  ;  the  plebeians,  the  small  far 
mers  and  petty  tradesmen,  and  those  who 
made  their  living  by  their  own  thrift  and 
industry.  The  patrician  had  also  secured 
to  his  own  exclusive  use  the  publb  lands. 


484 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  ownership  of  which  the  state  reserved  to 
itself.  At  this  time,  indeed,  if  we  may 
follow  the  traces  of  the  accredited  history, 
these  conquered  domains  had  shrunk  to  very 
small  dimensions,  for  the  limits  of  the  Ro 
man  state,  as  well  as  its  external  relations 
and  influence,  appear  after  the  Regifuge  in 
very  circumscribed  proportions. 

But  the  struggle  between  these  classes  is  dat 
ed  back  to  the  very  first  year  of  the  common 
wealth.  One  of  the  two  consuls  is  repre 
sented  as  a  plebeian.  Valerius  Poplicola, 
the  first  champion  of  the  popular  order,  is 
supposed  to  have  acquired  his  name  by  the 
zeal  with  which  he  maintained  its  claims. 
In  the  same  spirit  of  mythical  history,  Po 
plicola  is  said  to  have  opened  to  the  plebe 
ians  the  competition  for  the  consulship,  and 
proclaimed  the  penalty  of  death  against  any 
aspirant  to  the  tyranny.  Poplicola  requires 
the  consuls  to  lower  their  fasces,  the  rods 
and  axes  borne  before  them  by  the  lictors, 
in  the  assembly  of  the  people.  Within  the 
city,  indeed,  the  axe  is  to  be  removed  alto 
gether,  to  show  that  the  regal  power  of  life 
and  death  over  the  citizens  is  withdrawn  at 
home,  and  only  exercised  in  the  camp  abroad. 
But  these  restrictions  on  the  outward  show 
of  power  have  no  effect  in  controlling  the 
substantial  preponderance  of  the  patricians, 
who  for  many  years  together  held  exclusive 
>ecupation  of  the  consulship,  who,  whenever 
their  prerogatives  are  threatened  by  popular 
impatience,  create  a  dictator  with  absolute 
authority  for  its  repression,  and  who  forbid 
any  amalgamation  of  the  two  orders  by  in 
termarriage. 

It  is  in  the  nature  of  things  that  men 
should  long  bear  with  social  inequalities  and 
political  disabilities,  and  the  history  of  the 
republic  corresponds  with  ordinary  experi 
ence  when  it  relates  that  the  first  struggle 
of  the  two  orders  was  caused,  not  by  a  sense 
of  abstract  inferiority  on  the  part  of  the 
plebeians,  but  by  the  pressure  of  poverty, 
and  a  tyrannical  law  of  creditor  and  debtor. 
The  decline  of  the  power  of  the  republic 
would  imply  a  very  general  impoverishment 


of  the  citizens,  and  the  wealthiest  would  be 
likely  to  turn  the  hardness  of  the  times 
to  their  own  advantage.  The  poor  would 
need  ready  money  to  supply  themselves 
with  arms,  as  well  as  to  till  their  land  and 
pay  their  taxes ;  the  rich  would  lend  to 
them  at  exorbitant  rates  of  interest,  and  on 
their  failing  to  repay,  would  indemnify 
themselves  by  seizing  the  debtor's  person 
and  reducing  him,  or  his  children  in  lieu  of 
him,  to  slavery.  We  are  assured,  indeed, 
that  the  Roman  law  allowed  the  creditor  to 
kill  his  insolvent  debtor,  or  if  there  were 
several  creditors,  to  cut  his  body  in  as  many 
pieces.  Harassed  by  cruel  exactions  and 
still  more  cruel  punishments,  the  plebeians 
at  last  refused  to  enlist  in  the  annual  cam 
paign  against  the  Latins.  They  had  discov 
ered  the  weak  point  in  the  patrician  armor. 
It  was  necessary  to  suspend  the  severity  of 
the  law  for  the  moment,  with  a  promise  to 
alter  it  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war.  But 
the  popular  consul  Servilius,  who  made  this 
concession,  wras  denied  the  triumph  he  had 
earned  by  the  hands  of  the  plebeians,  and 
the  patricians  relapsed  again  into  their  old 
tyranny. 

Not  once  or  twice  only  are  the  plebeians 
and  their  generous  champions  among  the 
nobles  thus  cajoled  and  disappointed.  At 
last  the  plebeians,  choosing  themselves  gene 
rals,  one  of  them  a  Brutus,  and  renouncing 
the  authority  of  the  consuls,  march  forth 
under  arms  to  the  hill  on  the  junction  of  the 
Tiber  and  Anio,  two  miles  from  Rome. 
Here  they  resolve  to  settle  and  form  a  new 
city.  The  patricians  deliberate,  and  under 
the  hot  counsels  of  their  haughtiest  advisers, 
are  almost  prepared  to  accept  this  defiance, 
and  allow  Rome  to  be  split  asunder.  But 
this  peril  was  averted  by  the  prudence  of 
more  moderate  leaders ;  and  the  sedition  was 
appeased,  according  to  the  legend,  by  the 
skillful  eloquence  of  Menenius  Agrippa,  who 
related  his  apologue  of  the  belly  and  the 
members.  The  seceders  required  a  substan 
tial  guarantee  for  their  future  security  ;  and 
this,  we  may  believe,  was  the  origin  of  an  in- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


485 


etitution  destined  to  become  one  of  the  chief 
elements  in  the  Roman  polity,  the  Tribunate 
of  the  Plebs.  The  citizens  were  authorized 
to  nominate  two  tribunes  annually,  who 
should  have  a  veto  on  the  decrees  of  the 
Senate,  and  protect  the  personal  liberty  of 
the  commons.  Their  own  persons  were  to 
be  inviolable;  and  that  they  might  be  al 
ways  at  hand  to  defend  their  constituents, 
they  must  never  leave  the  city  for  a  day ; 
their  houses  were  to  be  open  day  and  night 
to  receive  every  application  for  assistance. 
It  is  remarkable  that  the  election  was  given 
in  the  first  instance  to  the  centuries,  among 
which  the  patricians  continued,  through  their 
clients,  to  enjoy  a  large  measure  of  authority. 
The  number  of  the  tribunes  was  afterwards 
increased  to  ten,  and  as  any  one  of  them 
could  interfere  to  prevent  the  action  of  all 
the  others,  it  became  the  easier  for  the  Senate 
to  divide  and  paralyse  its  opponents.  But 
the  election  had  previously  been  transferred 
to  the  assembly  of  the  tribes,  which  were 
more  independent  than  the  centuries  of  pa 
trician  influence. 

We  may  remark  in  the  institution  of  the 
tribunate  the  fatal  vice  of  the  Roman  polity, 
which  sought  to  create  a  permanent  balance 
of  powers  by  arraying  the  different  orders  of 
the  commonwealth  in  precisely  equal  force 
against  each  other,  instead  of  combining 
them  together,  with  joint  interests  and  privi 
leges.  If,  instead  of  playing  oif  the  tribunes 
against  the  consuls,  it  had  secured  an  equal 
share  in  the  consulships  and  the  Senate  to 
both  patricians  and  plebeians,  it  might  have 
effected  a  harmonious  co-operation  between 
parties  which  were  henceforth  ranged  in 
constant  strife  and  jealousy  one  against  the 
other.  As  it  was,  the  struggle  between  the 
two  parties  continues,  according  to  our  ac 
counts,  to  rage  more  violently  than  ever. 
The  first  victory  is  on  the  side  of  the  plebe 
ians.  C.  Marcius,  a  brave  patrician,  who 
has  acquired  the  surname  of  Coriolanus, 
from  the  capture  of  the  Volscian  town  Cor- 
ioli,  falls  a  victim  to  the  jealousy  of  the  peo 
ple.  His  haughty  bearing  had  given  offence 


to  the  multitude ;  they  find  means  of  urging 
unjust  or  invidious  charges  against  him ; 
they  require  him  to  defend  himself  before 
the  assembly  of  the  tribes,  in  which  the 
power  of  the  plebs  predominates,  and  drive 
him  into  exile.  He  returns  at  the  head  of 
the  Yolscian  armies  which  he  has  so  lately 
defeated,  routs  the  Roman  legions,  and  pre 
pares  to  lay  siege  to  his  native  city.  Her 
alds,  magistrates,  priests  are  sent  out  succes 
sively  to  sue  for  peace  ;  but  he  remains  inex 
orable,  requiring  humiliating  terms  of  con 
cession  to  his  new  allies.  At  last  his  wife 
and  mother  present  themselves,  with  the 
Roman  "matrons,  in  his  camp ;  to  them  IIG 
yields,  and  withdraws  his  troops  from  the 
attack,  assuring  them,  at  the  same  time, 
that  in  sparing  the  city  he  has  forfeited  hia 
own  life.  The  legend  closes  appropriately, 
in  one  account,  with  the  statement  that  his 
foreign  friends  turn  in  anger  upon  and  slay 
him  ;  another  story  represents  him,  less  poet 
ically,  as  surviving  still  in  exile  to  an  old  age. 
It  is  needless  to  point  out  the  marks  of 
poetical  invention  in  this  famous  narrative. 
As  a  tradition  of  the  power  and  the  deadly 
jealousy  of  the  commons,  it  was  to  be  paral 
leled  by  a  rival  story  from  the  opposite  quar 
ter.  Spurius  Cassms,  a  patrician,  and  three 
times  consul,  resolved  to  become  the  bene 
factor  of  the  plebeians.  He  proposed  an 
agrarian  law — that  is,  a  division  of  the  pub 
lic  domains  among  the  poorer  citizens,  or  at 
least  a  common  right  with  the  patricians,  who 
now  usurped  the  occupation  of  it,  a  constant 
source  of  dispute  from  this  time  forth,  as 
will  be  hereafter  explained,  between  the  two 
classes.  The  authority  of  the  proposer  was 
sufficient  to  carry  this  law ;  but  the  patricians 
contrived  to  thwart  its  operation,  while  they 
watched  an  opportunity  of  avenging  them 
selves  upon  him.  He  was  accused,  as  soon 
as  his  consulship  expired,  of  granting  too 
favorable  terms  to  the  national  enemies,  and 
of  seeking  to  make  himself  tyrant  of  his  na 
tive  city.  He  was  tried,  found  guilty,  and 
condemned  to  the  traitor's  death  by  scourg 
ing  and  beheading. 


486 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


The  wars  of  Cori claims  and  Spurius  Cassius 
against  the  Yolscians  and  Ilernicans,  two 
Sabine  tribes  who  lay  to  the  eastward  of  the 
Latins,  indicate  an  extension  of  the  area  of 
military  operations.  Partly  through  their 
"league  with  the  Latins,  partly  also  from  the 
increase  of  strength  gained  to  the  republic 
by  concession  to  the  plebeians,  the  Romans 
are  advancing  again  in  the  career  of  con 
quest.  The  campaigns  of  the  following 
years  are  directed  against  the  Yolscians,  the 
./Equians,  and  the  Yeientes;  but  the  pro 
gress  of  victory  is  still  checked  from  time  to 
time  by  the  refusal  of  the  plebeians  to  serve 
until  an  agrarian  law  is  not  only  carried  but 
executed.  The  contest  of  the  classes  is  not 
now  for  the  relief  from  debts,  or  for  an  equal 
ization  of  political  rights,  but  for  admission 
to  a  common  right  of  property  in  the  public 
land.  If  we  could  accept  an  hypothesis  of 
Kicbuhr,  the  transplantation  of  the  Fabii,  a 
numerous  and  old  patrician  house,  to  Cre- 
mera,  where  they  were  all  slain  by  the 
Yeientes,  might  be  added  to  the  incidents  of 
the  agrarian  feud ;  for  that  historian  supposes 
them  to  have  migrated  from  mortification  at 
failing,  notwithstanding  their  high  character, 
and  their  seven  successive  consulships,  to 
bring  about  the  passing  of  a  modified  law  of 
property.  But  our  authorities  at  least  know 
nothing  of  any  such  tradition  ;  and  the  whole 
affair  is  far  too  uncertain,  as  a  matter  of  his 
tory,  to  bear  the  weight  of  any  conjecture  of 
the  kind. 

But  soon  after  the  reported  date  of  this 
event  follows  another  attempt  at  effecting  an 
agrarian  settlement  by  a  tribune  named 
Genucius,  accompanied  by  an  impeachment 
of  the  consuls  for  frustrating  the  operation  of 
the  law.  Against  this  attack  another  method 
of  defence  is  adopted.  Genucius  is  suddenly 
found  dead  in  his  bed  ;  and  from  this  account 
we  infer  the  popular  belief  that  he  was  mur 
dered  privily  by  the  opposite  party.  After 
some  further  manojuvres,  a  compromise  is  at 
last  effected,  by  the  settlement  of  a  plebeian 
colony  on  the  conquered  lands  of  Antium. 

Such,  then,  being  the  close  of  this  series 


of  agrarian  discussions,  the  old  questions 
suddenly  fall  into  abeyance,  and  are  super 
seded  by  a  third.  The  tribune  Terentillus 
Arsa  demands  a  code  of  written  laws.  Wo 
are  told  that  during  the  monarchy  the  kings 
were  the  supreme  dispensers  of  justice,  and 
acted  therein  at  their  own  caprice  or  discre 
tion  ;  that  the  consuls  succeeded  to  this  along 
with  the  other  kingly  prerogatives  ;  and  that 
accordingly  up  to  this  time  there  was  not 
only  no  written  code  of  law  and  procedure, 
but  that  no  gradual  accumulation  of  pre 
cedents  had  settled  into  a  definite  system  of 
acknowledged  usage.  The  Romans  had  to 
begin  their  law-making  from  the  beginning, 
and  with  this  view  the  demand  of  the  plebe 
ians  soon  shaped  itself  into  a  proposition  for 
sending  commissioners  to  Athens  to  bring 
home  the  laws  of  that  state,  and  make  them 
the  basis  of  the  new  code  of  the  republic. 
The  demand,  indeed,  of  Terentillus  was  re 
sisted  and  evaded,  and  it  wras  not  till  the 
year  300  that  such  commissioners,  three  in 
number,  were  actually  despxatched  to  Greece. 
In  the  meantime,  we  may  notice  one  excep 
tion  to  the  remark  just  made  in  the  agrarian 
law  of  the  tribune  Icilius  (A.U.  298)  for  as 
signing  lands  on  the  Aventine  to  the  plebeians. 
This  interval  contains  also  some  other  events 
of  interest :  the  surprise  of  the  Capitol  by 
Ilerdonius  the  Sabine,  with  a  troop  of  slaver, 
and  Roman  exiles,  implying  the  continuance 
of  mutual  violence  between  parties  of  the 
state,  and  the  repeated  banishment  of  their 
leaders ;  again,  the  campaigns  of  the  repub 
lic  against  the  ^Equians  and  Yolscians,  in 
the  course  of  which  the  brave  and  frugal 
Cincinnatus  was  taken  from  the  plough  and 
made  dictator,  according  to  a  romantic 
legend,  to  lead  the  forces  of  the  state  against 
the  foreign  enemy. 

On  the  return  of  the  commissioners  in  the 
year  303,  so  runs  the  story,  it  was  resolved 
to  appoint  a  board  of  ten,  called  decemvirs, 
to  arrange  the  Roman  laws.  The  patricians 
insisted  that  all  these  officers  should  be  cho 
sen  from  their  own  order,  and  having  gained 
this  point,  required  both  the  consuls  and 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


487 


tribunes  to  abdicate  their  functions,  and 
leave  them  free  scope  for  concerting  and  en 
acting  their  measures.  The  decemvirs  ac 
cordingly  were  not  legislators  only,  but  the 
rulers  of  the  state ;  and  they  were  too  well 
satisfied  with  the  prerogatives  they  wielded 
under  their  extraordinary  commission  to 
acquiesce  in  the  prospect  of  resigning  them. 
They  procured  the  prolongation  of  their 
office  for  a  second  and  again  for  a  third  year ; 
and  it  was  not  till  the  year  305  that,  in  pur 
suance  of  a  course  of  arbitrary  violence  and 
license,  Appius  Claudius,  the  most  tyrannical 
and  selfish  of  the  number,  provoked  the  peo 
ple  to  rise  in  indignation  and  abrogate  it  by 
an  abrupt  revolution.  The  story  of  the  lust 
and  cruelty  of  Appius,  the  peril,  under,  a 
colorable  procedure  of  law,  of  the  fair  Vir 
ginia's  honor,  which  her  father  could  only 
preserve  to  her  by  stabbing  her  to  the  heart 
in  his  despair,  is  one  of  the  most  striking  of 
the  poetical  legends  of  Rome,  the  more  de 
serving  of  attention  as  it  is  accompanied  by 
none  of  the  supernatural  incidents  which 
usually  throw  suspicion  on  its  stories  of  valor, 
patriotism,  and  self-devotion.  Nevertheless 
the  incident  is  related  with  a  circumstantial 
minuteness  which  alone  seems  to  warrant  us 
in  rejecting  it  as  a  true  narrative ;  and  in 
deed  the  discrepancies  and  improbabilities 
which  surround  the  whole  account  of  the  de- 
cemvirate  render  its  history  extremely  ques 
tionable  both  in  substance  and  details. 

The  fall  of  these  tyrants  was  followed,  we 
are  assured,  by  a  strong  popular  re-action ;  so 
much  so,  that  the  new  consuls,  bearing,  it 
may  be  observed,  the  mythical  names  of  Va 
lerius  and  Iloratius,  are  enabled  to  restore 
the  tribunate,  increased  in  number  to  ten; 
to  rehabilitate  the  comitia  of  the  tribes,  de 
graded  by  the  laws  of  the  decemvirs ;  to  se 
cure  for  the  decrees  of  this  assembly  a  force 
binding  on  all  the  orders  of  the  state ;  and 
yet  the  prohibition  of  intermarriage,  the  most 
galling  mark  of  class  inferiority,  is  not  only 
Buffered  to  remain,  but  is  even  published  by 
them  as  the  last  legacy  of  the  tyrants,  and 
remains  as  a  brand  upon  the  face  of  the  ple 


beian  order  for  many  years  to  come.  "  The 
decemviral  legislation,"  says  a  bold  but  can 
did  inquirer  of  more  recent  date,  "  was,  as 
we  have  seen,  a  measure  which  originated 
with  the  plebeians  ;  but  it  was  turned  to  their 
oppression,  and  was  overthrown  by  their  re 
sistance.  It  was  intended  to  remove  the  in 
equalities  between  the  two  orders,  but  it 
seems  to  have  added  to  them.  The  decem 
viral  government  having  sprung  out  of  the 
demands  of  the  plebs,  is  put  down  by  a 
plebeian  secession ;  an  extreme  measure,  and 
only  one  degree  short  of  insurrection  or  civil 
war.  When  the  plebs  return,  they  appear 
to  be  able  to  dictate  their  own  terms;  the 
consuls  chosen  are  devoted  to  their  interest, 
and  introduce  important  legislative  measures 
of  a  popular  character.  The  only  real  equal 
ization  of  rights  effected  at  this  'irne  is  that 
which  follows  the  decemviral  legislation ;  the 
twelve  tables  themselves  did  nothing  for  ef 
facing  the  privileges  of  the  patricians  and 

the  disabilities   of  the  plebeians Tho 

description  of  the  outburst  of  plebeian  pow 
er,  of  the  fears  of  the  patricians  lest  they 
should  be  made  the  subjects  of  vindictive  im 
peachment,  .  .  .  renders  it  quite  unintelligi 
ble  why  the  laws  of  the  two  tables  prohibiting 
marriages  between  patricians  and  plebeians 
should  have  been  passed  after  the  fall  of  the 
decemvirs,  or  if  it  had  been  enacted  by  the 
decenrvisr,  why  it  should  not  at  this  moment 
have  been  repealed." 

We  shall  content  ourselves  with  passing  as 
lightly  over  the  political  as  the  military  his 
tory  of  the  years  next  ensuing.  On  the  one 
hand  we  may  observe,  the  patricians  are  re 
presented  as  strengthening  themselves  by  the 
establishment  of  the  office  of  censors,  two 
magistrates  appointed  at  intervals  of  five 
years  to  hold  a  census  of  property  and  popu 
lation,  to  revise  the  roll  of  the  knigh-ts  and 
senators,  and  determine  the  civil  status  of 
every  member  of  the  commonwealth.  These 
arbiters  of  rank  and  privilege  were  to  be  pa 
tricians  only.  On  the  other  hand,  we  read 
that  the  tribune  Canuleius  obtained  a  law  for 
!  removing  the  disabilities  which  attached  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


marriage  between  the  two  classes.  At  this 
period  commenced  the  practice  which  contin 
ued  for  a  series  of  years,  of  appointing  mili 
tary  tribunes,  six  in  number,  in  the  place 
of  the  two  consuls.  According  to  some  ac 
counts,  this  was  a  contrivance  for  evading 
the  necessity  of  opening  the  consulship  to 
plebeians ;  other  authorities  alleged  that  it 
was  demanded  by  the  multiplication  of  wars 
in  -which  the  commonwealth  was  now  con 
stantly  engaged.  In  the  year  315  (B.C.  439) 
Cincinnatus  wras  created  dictator  a  second 
time  to  quell  a  fresh  sedition  of  the  commons ; 
and  his  master  of  the  horse,  or  second  in 
command,  Servilius  Ahala,  performed  the 
notable  exploit  of  cutting  down  the  dema 
gogue  Spurius  Mrelius,  accused  of  aspiring 
to  the  tyranny.  Thirty  years  later,  the  ple 
beians  are  said  to  have  forced  themselves  into 
the  qusestorship,  the  first  of  the  curule  mag 
istracies,  the  lowest  step  in  the  career  of  hon 
ors,  through  which  the  candidate  for  the 
consul's  chair  was  ordinarily  required  to  pass. 
Humble  as  this  privilege  was,  it  is  said  to 
have  been  regarded  by  them  as  a  great  prize, 
inasmuch  as  it  opened  the  way  to  the  long- 
coveted  eminence — the  command  of  armies, 
and  the  glories  of  triumph.  Meanwhile  the 
wars  of  Rome  were  waged,  for  the  most 
part,  as  before,  with  the  Yolscians,  the  ^Equi- 
ans,  and  the  Veientes,  with  a  general  success 
only  occasionally  chequered  by  defeat,  but 
brought  no  apparent  extension  of  her  fron 
tiers.  The  final  conquest  of  Yeii  in  the  year 
358,  after  a  ten  years'  siege,  by  the  great 
Camillus,  attended  by  many  circumstances 
which  bespeak  a  legendary  origin,  was  speed 
ily  followed  by  the  first  authentic  event  in 
Roman  history,  the  capture  and  burning  of 
the  city  by  the  Gauls. 

"While  the  victorious  Romans  were  pressing 
upon  the  declining  power  of  the  Etruscans 
in  the  south,  the  advance  of  the  Gauls  of  the 
great  Cisalpine  pUin  had  harassed  them  in 
the  opposite  quarter.  Two  centuries  had 
elapsed  since  the  barrier  of  the  Alps  had 
been  burst  by  a  great  Celtic  immigration,  and 
the  valley  of  the  Po,  once  the  seat  of  nu 


merous  Etruscan  colonies,  had  been  overrun 
and  occupied  by  the  northern  barbarians. 
The  Senones,  the  vanguard  of  the  Gaulish 
invasion,  had  penetrated  to  the  banks  of  the 
^Esis  and  the  coast  of  the  Adriatic,  and  had 
threatened  for  more  than  a  century  to  take 
advantage  of  the  increasing  weakness  of 
Etruria,  and  descend  upon  the  smiling  valleys 
of  lower  Italy.  At  last  30,000  warriors  oi 
this  tribe,  having  threaded  the  passes  of  the 
Apennines,  appeared  before  the  walls  of 
Clusium,  and  demanded  an  assignment  of 
lands.  The  Clusians  implored  the  interven 
tion  of  Rome — such  it  seems  was  the  author 
ity  of  the  warlike  republic  at  150  miles  from 
its  frontiers — and  the  Senate  dispatched, 
not  a  military  force,  but  three  distinguished 
envoys,  to  require  the  intruders  to  desist 
from  their  attack.  But  when  the  Gauls  re 
fused  to  hearken  to  these  demands,  the  en 
voys,  not  content  with  delivering  their  mes 
sage  in  the  character  of  ambassadors,  violated 
the  law  of  nations  by  actively  joining  the 
Clusians  in  the  defence  of  their  territory. 
The  barbarians  indignantly  broke  up  their 
leaguer,  and  poured  the  full  tide  of  invasion 
down  the  valley  of  the  Tiber.  The  Fecinles 
or  heralds,  as  interpreters  of  internationa- 
law,  urged  that  the  treacherous  envoys  should 
be  surrendered  in  expiation  of  the  national 
sin ;  but  the  influence  of  the  illustrious  Fa 
bian  house,  to  which  the  culprits  belonged, 
prevailed  to  protect  them,  and  engaged  the 
people  to  repel  the  assailants  by  force.  The 
armed  militia  of  the  city  sallied  forth  to  the 
encounter;  but  on  the  banks  of  the  Allia, 
eleven  miles  from  the  gates  of  Rome,  was 
routed  with  bloody  and  disastrous  defeat.  So 
completely  was  the  strength  of  the  republic 
broken  by  this  single  overthrow  that  it  was 
impossible  even  to  defend  the  walls.  The 
flower  of  the  citizens  threw  themselves  into 
the  Capitol,  but  the  mass  of  the  population 
remaining  below,  was  exposed  to  the  fury 
of  the  barbarians  ;  and  while  the  priests  and 
vestals  earned  off  the  sacred  images  to  the 
friendly  city  of  Caere  in  Etruria,  an  hundred 
aged  senators,  who  refused  to  leave  the  city 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD 


489 


in  whose  service  they  had  grown  gray,  were 
murdered  in  the  Forum  or  in  their  houses. 
Koine  was  given  up  to  pillage  and  con 
flagration. 

This  terrible  catastrophe  followed  quickly 
upon  the  exile  of  Camillas,  whom  the  peo 
ple  in  theii  ingratitude  had  accused  of  various 
misdemeanors,  and  who,  in  quitting  the 
city,  had  imprecated  a  curse  upon  it.  Ca- 
millus  had  retired  to  Ardea,  and  now  watch 
ed  his  opportunity  to  relieve  the  state  on 
which  the  gods  had  so  signally  avenged  him. 
The  fugitives  from  the  Allia  and  those  from 
the  city  had  rallied  at  Yeii ;  and,  re-assured 
by  some  successful  skirmishes,  they  invited 
Camillus  to  put  himself  at  their  head,  and 
assume  the  office  of  dictator.  To  confirm 
this  appointment  the  consent  of  the  Senate 
and  curies  was  required;  so  punctually  did 
even  the  legends  of  Rome  respect  the  claims 
of  constitutional  usage.  A  young  plebeian, 
Pontius  Cominius,  undertook  to  communicate 
with  them,  and  scaled  the  rock  of  the  Capi- 
toline  unperceived  by  the  enemy.  The  Gauls, 
hitherto  unable  to  find  an  access  to  the  sum 
mit,  tracked  his  footsteps,  and  surprised  the 
garrison  by  night.  The  defenders  were  sleep 
ing  securely ;  even  the  dogs  were  lulled  in 
slumber ;  but  the  geese,  sacred  to  Juno, 
clamored  at  the  noise,  awoke  the  guards 
just  in  time  ;  and  Manlius  distinguished  him 
self  above  the  rest  by  the  vigor  with  which  he 
repelled  the  assailants,  and  hurled  them  from 
the  ramparts.  The  Romans,  however,  in 
their  impregnable  fortress  were  suffering  from 
scarcity.  Camillus  delayed  to  appear ;  they 
were  compelled  to  treat  with  the  Gauls,  who 
on  their  part  were  anxious  to  withdraw  for 
the  defence  of  their  own  country  against  an 
attack  of  the  Veneti.  It  was  agreed  that 
the  invaders  should  withdraw  with  1000  Ib. 
of  gold  as  the  ransom  of  Rome.  When  this 
sum  was  being  weighed  out,  the  barbarians 
were  detected  in  using  false  weights;  but 
when  the  Romans  remonstrated,  Brennus 
the  Gaulish  chief  cast  his  sword  into  the 
Bcale  against  them,  exclaiming,  "  Woe  to  the 
vanquished !"  But  this  insolence  met  its  due 


reward.  Camillus,  having  at  last  collected 
and  trained  his  forces,  attacked  the  foe  on 
his  route  homeward,  routed  him  with  great 
slaughter,  and  recovered  the  ransom  of  the 
city.  The  people,  he  declared,  had  had  no 
right  to  pay  it  without  the  consent  of  the 
dictator.  The  sum  thus  restored  was  placed 
in  the  vaults  of  the  Capitol,  to  be  there 
preserved  as  a  sacred  deposit,  and  never  ex 
pended  except  in  repelling  a  future  invasion 
of  the  Gauls.  Such  an  occasion  never  again 
presented  itself,  but  the  treasure,  it  was  said, 
was  centuries  later  rifled  by  the  man  who 
conquered  their  country,  and  made  invasion 
for  ever  impossible. 

From  first  to  last  poetical  justice  is  satis 
fied  on  all  sides.  The  story  of  the  capture 
of  the  city  is  the  most  perfect  in  all  its  parts 
of  the  poetical  rhapsodies  in  Roman  story. 
Yet  that  the  legend  has  a  groundwork  of  ac 
tual  truth,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt. 
That  Rome  was  once  sacked  by  a  sudden 
irruption  of  Gauls  from  beyond  the  Apen 
nines,  must  be  regarded  as  proved  by  an 
authentic  tradition.  The  manner  in  which 
the  city  was  rebuilt,  so  hastily  and  inconsid 
erately,  that  the  line  of'  the  new  streets  often 
crossed  the  sewers  of  more  ancient  construc 
tion,  was  a  visible  proof  of  this  event  to  a 
later  generation.  To  modern  criticism  it  is 
attested  by  the  evident  loss  of  almost  every 
monument  of  history  and  antiquity  beyond 
this  date.  No  such  catastrophe  occurred 
again,  and  accordingly  we  seem  at  this  period 
to  get  hold  at  last  of  the  extreme  link  of  the 
chain  of  genuine  tradition;  and  though  we 
shall  find  reason  still,  for  at  least  another 
century,  to  question  much  of  the  details  of 
the  history,  we  may  believe  that  the  main 
foundation  of  events,  of  names,  and  of  dates, 
is  preserved  continuously  from  henceforth 
through  accredited  records,  whether  public 
or  private.  Camillus,  the  second  founder, 
as  he  was  gratefully  entitled,  of  the  city,  was 
in  fact  the  original  founder  of  historic  Rome. 

"  Yet  stiJ,"  says  Arnold,  "  no  period  of 
Roman  history  since  the  first  institution  of 
the  tribunes  of  the  commons  is  really  more 


49C 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WOULD. 


obscure  than  the  thirty  years  immedi 
ately  following  the  retreat  of  the  Gauls. 
And  the  reason  of  this  is,  that  when  there 
are  no  contemporary  historians,  the  mere  ex 
istence  of  public  documents  affords  no  secu 
rity  for  the  preservation  of  a  real  knowledge 
of  men  and  actions.  The  documents  may 
exist,  but  they  give  no  evidence ;  they  are 
neglected  or  corrupted  at  pleasure  by  poets 
and  panegyrists ;  and  a  fictitious  story  gains 
firm  possession  of  the  public  mind,  because 
there  is  no  one  to  take  the  pains  of  promul 
gating  the  truth.  And  thus  it  has  happened 
that  the  panegyrists  of  Camillus  and  of  the 
other  great  patrician  families,  finding  ready 
belief  in  many  instances  from  national  vani 
ty,  have  so  disguised  the  real  course  of  events 
that  at  no  other  period  of  Roman  history  is 
it  more  difficult  to  restore  it." 

To  attempt  any  such  restoration,  even  did 
it  appear  feasible,  would  not  be  within  the 
scope  of  this  sketch  of  history.  It  will  be 
sufficient  to  make  a  passing  reference  to  a 
few  striking  incidents  recorded,  all  of  which 
have  probably  a  foundation  in  truth,  though 
disguised,  no  doubt,and  encumbered  by  many 
fictitious  adjuncts.  On  the  retreat  of  the 
Gauls,  the  Roman  people  entertained,  it  is 
said,  the  thought  of  abandoning  their  ruined 
homes,  and  migrating  in  a  body  to  Veii. 
Camillus  in  vain  conjured  them  not  to  desert 
the  soil  of  their  ancestors,  but  a  passing 
omen,  the  voice  of  a  centurion  exclaiming, 
"  Plant  the  standard  here,  here  we  had  best 
remain,"  determined  them  to  stay.  We  can 
easily  believe  that  the  losses  of  this'  Gallic 
war  were  the  occasion  of  an  addition  of  four 
new  tribes  to  the  city,  comprising  the  free 
inhabitants  of  the  lands  taken  from  the 
Veientines.  The  state  was  invigorated  by 
this  increase  in  its  numbers,  and  enabled  to 
prosecute  a  fresh  series  of  campaigns  with 
the  Yolscians  and  ^Equians,  as  well  as  with 
the  Gauls,  who,  notwithstanding  their  alleg 
ed  retreat  homewards,  and  the  disastrous  de 
feat  which  is  said  to  have  attended  it,  ap 
pear  to  have  settled  themselves  in  fixed  habi 
tations  at  Tibur  on  the  Anio,  and  other  sta 


tions  on  the  Sabine  frontier  To  this  period, 
and  to  this  continued  struggle  with  the 
northern  barbarians,  are  referred  some  of  the 
most  romantic  incidents  of  Roman  story — 
the  winning  of  the  golden  collar  by  Manlius, 
and  the  aid  vouchsafed  by  a  heaven-sent 
crow  to  Valerius.  Such  were  the  pretended 
facts  by  which  the  family  panegyrists  explain 
ed  the  names  of  the  Torquati  and  the  Corvini, 
houses  largely  celebrated  in  the  later  history 
of  the  republic. 

As,  however,  the  external  history  is  now 
little  else  than  a  repetition  of  such  border 
contests  as  have  been  related  more  than 
once  before,  so  the  internal  history  presents 
us  with  a  new  edition  of  the  old  quarrels  be 
tween  the  debtors  and  their  patrician  credi 
tors,  of  the  struggles  for  political  equality 
between  the  rival  classes,  and  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  an  agrarian  law.  With  respect 
to  the  first,  the  story  still  runs  in  its  old 
channel.  The  people  repine  at  the  suffer 
ings  of  their  brave  but  impoverished  veter 
ans,  and  demand  redress  for  the  present 
and  security  for  the  future.  On  the  one  side 
murmurs  and  sedition,  on  the  other  the  crea 
tion  of  a  dictator.  The  gallant  Manlius 
throws  himself  into  the  popular  cause  ;  he  is 
accused  of  treason ;  the  people  are  induced 
to  repudiate  his  championship;  and  he  is 
cast  as  a  traitor  from  the  Tarpeian  rock.  The 
house  on  the  Capitoline,  presented  to  him  for 
his  brave  defence  of  the  temple  against  the 
Gauls,  is  razed  to  the  ground,  and  the  Mau- 
lian  gens  forbidden  from  henceforth  to  use 
the  praenomen  of  Marcus.  The  next  domes 
tic  occurrence  is  the  carrying  of  an  agrarian 
law  by  the  tribunes  Licinius  and  Sextius  in 
377,  by  which  it  is  provided  that  no  citizen 
shall  hold  more  than  500  jugera  (about  320 
acres)  of  the  public  land,  nor  feed  on  public 
pastures  beyond  a  certain  number  of  cattle. 
Finally,  in  the  same  vear,  the  plebs  achieves 
the  great  charter  of  its  I'beities,  in  the  de 
cree  that  one  of  the  consuls  shall  be  always 
a  plebeian.  Such  an  enactment  supposes, 
of  course,  the  revival  of  the  consulship  on 
its  old  footing ;  nevertheless  the  Fasti  con- 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


tinned  for  several  years  to  insert  the  names, 
not  of  consuls,  but  of  military  tribunes  ;  and 
it  is  not  till  388  that  a  plebeian  consul  is  at 
last  appointed  in  the  person  of  Sextius  him 
self.  Our  account  of  the  way  in  which  this 
change  was  effected  is  characteristic  of  the 
strain  of  domestic  romance  which  forms  the 
basis  of  so  large  a  portion  of  our  early  his 
tory. 

Q.  Fabius  Ambustus,  a  patrician  of  high 
rank,  had  married  his  two  daughters,  the  one 
to  Sulpicius  a  patrician,  the  other  to  the 
plebeian  tribune  Licinius.  Visiting  one  day 
at  her  sisters  house,  the  wife  of  Licinius 
was  surprised  at  the  formal  ceremony  with 
which  a  lictor  knocked  at  the  door  of  Sulpicius, 
who  was  then  consular  tribune.  The  consort 
of  the  privileged  noble  laughed  at  the  ignor 
ance  of  the  plebeian's  wife,  who  complained 
with  tears  to  her  husband  and  her  father, 
and  engaged  them  to  combine  in  effecting  a 
reform  which  should  place  her  on  a  level 
with  her  haughtv  sister.  Modern  critics 

o        «/ 

gravely  assure  us  that  this  story  must  be  a 
fiction,  inasmuch  as  the  plebeian's  wife  was 
daughter  of  a  man  who  had  been  consular 

O 

tribune  not  long  before  ;  and  Licinius  him 
self,  though  a  plebeian,  was  as  competent  to 
hold  the  office  and  enjoy  the  services  of  the 
lictors  as  any  patrician.  If  we  felt  that  we 
were  here  upon  historical  ground,  we  should 
not  regard  this  as  any  presumption  against 
the  truth  of  the  story.  The  young  wife  may 
have  been  as  inexperienced  as  a  child.  But 
the  legend  was  never  intended  to  challenge 
criticism. 

We  may  conjecture  that  the  interminable 
repetitions  of  similar  phases  of  the  great 
constitutional  conflict — the  same  complaints, 
the  same  concessions,  the  same  evasions,  the 
same  reprisals — have  arisen  from  an  attempt 
to  reconcile  the  claims  of  various  illustrious 
houses,  some  to  having  proposed  popular 
measures,  others  to  having  baffled  them  ; 
thus  spreading  over  various  epochs,  and  di 
viding  among  many  individuals,  the  inci 
dents  of  a  political  warfare  really  limited  in 
duration,  and  confined  to  a  few  prominent 


actors.  JVI.  Michelet  has  pointed  out  a  curi 
ous  coincidence  which  may  be  thought  to 
have  some  significance,  in  the  repetition  of 
the  same  names,  as  connected  with  these 
struggles.  Thus  a  Brutus,  and  a  Horatius, 
are  more  than  once  at  hand  whenever  a  pop 
ular  movement  requires  a  patron.  A  Spu- 
rius  Cassius,  a  Spurius  Moelius,  and  a  Spu- 
rius  Metilius,  are  all  alike  noble  sufferers  in 
the  cause  of  plebeian  independence.  If  the 
well-known  later  meaning  of  the  word  /Spu 
rius  belong  to  it  properly  and  originally,  the 
name  may  have  been  applied  by  patrician 
annalists  to  those  false  aristocrats  who  he* 
trayed  the  interests  of  their  own  faction ;  if, 
on  the  other  hand,  we  assume  its  derivation 
from  super,  implying  true  greatness  and  no 
bility,  we  may  ascribe  its  recurrence  to  the 
invention  of  the  plebeians  themselves  in  their 
zeal  for  the  glorification  of  such  unexpected 
champions.  A  son  of  Camillus,  the  first 
who  held  the  office  of  praetor,  created  by  the 
dictator  as  a  compromise  between  the  two 
classes,  is  also  known  by  the  praenomen  of 
Spurius.  The  same  is  given  also  to  Servilius 
Ahala,  one  of  the  most  noted  champions  of 
the  aristocracy ;  from  whence  we  should  the 
more  readily  infer  that  in  all  these  cases  it 
was  alike  applied  in  token  of  admiration  by 
the  partizans  of  the  person  so  designated.  It 
is  remarkable  that  this  prsenomen,  so  com 
mon  throughout  the  period  of  these  domestic 
struggles,  occurs  but  rarely  either  before  or 
after  it.  But  whatever  may  be  our  scepti 
cism  regarding  the  early  conflict  of  the  two 
classes,  we  may  reasonably  accept  the  date 
at  which  we  have  now  arrived  as  the  epoch 
of  their  actual  union.  The  Temple  of  Con 
cord,  dedicated  on  this  occasion  by  the  aged 
Camillus  beneath  the  slope  of  the  Capitoline, 
constituted  a  visible  record  of  the  fact,  of 
which  some  remains  are  still  existing.  Dur 
ing  the  next  thirty  years  indeed  the  contest 
still  continued  fitfully ;  the  patricians  yield 
ing  step  by  step  with  reluctance,  the  ple 
beians  pressing  their  advantage.  It  termin 
ated,  however,  with  the  appointment  of  a 
plebeian  dictator,  Publilius  Philo,  in  415, 


492 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


who  carried  enactments, — 1.  For  enforcing 
the  obligation  of  the  plebiscite  on  the  whole 
nation  ;  and  2.  For  allowing  both  consuls  to 
be  plebeians  as  well  as  the  praetors,  and  re 
quiring  the  appointment  of  one  of  the  cen- 
60i"s  from  each  class. 

A  period  of  warfare  with  the  Etruscans 
and  some  o^  the  Latin  tribes  still  accompa 
nies  this  protracted  struggle  ;  but  the  Ro- 
muns  are  strengthened  by  the  conciliation  of 
the  commons ;  ?.nd  the  alleged  addition  of  two 
new  tribes  seems  to  show  an  increase  of  num 
bers,  probably  from  the  submission  and  incor 
poration  of  foreigners.  The  Latin  states, 
which  had  long  since  violated  their  ancient 
treaty  with  Rome,  now  seek  to  renew  it  ; 
but  Rome  chooses  rather  to  subdue  her 
faithless  allies  than  accept  their  alliance  on 
terms  of  equality.  The  "  great  Latin  war," 
as  the  historians  have  entitled  it,  is  rendered 
illustrious  by  its  legends  of  the  military  exe 
cution  of  T.  Manlius  by  his  father,  and  of 
the  self-devotion  of  Decius  M us.  The  result 
of  the  war  is  the  complete  and  final  reduc 
tion  of  Latium.  "  Three  years,"  says  Dr. 
Arnold,  "were  sufficient  to  finish  forever 
the  most  important  war  in  which  Rome  was 
at  any  time  engaged." 

Roman  history  now  enters  upon  a  wider 
field.  A  branch  of  the  great  Sabellian  na 
tion,  the  inhabitabts  of  the  mountain  tracts 
of  central  Italy,  having  extended  their  con 
quests  far  into  the  south,  have  made  them 
selves  masters  of  the  Etruscan  colonies  in 
Campania.  The  Samnites  are  established  in 
Capua,  J^ola,  Cumce,  and  other  cities,  and 
have  here  assumed  the  name  of  Campanians, 
from  the  country  to  which  they  have  suc 
ceeded.  Their  influence  extends  throughout 
the  Greek  cities  of  the  coast,  Neapolis  and 
Pakeopolis,  Stabire  and  Herculaneum  ;  with 
the  old  name  of  Samnites  .they  have  lost 
their  ancient  language  and  national  associa 
tions  ;  and  this  offshoot  from  the  parent  race 
now  find  itself  arrayed  in  war  against  other 
branches  of  the  same  original  stock,  the 
Samnites  of  the  mountains.  The  Cam 
panians,  as  the  weaker  and  less  warlike  of 


these  nations  may  now  be  called,  solicited 
the  assistance  of  Rome  against  the  attack  of 
their  hardier  kinsmen,  and  offered  to  surren 
der  their  city  to  the  republic  as  the  price  of 
her  powerful  protection. 

"\\re  have  now  reached  the  dawn  of  gen 
uine  history,  and  the  narrative  of  events  re 
corded  by  the  historians  assumes  a  new 
complexion.  AVe  lose  sight  from  henceforth 
of  the  train  of  marvellous  and  romantic 
stories  which  impart  a  seductive  charm  .to 
our  earlier  records  ;  but  in  return  we  obtain 
a  glimpse  at  least  of  political  combinations 
and  strategic  manoeuvres  which  throws  an 
air  of  truthfulness  over  the  narrative  that  fol 
lows.  Family  pride  indeed  may  have  color 
ed  some  of  the  details  and  suppressed  others , 
but  we  have  got  beyond  the  era  of  mere 
fabrication.  The  Roman  history  is  at  least 
simply  told  from  Roman  sources  and  its  very 
ineagreness  and  obscurity  may  be  accepted 
as  a  token  of  its  substantial  genuineness. 
Yet  this  was  the  period  when  the  Romans 
first  came  in  actual  contact  with  the  Greeks, 
the  most  curious  and  diligent  of  historical 
inquirer*,  who  might  have  taught  them  to 
understand  and  describe  events  with  greater 
spirit  and  precision.  A  Greek  writer  assures 
us  that  at  this  era  the  Romans  sent  an  em 
bassy,  along  with  the  Etruscans,  to  the  great 
Alexander  of  Macedon.  Another  Alexan 
der,  King  of  Epirus,  had  landed  about  the 
same  time  on  the  coast  of  Lucania,  and  de 
feated  a  Samnite  army  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Pa?stum.  The  Romans  hastened  to  form 
an  alliance  with  this  new  comer,  in  the  year 
423  (B.C.  331).  But  from  this  alliance  with 
one  Grecian  power  they  were  soon  led  into 
hostilities  against  others.  They  engaged  in 
a  war  with  the  Greek  cities  of  Neapolis  and 
Palfcopolis,  inadequately  protected  by  their 
dependence  on  the  Campanians ;  but  their 
means,  perhaps,  for  reducing  places  defended 
and  fortified  by  the  rules  of  art  were  slender, 
and  the  war  was  protracted  through  more 
than  one  campaign.  The  Roman  armies 
had  now  for  the  first  time  advanced  so  far 
from  the  capital  that  it  was  inconvenient  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


493 


return  home  with  the  approach  of  winter. 
For  the  first  time  the  consul  in  command 
was  directed  to  hold  his  ground,  and  retain 
his  place  at  the  head  of  the  legions,  with  the 
title  of  proconsul. 

An  interval  of  fourteen  years  had  elapsed 
since  the  surrender  of  Capua  and  the  first 
brief  collision  with  the  Samnites;  but  the 
second  war,  commencing  in  the  year  428, 
was  distinguished  by  a  duration  of  more  than 
twenty  years,  and  by  the  terrible  disaster  of 
the  Caudine  Forks,  where  a  Roman  army 
was  entangled  in  a  defile,  and  compelled  to 
lay  down  its  arms  and  pass  under  the  yolce, 
by  the  gallant  Pontius  Telesinus.  The  dis 
grace  was  harder  to  bear  than  the  disaster. 
The  city  clothed  itself  in  mourning  ;  the 
consuls,  who  had  submitted  in  person  to  this 
ignominy,  dared  not  re-assume  their  places. 
Twice  was  a  dictator  nominated,  but  each 
time  the  auspices  forbade  his  creation.  At 
last  Valerius  Coryus,  the  interrex,  or  provis 
ional  chief  magistrate,  caused  two  of  the 
most  distinguished  citizens,  Papirius  Cursor 
and  Publilius  Philo,  to  be  elected  consuls ; 
and  Posthumius,  one  of  the  beaten  generals, 
declaring  that  the  republic  ought  not  to  be 
bound  by  the  terms  which  in  his  distress  had 
been  extorted  from  him,  insisted  that  he 
should  himself  be  given  up  to  the  enemy, 
together  with  his  colleagues  the  quaestors  and 
tribunes,  and  every  other  officer  of  the 
legions  who  had  signed  the  disgraceful  capit 
ulation.  Pontius,  indignant  or  generous,  or 
possibly  coolly  calculating  the  consequences 
of  accepting  the  proffered  satisfaction  for  a 
deliberate  breach  of  public  faith,  refused  to 
receive  these  prisoners,  and  demanded  the 
literal  fulfillment  of  the  terms  they  had  ex 
changed  with  him.  "War  recommenced.  The 
Samnites  gained  some  successes,  but  the 
Romans  gradually  got  the  upper  hand  ;  the 
consuls  penetrated  into  Apulia,  took  Lucania, 
and  recovered  the  arms,  the  ensigns,  and  the 
hostages  captured  at  Caudium.  Possibly  the 
Romans  fabricated  the  story  of  a  complete 
defeat  of  their  enemies,  and  the  retrieval  of 
their  own  dishonor  by  making  the  Samnites 


pass  under  the  yoke  in  their  turn.  The 
brave  Pontius,  however,  was  carried  captive 
to  Rome.  Nevertheless  we  hear  soon  after 
wards  of  an  irruption  of  the  Samnites  into 
the  Roman  territories  in  Campania,  the  de 
fection  of  Capua,  and  the  great  defeat  of  the 
dictator  Fabius  Maximus  at  Lantulse.  These 
losses  were  balanced  again  by  a  second  vic 
tory  in  440,  once  more  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Caudium,  in  which  the  Samnites  were 
totally  routed.  Campania  is  now  recovered  ; 
the  enemy  shut  up  in  the  Apennines ;  colo 
nies  established,  as  outposts  of  the  Roman 
power,  at  Suessa  Aumnca,  Interamna  on  tht 
Liris,  Casinum  and  Luceria ;  and  the  Ro 
mans  so  far  advance  in  enterprise  and  confi 
dence  as  to  commence  the  construction  of  a 
navy  to  overawe  the  distant  seaport  of  Tar 
entum.  In  442  (B.C.  312)  a  second  Decius 
Mus  gains  a  triumph,  for  the  first  time,  over 
the  Samnites ;  but  this  is  speedily  followed 
by  a  long  succession  of  similar  distinctions. 
An  alliance  of  the  Samnites  with  the  Etrus 
cans  created  at  this  moment  a  formidable 
diversion  against  Rome ;  but  the  vigor  and 
fortune  of  the  republic  prevailed,  and  her 
outposts  were  advanced  far  forward  in  every 
direction  before  the  Samnites  sued  for  peace. 
The  second  Samnite  war  was  concluded 
in  450  ;  the  third  commenced  in  455.  Tho 
Samnites  had  again  combined  with  the  Etru 
rians,  and  had  extended  their  league  to  the 
Umbrians  and  other  nations  of  Central  Italy. 
A  fresh  body  of  Gauls  was  secured  to  this 
formidable  alliance.  This  was  the  crowning 
struggle  for  Roman  supremacy  in  the  penin 
sula.  The  great  battle  of  Sentinum,  in  which 
victory  was  secured  to  the  republic  by  the 
self-devotion  of  the  younger  Decius,  resulted 
in  the  total  overthrow  of  the  Gauls  and  Sa  m- 
nites  by  Q.  Fabius  Maximus,  and  was  un 
doubtedly  one  of  the  most  important  actions 
in  which  the  arms  of  Rome  were  engaged. 
The  alliance  of  the  Italian  nations  was 
broken  up ;  henceforth  the  contest  became 
more  desultory,  and  its  details  are  imper 
fectly  recorded.  L.  Papirius  Cursor  and  Sp. 
Carvilius  are  now  the  most  distinguished  of 


HIS3OEY    OF   THE  WORLD. 


the  Roman  generals.  The  brave  Pontius  is 
made  prisoner,  led  in  triumph,  and  cruelly 
executed,  according  to  the  established  usage 
of  Roman  warfare.  The  Samnites  submit 
for  the  third  time  in  the  year  46-i  (B.C.  290). 
They  appear  indeed  once  more  in  arms  a 
few  years  later,  but  only  as  the  subordinate 
allies  of  a  new  enemy.  Their  independence 
is  now  finally  broken,  and  the  Roman  power 
is  definitely  established  over  lower  Italy, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  Grecian  cities 
in  Lucania  and  Bruttium.  Latium,  Campa 
nia,  Apulia  and  Samnium,  have  now  fallen 
under  the  sword  of  the  republic.  In  the 
north  the  Etruscans  are  still  hostile,  but 
cowed  and  dispirited.  The  Gauls  still  hover 
on  the  frontiers  of  the  Roman  dominion,  and 
still  shake  from  time  to  time,  in  a  well-timed 
foray,  the  unsteady  allegiance  of  the  Umbri- 
ans  and  Pelignians.  Bands  of  Samnites  still 
maintain  a  guerilla  warfare  in  remote  dis 
tricts,  and  agitate  the  untamed  savagery  of 
Calabria,  a  people  formed,  so  both  Greeks 
and  Romans  asserted,  by  the  concourse  of 
fugitive  slaves  in  its  woods  and  mountains. 
The  Grecian  cities  on  the  Lucanian  coast 
were  trembling  at  the  steady  advance  of  the 
conquerors  from  the  Tiber.  Tarentmn,  the 
only  one  of  them  which  now  retained  an  active 
vitality,  hastened,  in  its  feverish  excitement,  to 
form  a  new  coalition  against  Rome,  in  which 
some  states  of  Etruria  were  induced  to  join. 
The  praetor  Metellus,  with  13,000  men,  fell 
in  an  attempt  to  succor  Arretium,  and  at 
the  news  of  this  disaster  the  Gaulish  Senones 
rushed  at  once  to  arms.  The  consul  Dola- 
bella  swiftly  crossed  the  Apennines,  and  at 
tacked  these  barbarians  in  their  own  terri 
tory,  which  he  ravaged,  in  return  for  the 
devastation  they  had  so  often  committed  in 
Latium.  The  great  battle  of  the  Vadimo- 
nian  lake  crushed  the  Gauls  and  Etruscans 
together.  Peace  was  re-established  about 
472  ;  and  without  a  formal  surrender  of  the 
Etruscan  cities,  the  Romans  could  depend 
from  henceforth  on  the  sure  effect  of  their 
weakness  and  despair  in  reducing  them  to 
complete  submission.  Meanwhile  the  repub 


lic  had  been  no  less  successful  in  the  south. 
Fabricius  took  Thurii,  and  carried  off  the 
first  Grecian  booty  to  Rome.  The  coalition 
was  utterly  broken  ;  and  Tarentum,  still  i in- 
assailed,  but  denuded  of  her  Italian  allies, 
was  obliged  to  look  beyond  Italy  for  her  fu 
ture  protectors. 

Rome  was  now  destined  to  encounter,  for 
the  first  time,  the  highest  form  of  civiliza 
tion  and  the  most  scientific  7iiilitary  tactics 
of  the  ancient  world.  The  luxurious  and  un- 
warlike  cities  of  the  Lucanian  coast,  though 
Greek  by  origin,  had  long  lost  the  valor  and 
discipline  of  their  nation,  and  could  only  op 
pose  to  the  rude  warriors  of  Latium  the  arts 
of  policy  and  statecraft.  But  now  a  genu 
ine  Greek  soldiery  was  about  to  appear  upon 
the  stage,  with  the  strength  of  the  Macedo 
nian  phalanx  and  the  resources  of  Grecian 
economy. 

The  Romans  had  constructed  some  ves 
sels  at  Thurii.  With  these  they  were  cruis 
ing  in  the  Gulf  of  Tarentum,  now  nominally 
at  peace  with  the  republic,  when  the  Taren- 
tines,  jealous  of  this  attempt  to  form  a  navy, 
sallied  forth  from  their  harbor,  declaring 
that  the  Romans  were  bound  by  treaty  not 
to  navigate  their  ships  beyond  the  Laciuian 
promontory,  and  destroyed  or  chased  home 
the  Roman  vessels.  They  even  followed  up 
this  insult  by  an  attack  on  the  Roman  gar 
rison  at  Thurii.  When  Posthumius  arrives 
as  an  ambassador  to  lay  his  complaint  before 
them,  they  assail  him  with  mockery  and  in 
sult,  lie  swears  that  the  filth  they  fling 
upon  his  toga  shall  be  washed  away  in  their 
blood.  A  Roman  army  speedily  appears  be 
fore  Tarentum,  and  the  nobles,  Avho  had 
taken  no  part,  perhaps,  in  the  brutal  violence 
of  their  populace,  would  have  yielded  at 
once ;  but  the  people,  in  their  vanity,  scorned 
submission  to  the  foreigner,  and  invoked  the 
aid  of  Pyrrhus,  King  of  Epirus.  This  chief, 
the  most  noted  warrior  of  his  age,  was  (he 
cousin,  though  several  year  junior,  of  Alex 
ander  the  Great.  lie  had  succeeded  his  fa 
ther  in  regular  course  in  the  throne  of  Epi 
rus  :  but  his  career  had  been  from  the  first 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


495 


that  of  an  adventurer  rathei  than  of  a  sove 
reign.  Ambitious,  restless,  and  captivated 
with  a  vague  aspiration  for  glory,  in  imita- 
tation  of  his  illustrious  relative,  he  was  easily 
persuaded  by  the  Tarentines,  who  promised 
him  an  extensive  alliance  and  a  forcn  of 
350,000  combatants,  to  undertake  the  deliv 
erance  of  the  Greeks  in  Italy  from  the  threat 
ened  yoke  of  obscure  barbarians.  Landing 
with  a  veteran  force  of  25,000  men,  and  at 
tended  by  20  elephants,  Pyrrlms  gained  a 
victory  at  Heraclea  over  the  first  consular 
army  of  the  Romans,  but  with  such  loss  on 
his  own  side  as  caused  him  to  remark  already, 
that  such  another  victory  would  be  his  ruin. 
He  recovered,  indeed,  some  towns  on  the 
coast,  as  the  fruits  of  this  hard-won  triumph ; 
but  the  promised  allies  failed  to  make  their 
appearance  ;  he  found  the  Tarentines  nerve 
less  and  inefficient ;  he  was  glad  to  disguise 
his  mortification  by  offering  terms  of  peace 
to  the  Romans,  on  condition  of  their  leaving 
the  Greek  cities  in  freedom,  and  restoring 
their  lands  to  the  Samnites  and  Apulians. 
Cineas,  the  envoy  whom  he  sent  with  these 
terms  to  Rome,  returned  unsuccessful,  but 
filled  with  admiration  of  the  numbers,  the 
bravery,  and  mi  daunted  spirit  of  his  master's 
enemies.  This  report  inspired  the  King  of 
Epkus  with  increased  anxiety;  but,  brave 
and  daring  as  he  was,  he  determined  to  make 
a'  bold  dash,  and,  turning  the  flank  of  a 
second  army  opposed  to  him,  he  got  within 
a  few  leagues  of  Rome  itself.  A  third  force 
was  recalled  from  the  borders  of  Etruria  to 
cover  the  capital,  and  he  was  compelled  to 
retreat,  lest  he  should  find  himself  surround 
ed.  The  Romans  now  sent  in  their  turn  an 
embassy  to  treat  for  the  ransom  of  their  pris 
oners.  The  courage  and  presence  of  mind 
displayed  by  Fabricius,  according  to  the 
well-known  story,  made  a  deep  impression  on 
the  mind  of  Pyrrlms ;  and  when  the  repub 
lic  generously  advertised  him  of  a  plot  for 
his  assassination,  he  was  so  touched  by  this 
trait  of  honorable  feeling  that  he  sent  back 
the  prisoners  without  terms.  Meanwhile  the 
condition  of  the  Greeks  in  Sicily,  assailed 


by  the  fleets  of  Carthage,  became  even  more 
pressing  than  that  of  their  compatriots  in 
Italy,  and  Pyrrlms  seized  the  excuse  for 
postponing  his  contest  with  Rome,  and  trans 
porting  himself  to  Syracuse.  Here,  again, 
his  first  successes  only  led  him  into  fresh 
difficulties,  and  once  more  he  wTas  glad  to  es 
cape  from  his  actual  embarrassments,  and  try 
his  fortune  in  Italy.  The  Romans,  however 
had  had  time  to  recover  from  their  losses 
and  now,  familiarized  with  the  aspect  of  the 
formidable  elephants — bulls  of  Lucania,  ai 
they  ignorantly  termed  them — they  were 
fully  a  match  for  the  Greek  army  in  the 
field.  Curius  Dentatus  gained  the  victory 
of  Beneventum,  and  Pyrrhus  was  compelled 
to  fly  ignominiously  to  his  own  dominions. 
Curius  triumphed,  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  four 
of  the  Libyan  monsters  he  had  taught  the 
Romans  to  despise.  Pyrrhus  fell  soon  after 
wards  in  an  obscure  struggle  at  Argos. 
Hostilities  continued  in  the  south  of  Italy 
for  some  years  longer.  Papirius  and  Carvi- 
lius  once  more  overcame  the  Samnites. 
Tarentum  submitted ;  its  walls  were  over 
thrown,  its  arms  and  ships  forfeited  to  the 
conquerors.  The  Carthaginians,  who  had 
recently  offered  their  alliance  to  Rome,  were 
warned  off  the  shores  of  Italy,  which  were 
now  completely  subjected  to  Rome,  from  the 
yEsar  and  Rubicon  in  the  north  to  the  Straits 
of  Messana  and  the  lapygian  promontory. 

The  Romans  had  now  conquered  Italy, 
and  made  the  first  great  step  towards  the 
conquest  of  the  world.  We  must  pause  for 
a  moment  to  review  the  way  in  which 
they  organized  these  new  dominions,  and 
made  them  a  ground  of  vantage  for  the  fur- 

c_>  O 

ther  extension  of  their  power. 

The  most  striking  difference  in  the  de 
velopment  of  ancient  and  modern  politics 
results  from  the  generally  republican  charac 
ter  of  the  one,  and  monarchic  constitution  of 
the  other.  The  extension  of  the  Athenian 
and  of  the  Roman  empire  was  formed  either 
by  conquest  or  colonization,  while  that  of  the 
great  states  of  modern  Europe  has  resulted 
far  more  commonlv  from  dynastic  marriages 


196 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


and  successions.  Had  ancient  Italy  been 
parcelled  out  among  a  number  of  sovereign 
families,  it  would  probably  have  fallen,  state 
by  state,  under  the  sway  of  one  fortunate 
dynasty ;  wars  might  have  played  a  part  in 
the  transformation,  but  dynastic  alliances 
would  have  been  still  more  effectual ;  Mars 
might  have  brought  many  nations  under  the 
joke,  but  the  influence  of  Yenus  would  have 
jroved  still  more  powerful.  The  populations 
of  the  peninsula  were  sufficiently  homogene 
ous  to  have  constituted  an  aggregate  people, 
of  equal  laws  and  similar  institutions,  from 
the  .Rubicon  to  the  Straits  of  Messana.  It 
might  still  be  a  question  whether  the  config 
uration  of  the  country — its  great  length  and 
slender  breadth  of  surface,  its  mountain  di 
visions  and  diversities  of  soil  and  climate — 
would  have  permitted  in  ancient  times  a 
national  union  on  such  footing,  the  imprac 
ticability  of  which  in  our  days  is  recognized 
as  a  political  maxim ;  but  however  this  may 
be,  the  republican  character  of  the  Italian 
institutions  of  itself  precluded  the  operation 
of  those  peaceful  influences  which,  as  we 
have  said,  might  have  been  more  effective  to 
such  an  end  than  war,  and  it  only  remained 
to  be  seen  whether  the  rivalries  and  animos 
ities  of  so  many  equal  neighbors  would  ter 
minate  in  their  mutual  exhaustion  and  ruin, 
or  in  the  avowed  predominance  of  one. 

The  latter  alternative,  as  we  have  seen, 
found  place.  The  predominance  of  Rome 
was  acknowledged.  We  have  now  to  see  by 
what  methods  she  maintained  and  perpetua 
ted  it.  It  was  i.o  part  of  her  policy,  for  it 
did  not  come  within  the  scope  of  Italian 
ideas,  to  mould  her  conquests  into  one  nation. 
On  the  contrary,  her  object  was  to  wrest 
from  the  vanquished  their  independence,  to 
stifle  their  nationality,  to  make  them  docile 
subjects ;  for  this  end,  to  create  differences 
and  foster  jealousies  among  them,  to  separate 
the  one  from  another  in  feeling  and  usage, 
and  prevent  their  combining  together  for  any 
common  purpose,  least  of  all  for  the  purpose 
of  extorting  terms  from  their  conquerors. 

In  the  early  times  the  patricians  had  been 


the  citizens,  the  plebeians  the  subjects  of  tho 
state.  This  distinction  had,  in  process  of 
time,  and  through  many  struggles,  become 
nearly  obliterated.  The  Romans  and  Italians 
were  now  to  go  through  a  like  career  in  re 
lation  to  one  another.  But  the  Romans  had 
now  become  more  or  less  conscious  of  the 
principle  under  which  their  early  revolutions 
had  evolved  themselves,  and  they  seem  to 
have  contemplated  steadily  from  the  first  the 
gradual  progress  of  the  Italians  to  the  goal 
of  civic  equality.  They  decreed  that  the  sov 
ereign  people  should  be  always  the  people 
of  the  Forum,  and  that  its  civil  rights  should 
only  be  exercised  within  the  sacred  limits  of 
the  city  ;  but  they  provided  at  the  same  time 
for  the  admission  of  their  subjects,  one  by 
one,  within  these  limits,  as  a  long  probation 
of  service  and  dependence  should  seem  gra 
dually  to  qualify  them  for  political  assimila 
tion.  Such  admission  might  wound  the  pride 
and  touch  the  immediate  interests  of  a  race 
of  conquerors  and  plunderers ;  but  the  spirit 
of  ambition  and  cupidity  required  fresh  re 
cruits  to  maintain  it,  and  as  the  empire  was 
extended,  greater  numbers  were  necessary  to 
preserve  it.  Between  the  years  A.U.  370-490 
(384  and  264  B.C.)  twelve  new  tribes  were 
created,  and  the  Ager  Itomanvs,  or  national 
domain,  extended  from  the  Ciminian  wood 
in  Etruria,  on  the  qne  side,  to  the  middle  of 
Campania,  on  the  other.  Upon  this  territory 
the  censors  enumerated  292,334  men  capable 
of  bearing  arms,  or  a  tctal  population  of 
1,200,000  souls,  to  form  the  great  central 
garrison  of  Italy.  Two  centuries  before, 
according  to  one  account,  the  military  force 
of  Rome  was  computed  at  only  104,214  men. 
While  we  may  decline  to  place  any  reliance 
at  least  on  these  latter  numbers,  the  fact  of 
their  being  thus  recorded  evinces  the  belief 
of  the  Romans  themselves  in  the  early  prac 
tice  of  political  incorporation. 

If  we  may  speak  of  an  original  Roman 
people  as  contrasted  with  the  aggregate  now 
created,  we  may  believe  that  at  this  time  ita 
numbers  did  not  exceed  one-half  of  the  whole 
body.  But  the  original  twenty-one  tribes 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


497 


gave  it  so  many  suffrages  in  the  assembly, 
while  the  new  recruits  were  enrolled  in  twelve 
additional  tribes  only,  and  exercised  no  more 
than  twelve  votes.  .Such  were  the  tribes  of 
the  Etruscans,  the  Latins,  the  4-usonians,  the 
^Equians,  and  the  Yolscians.  A  little  later 
than  the  era  at  which  we  have  arrived,  in  the 
year  of  the  city  513,  two  more  tribes  were 
appropriated  to  the  Sabines.  But  besides  their 
inferiority  in  number,  these  new  and  extra 
neous  members  of  the  national  body  had 
little  opportunity,  from  their  distance  from 
the  Forum,  of  influencing  the  course  of 
affairs  in  the  city.  Nor,  though  thus  station 
ed  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the 
capita],  did  these  foreign  tribes  occupy  the 
whole  surrounding  territory.  The  Ager  Ro- 
manus  was  intersected,  almost  within  sight 
from  the  gates,  by  parcels  of  land  which  still 
remained  in  the  hands  of  strangers,  and  bore 
the  designation  of  Ager  peregrinus.  Several 
cities  of  Latium,  such  as  Tibur  and  Prseneste, 
still  bore  the  title  of  Latin  intead  of  Roman, 
retained  their  own  municipal  institutions, 
and  were  attached  to  the  republic  not  by  the 
possession  of  the  Roman  franchise,  but  by 
the  condition  of  a  specific  eligibility  to  it. 
Any  of  their  citizens  who  had  served  certain 
magistracies  in  them,  became  qualified  there 
by  for  the  enjoyment  of  citizenship  at  Rome, 
and  the  constant  accession  of  individuals 
from  this  source  helped  to  replenish  the  void 
made  by  perennial  warfare,  no  less  than  the 
occasional  introduction  into  the  state  of  cor 
porate  communities. 

The  franchise,  or  rights  of  the  city,  thus 
obtained — the  object  for  the  most  part  of 
the  dearest  vows  of  the  subjects  of  Rome — 
comprehended,  1.  Absolute  authority  over 
the  wife  and  children,  slaves  and  chattels ; 
2.  A  guarantee  of  personal  liberty,  exemp 
tion  from  stripes,  security  from  capital  punish 
ment,  except  by  the  vote  of  the  people  or 
under  military  authority  in  the  camp ;  3.  The 
suffrage;  4.  Access  to  honors  and  employ 
ments  ;  5.  The  possession  of  Quiritary  pro 
perty,  held  under  Roman  law ;  6.  Immunity 
from  all  the  taxes  and  tributes  imposed  at 
63 


discretion  on  the  subjects  of  the  state.  Such 
was  the  complete  franchise  of  Rome ;  the 
jus  civitatis  optima  jure.  To  the  Italians 
beyond  the  pale  of  the  thirty-five  tribes  some 
portion  of  these  privileges  might  be  accord 
ed  in  various  measure  and  degree.  To  some 
the  Senate  gave  the  right  of  dealing  (com- 
mercium\  to  others  that  of  marriage  (con- 
nubium).  The  cities  of  the  conquered  nations 
were  arranged  in  different  classes,  according 
to  the  favor  in  which  they  were  held  by  the 
conquerors, — 1.  The  municipia  optima  jure, 
or  of  the  first  class,  the  inhabitants  of  which, 
whenever  they  visited  Rome,  were  allowed 
to  exercise  there  the  complete  rights  of  Ro 
man  citizenship ;  2.  The  municipia  without 
franchise,  which  enjoyed  indeed  the  title  and 
burdens  of  citizenship,  such  as  the  service  in 
the  legions,  but  were  debarred  from  the  suf 
frage,  and  from  the  civil  offices  of  the  repub 
lic;  3.  The  cities  which  had*  renounced  their 
ancient  usages  to  embrace  the  lawrs  and  ins 
titutions  of  Rome,  but  yet  were  not  entitled 
to  the  name  of  Roman.  But  below  the  mu 
nicipia  was  yet  another  class  of  prefectures, 
towns  subjected  to  the  government  of  a  Ro 
man  officer  or  prefect,  under  the  forms  of 
Roman  jurisprudence.  These  prefectures 
were  generally  so  classed  by  way  of  precau 
tion  or  punishment.  Such  was  the  state  to 
which  Capua  was  reduced  after  a  revolt  in 
which  she  imprudently  engaged  against  the 
Romans.  Such  were  the  various  grades  of 
subjection  granted  according  to  the  terms  of 
capitulation  in  each  case.  There  was  still  a 
lower  rank  in  the  descending  scale,  that  of 
the  dedititii,  or  people  who  had  been  reduc 
ed  by  the  fortune  of  war  to  unconditional 
submission;  these  were  required  to  deliver 
up  their  arms  together  with  hostages,  to  raze 
their  walls  or  to  receive  a  garrison  within 
them,  to  pay  a  tribute,  and  to  furnish  besides 
a  contingent  to  the  armies  of  the  republic. 

The  allies,  as  they  were  designated,  of  the 
republic  were  a  class  of  states  differing  in 
some  particulars  from  all  these.  They  were 
the  dependents  of  Rome,  but  flattered  them 
selves  that  they  were  not  her  subjects.  The 


498 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


Senate  indulged  them  in  a  delusion  which 
soothed  their  pride,  and  made  them  more 
serviceable  as  auxiliaries  than  they  would 
have  been  as  indignant  bond-servants.  Ta- 
rentum  was  allowed  to  retain  the  name  of  a 
free  state,  though  here  the  Romans  went  so 
far  as  to  level  the  walls  of  the  city  and  es 
tablish  a  garrison  in  its  citadel.  Neapolis 
was  free,  but  required  to  furnish  vessels  for 
the  Roman  marine,  and  contribute  to  the 
pay  of  its  mariners.  The  Camertines  and 
Ileracleotes  were  declared  "  equals "  of 
Rome  (pquo  fo&dere),  on  terms  of  mutual  de 
fence.  Tibur,  Praeneste,  and  most  of  the 
Etruscan  cities,  ranked  in  the  same  class ;  but 
the  Romans  took  care  to  foster  in  all  these 
cities  a  party  of  their  own  friends  and  crea 
tures,  to  mould  the  external  conduct  of  this 
free  state,  and,  if  occasion  required,  to  find 
them  a  pretence  for  interfering  with  its  do 
mestic  affairs.  Such  .vas  the  policy  of  the 
republic  in  its  relations  towards  its  conquer 
ed  enemies.  It  is  characterized  by  a  studied 
absence  of  general  measures,  and  of  unifor 
mity  of  treatment.  It  is  deliberately  framed 
to  maintain  and  intensify  the  actual  diver 
sities  of  nations  and  circumstances.  With 
this  view,  every  possible  hindrance,  often 
amounting  to  specific  prohibition,  is  laid  in 
the  way  of  common  action  among  them,  of 
commerce,  and  even  of  intermarriage.  Gra 
dually,  however,  as  the  power  of  Rome  ex 
tended,  her  jealousy  relaxed,  and  these  dis 
tinctions,  long  maintained,  became  more  and 
more  effaced.  They  subsided  at  last  into 
three  classes  and  conditions  of  rights:  the 
jus  civitatis,  which  conferred  a  share  in  the 
sovereignty ;  the  jus  Latii,  which  gave  access 
or  eligibility  to  the  franchise ;  the  jus  'Itali- 
cum,  of  which  the  burdens  were  greater  and 
the  prerogatives  inferior.  This  graduated 
ecale  of  privilege  continued  to  exist  under 
the  same  name  down  to  a  late  period  in  Ro 
man  history,  and  was  extended  to  the  later 
possessions  of  the  republic,  long  after  the 
obliteration  of  all  political  distinctions  be 
tween  th«  Romans,  the  Latins,  and  the  inha 
bitants  of  the  peninsula  generally. 


Neither  the  interest  the  more  favored  of 
the  Italians  might  be  expected  to  take  in  tho 
Roman  franchise,  to  which  they  were  admit 
ted,  nor  the  gratitude  of  the  rest  for  tho 
remnant  they  were  allowed  to  retain  of  their 
own  nationality,  could  be  regarded  as  suffi 
cient  security  for  their  permanent  submission. 
Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  tho 
peninsula  Rome  established  her  armed  gar 
risons  under  the  form  of  colonies.  In  the 
spot  selected  for  such  a  military  station,  a 
large  portion  of  the  national  territory  was 
confiscated  by  the  conquerors,  and  some 
thousands  of  the  citizens  selected  by  lot,  or 
on  their  own  demand,  to  receive  it  in  full 
possession,  engaging  in  return  to  defend  the 
interests  of  the  republic,  which  were  thus 
identified  with  their  own.  The  administra 
tion  of  the  colony  thus  formed,  and  thus 
strictly  attached  to  the  parent  state,  was  or 
ganized  on  the  model  of  the  city.  The  col 
onists,  as  Roman  citizens,  met  in  their  pub 
lic  assemblies,  and  chose  their  decemvir?  ai>:5 
their  decurions  to  represent  the  consuls  and 
senators.  Their  residence  was  in  every  case 
perhaps,  not  a  new  stronghold  constructed 
for  the  purpose,  but  the  fortified  city  of  some 
conquered  people,  dispossessed  even  of  their 
habitations  to  make  way  for  them.  Such 
cities  were  chosen,  of  course,  for  their  natu 
ral  strength  or  their  commanding  situation. 

To  bind  all  these  places  together,  and 
afford  the  means  of  rapid  transport  for  the 
legions  from  point  to  point,  the  whole  penin 
sula  was  traversed  by  numerous  roads,  gene 
rally  branching  out  from  Rome  to  every  ex 
tremity.  In  the  midst  of  the  great  Samnite 
wars  the  censor  Appius  commenced  the  con 
struction  of  the  Appian  Way,  which  led 
from  Rome  across  the  Pomptine  Marshes  to 
Capua.  From  year  to  year  this  example  was 
followed  by  other  munificent  officers  of  the 
republic;  and  before  the  conclus'on  of  an 
other  century,  the  Valerian  Way  connected 
the  city  with  Corfinium ;  the  Aurelian  coast 
ed  the  shores  of  Etruria;  the  Flaminian 
reached  Ariminum  on  the  frontier  of  the 
Cisalpine,  and  the  JEmilian  prolonged  thia 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


499 


line  as  far  as  Plaeentia,  on  the  Po.  These 
roads  were  "  built,"  according  to  the  phrase 
of  their  constructors,  with  several  layers  of 
concrete  and  masonry,  and  paved  with  solid 
blocks  of  stone  cemented  together,  which  in 
many  places  have  survived  the  revolution  of 
centuries,  and  retain  their  position  at  the 
present  day. 

"  And  what  a  race  of  men  these  new  mas 
ters  of  Italy  were  !  Their  private  virtues  le 
gitimized  their  power ;  and  it  was  in  their 
manners,  not  less  than  in  the  ability  of  their 
Senate,  that  the  secret  of  Home's  greatness 
resided.  These  conquerors  of  Etruria  and 
Tarentum  held  poverty,  discipline,  and  devo 
tion  ever  in  honor,  and  their  patriotism  par 
took  of  a  religious  sentiment.  Three  Decii 
surrendered  their  lives  for  the  Roman  army, 
and  Manlius  immolated  his  son  to  the  genius 
of  discipline.  The  censor  Rutilius,  reelect- 
ed  at  the  expiration  of  his  term  in  265  B.C., 
convokes  the  people,  and  solemnly  rebukes 
its  assembly  for  having  conferred  such  im 
portant  functions  on  the  same  citizens  twice 
in  succession.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  a  Rufinus 
must  be  degraded  from  the  Senate  (275  B.C.) 
notwithstanding  his  two  consulships,  a  dicta 
torship,  and  a  triumph,  for  possessing  ten 
pounds  of  silver  plate,  when  he  was  allowed 
no  more  than  eight  ounces ;  if  the  consul 
Postlmmius  compelled  2,000  legionaries  to 
reap  his  corn  or  to  clear  his  woods  ;  Atilius 
Serranus,  on  the  other,  received  the  consular 
purple  behind  his  plough ;  Regulus,  though 
twice  consul,  possessed  no  more  than  one 
little  field  in  the  ban-en  district  of  Pupinia  ; 
and  Curius,  like  Fabricius  and  yEmilms  Pa- 
pus,  prepared  his  simple  meal  with  his  own 
hands  in  wooden  vessels.  The  same  Curius 
refused  the  gold  of  the  Samnites  ;  Fabricius 
that  of  Pyrrhus ;  and  Cineas,  introduced  in 
to  the  Senate,  imagined  that  he  saw  before 
him  an  assembly  of  kings. 

"  By  their  rigid  virtues  and  austere  man 
ners  the  Romans  of  that  age  deserved  their 
empire :  by  their  discipline  and  their  courage 
they  had  acquired,  by  their  union  they  re 
tained  it.  The  perils  of  the  war  with  Sam- 


nium  had  in  fact  restored  peace  between  the 
two  orders  of  citizens.  Petty  rivalries  had 
been  extinguished  in  the  face  of  the  public 
interest ;  the  emancipation  of  the  plebeians 
had  been  effectually  accomplished ;  and  the 
new  generation  of  patricians,  bred  in  the 
camps,  had  lost  its  bitter  recollection  of  the 
popular  victories.  The  '  new  men '  were 
now  not  less  numerous  in  the  Senate  than 
the  descendants  of  old  curial  families ;  noi 
did  the  services  and  glory  of  Papirius  Cur 
sor,  of  Fabius  Maximus,  of  Appius  Csecus, 
and  Valerius  Corvus,  efface  the  services  and 
the  glory  of  the  three  Decii ;  of  Publilius, 
four  times  consul ;  of  Msenius,  twice  dicta 
tor;  of  Csecilius  Metellus,  who  commenced 
the  illustration  of  the  family  of  which 
Nsevius  was  afterwards  to  declare,  '  the  Me- 
telli  are  born  consuls  at  Rome  ; '  finally,  of 
Curius  Dentatus  and  Fabricius,  plebeians, 
and  not  even  of  Roman  origin  at  all. 

"  There  was  union  because  there  was  equa 
lity  ;  because  an  aristocracy  of  blood  was  no 
longer  recognized,  nor  was  more  honor  paid 
to  that  of  fortune.  At  this  epoch  the  Roman 
constitution  presented  that  safe  combination 
of  royalty,  aristocracy,  and  democracy  which 
Polybius,  Machiavel,  and  Montesquieu  have 
so  much  admired.  The  consulship  gave  it 
unity  in  command,  the  Senate  experience  in 
counsel,  the  people  strength  in  action.  By 
these  three  powers,  mutually  restricting  them 
selves  within  just  limits,  all  the  forces  of  the 
state,  formerly  turned  one  against  another, 
had  found  at  last,  after  a  struggle  of  more 
than  two  centuries,  that  happy  equilibrium 
which  made  them  all  concur,  with  irresistible 
power,  in  working  towards  one  common  end, 
the  greatness  of  the  republic." 

This  glowing  panegyric  on  the  character 
of  the  Roman  people  in  the  best  age  of  the 
free  state  may  be  fairly  deduced  from  the 
histories  of  the  time  which  have  come  down 
to  us.  Doubtless  in  those  histories  much 
allowance  must  be  made  for  a  spirit  of 
exaggeration  and  patriotic  coloring  in  paint 
ing  the  actions  and  principles  of  the  heroes 
of  the  republic.  Nevertheless  there  seems 


500 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WOULD. 


sufficient  reason  for  admitting  the  general 
truthfulness  of  the  accounts  we  have  receiv 
ed  of  this  period,  and  accepting  as  common- 
Iv  authentic  what  professes  to  be  the  history 
of  Rome,  at  least  from  the  time  of  the  wars 
with  Sammum  and  with  Pyrrhus.  It  will 
be  well  to  pause,  then,  at  this  point,  and  in 
dicate  briefly  what  may  have  been  the 
sources  of  Roman  history  at  this  period. 

The  first  writers  of  early  Roman  history 
in  a  connected  form  were  Greeks — such  as 
Diocles  of  Peparethus,  Timoeus,  and  Iliero- 
nymus.  Aristotle  had  already  obtained  a 
glimpse  of  the  rising  republic,  and  had  sig 
nalized  the  taking  of  Rome  by  the  Gauls ; 
but  it  was  not  till  the  Romans  entered  into 
relations  with  Alexander  of  Molossus,  and 
with  Pyrrhus,  that  their  existence  became  a 
matter  of  interest  to  the  people  beyond  the 
Adriatic.  The  first  Greek  writers  on  the 
subject  of  this  Italian  city  would  naturally 
resort  to  the  colonists  of  Magna  Grrecia  for 
such  information  of  their  neighbor  as  they 
could  furnish,  and  this  would  be  derived,  in 
the  first  instance,  from  the  floating  traditions 
which,  during  the  preceding  century,  had 
reached  Xeapolis  or  Tarenlum,  conveyed  by 
,vord  of  mouth,  rather  than  ascertained  from 
the  scanty  writings  and  historical  monuments 
which  might  exist  in  Rome  itself.  Hence, 
no  doubt,  these  original  historians  gave  a 
prominent  place  to  the  stories  which  connect 
ed  Rome  with  Greece — to  the  legends  of 
Evander  and  ./Eneas,  of  recourse  to  the  Del 
phic  oracle,  or  to  the  records  of  Athenian 
legislation,  which  thus  obtained  a  credit  not 
their  due  with  succeeding  inquirers.  It  is 
probable  that  the  writings  of  these  foreigners 
first  excited  the  emulation  of  the  Roman 
annalists,  such  as  Fabius  Pictor  and  Cincius 
Alimentus,  who  began  in  the  sixth  century 
to  construct  a  vernacular  History  of  Rome. 
We  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  historical 
composition  was  an  art  of  native  growth  at 
Rome,  any  more  than  among  other  western 
nations,  all  of  which,  including  the  civilized 
Etruscans  themselves,  seem  to  have  been 
wholly  strangers  to  it.  But  the  Romans, 


when  they  applied  themselves  to  the  art,  had 
access  to  other  sources  than  the  Greeks  who 
preceded  them,  and  could  combine  the  tra 
ditions  and  fabrications  of  the  Greeks  with 
the  meagre  chronicles  and  other  fragmentary 
records  existing  among  them.  Thus  we  know 
that  from  a  very  early  antiquity  the  priests 
had  kept  a  register  of  the  events  in  which 
they  were  themselves  chiefly  interested,  such 
as  omens  and  natural  phenomena,  to  which 
they  attached  a  religious  significance ;  that 
there  were  also  certain  Fasti,  or  lists  of  ma 
gistrates,  dating  from  a  primitive  epoch ;  and 
we  may  surmise  that  here  and  there  a  politi 
cal  incident  was  noted  in  one  or  other  of 
these  journals.  It  is  certain,  moreover,  that 
the  Romans,  with  their  intense  family  feel 
ings,  left  some  private  memorials  of  their 
own  ancestors,  and  refreshed  their  recollec 
tion  of  them  from  time  to  time  by  domestic 
ceremonies  and  funeral  laudations.  The 
highly  romantic  character  of  so  much  of  the 
early  history  may  lead  us  also  to  conjecture 
that  some  popular  traditions  were  preserved 
in  the  form  of  poetry,  though  of  this  we 
have  no  positive  testimony  whatever;  and 
the  inference  is  by  no  means  strong  enough 
to  bear,  in  default  thereof,  the  elaborate  su 
perstructure  built  upon  it  by  Niebuhr  and 
his  followers.  The  notion,  indeed,  so  suddeii- 
ly  enunciated  and  so  hastily  adopted  by  the 
students  of  Roman  history,  that  our  early 
accounts  are  mainly  founded  on  a  defunct 
series  of  ballads  and  epics,  may  be  regarded 
as  already  exploded.  Thus  nmch,  however, 
is  certain,  that  as  far  as  the  memory  of  long 
past  events  was  entrusted  to  a  mere  oral  tra 
dition,  its  preservation  was  in  the  utmost 
degree  precarious ;  while  the  monuments, 
however  scanty,  of  written  history  were  sub 
jected  to  the  sweeping  devastation  of  the 
Gallic  conflagration.  The  Romans  indeed 
pretended  that  the  Capitol  at  least  had  escap 
ed  the  capture  of  the  city ;  but  no  reliance 
can  be  placed  on  their  account  of  the  retreat 
and  discomfiture  of  the  Gauls  ;  and  there  is 
good  reason  to  suppose  that  their  city,  fortress 
and  all,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  destroyers. 


HISTOEY    OF    THE    WOULD. 


501 


Very  few,  therefore,  of  their  records  can  be 
supposed  to  have  escaped ;  it  may  be  doubt 
ed  whether  the  two  or  three  documents  of  a 
previous  period,  which  Polybius  or  Pliny  be 
lieved  they  had  actually  seen  in  their  own 
time,  were  genuine  tnonumerrts  of  the  age  to 
which  they  were  presumed  to  belong.  That 
from  that  period  a  systematic  fabrication 
commenced  of  records  pretending  to  an  an 
terior  date  may  easily  be  believed ;  and  it  is 
from  such  fabrications,  grounded  more  or 
less  upon  current  traditions,  that  the  first 
annalists  of  Rome,  both  Greek  and  Roman, 
drew,  it  may  be  presumed,  a  great  part  of 
their  materials.  We  see,  then,  that,  down 
to  the  period  of  the  Gallic  war,  there  is  no 
firm  ground  for  the  historian  cf  Rome.  The 
events  recorded  he  must  suspect  of  being 
pure  inventions ;  in  the  pretended  progress 
of  the  constitution  he  will  trace  only  a  con 
fused  attempt  to  account  for  political  ar 
rangements  existing  at  a  later  period.  But  in 
the  sources  of  history  posterior  to  the  great 
conflagration  a  great  change  becomes  appar 
ent.  Whatever  the  value  of  contemporary  rec 
ords  may  have  been,  however  much  they  may 
have  been  embellished  and  falsified  by  fam 
ily  or  national  pride,  we  may  be  sure  at  least 
that  they  once  actually  existed,  and  continu 
ed  no  doubt  to  exist  for  centuries.  The  first 
annalists  had  materials  for  history,  were  they 
but  endowed  with  discretion  to  sift  and  read 
them  rightly.  It  is  not  to  be  expected,  in 
deed,  that  in  a  rude  uncritical  age  these  ma 
terials  were  carefully  handled ;  and  still,  at 
least  to  the  time  of  Pyrrus,  and  perhaps  for 
one  generation  later,  many  evident  falsifica 
tions  of  history  are  apparent.  But  from  the 
commencement  of  the  sixth  century  we  may 
be  sure  that  the  memory  of  events  wTas  sufii- 
ciently  recent  to  secure  the  first  writers  of 
Roman  history  from  material  error  regarding 
them.  We  may  proceed,  therefore,  from 
this  point,  without  misgiving,  to  follow  the 
lines  they  have  traced  for  us. 

While  Rome  was  completing  the  reduction 
of  Italy,  the  republic  of  Carthage,  on  the  op 
posite  coast  of  Africa,  was  rivalling  her  con 


quests  in  the  islands  of  the  western  Mediter 
ranean.  The  Greek  colonies  in  Sicily  had 
fallen  under  her  dominion,  as  well  as  the 
barbarous  tribes  of  Sardinia.  On  the  extinc 
tion  of  the  Grecian  power  in  this  quarter,  the 
two  rivals  were  about  to  come  into  serious 
collision.  The  Carthaginians  were  preparing 
to  seize  the  ^Eolian  Islands,  barren  rocks  in 
deed,  but  almost  within  sight  of  Naples  and 
the  Campanian  coast.  Still,  however,  a  sin 
gle  stronghold  withstood  them  in  Sicily, 
from  whence  the  Romans  might  hope  to 
make  good  a  footing  in  that  important  island, 
and  check  their  advance  beyond  it.  Messana 
was  occupied  by  a  band  of  buccaneering  ad 
venturers,  who  had  recently  overthrown  the 
government,  and  expelled  or  subjugated  the 
inhabitants,  but  now,  pressed  hard  by  the 
Carthaginian  power,  presumed  to  solicit  as 
sistance  from  the  legitimate  government  of 
Rome.  To  render  such  assistance  was  con 
trary  to  the  principles  of  international  law, 
even  as  then  understood ;  the  Romans,  more 
over,  had  just  before  visited  a  similar  act  of 
lawlessness  with  the  severest  punishment. 
Now,  however,  self-interest  prevailed,  and  it 
was  determined  to  use  the  opportunity  for 
establishing  a  Roman  force  in  Sicily. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  first  Punic  wai, 
which  commenced  in  the  year  490  (B.  c.  204), 
and  lasted  without  intermission  for  twenty- 
two  years.  The  great  object  of  the  Romans 
was  to  gain  possession  of  Sicily,  a  rich  and 
fertile  country,  and  of  special  importance  to 
them,  from  the  abundance  of  corn  which  it 
was  fitted  to  produce  ;  for  Rome  had  already 
become  dependent  in  some  degree  on  foreign 
importation  for  the  supply  of  a  population 
withdrawn  from  the  pursuits  of  agriculture, 
and  engaged  perpetually  in  the  barren  exer 
cise  of  arms.  The  Strait  of  Messana  is  only 
three  miles  in  width,  and  dhough  watched  by 
the  naval  forces  of 'the  great  maritime  repub 
lic,  the  Romans  had  little  difficulty  in  throw 
ing  re-mforcements  across  it:  nevertheless, 
they  soon  found  it  essential  to  their  views  to 
contend  with  the  Carthaginians  for  the  do 
minion  of  the  seas.  At  first  they  were 


502 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


obliged  to  build  their  ships  of  war  from  the 
model  of  an  enemy's  vessel,  cast  accidentally 
on  their  coasts ;  but  this  ignorance  of  naval 
architecture  was  the  least  of  their  disadvan 
tages  in  commencing  the  struggle ;  for  they 
had  no  experience  of  naval  tactics,  nor  even 
of  navigation.  Nevertheless  they  exerted 
themselves  with  their  usual  energy,  construct 
ed  a  numerous  fleet,  manned  it  by  a  conscrip 
tion  of  the  lowest  class  of  citizens,  such  as 
was  not  admitted  to  serve  in  the  legions,  and 
fought  their  ships  with  crews  of  mere  lands 
men,  aiming  rather  at  grappling  and  board 
ing  the  enemy,  than  at  mano3uvring  against 
him,  and  sinking  him  with  the  stroke  of  the 
beak.  They  succeeded  almost  from  the  first, 
though  not  without  many  reverses,  some 
times  from  storms,  sometimes  from  the  great 
er  skill  of  the  Carthaginians,  in  keeping  the 
sea  at  least  on  terms  of  equality. 

In  the  year  498  (B.  c.  256)  they  had  so 
far  gained  the  ascendancy  as  to  be  able  to 
land  a  large  army,  under  the  consul  Regu- 
lus,  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  with  which  they 
ravaged  the  country,  and  approached  to 
the  walls  of  the  capital.  But  the  Carthagi 
nians,  putting  forth  all  their  power,  here  in 
flicted  on  them  a  decisive  defeat,  making 
Regulus  prisoner,  and  suffering  a  small  rem 
nant  only  to  make  good  its  return  to  Italy. 
Regulus,  we  are  told,  was  afterwards  sent  to 
Rome  on  parole,  to  negotiate  peace.  He 
dissuaded  his  countrymen  from  yielding  to 
dishonorable  terms,  and  returned  to  his  cap 
tors,  to  be  put  to  death,  according  to  the 
popular  story,  with  tortures,  but  as  the  later 
Romans  themselves  allowed,  to  live  some 
years  in  custody,  and  eventually  to  die  a 
natural  death.  War  was  again  renewed,  and 
continued  with  alternate  successes;  the  re 
duction  of  Panormus  by  the  Romans  (A.  u. 
500,  B.  c.  254),  the  defeat  of  their  fleet  at 
Drepanum  (505,  249),  the  loss  of  another 
armament  by  tempest  at  Camarina,  and  the 
final  victory  at  sea  off  the  islands  Agates 
(513,  241).  It  was  terminated  at  last  by  the 
exhaustion  of  the  Carthaginians,  who  were 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  purchasing  peace 


by  the  cession  of  all  their  claims  on  Sicily 

•/ 

and  the  ^Eolian  islands. 

The  Carthaginians  now  turned  their  at 
tention  to  Spain,  where  they  raised  in  a  few 
years  a  new  empire,  which  more  than  bal 
anced  the  loss 'of  Sicily,  as  well  as  that  of 
Sardinia,  which  revolted  from  them,  and  fell, 
as  did  also  Corsica,  not  long  afterwards,  un 
der  the  power  of  the  Romans.  These  great 
rivals  remained  at  peace  with  one  another 
for  more  than  thirty  years ;  but  while  the 
Carthaginians  were  acquiring  the  gold  mines 
of  Spain,  and  recruiting  their  armies  with  its 
hardy  infantry,  the  Romans  were  making 
great  advances  in  internal  resources,  and 
pushing  their  conquests  at  the  same  time  in 
other  quarters.  In  525  they  crossed  the  Ad 
riatic,  and  made  successful  incursions  into 
Illyria.  The  following  year  was  distinguished 
by  an  embassy  from  Rome  to  Greece,  where 
the  Corinthians  allowed  the  envoys  of  the 
formidable  "  strangers"  to  take  part  in  the 
Isthmian  games.  About  this  period,  how 
ever,  we  read  of  a  threatened  invasion  of 
Gauls.  The  city  was  struck  with  panic.  The 
priests  required  that  two  men  of  that  nation 
should  be  buried  alive,  as  a  sacrifice,  in  the 
Forum.  A  state  of  "  tumult"  was  declared, 
and  the  whole  body  of  the  citizens  raised  and 
armed  for  the  defence  of  their  country.  The 
consul  yEmiliu3  went  forth  at  the  head  of  the 
legions,  and  confronted  the  assailants  in  the 

O  " 

valley  of  the  Po,  where  he  gained  a  great 
victory  over  them,  and  received  the  honors 
of  a  triumph.  In  another  battle  the  Roman 
leader  Marcellus  slew,  in  a  personal  combat, 
the  king  of  the  Gauls,  Viridumarus,  and  bore 
his  arms,  the  "  spolia  opima,"  to  the  Capitol. 
This  eminent  reward  of  prowess  had  been 
won  but  twice  before  by  Romulus  and  1  ul- 
lus  Hostilius ;  nor  was  it  ever  gained  bv  a 
Roman  captain  again.  The  conquest  of  the 
Cisalpine  and  of  the  Istrian  peninsula  fol 
lowed  upon  this  repulse  of  the  Transalpine 
barbarians.  Meanwhile  the  Carthaginians 
were  advancing  to  the  entire  dominion  of 
Spain.  Their  politic  chief,  Ilamilcar  Bar- 
cas,  was  succeeded  in  his  command  there  bj 


HISTOEY  OF  THE   WORLD. 


503 


his  son  Hannibal,  "\fiom  he  had  sworn  in 
childhood  to  eternal  enmity  against  Home ; 
and  this  enmity  the  young  captain  was  now 
about  to  gratify,  having  persuaded  his  gov 
ernment  to  let  him  lead  all  the  forces  of  the 
province  against  Italy,  cross  the  Pyrenees, 
traverse  the  friendly  regions  of  southern 
Gaul,  and  descend  from  the  Alps  among  the 
newly-conquered  subjects  of  Rome,  whom  he 
expected  to  unite  in  a  mighty  league  against 
their  enemies  and  his  own. 

The  second  Punic  war  commenced  in  536 
(B.  c.  218)  with  the  destruction  of  Saguntum 
by  the  Carthaginians,  in  defiance  of  the  Ro 
man  remonstrances.  Spain  was  now  suffi 
ciently  reduced  to  form  the  basis  of  Hanni 
bal's  proposed  operations.  Assembling  an 
army  of  82,000  foot  and  12,000  horse,  he 
commenced  his  march.  This  large  force, 
however,  was  very  considerably  reduced  by 
the  fatigues  of  the  march,  and  by  the  garri 
sons  it  was  necessary  to  leave  behind  to  se 
cure  communications  through  so  long  a  route. 
Hannibal  crossed  the  Rhone  with  little  more 
than  50,000  men.  His  easiest  and  directest 
route  into  Italy  lay  by  coast  line,  turning  the 
lowest  spur  of  the  Maritime  Alps  ;  but  this 
road  was  watched  by  the  Roman  general 
Scipio,  and  the  Ligurians,  into  whose  terri 
tory  it  would  have  led  him,  were  less  likely 
to  receive  him  as  a  deliverer  than  the  Gaul 
ish  tribes,  such  as  the  Boii  and  Insubres,  who 
lay  among  the  valleys  of  the  Graian  Alps, 
further  to  the  north.  Hannibal  determined 
to  hazard  two  steps,  both  equally  bold.  He 
allowed  Scipio's  army  to  land  on  his  flank, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Rhone,  and  occupy  the 
tracts  which  he  was  about  to  leave  behind 
him ;  then  taking  the  line  of  the  Isere,  he 
ventured  to  climb  the  almost  inaccessible 
pass  .of  the  Little  St.  Bernard,  in  the  middle 
of  October,  with  his  large  force  of  men, 
horses,  and  elephants.  He  had  not  even  as- 
Bured  himself  of  the  co-operation  of  the  rude 
mountaineers,  who  harassed  and  attacked 
him  on  his  march,  and  caused  him  both  losses 
and  delay.  Indeed  that  perilous  enterprise, 
which  we  must  suppose  he  undertook  after 


due  calculation,  as  the  only  means  of  accom 
plishing  his  purpose,  and  launching  a  Cartha 
ginian  army  into  the  bosom  of  a  discontented 
population,  cost  him  more  than  half  the  force 
with  which  he  had  crossed  the  Rhone ;  and 
when  after  pausing  at  the  summit  of  the  pass, 
and  encouraging  his  followers  by  showing  to 
them  the  land  of  promise,  he  descended  into 
the  valley  of  the  Po,  he  could  muster  no 
more  than  20,000  foot  and  6000  cavalry. 
Nor  did  the  Gauls  in  these  parts  manifest  at 
first  any  ardor  in  his  behalf.  It  was  not  till 
he  had  gained  some  notable  successes  at  the 
passage  of  Ticinus  and  the  Trebia  that  they 
began  to  throw  themselv-es  vehemently  into 
his  cause.  But  now  his  numbers  rapidly 
swelled,  and  while  the  Romans,  disconcerted 
by  their  first  disasters,  were  recruiting  their 
broken  legions,  he  crossed  the  Apennines 
with  a  force  of  50,000  men.  Again  the  pas 
sage  of  the  marshes  of  the  Upper  Arnus  cost 
him  a  large  portion  of  his  troops,  and  he  suf 
fered  himself  the  loss  of  an  eye  by  fever. 
These  troubles,  however,  were  repaid  by  the 
great  victory  of  the  Lake  Thrasymenus, 
where  the  consul  Flaminius,  rashly  meeting 
him,  was  overthrown  with  immense  loss,  and 
slain.  From  Thrasymenus  to  Rome  was  no 
more  than  one  hundred  miles  ;  nor  was  there 
any  army  to  cover  the  city,  for  the  other 
consul  had  posted  himself  with  his  legions  at 
Ariminum,  to  guard  the  approach  from  the 
east.  Hannibal  had  boldly  out-flanked  two 
armies,  and  beaten  a  third ;  but  with  all  his 
boldness,  he  hesitated  to  strike  at  the  ene 
my's  centre,  while  leaving  such  forces  in  his 
rear.  His  intrigues  with  the  tTmbrians,  the 
Etrurians,  and  other  people  of  central  Italy, 
had  been  unsuccessful.  The  country  was 
generally  animated  with  a  national  spirit  of 
jealousy  towards  the  foreigner.  He  turned 
aside  to  the  left,  and  re-crossed  the  Apen 
nines  into  Picenum ;  thence  he  directed  his 
course  towards  the  Grecian  colonies  in  the 
south-east  of  the  peninsula.  Meanwhile  the 
gravity  of  their  danger  had  excited  the  pa 
triotism  of  the  Romans  to  the  highest  pitch. 
Yast  exertions  were  made;  another  army 


604 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


was  raised  ;  and  Fabius  Maxinms,  the  chief 
of  the  nobles,  led  it,  as  dictator,  in  quest  of 
the  enemy,  who  had  descended  along  the 
coast  of  the  Adriatic  into  Apulia.  Here,  too, 
where  Hannibal  had  had  better  hopes,  the 
population  showed  itself  indifferent,  if  not 
hostile,  to  its  deliverers.  The  Carthaginian 
•was  anxious  to  stake  his  fortunes  on  a  battle ; 
but  Fabius  knew  the  value  of  delay,  and  re 
fused  to  allow  his  raw  recruits  to  engage  with 
the  despair  of  sturdy  veterans  and  an  able 
general.  Thus  matters  stood  for  some  time ; 
the  condition  of  the  invader  becoming  daily 
more  precarious,  when  Terentius  Varro,  now 
consul,  and  enjoying  command  every  alter 
nate  day,  yielded  to  his  own  and  his  men's 
impatience,  and  engaged  the  enemy  in  the 
pitched  battle  of  Canute.  This  was  noted  as 
the  most  disastrous  defeat  the  Romans  ever 
sustained.  JSmilins,  the  other  consul,  and 
45,000  of  their  soldiers  were  slain,  and  Han 
nibal  sent  to  Carthage  a  bushel  of  golden 
rings  taken  from  the  persons  of  the  knights 
who  had  fallen.  It  was  only  the  extreme 
debility  of  the  victor,  even  after  this  victory, 
that  gave  Rome  a  breathing-time,  and  the 
devotion  of  the  citizens  would  not  suffer  them 
to  despair  of  the  commonwealth  in  the  hour 
of  her  greatest  humiliation.  Hannibal  was 
admitted  into  Capua  ;  but  this  was  almost 
the  only  fruit  of  his  triumph;  and  the  allure 
ments  of  tin's  luxurious  retreat  were  more 
fatal  to  the  discipline  of  his  army,  and  to  his 
own  reputation,  than  even  a  defeat. 

Hannibal  now  urged  his  government  to 
send  him  re-inforcements ;  but  a  rival 
faction  predominated  in  the  Carthaginian 
Senate,  and  caused  the  resources  of  the 
country  to  be  diverted  to  Spain  ;  indeed,  he 
possessed  no  port  on  the  coast  of  Italy  at 
which  an  army  could  have  made  good  its 
landing.  The  Roman  forces  grew,  in  the 
language  of  the  poet,  from  defeat,  as  the 
branches  of  the  ilex  under  the  pruning- 
knife.  Numerous  fleets  and  armies  were 
speedily  arrayed,  and  Hannibal  found  him 
self  surrounded  in  Capua  by  220,000  men 
in  arms.  During  the  following  years  he 


was  occupied  painfully,  and  with  little  suc 
cess,  in  the  siege  of  the  strong  places  around 
him,  while  Fabius  gained  the  title  of  Cunc- 
tator  ("  The  Delayer "),  from  the  cautious 
tactics  with  which  he  shunned  encountering 
him  in  the  field.  At  last  Hannibal  was 
obliged  to  make  his  escape  from  the  toils 
which  were  closing  around  him  by  a  rapid 
retreat  into  Apulia,  leaving  Capua  to  the 
vengeance  of  the  Romans,  who  treated  it  aa 
a  revolted  dependency.  When  it  surren 
dered,  after  a  long  blockade,  seventy  of  it  a 
senators  were  scourged  to  death,  three  hun 
dred  nobles  thrown  into  chains,  and  the 
whole  population  sold  as  slaves.  Such  was 
a  sample  of  the  policy  of  the  republic  to 
wards  a  people  whom,  on  the  principles  of 
national  law  then  recognized,  it  might  justly 
regard  as  rebels. 

Disastrous,  however,  as  Hannibal's  affairs 
in  Italy  now  were,  he  was  able  to  get  some 
respite  by  the  diversions  his  intrigues  effect 
ed  in  other  quarters.  The  Romans  were 
obliged  to  send  Marcellus  with  a  powerful 
fleet  to  chastise  the  defection  of  Syracuse, 
which  was  only  taken  after  a  long  siege, 
rendered  memorable  by  the  ingenuity  em 
ployed  in  its  defence  by  the  mathematician 
Archimedes.  Marcellus  himself  fell  soon 
afterwards  into  an  ambuscade  in  Apulia. 
Scipio,  who  had  conducted  several  campaigns 
in  Spain,  allowed  Hasdrubal,  the  brother  of 
Hannibal,  to  escape  him,  and  cross  the  Alps 
with  a  large  re-inforcement.  Hannibal  col 
lected  all  his  resources  to  effect  a  junction 
with  this  powerful  auxiliary.  Rome  put 
forth  her  full  strength  to  encounter  the 
double  danger.  Livius  confronted  Ilasdru- 
bal  in  Umbria,  while  Claudius  Nero  encamp 
ed  before  Hannibal.  But  Nero,  with  happy 
temerity,  broke  up  from  his  quarters  with  a 
picked  division  of  his  troops,  and  joining 
Livius,  surprised  Hasdrubal  on  the  River 
Metaurus.  The  united  forces  of  the  Romans 
obtained  a  complete  victory ;  and  Hannibal 
was  first  made  aware  of  this  terrible  dis 
aster  by  receiving  the  head  of  his  brother 
thrown  exultingly  into  his  camp. 


HISTOKT  OF  THE  WOULD. 


505 


The  Romans,  notwithstanding  the  occupa 
tion  of  so  large  a  part  of  their  own  territo 
ries  by  a  hostile  force,  had  continued  to 
maintain  an  army  in  Spain,  and  persisted  in 
the  task  of  wresting  that  important  province 
from  Carthage.  In  the  course  of  this  war  two 
Scipios  perished  ;  but  a  third,  the  most  dis 
tinguished  of  this  illustrious  house,  known 
afterwards  as  the  elder  Africanus,  complet 
ed  the  conquest,  and,  flushed  with  victory, 
urged  the  Senate  to  transfer  the  contest  to 
Africa  itself.  This  bold  manoeuvre  was  op 
posed  by  the  cautious  Fabius,  but  the  en 
thusiasm  of  Scipio  prevailed ;  and  when  a 
Roman  army  was  landed  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Carthage,  the  enemy  were  compell 
ed  to  recall  Hannibal  for  the  defence  of 
their  own  homes.  Hannibal  effected  his 
retreat,  quitting  Italy  after  an  occupation  of 
fifteen  years  ;  but  it  was  only  to  encounter  a 
general  of  equal  skill,  and  an  army  not  less 
trained  to  conquer  than  his  own,  and  to  suf 
fer  the  decisive  overthrow  at  Zama,  which 
laid  his  country  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  the 
Romans.  Carthage  sued  for  peace,  but  was 
required  to  surrender  all  her  remaining  pos 
sessions  except  the  district  immediately  ad 
jacent,  together  with  her  ships,  her  elephants 
and  her  treasure.  She  still  retained  her 
brave  commander  Hannibal,  and  allowed 
him  to  take  the  lead  in  her  councils,  in 
which  he  was  still  animated  by  the  same 
hatred  of  the  Romans  and  zeal  for  the  ad 
vancement  of  his  country's  interests.  The 
Romans  watched  his  proceedings  with  jeal 
ousy,  arid  he  was  soon  obliged  to  flee  to  the 
distant  court  of  Syria,  lest  they  should  in 
sist  on  his  being  delivered  up  to  them.  The 
second  Punic  war,  thus  brought  to  a  tri 
umphant  close,  was  the  most  important 
struggle  in  which  Rome  was  ever  engaged 
— one  of  the  most  important  perhaps  in  the 
history  of  the  human  race ;  the  event  of 
which,  instead  of  crushing  the  rising  for 
tunes  of  the  republic,  established  her  in  the 
secure  enjoyment  of  the  greatest  power  in 
the  civilized  world,  and  w^as  the  harbinger 
of  the  rapid  succession  of  triumphs  which 
64 


made  her,  in  the  course  of  another  century 
and  a  half,  mistress  of  the  fairest  regions  of 
Europe,  Africa  and  Asia. 

Already,  during  the  occupation  of  southern 
Italy  by  Hannibal,  the  Romans  had  been 
taught  to  regard  the  King  of  Macedonia  as 
an  enemy,  who  watched  every  opportunity 
to  crush  them,  and  whose  blow  they  irust 
not  hesitate  to  anticipate.  The  overthrow 
of  Carthage  had  hardly  been  accomplished 
when  the  Senate  insisted  on  declaring  war 
against  this  distant  intriguer,  and  urged  the 
reluctant  commons  of  the  city  to  pour  forth 
their  blood  and  treasure  again  without  a 
moment's  respite.  At  this  period,  indeed, 
and  for  many  years  afterwards,  Rome  acted 
like  the  spendthrift  who  squanders  his  capi 
tal  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  hour.  The 
blood  of  Rome  and  Italy  was  lavished  with 
out  stint,  and  the  Senate,  in  its  selfishness 
and  short-sightedness,  was  center  t  to  receive 
in  its  stead  a  constant  influx  of  foreigners 
and  barbarians,  captured  in  war  or  purchased 
in  the  slave-market,  and  condemned  to  cul 
tivate  its  fields  in  chains.  The  fatal  result 
of  this  policy  will  be  soon  exhibited ;  at 
this  era  it  was  not  foreseen,  or  was  reck 
lessly  disregarded.  The  cries  of  the 
Achasans  for  protection  against  Philip  were 
eagerly  listened  to,  and  an  army  was  sent  to 
rescue  the  feeble  remains  of  Grecian  liberty, 
as  it  styled  itself,  from  the  menace  of  a 
second  Macedonian  conquest.  The  teeming 
population  of  the  Hellenic  peninsula,  which 
had  formerly  been  maintained  by  the  com 
merce  of  the  world,  had  found  vent,  during 
the  last  century  of  decay  and  impoverish 
ment,  in  a  constant  stream  of  emigration  to 
Asia  and  Africa.  As  colonists,  as  traders, 
as  mercenary  soldiers,  the  Greeks  were  scat 
tered  through  both  continents  ;  but  Greece 
herself  had  begun  to  experience  a  rapidly- 
increasing  depopulation,  and  her  military 
force  and  military  spirit  had  sunk  to  a  very 
low  ebb.  Sparta,  indeed,  made  an  attempt 
to  revive  the  warlike  institutions  of  Lycurgus ; 
and  Philopoemen,  the  general  of  the  League, 
displayed  many  of  the  highest  qualities  of 


BOG 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


his  noble  race  ;  but  tl.3  nation  was  quite 
unable  to  defend  itself  against  the  enemy, 
who  had  planted  himself  in  so  many  impor 
tant  positions  within  its  territory.  The  aid, 
however,  of  two  Roman  legions,  backed  by 
the  alliance  of  ^Etolia,  sufficed  to  drive 
Philip  within  his  proper  frontiers ;  and 
though  one  Roman  army  was  ignominiously 
defeated,  Flaminiua'  with  a  second  routed 
the  Macedonian  phalanx  at  Cynoscephalae, 
and  established  the  superiority  of  the  Ro 
man  tactics.  The  consul  proclaimed  the 
restoration  of  Grecian  independence,  pre 
sided  in  person  at  the  Isthmian  games,  and 
declared  that  the  Romans  themselves  were 
descended  from  _<Eneas.  The  Greeks  in  re 
turn  dedicated  their  offerings  to  "  Titus  and 
Hercules,"  to  "  Titus  and  Apollo." 

Though  the  Romans  were  thus  moderate 

P5 

in  their  conduct  towards  Greece,  they  took 
care  to  establish  such  a  balance  of  power 
between  the  JEtolians,  the  Achxans  and 
Kabis  the  tyrant  of  Sparta,  as  would  secure 
a  perpetual  recurrence  of  strife  among  them, 
and  require  their  own  intervention  in  due 
season.  But  their  policy  was  furthered  by 
a  movement  from  without.  Hannibal,  whom 
they  had  demanded  from  Carthage,  had 
taken  refuge  with  Antiochus,  King  of  Syria, 
and  was  urging  his  patron  to  send  him  with 
an  army  into  Italy.  Antiochus,  shrinking 
from  such  a  hazard,  ventured  to  confront 
the  Romans  in  Greece,  incited  thereto  by 
the  ^Etoliaihs  ;  but  both  he  and  his  new 
allies  were  easily  routed.  In  5C2  (B.C.  129) 
the  Romans  gained  a  complete  victory  over 
him  at  Thermopylae ;  he  was  driven  back 
from  Europe,  and  compelled  to  take  what 
measures  he  could  for  closing  the  continent 
of  Asia  against  the  triumphant  advance  of 
the  legions.  The  Romans,  however,  secur 
ed  the  alliance  of  Macedon,  Rhodes  and 
Pergamus,  and  obtained  the  necessary  means 
of  transport.  In  564  they  sot  foot  for  the 
first  time  in  Asia,  and  after  a  short  cam 
paign  engaged  the  enemy  at  Magnesia,  de 
feating  him,  according  to  their  own  account, 
with  unparalleled  disproportion  of  loss,  and 


reducing  him  at  one  blow  to  terms  the  most 
humiliating.  Antiochus  consented  to  re 
linquish  almost  all  his  possessions  in  Asia 
Minor,  together  with  his  elephants  and 
15,000  talents  in  money.  Here,  as  in 
Greece,  the  republic,  unprepared  to  occupy 
the  vast  regions  it  had  so  suddenly  conquer 
ed,  abstained  from  all  territorial  annexation, 
and  contented  itself  with  dividing  the  coun 
try  between  its  faithful  allies.  In  the  heart 
of  Asia  Minor  Rome  encountered  again  her 
ancient  enemies  the  Gauls.  Upon  these 
people  she  made  war  separately,  and  re 
duced  them  to  dependence  upon  Eumenes, 
King  of  Pergamus  and  Phrygia. 

The  desultory  and  occasional  relations 
which  Rome  had  hitherto  entertained  with 
Greece  became  now  constant,  and  rapidly 
increased  in  closeness  and  mutual  influence. 
This  influence  is  conspicuously  apparent  in 
the  shape  which  the  old  mythology  of  Italy 
began  now  to  assume,  in  the  disappearance 
of  many  ancient  national  divinities,  and  the 
introduction  of  Greek  deities  in  their  place. 
The  Sabine  names  of  Consus,  Lunus,  Juturna, 
Feronia,  and  others,  are  lost  altogether,  or 
merged  in  those  of  foreign  divinities,  whose 
attributes  are  supposed  to  resemble  their 
Apollo,  first  honored  with  a  temple  at  Rome, 
A.U.  324,  advances  in  estimation  among  the 
citizens,  and  obtains  the  distinction  of  public 
games  in  542.  ./Esculapius  is  evoked  from 
Epidaurus  by  a  decree  of  the  Senate  in  403. 
Cybele,  or  as  the  Romans  call  her,  Bona  Dea, 
is  invited  to  Rome  in  547.  The  introduction 
of  the  Bacchanalia,  or  mysteries  of  the  Gre 
cian  Bacchus,  caused  so  much  disturbance  or 
jealousy  that  the  Senate  in  5G8  issued  a  de 
cree  for  their  suppression  in  Rome  and  Italy. 
But  the  sceptical  pliilosophy  of  Greece  fol 
lowed  quickly  in  the  train  of  her  religious 
ceremonies.  The  poet  Ennius  introduced 
the  rational  explanations  of  ancient  belief 
recommended  to  his  lountrynicn  by  the 
Greek  Euemerus ;  and  from  rationalism  the 
step  was  easy  to  doubt,  and  finally  to  disbe 
lief.  The  magistrates  of  Rome  maintained 
the  ceremonial  of  processions,  sacrifices,  and 


HISTOKT   OF    THE  WOELD 


507 


auguries,  as  an  engine  of  state  policy,  but 
the  higher  classes  almost  wholly  renounced 
their  fathers'  faith  in  them,  and  had  little 
scruple  in  openly  deriding  them.  From  the 
time,  indeed,  that  the  plebeians  had  been 
admitted  to  the  priesthoods  and  augurships, 
the  nobility  of  Rome  had  slackened  in  their 
zeal  for  the  maintenance  of  the  old  traditions. 
The  Potitii  abandoned  to  their  slaves  the 
cult  of  their  patron  Hercules.  Marcellus 
threw  into  the  sea  the  sacred  fowls  which  re 
fused  to  present  a  favorable  omen.  The 
common  sceptical  disposition  of  the  day  is  re 
presented  by  the  expression  of  Ennins  :  "  If 
there  are  gods,  at  least  they  do  not  trouble 
themselves  with  the  care  of  human  affairs." 

At  this  period  the  Roman  nobles  began 
to  make  use  of  the  Greek  language,  and  got 
themselves  instructed  in  it  by  slaves  or  clients 
of  Greek  extraction.  They  employed  Greek 
writers  to  compose  their  history  for  them. 
Diodes  of  Peparethus,  as  has  been  said,  was 
the  first  who  composed  a  narrative  of  the 
foundation  of  the  city.  The  freedmen,  to 
whom  the  task  was  now  naturally  assigned 
of  celebrating  the  exploits  of  their  patrons' 
families,  were  doubtless  prompt  in  embellish 
ing  them.  Hence  we  may  ascribe  to  this 
period  the  rage  for  discovering  a  Grecian 
extraction,  or  a  Trojan,  which  was  considered 
equally  honorable,  for  the  Roman  gentes. 
yEneas  and  Hercules,  with  their  sons  and 
comrades,  were  made  to  serve  as  founders 
for  many  patrician  houses.  As  soon  as  the 
Romans  set  foot  in  Phrygia,  they  recognized 
their  pretended  connection  with  the  restored 
city  of  Ilium.  The  Scipios  and  other  mag 
nates  paid  court  to  Grecian  poets  and  his 
torians,  and  received  the  incense  of  flattery 
in  return.  Ennius,  the  first  of  the  Roman 
poets,  a  native  of  Calabria,  who  pretended 
himself  to  a  Greciar  origin,  and  was  equally 
versed  in  the  Greek  and  the  Latin  tongues,  in 
troduced  the  works  of  Homer  to  the  Italians 
by  imitation  and  translation,  and  was  long 
held  by  his  grateful  countrymen  as  a  worthy 
rival  of  the  father  of  epic  verse.  Instruction 
in  the  Greek  language  and  literature  became, 


under  the  name  of  Grammar,  the  most  essen 
tial  part  of  a  liberal  education,  and  every 
Roman  mansion  had  its  Grecian  pedagogue 
to  train  the  children  of  the  family  in  this 
necessary  lore;  The  Greek  women,  fascinat 
ing  and  accomplished,  completed  the  subju 
gation  of  the  Roman  conquerors.  The  rough 
and  homely  matrons  of  Sabellia  could  no 
longer  retain  the  hearts  of  their  spouses,  en 
snared  by  the  wiles  of  these  foreign  slaves 
and  mistresses.  The  injured  women  were 
not  slow  in  avenging  themselves.  The  first 
divorce  at  Rome  had  taken  place  in  the  year 
520.  About  half  a  century  later,  in  586,  oc 
curred  the  scandal  of  the  Bacchanalian 
mysteries,  at  which  many  hundreds  of  Ro 
man  matrons  were  found  to  have  devoted 
themselves  to  orgies  of  the  most  fearful  li 
centiousness. 

If  we  take  a  further  glance  at  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Romans  at  this  period, 
we  may  observe  how  the  life  of  the  city  be 
comes  distinguished  from  that  of  the  country, 
and  that  of  the  Campanian  baths  or  watering- 
places,  from  both  or  either.  The  first  was 
the  life  of  the  Forum  and  the  temples ;  the 
stated  performance  of  civil  and  religious 
acts ;  the  holding  of  levees  of  freedmen  in 
the  mornings ;  giving  of  legal  opinions  to 
friends  and  clients;  public  business  in  the 
Forum  or  Senate-house  towards  noon ;  pre 
paration  for  public  speaking  with  hired  rhe 
toricians  ;  retirement  for  sleep  at  mid-day ; 
the  exercises  of  the  Campus  Martius,  swim 
ming,  wrestling,  and  fencing,  in  the  after 
noon;  the  supper,  diversified  with  singing 
and  buffoonery  ;  and  so  to  bed  at  sundown. 
In  the  country  there  was  the  superintendence 
of  the  farm  and  household  ;  hunting,  fishing, 
and  other  field-sports;  the  employment  of 
leisure  hours  in  reading,  writing,  or  dictating, 
generally  on  a  couch  or  even  in  bed ;  sleep 
ing  much  in  the  day,  but  watching  with 
the  dawn  of  morning.  At  the  baths  there 
was  a  complete  holiday  from  all  duties,  pub 
lic  or  domestic ;  throwing  off  the  to^a,  o-oing 

O  O       7     O  O 

barefoot,  and  lightly  clad  in  a  Greek  dress- 
ing-gown  ;  lounging  through  the  day,  gossip- 


608 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


ing  with  idle  acquaintances,  indulging  in  | 
long  and  frequent  ablutions,  invoking  the 
aid  of  foreign  artists  in  song  and  music  to 
while  away  the  hours  of  vacant  indolence. 
While,  indeed,  the  Roman  was  equally  proud 
of  the  austere  discipline  of  the  city  and  the 
fields,  he  was  ashamed  of  his  recreations  at 
the  sea-side,  and  regarded  it  as  an  indulgence 
almost  akin  to  vice  to  relax  even  for  a  mo 
ment  from  the  stern  routine  of  self-imposed 
duty.  But  the  siren  sloth  was  gradually 
gaining  his  ear,  and  every  further  step  he 
took  into  the  realms  of  Grecian  luxury  and 
voluptuousness  estranged  him  more  and  more 
from  the  love  of  business  which  he  had  em 
braced  as  a  passion,  and  become  inured  to  as 
a  second  nature.  The  domestic  morality  of 
the  Romans  was  thus  already  undermined  in 
many  of  its  dearest  relations,  when  a  guilty 
ambition  began  first  to  prompt  them  to  seek, 
in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs,  a  personal 
and  selfish  aggrandisement. 

At  this  period,  indeed,  the  high  civil  po 
sition,  maintained  by  a  narrow  oligarchy  of 
noble  families  closely  connected  with  one 
another  by  marriage,  which  shared  among 
themselves  all  the  great  offices  of  the  com 
monwealth,  might  naturally  foster  such  ir 
regular  aspirations,  and  point  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  monarchy,  limited  by  the 
jealousies  of  its  aristocratic  assessors,  in  the 
place  of  a  republic  which  was  democratic  in 
name  only.  To  Scipio  Africanus,  in  the  ex 
uberance  of  their  joy  at  his  triumphs,  the 
people  had  offered,  of  their  own  accord,  a 
consulship  for  life.  This  would  have  made 
him  at  once  a  constitutional  sovereign,  a 
doge,  or  a  king.  We  are  told  that  he  de 
clined  the  proffered  honor :  moderation  both 
in  pleasure  and  in  ambition  was  his  charac 
teristic  quality.  But  at  a  later  period,  when 
any  such  prudent  and  temperate  resolution 
had  become  impossible,  Cicero  takes  a  melan 
choly  pleasure  in  representing  another  Scipio, 
the  immediate  descendant  of  the  elder  Afri 
canus,  as  praising  in  a  limited  monarchy  the 
best  ideal  of  government.  Had  the  nobles 
been  left  to  work  out  their  own  career,  this 


is  the  consummation  to  which  it  might  soon 
have  been  brought ;  but  their  career  wag 
rudely  intercepted  by  the  torrent  of  national 
corruption  which  now  broke  down  every 
moral  barrier ;  the  pride  and  luxury  engen 
dered  by  their  Greek  and  Asiatic  triumphs 
produced  a  sudden  re-action  in  the  popular 
mind  against  them.  When  Cato  the  elder, 
a  rude  but  vigorous  scion  of  the  Latian 
homesteads,  took  on  himself  to  rebuke  theii 
abandonment  of  national  usage  and  tradition, 
he  found  the  people  well  disposed  to  support 
and  urge  him  onwards.  The  poet  Xaevius, 
the  first  of  the  Roman  satirists,  had  met  with 
popular  sympathy  in  his  gibes  against  the 
haughty  Scipios  and  Metelli ;  he  had  been 
banished  through  their  influence  to  Africa ; 
but  the  spirit  of  criticism  and  raillery  sur 
vived.  Cato  served  the  state  in  war  and 
peace,  and  was  carried  through  the  career  of 
honors  to  the  consulship,  and  eventually  to 
the  censorship,  from  which  last  office  he  de 
rived  the  title  by  which  he  is  distinguished 
in  history.  In  every  place,  and  on  all  occa 
sions,  he  rebuked  the  pride  of  the  nobles  and 
abated  their  insolence.  lie  caused  their 
chiefs  to  be  cited  before  the  popular  assembly, 
but  they  had  yet  authority  enough  to  repel 
the  charges  against  them  by  such  language 
as  that  of  ^milius  Scaurus  :  "  Yarns  accuses 
^Emilius  of  corruption  ;  ^Emilius  denies  it : 
Romans,  which  do  you  believe  ? "  Scipio 
Africanus  disdained,  on  a  similar  occasion, 
to  reply  at  all;  and  only  exclaimed  as  he 
surmounted  the  Capitol — "  This  is  the  anni 
versary  of  my  victory  over  Hannibal:  Ro 
mans,  thank  the  gods,  and  pray  that  you  may 
always  have  such  a  champion  !  "  Neverthe 
less  Scipio  was  compelled  at  last  to  withdraw 
from  affairs,  and  ended  his  life  at  a  private 
residence  in  Campania,  directing  •uhcse  words 
to  be  inscribed  upon  his  sepulchre : — "  Thank 
less  country,  thou  shalt  not  possess  even  my 
bones  !  "  Further  prosecutions  were  directed 
against  his  family  for  accepting  bribes  from 
Antiochus;  and  Cato  had  tl:e  satisfaction 
of  thoroughly  humiliating  the  chiefs  to  the 
Roman  oligarchy. 


HISTOEY   OF   THE  WORLD 


509 


Hannibal,  driven  from  the  court  of  Antio 
chus  to  that  of  Prusias,  King  of  Bithynia, 
and  again  demanded  by  the  Romans,  had 
poisoned  himself  about  the  year  572  (B.C.  182), 
and  thus  relieved  from  equal  anxiety  both 
his  friends  and  enemies.  The  authority  of 
tho  republic  was  becoming  consolidated 
throughout  Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  when 
Perseus,  the  son  and  successor  of  Philippus, 
undertook  to  form  a  general  confederacy  of 
the  eastern  powers  against  them.  Before, 
however,  this  alliance  had  been  effected,  he 
precipitated  himself  rashly  into  arms,  hoping 
to  cement  it  by  victory ;  and  though  he  ob 
tained  at  the  outset  a  brilliant  success,  he 
was  mortified  to  find  himself  still  imperfectly 
supported.  Alone,  or  with  no  other  aid  than 
the  neutrality  of  the  states  invited  by  Rome 
to  attack  him,  he  still  maintained  the  con 
test,  defeating  the  enemy  in  several  engage 
ments,  till  they  sent  against  him  their  vete 
ran  general  Paulus  ^Emilius,  with  an  over 
whelming  force  of  100,000  men.  Once  more 
the  Macedonian  phalanx  seemed  on  the  point 
of  recovering  the  charm  of  invincibility ;  but 
after  a  fierce  struggle,  the  fortune  of  the 
legion  prevailed  :  Perseus  was  vanquished  on 
the  field  of  Pydna,  in  one  of  the  most  deci 
sive  battles  of  Roman  history,  and  soon  after 
wards  taken.  The  kingdom  which  he  had 
hazarded  and  lost  was  annexed  to  the  domin 
ions  of  the  republic,  and  Perseus  himself  led 
at  the  car  of  his  conqueror  to  the  Capitol, 
thrown  into  a  dungeon,  and  suffered  to  lan 
guish  miserably  till  his  death,  two  years 
later.  The  last  of  the  kings  of  Macedonia 
was  long  remembered  as  one  of  the  most 
formidable  enemies  Rome  had  ever  encoun 
tered,  along  with  Hannibal  and  Pyrrhus. 

The  overthrow  of  Perseus  was  followed  by 
an  attack  on  the  precarious  independence 
still  allowed  to  Antiochus.  The  King  of 
Syria,  after  the  check  he  had  received  in  the 
west,  had  turned  his  arms  southward.  He 
had  almost  effected  the  conquest  of  Egypt, 
the  ally  of  Rome,  when  Popilius  Lsenas,  the 
envoy  of  the  Senate,  required  him  to  desist 
from  his  enterprise.  He  demanded  some 


time  to  deliberate,  but  Popilius  drew  a  circle 
around  him  in  the  sand  with  his  stick,  and 
peremptorily  forbade  him  to  pass  it  till  he 
had  given  his  response.  Antiochus,  baffled 
by  this  firmness,  acquiesced  in  the  demand, 
and  retired  home  crestfallen.  The  Senate 
divided  between  two  rival  brothers  of  the 
house  of  Ptolemy  the  throne  which  it  had 
saved  to  their  family. 

The  kings  of  the  earth  bowed  in  succession 
before  the  assembly  of  kings.  Masinissa  ac 
knowledged  that  to  them  he  owed  the  crown 
of  ISTumidia.  Prusias  saluted  them  as  his 
gods  and  saviours,  and  confessed  that  he  was 
no  better  than  a  client  or  freed  man  of  his 
mighty  masters.  Phrygia,  Greece,  and 
Rhodes  were  each  subjected  in  different 
measures  to  the  anger  of  the  republic,  which 
they  had  failed  to  defend  against  the  late  at 
tack  of  the  Macedonians.  The  Greeks,  irri  • 
tated  and  alarmed,  at  last  took  up  arms  in. 
their  own  defence ;  but  the  march  of  Rome 
was  irresistible;  and  in  ,608  (B.C.  146)  her 
barbarity  was  signalized  by  the  sack  and 
conflagration  of  Corinth  under  Mummius. 
Of  all  her  heinous  acts,  this  was  one  of  the 
most  memorable.  By  the  Greeks  it  was 
never  forgotten ;  the  Romans  themselves,  at 
least  in  later  times,  were  ashamed  of  it.  The 
same  year  saw  another  melancholy  catastro 
phe,  the  final  destruction  of  Carthage,  which 
had  ventured  to  rise  a  thiix1  time  against  her 
triumphant  rival,  and  was  *-aken  and  razed 
to  the  ground  by  Scipio  J^milianus.  At  the 
sight  of  this  fearful  ruin  the  accomplished 
Roman  could  not  but  think,  it  was  said,  with 
a  sorrowful  foreboding,  of  the  time  when  his 
own  city  might  be  destined  to  a  like  fate, 
and  repeated  the  lines  of  Homer  predicting 
the  overthrow  of  Troy  divine. 

It  was  from  a  reminiscence  of  the  terror 
they  had  so  long  felt  in  the  rivalry  of  Car 
thage  that  the  Romans  persisted  for  ages  in 
characterizing  her,  in  history  and  poetry,  as 
the  type  of  faithlessness  and  impiety.  But 
they  deigned  to  give  the  title  of  a  second 
Carthage  to  a  city  of  much  less  fame  and  im 
portance,  though  rendered  memorable  in  their 


610 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


annals  by  the  obstinacy  of  its  defence  and 
the  grandeur  of  its  fall.  The  perseverance 
of  many  Roman  generals,  among  them  of 
Cato,  and  finally  of  Sempronius  Gracchus, 
had  effected  the  pacification,  as  it  was  called, 
of  the  Iberian  peninsula.  But  such  pacifica 
tions  were  never  complete  or  lasting.  The 
Celtiberians  in  the  north  had  continued  to 
harass  the  Roman  outposts,  and  the  praetors 
commanding  in  the  province  had  made  their 
hostile  attitude  an  excuse  for  repeated  massa 
cre  and  pillage.  Sulpicius  Galba  had  dis 
graced  the  Roman  name  by  treating  with 
the  Lusitanians,  and  treacherously  slaughter 
ing  them  to  the  number  of  30,000.  The 
consul  Lucullus  acted  with  equal  baseness 
towards  the  Celtiberians.  Driven  to  fury  by 
such  provocations,  the  mountaineers  became 
more  implacable  than  ever.  Yiriathus,  the 
gallant  chief  of  the  Lusitanians,  maintained 
the  war  for  five  years  with  unexpected  suc 
cess;  and  uniting  in  confederacy  with  the 
Celtiberians,  forced  the  Romans  at  last,  after 
many  defeats,  to  conclude  peace  with  him  on 
equal  terms.  When  hostilities  again  broke 
out,  Coepio  found  means  to  assassinate  this 
formidable  enemy,  and  the  Lusitanians  were 
at  length  reduced  to  submission.  The  last 
place  that  now  held  out  was  Xumantia,  a 
city  of  the  Celtiberians  in  the  upper  valley 
of  the  Douro.  Several  consuls  and  praetors 
had  failed  in  their  attempts  to  reduce  tliis 
fortress,  and  Fabius  Serviliauus  had  suffered 
a  disgraceful  defeat  before  it.  Mancinus 
brought  the  defenders  to  terms ;  but  the 
Senate  was  dissatisfied  with  his  concessions, 
disavowed  the  treaty,  and  at  the  same  time, 
from  a  feeling  of  superstition,  not  of  honor, 
delivered  its  author  to  the  enemy.  It  was 
reserved  for  Scipio  JEmilianus,  the  conquer 
or  of  Carthage,  to  reduce  Numantia  at  last 
by  blockade.  In  the  extremity  of  famine, 
the  survivors  of  many  victories  fell  at  last  on 
one  another's  swords. 

While  interfering  pertinaciously  in  the  af 
fairs  of  all  the  kings  of  Asia,  the  Romans 
had  hitherto  abstained  systematically  from 
annexing  any  portion  of  their  territories. 


They  conducted  their  astute  policy  by  means 
of  commissioners  rather  than  of  legionaries. 
They  left  the  ancient  thrones  erect,  but  they 
occupied  them  with  creatures  of  their  own. 
The  princes  of 'Egypt,  as  well  as  those  of 
Cyprus  and  the  Cyrenaica,  which  had  been 
constituted  separate  states,  held  their  crowns 
under  the  patronage  or  direct  appointment 
of  the  Senate.  The  republic  had  retained  a 
son  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  as  a  hostage, 
and  interfered  with  powerful  authority  in  the 
nomination  of  his  successors.  lie  designated 
the  heir  of  Eumenes,  King  of  Phrygia;  and 
at  last,  in  the. year  C21  (B.C.  133),  allowed 
Attains  III.,  the  last  of  his  race,  to  bequeath 
his  kingdom  to  Rome.  Aquilius  was  sent 
with  an  army  to  enforce  the  ratification  of 
this  testament ;  and  thus  the  republic  became 
possessed  of  the  magnificent  territory  which 
she  entitled  the  province  of  Asia,  and  which 
she  continued  always  to  regard  as  the  most 
choice  and  valuable  of  her  acquisitions. 

The  power  of  Rome  was  now  paramount 
in  the  four  great  peninsulas  which  project 
into  the  Mediterranean,  together  with  its 
principal  islands,  while  her  influence  and  au 
thority  were  recognized  at  almost  every  point 
along  its  far-reaching  coast-line.  Italy,  the 
centre  and  nucleus  of  this  power,  was  either 
"Roman  soil,"  or  placed  under  the  ultimate 
control  of  the  praetors  and  magistrates  of 
Rome.  Spain,  Greece  and  Asia  Minor  were 
reduced  substantially  to  the  form  of  provin 
ces  ;  so  were  also  the  islands  of  the  Tyrrhene, 
the  Ionian,  and  the  ^Egean  seas.  Another 
province  was  constituted  on  the  opposite 
coast  of  Africa,  comprising  the  dominion  ol 
Carthage ;  while  the  kingdoms  of  JSTumidia 
on  the  west,  and  of  Cyrene  and  Egypt  on 
the  east,  were,  as  we  have  seen,  in  a  state 
of  pupilage  and  dependence.  At  the  eastern 
end  of  the  Mediterranean  the  Jews  had  en 
tered  into  alliance  with  the  republic ;  the 
independence  of  Syria  was  imperfect  and 
precarious ;  Rhodes  was  indulged  with  free 
dom,  which  she  was  fain  to  purchase  with 
impious  flattery,  in  erecting  a  statue  to  tho 
divinity  ci  Rome ;  wliile  a  few  petty  states 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


511 


of  Asia  Minor  existed  only  on  sufferance. 
The  rugged  districts  of  Illyria  offered  little 
temptation  to  Roman  cupidity ;  but  the  sub 
jection  of  Macedonia  was  fully  assured. 
Massilia  and  iNarbo  cultivated  the  alliance 
of  the  Senate,  and  were  about  to  invite  its 
assistance  against  the  suri  ounding  barbarians, 
and  lay  the  first  foundations  of  a  province 
beyond  the  Alps. 

AYhile  Home  was  subduing  her  provinces, 
the  provinces  were  re-acting  upon  Rome. 
We  have  already  caught  a  glimpse  of  this 
foreign  invasion  which  was  filling  Italy  with 
a  base  mixture  of  the  blood  of  every  con 
quered  nation,  and  sending  myriads  of  slaves 
from  every  quarter  of  the  world  to  till  the 
fields  from  which  the  free  native  population 
was  carried  off  by  the  unceasing  drain  of 
war.  The  legionary,  if  he  survived  the  long 
series  of  distant  campaigns  from  which,  while 
his  manly  strength  endured,  he  was  not  per 
mitted  to  extricate  himself,  settled  for  the 
most  part  in  the  countries  which  had  become 
more  familiar  to  him  than  his  own;  while 
the  slave,  if  attached  to  the  service  of  a  Ro 
man  citizen,  might  hope,  after  some  years  of 
bondage,  for  personal  enfranchisement,  and 
the  acquisition  of  a  qualified  franchise,  and 
*  a  family  settlement  in  Italy.  In  the  second 
or  third  generation  the  libertini  of  Rome 
became  generally  citizens,  with  the  full  right 
of  suffrage,  property,  and  marriage.  Thus 
the  Roman  people,  still  so  entitled,  still  pre 
serving  its  political  continuity  in  its  rites  and 
traditions,  and  even  in  its  names  (for  the 
freedman  entered  into  the  gens  of  his  former 
master,  and  assumed  its  name),  became  from 
year  to  year  more  alien  in  blood  from  the 
genuine  stock  of  Romulus  and  Quirinus, 
from  the  Latins,  the  Sabines,  and  the  Etrus 
cans  of  primitive  antiquity.  Priests  and 
magistrates,  to  whose  vigilant  guardianship 
the  purity  of  the  national  religion  and  polity 
was  entrusted,  shut  their  eyes  to  the  revolu 
tion  thus  accomplishing  itself ;  but  every  now 
and  then  an  expression  or  a  gesture  showed 
that  they  were  not  really  blind  to  its  progress, 
and  that  in  their  hearts  they  despised  that 


scum  of  nations  which  had  settled  on  the 
surface  of  Roman  society.  One  day,  when 
Scipio  ^Emilianus  was  interrupted  in  the 
Forum  by  the  clamors  of  this  mongrel  popu 
lace,  he  exclaimed,  "Silence,  false  sons  of 
Italy :  think  ye  to  scare  me  with  your  bran 
dished  hands,  ye  whom  I  led  myself  in  bonds 
to  Rome  !"  In  this  memorable  sentence  we 
read  the  character  of  the  times,  and  trace  the 
interpretation  of  much  of  the  history  which 
is  to  follow. 

But  though  these  foreign  freedmen  suc 
ceeded  to  the  votes  of  the  genuine  citizens 
they  did  not  take  their  place  011  the  soil  from 
which  their  predecessors  had  been  transplan 
ted.     The  legionaries  had   been    recruited 
from  the  fields,  from  the  small  farms  of  La- 
tium  and  Sabellia,  from  the  well-tilled  allot 
ments  of  seven  jugers  (about  four  acres)  to 
which  the  plebeian  citizen   was  restricted. 
But  as  these  modest  proprietors  were  deci 
mated    by   war,    their    vacant    homesteads 
were  bought  up  by  the  capitalists  of  the  city, 
the   knights   arid  senators,    and  annexed   to 
those  wide  tracts  of  public  domain  which 
they  were  permitted  to  hold  rent-free  from 
the  state.     These  possessions,  thus  greedily 
appropriated,  these  latifundia,  as  they  were 
called,  were  cultivated  for  the  most  part  by 
troops  of  slaves,  imported  by  purchase  or  as 
the  spoil  of  war  from  beyond  the  sea,  chain 
ed  to  their  work  in  the  factories,  or  guarded 
by  armed  retainers  in  the  fields  by  day,  and 
huddled  in  prison  dormitories   during  the 
night.     Throughout  large  districts  of  Italy, 
particularly  in  the  south,  the  free  cultivators 
or  coloni,  of  an  earlier  period,  had  almost 
disappeared,  though  in  other  parts  they  con 
tinued  still  to  linger,  and  wage  an  unequal 
itruffgle  for  existence  with  the  great  landlords 

oo  o 

and  their  armies  of  servile  laborers.     Thou- 
ands  of  these  small  proprietors,  thus  hardly 
pressed,  migrated  into  the  cities,  and  partic 
ularly  into  Rome,  and  there  mingling  with 
the  herd  of  foreign-born  freedmen,  maintain- 
d  themselves  by  petty  merchandize  and 
tiandicrafts,  by  the  sportula,  or  dole  of  vict 
uals  at  the  patron's  gate,  or  by  the  distribu 


512 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD 


tions,  wholly  or  in  part  gratuitous,  of  bread, 
oil,  and  wine,  made  regularly  by  the  state, 
and  enhanced  occasionally  by  magistrates  or 
candidates  for  the  magistracy. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  in  Rome  and 
Italy,  full  of  anxiety  for  the  present  and 
fatal  warning  for  the  future  to  the  few  states 
men  who  marked  the  signs  of  the  times, 
when  the  young  Tiberius  Gracchus,  a  plebe 
ian  of  the  Sempronian  gens,  well  born,  and 
connected  through  his  mother  Cornelia  with 
the  blood  of  the  Scipios,  remarked  with  dis 
may,  as  he  traversed  the  plains  of  Etruria, 
the  decline  of  cultivation  and  the  depopula 
tion  of  the  fields  and  farms.  He  observed 
that  the  slave  labor,  ruder  and  more  reluctant 
than  the  free  labor  it  had  supplanted,  was 
less  available  for  the  operations  of  husbandry, 
wliich  require  care  and  skill,  and  that  large 
tracts  of  land  once  arable  had  been  convert 
ed  into  pasture,  and  gave  employment  to  a 
few  herdsmen  only.  Tiberius  resolved  to 
restore  a  Roman  population  to  the  territories 
of  Rome.  The  cause  of  the  evil  he  deplored 
seemed  to  be  the  extensive  occupation  of 
public  land  by  the  nobles  by  an  evasion  of 
the  limitations  of  the  Licinian  law.  He 
persuaded  the  people  to  elect  him  tribune  in 
621,  and  exerted  himself  in  that  capacity  to 
carry  a  r  ew  agrarian  law,  more  strict  and 
general  than  those  of  ancient  times,  by  which 
the  dorrain  of  the  state  should  be  divided  in 
full  ownership  among  the  whole  body  of  cit 
izens,  instead  of  being  held  in  fee  by  a  small 
and  favored  aristocracy.  He  demanded  that 
the  state  should  assert  its  ownership  of  the 
estates  now  let  at  a  nominal  rent  to  the  no 
bles,  in  order  to  this  new  distribution.  Of 
this  measure,  so  much  debated  at  the  time 
and  since,  it  may  be  enough  to  remark  that, 
in  strict  law,  it  was  quite  constitutional,  in 
equity  it  was  harsh  and  unjustifiable,  while 
in  policy  it  was  totally  nugatory.  Whatever 
were  the  true  merits  of  the  question  in  de 
bate,  they  were  soon  lost  sight  of  in  the  pas 
sions  of  two  classes  it  set  in  array  against 
each  other.  The  names  of  patrician  and 
plebeian  were  now  obliterated;  the  real 


combatants  were  the  rich  and  the  poor.  Many, 
however,  of  the  rich  and  noble  were  found  to 
place  themselves,  from  patriotism  or  faction, 
at  the  head  of  the  commonalty;  while  the 
aristocracy  of  landlords  found  means  to  enlist 
on  their  side  more  than  one  of  the  tribunes, 
their  natural  opponents.  It  was  by  this 
manoeuvre  that  Tiberius  was  ultimately  baf 
fled.  Though  he  succeeded  in  getting  his 
measure  passed,  under  the  pressure  of  the 
popular  enthusiasm,  he  was  not  allowed  to 
put  it  himself  in  operation :  on  attempting 
to  exercise  the  powers  he  had  reserved  him 
self  for  allotting  the  lands  he  had  acquired 
for  the  people,  he  was  confronted  by  one  ot 
his  colleagues  named  Octavius,  accused  to 
his  own  party  of  aspiring  to  the  tyranny, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  tumults  which  en 
sued  overpowered  and  slain.  Three  hundred 
of  his  followers  fell  with  him  in  the  affray. 
This,  it  was  said,  was  the  first  blood  shed  at 
Rome  in  a  popular  tumult. 

The  leaders,  however,  of  the  popular  move 
ment,  though  stunned  for  the  moment,  were 
not  discomfited.  They  formed  an  alliance 
with  the  Italians,  who  were  excluded  from 
the  franchise  of  Rome,  and  engaged  to  aid 
them  in  suing  for  the  boon  of  citizenship. 
Caius,  the  younger  brother  of  Tiberius  Grac 
chus,  took  the  lead  of  this  combined  party. 
Scipio  ^Emilianus,  twije  consul,  and  a  chiet 
of  the  oligarchy,  stepped  boldly  forward  and 
undertook  to  advocate  the  claims  of  the  Ital 
ians  ;  but  this  redoubted  champion  was  found 
soon  afterwards  dead  in  his  bed,  and  it  was 
natural  to  believe  that  the  nobles  had  pro 
cured  his  assassination.  Cains  was  got  rid 
of  for  a  time  by  an  appointment  beyond  the 
sea.  Fregellce,  an  Italian  town,  thinking  its 
cause  abandoned,  rushed  desperately  to  arms, 
but  was  worsted  and  sacked  by  the  consul 
Opimius.  Caius  now,  feeling  that  he  had 
been  cajoled,  hastened  back  to  Rome  and 
secured  his  e.ection  to  the  tribuneship,  from 
which  ground  of  vantage  he  aimed  some 
hard  blows  against  the  most  eminent  of  his 
opponents,  protected  his  own  partizans, 
founded  colonies,  and  executed  great  public 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


513 


vrorks.  He  was  the  delight  and  pride  of  the 
citizens.  His  eloquence  was  not  less  popu 
lar  than  his  manners  and  his  policy.  He 
caused  the  position  of  the  rostrum,  from 
Vvhich  the  orators  harangued  the  people  in 
Jie  Forum,  to  be  changed,  so  that  the  speak 
er  should  no  longer  turn  towards  the  comi- 
tium,  the  place  of  the  patrician  curies,  but 
towards  the  masses  of  the  commons  station 
ed  in  the  opposite  quarter.  He  raised  the 
knights  to  a  share  in  the  judicia  or  tribu 
nals  ;  he  strove  to  extort  the  franchise  for  the 
Italians.  The  object  of  this  bold  dema 
gogue's  reforms  was  the  exaltation  of  the 
commons  into  a  distinct  community,  rather 
than  the  fusion  of  the  nobles  and  the  com 
mons  in  a  single  body — such  at  least  was 
the  judgment  passed  upon  them  by  public 
writers,  who  affirmed  that  Cains  made  the 
commonwealth  "double  headed."  At  any 
rate,  his  efforts,  though  but  partially  success 
ful,  led  to  a  severance  in  public  feeling  which 
precipitated  a  general  commotion;  and  he 
fell  himself  prematurely,  as  soon  as  he  had 
finished  his  year  of  office,  in  a  tumult  which 
he  had  himself  unwarily  excited.  The  Ro 
mans  long  continued  to  honor  the  memory 
of  the  Gracchi  as  the  ablest  of  the  early 
chiefs  of  the  democracy,  and  erected  statues 
to  them,  and  altars  on  the  spots  where  they 
had  fallen.  Yet  the  prejudices  of  the  nobles 
prevailed  in  the  long  run,  and  in  the  great 
body  of  Roman  literature  the  Gracchi  are 
represented  to  us  as  the  eponyms  of  factious 
ambition,  rather  than  of  patriotic  policy. 
Cornelia,  the  mother  of  the  ill-fated  tribunes 
obtained  a  purer  fame,  and  continued  to  be 
remembered  among  the  most  honored  ma 
trons  of  the  republic.  Opimius,  having  ob 
tained  a  second  triumph  over  the  disturbers 
of  his  faction's  supremacy,  erected  a  temple 
to  concord  in  arrogant  imitation  of  Camillus, 
the  second  founder  of  Rome.  In  the  course 
of  the  next  fifteen  yerup  the  nobles,  now  un 
checked,  effected  the  formal  repeal  of  the 
measures  of  the  Gracchi.  The  knights  were 
expelled  from  the  tribunals;  the  lands  re 
mained  in  the  occupation  of  the  rich  lords; 
65 


the  Italians  were  left  beyond  the  pale  of  the 
Roman  franchise ;  finally,  the  aid  of  the  cen 
sors  was  invoked  to  expunge  from  the  list 
of  knights  and  senators  all  those  members  of 
either  class  who  were  suspected  of  leaning 
towards  a  reform  of  the  constitution. 

Meanwhile  the  kingdom  of  Masinissa, 
which  he  had  held  as  a  dependent  upon  Rome, 
had  been  divided  on  his  demise  between  his 
three  sons,  and  again  on  the  death  of  two  of 
these,  had  coalesced  into  a  single  sovereignty. 
Micipsa,  the  survivor,  proposed  to  diride  his 
dominions  between  his  two  legitimate  chil 
dren;  but  a  natural  son  named  Jugurtha, 
more  able  than  either,  and  trained  under 
Roman  generals  in  Spain,  intrigued  for  the 
succession,  assassinated  one  of  the  princes, 
defeated  the  other,  and  hastened  in  person 
to  Rome  to  engage  its  sanction  to  his  usur 
pation.  The  Senate  repulsed  him;  but  on 
his  return  home  he  boldly  took  up  arms  and 
defended  himself  by  force,  with  the  full  sup 
port  of  his  countrymen,  against  the  best 
captains  of  the  republic.  Metellus,  a  chiel 
of  the  Optimates,  reduced  him  to  great 
straits,  but  he  extricated  himself  again  with 
wonderful  ability.  This  war,  long  protracted 
with  various  success,  brought  forward  the 
remarkable  talents  of  C.  Marius,  a  soldier 
who  rose  from  the  ranks  to  the  consulship, 
and  was  sent  with  the  acclamations  of  the 
popular  party,  whose  child  and  champion  he 
proclaimed  himself,  to  bring  the  struggle  to 
a  termination.  The  ISTumidian  chieftain  was 
thus  at  last  driven  to  bay,  and  captured  by 
the  dashing  exploit  of  an  enterprising  young 
officer,  Cornelius  Sulla,  and  carried  to  Rome. 
There  he  followed  the  triumph  of  Marius  in 
the  year  650,  and  was  cruelly  put  to  death. 
jSTumidia  was  divided  into  three  portions:  the 
western  part  was  annexed  to  Mauretania,  the 
realm  of  Bocchus,  who  had  proved  himself  a 
faithful  ally ;  the  eastern  was  united  to  the 
Roman  province  of  Afric* ;  the  remnant  of 
the  ancient  kingdom  was  allotted  to  two  prin 
ces  of  Masinissa's  family,  through  whose  feuds 
the  republic  might  hope  to  secure  its  own  su 
premacy  over  both. 


514 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


The  perils  of  the  great  Jugurthine  war 
were  long  celebrated  by  the  Romans,  and 
furnished  a  theme  for  one  of  their  master 
pieces  in  historical  composition.  We  may 
regret  that  we  have  no  Sallust  to  recount 

D 

for  us  the  still  more  terrible  struggle  of 
Rome  with  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones,  in 
which  the  services  of  Marius  were  even 
more  transcendent.  The  republic  had  first 
interfered  in  the  affairs  of  Massilia,  a  Greek 
commercial  city  on  the  Gallic  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean,  in  the  year  600,  when  she 
\vrested  some  territories  from  the  barbarians 
at  the  request  of  that  unwarlike  community, 
and  bestowed  them  upon  it.  In  629  she 
undertook  a  campaign  against  the  tribes  of 
the  lower  Alps,  and  founded  the  Roman 
colony  of  Aquae  Sextise  (Aix),  at  the  same 
time  making  a  further  addition  to  the  realm 
of  her  Grecian  clients.  Further  complica 
tions  with  the  Gaulish  states  speedily  ensu 
ed.  The  Romans  won  a  great  battle  over 
the  Arverni  and  Allobroges  in  623  ;  and  in 
a  short  time  the  south-western  corner  of 
Gaul,  beyond  the  Alps,  was  become  a  Ro 
man  acquisition,  and  received  the  special 
designation  of  "  the  Province."  Roads 
were  now  constructed  across  the  Alps,  and 
the  dominions  of  the  republic  advanced  to 
Narbo,  beyond  the  Alps,  and  Tolosa,  on  the 
Garonne.  While,  however,  the  Transalpine 
province  Avas  thus  growing  and  flourishing, 
it  was  well  nigh  overwhelmed  by  a  terrible 
disaster.  Tribes  sprung  from  the  remotest 
parts  of  Germany,  known  to  Roman  writers 
by  the  name  of  Cimbri  and  Teutones,  pour 
ed  with  an  armed  immigration  towards  the 
northern  portions  of  the  Roman  empire. 
On  the  eastern  side  of  the  Alps  they  were 
repulsed  by  treachery  rather  than  by  arms, 
by  Papirius  Carbo ;  but  they  swept  round 
the  skirts  of  the  mountain  barrier,  and  ap 
peared  again  on  the  Rhone  and  the  Isere, 
spreading  fire  and  devastation  in  the  Roman 
province,  and  threatening  now  to  s<jale  the 
western  Alps  and  thence  descend  into  Italy. 
Five  consular  armies  were  sent  against 
them,  and  suffered  five  defeats,  each  more 


terrible  than  the  last.  Rome  was  in  con 
sternation,  but  breathing-time  was  afforded 
by  a  diversion  of  the  main  body  of  the  bar 
barians  into  Spain.  Marius  was  hastily 
recalled  from  Africa,  before  the  final  com 
pletion  of  the  Jugurthine  war,  and  the  peril 
of  the  crisis  compelled  the  nobles  to  allow 
of  his  election  again  and  again  to  the  con 
sulship,  till  he  had  succeeded  in  arresting 
and  finally  crushing  this  formidable  on 
slaught.  Marius  gained  the  great  victory 
of  Aquas  Sextias  in  650,  in  which  he  destroy 
ed  the  Teutonic  division  of  the  enemy  ;  he 
then  hastened  into  Italy,  whither  another 
swarm  had  already  penetrated,  and  over 
whelmed  the  Cimbrian  invaders  with  a  se 
cond  and  not  less  complete  success  at  Yer- 
cellse,  in  the  following  year.  By  the  time 
he  found  leisure  to  return  to  Rome,  he  had 
enjoyed  in  succession  the  unprecedented 
number  of  five  consulships. 

The  disasters  of  foreign  war  had  been  ag 
gravated  by  a  servile  insurrection  in  Italj 
itself,  and  the  necessities  of  the  state  had 
compelled  the  nobles  to  relax  their  hold  on 
the  privileges  they  so  jealously  maintained. 
A  tribune  named  Domitius  had  wrested  the 
appointment  of  chief  pontiff  from  the  priests' 
college,  a  body  highly  aristocratic,  and  had 
given  it  to  the  people.  This  afforded  them 
important  protection  against  an  unfair  exer 
cise  of  the  political  instrument  which  called 
itself  the  national  religion.  Another  tribune, 
Servilius  Glaucia,  restored  once  more  the 
judicia,  to  the  knights.  Marius,  though 
himself  no  party  politician,  and  with  motives 
merely  personal,  was  put  forward  by  the 
popular  faction  as  their  champion,  and  raised 
to  a  sixth  consulship  in  694.  His  election 
had  been  carried  by  intimidation  and  the 
threats  of  his  licentious  soldiery,  whom  he 
had  enlisted  for  the  first  time,  under  tho 
pressure  of  public  calamity,  from  the  Pro- 
letarii,  the  rabble  of  the  Roman  people. 
His  measures  were  as  violent  as  his  manners 
were  unpolished.  He  ventured  so  far  to 
stretch  the  prerogative  of  his  office  as  to 
confer  tie  franchise  on  a  thousand  of  his 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


515 


soldiers  levied  in  an  Italian  nmnicipium ; 
and  whon  remonstrated  with  on  the  illega 
lity  of  the  act,  coolly  replied,  "  Amid  the 
dir.  of  arm?  I  could  not  uear  the  voice  of 
the  laws."  Backed  by  the  tribune  Satur- 
nin  us,  he  continued  to  reward  his  rude  war 
riors  with  the  boon  of  citizenship,  and  quar 
tered  many  thousands  of  them  on  the  lands 
belonging  to  the  colonists  in  the  province, 
which  he  had  rescued,  as  he  boasted,  from 
the  hands  of  the  barbarians.  The  nobles 
resented  these  irregular  proceedings,  and 
tried  to  interrupt  the  assemblies  convened 
to  sanction  them,  by  alleging  the  frivolous 
omens,  such  as  rain  or  thunder,  which  were 
allowed  to  dissolve  the  comitia.  "  Be  still," 
cried  Saturninus,  "  or  it  shall  presently  hail." 
Tumult  ensued  in  the  city ;  the  tribunes 
gained  the  upper  hand,  and  drove  Metellus, 
the  chief  of  the  nobles  into  banishment. 
Saturninus  continued  to  maintain  his  influ 
ence  over  the  people,  and  the  Italians,  it  is 
said,  offered  him  kingly  authority.  But  the 
nobles  were  still  the  stronger  party  when 
they  acted  together  with  vigor,  and  under 
the  leadership  of  Memmius,  Marius  at  this 
time  shrinking  from  the  furious  violence  of 
his  late"  adherent,  drove  the  tribune  out  of 
the  Forum  into  the  Capitol.  There  Satur 
ninus  defended  himself  with  arms ;  but  the 
notion  that  he  aimed  at  the  tyranny  was 
circulated  among  the  people,  and,  whether 
it  were  true  or  false,  it  sufficed  to  turn  their 
feelings  against  him.  The  water-pipes  that 
supplied  his  fortress  were  cut,  and  he  was 
forced  to  descend  from  it.  Marius  indeed 
guaranteed  him  his  life ;  but  the  people 
were  not  to  be  controlled :  they  forced 
themselves  into  the  hall  in  which  he  had 
taken  refuge,  and  slew  him,  with  the  rem 
nant  of  his  followers. 

This  was  perhaps  the  last  moment  at 
which  the  establishment  of  a  limited  and 
constitutional  monarchy,  the  dream  of  Scipio 
a  id  the  regret  of  Cicero,  might  have  been 
pDssible  at  Rome.  Had  the  popular  faction 
possessed  among  them  a  man  of  enlightened 
integiity  as  well  as  of  ability,  in  whose 


favor  they  could  have  agreed  to  exercise 
the  power  which  had  exalted  Marias  to  six 
successive  consulships,  and  had  given  autho 
rity  in  periods  of  public  emergency  to  the 
tribunes  of  the  last  few  years — had  the  no 
bles  been  directed  by  men  of  sense  and 
patriotism,  to  yield  J;o  the  just  claims  of 
their  own  commons  and  of  the  Italians — the 
usurpation,  fifty  years  later,  of  Ccesar  and 
Octavius  might  have  been  anticipated  under 
happier  auspices.  The  mass  of  the  citizens 
was  still  sound  at  heart,  and  not  incapable 
of  the  self-control  required  for  the  due  ex 
ercise  of  high  political  rights.  While  it 
placed  all  private  ambition  under  the  check 
of  a  sovereign  authority,  it  might  still  have 
kept  a  check  on  the  sovereign  himself  by 
its  own  firmness  and  moderation.  Public 
virtue,  indeed,  could  not  have  been  main 
tained  without  recognizing  on  a  wider  scale 
the  proper  claims  of  humanity,  without  re 
nouncing  the  hateful  privileges  then  gener 
ally  accorded  by  the  conqueror  over  his  sub 
jects,  and  the  master  over  his  slaves.  But 
neither  the  philosophy  nor  the  religion  of 
the  day  set  forth  any  principles  of  action 
adequate  to  commend  such  an  apparent  sac 
rifice  ;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  the 
elements  of  a  secure  and  tranquil  govern 
ment,  by  a  limited  kingly  power,  were  hard 
ly  to  be  found  at  this  time  throughout  the 
heathen  world.  We  shall  presently  see  that 
neither  the  aristocracy  nor  the  democracy 
of  Home  was  capable  of  maintaining  the 
equilibrium  of  the  commonwealth,  and  that 
the  unmitigated  despotism  under  which  she 
ultimately  fell  was  the  only  possible  solution 
of  the  antagonism  so  long  prevailing  in  the 
elements  of  her  polity. 

For  some  time  past  the  Italians,  as  we  have 
observed,  had  been  putting  forth  claims  to 
the  Roman  franchise.  If  we  would  analyse, 
in  a  small  compass,  the  motives  from  which 
this  pretension  was  generally  urged,  we  must 
reject,  in  the  first  instance,  the  notion,  so 
natural  to  our  modern  ideas  of  equity  and 
inherent  rights.  "  Rome  for  the  Roman  " 
— the  enjoyment,  that  is,  by  the  conquerors 


51G 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


of  all  the  fruits  of  conquest — was  the  funda 
mental  principle  of  Koman  policy,  the 
moral  basis  of  which  was  unquestioned  by 
any  subjects  or  dependents  of  the  republic. 
If,  under  any  circumstances,  she  relaxed 
from  this  primary  idea  of  her  government, 
even  the  states  she  favored  would  only  regard 
it  as  a  concession  extorted  by  some  necessity 
of  the  moment,  which  it  would  have  been 
preposterous  to  claim  as  a  right.  The  road 
to  Roman  honors  and  magistracies  might 
have  charms  for  a  few  distinguished  per- 
Bonages  in  an  Italian  burgh,  but  to  the  popu 
lation  generally  the  Roman  franchise  offered, 
for  a  long  period,  few  attractions.  The  se 
vere  discipline  to  which  the  Roman  commons 
were  subjected,  the  constant  military  ser 
vice  demanded  of  them,  the  harsh  prohibi 
tion  which  long  prevailed  of  the  exercise  of 
trade  and  arts,  the  jealousy  with  which  the 
avenues  to  office  were  guarded,  must  have 
rendered  the  exchange  of  country  (for  the 
Italian  who  acquired  the  Roman  franchise 
lost  his  own)  a  very  slender  gratification  to 
the  multitude.  There  was,  indeed,  some 
immunity  in  matter  of  taxation  to  be  set 
against  these  drawbacks  ;  but  the  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  a  share  in  the  provincial 
administration  were  confined  to  a  small 
class,  and  could  hardly  be  accessible  to  a 
"  new  man  "  from  Italy.  The  pressing  mo 
tive  which  inspired  the  cry  now  raised  for 
this  questionable  privilege  was  suggested  by 
the  agrarian  struggles  of  the  Gracchi.  The 
public  domain  within  the  peninsula  being 
now  occupied  chiefly,  as  we  have  seen,  by 
noble  landholders,  was  sublet  by  them  to 
the  natives.  The  Italians,  deprived  of  the 
legal  possession  of  their  own  soil  by  the 
conquest,  became  virtually  re-possessed  of  it 
by  the  mere  abuse  of  proprietary  right, 
which  allowed  a  few  great  families  to  enjoy 
the  usufruct  of  the  national  territory.  But 
from  the  strict  division  of  this  territory 
among  the  citizens,  as  demanded  by  the 
leaders  of  the  movement,  it  would  result 
that  the  Italian  sub-tenant  would  be  ejected 
from  his  farm  to  make  way  for  a  plebeian 


proprietor.  The  measures  threatened  by 
the  Gracchi  were  really  more  formidable  to 
the  Italian  than  to  the  Roman  aristocrat 
himself.  They  touched  the  pride  and  the 
privilege  of  the  latter ;  but  they  menaced 
the  means  of  existence  of  the  former.  It 
was  open  to  the  Italian  either  to  join  with 
the  nobles  in  resisting  the  claim  of  the 

O 

people,  or  to  urge  his  own  admission  to  the 
franchise,  and  so  come  in  for  a  share  with  the 
people  in  a  new  distribution  of  property. 
This  latter  course  was  that  which  he  adapt 
ed  ;  and  probably  it  was  the  most  sagacious. 
The  leaders  of  the  plebeian  agitation  found 
themselves  at  the  same  time  leaders  of  an 
Italian  agitation  also ;  the  two  movements 
proceeded  together,  and  during  the  external 
troubles  of  the  republic  were  suspended  to 
gether.  When  security  was  restored  from 
without,  the  cry  of  the  Italians  rose  louder 
than  ever ;  and  it  was  plain  that  the  next 
great  struggle  of  the  governing  classes  at 
Rome  would  be  against  the  intrusion  of 
their  own  subjects  within  the  pale  of  Ro 
man  property  and  privilege.  But  the 
knijrhts  availed  themselves  of  this  fore i en 

O 

aid  in  their  contest  with  the  Senate;  and 
thus  the  noble  party,  the  Opti mates  as  they 
were  called,  found  themselves  arrayed 
against  the  wildest  and  most  formidable: 

O 

coalition  they  had  yet  encountered,  in  de 
fence  of  their  prerogative. 

The  strength  of  the  Opti  mates,  sapped 
and  battered  as  it  was,  still  lay  in  the  rem 
nant  they  had  preserved  of  their  old  control 
of  the  state  religion,  by  which  they  could  at 
times  make  an  effective  appeal  to  popular 
interests  and  prejudices ;  but  more  in  their 
own  military  organization,  and  the  well- 
trained  bands  of  clients  and  retainers,  trafei- 
ed  to  the  use  of  their  suffrage  as  well  as  of 
their  arms.  They  effected  the  disgrace  of 
Marius  and  the  recall  of  Metellus ;  and  in 
659  (B.C.  95)  required  the  consuls  to  expe] 
from  the  city  all  the  Italians  who  had  sought 
a  domicile  within  its  walls.  The  Italian 
laction  was  now  headed  by  a  tribune  narneil 
Livius  Drusus,  one  of  the  most  popular  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


517 


the  demagogues,  of  whom  it  was  long  re 
membered  that,  when  his  architect  proposed 
to  build  him  a  house  in  which  he  might 
Bcreen  himself  from  the  observation  of  his 
neighbor?,  "  Build  it  so,"  he  had  answered, 
u  that  every  citizen  may  witness  every  action 
I  perform."  The  labors  of  this  man  in  the 
cause  of  Italian  emancipation  seemed  ap 
proaching  to  success  when,  in  the  midst  of 
the  struggle,  he  was  suddenly  struck  down 
by  the  poniard  of  an  unknown  assassin. 
The  nobles,  and  especially  the  consul  Philip- 
pus,  incurred  the  odium  of  the  deed. 

Measures  of  proscription  against  individ 
uals  were  now  threatened  and  carried  alter 
nately  on  both  sides ;  but  all  semblance  of 
legal  procedure  was  soon  cast  away,  and  the 
Italians  rushed  to  arms.  Their  forces  were- 
derived  chiefly  from  the  Marsians,  the  Pic- 
entines,  the  Yestines,  the  Samnites,  the  Lu- 
canians  and  the  Apulians ;  and  thus  the  allies 
of  the  Roman  state,  as  they  were  specially 
denominated,  became  its  open  and  avowed 
enemies.  In  the  course  of  the  campaigns 
which  followed,  the  Etruscans  also  joined 
the  coalition ;  and  the  object  of  the  war, 
which  was  at  first  the  acquisition  of  the  Ro 
man  franchise,  became  no  other  than  the  ex 
termination  of  the  Roman  republic.  It  was 
proposed  to  organize  and  maintain  a  great 
Italian  confederacy,  of  which  Corfinium, 
under  the  name  of  Italica,  should  be  recog 
nized  as  the  capital.  On  the  Roman  side 
the  names  of  Caesar,  Crassus  and  Pompeius, 
destined  to  re-appear  in  the  next  age  in  fatal 
combination,  obtained  their  earliest  illustra 
tion  ;  on  the  Italian,  Judacilius,  Pompoedius 
and  Motulus  were  the  most  distinguished 
leaders.  The  chief  successes  of  the  Romans 
were  gained  by  Marius  and  his  former  lieu 
tenant  Sulla,  who  crushed  and,  as  it  was 
said,  destroyed  the  Etruscans  ;  nevertheless, 
the  power  of  the  republic  would  not  have 
eufficed  for  the  complete  reduction  of  the 
insurgents;  and  the  discretion  which  dictated 
a  substantial  concession,  saved  her  from  an 
exhaui'ion  of  bloofc!  and  treasure  which  no 
barren  victory  could  have  compensated. 


The  lex  Julia  conferred  the  franchise  on 
the  Umbrians  and  Etruscans  in  664  ;  the  lest 
Plauiia  Papirici  in  666  extended  it  to  all 
their  Italian  allies.  Every  Italian  who  chose 
to  come  to  Rome  and  claim  the  boon  within 
sixty  days,  was  received  into  the  bosom  of 
the  commonwealth.  Ten  tribes  were  added 
to  the  thirty-five  already  existing.  The 
boon  after  all  was  not  very  generally  accept 
ed.  The  Roman  religion  required  that 
every  legal  measure  should  be  sanctioned 
by  certain  ceremonial  observances,  and  thesa 
could  only  be  transacted  within  the  sacred 
precincts  of  the  city.  It  was  admitted  on 
all  sides  that  the  suffrage  could  only  be  ex 
ercised  at  Rome.  Accordingly  the  franchise 
offered  little  attraction  to  distant  citizens, 
who  were  required  to  forego  their  local 
citizenship  for  a  privilege  which  they  had 
little  opportunity  of  exercising.  After  .all 
the  blood  which  had  been  spilt  in  the  strug 
gle,  the  Italians  found  themselves  content, 
for  the  most  part,  to  retain  their  old  position. 
The  roll  of  the  Roman  citizens,  which  in 
the  census  of  640  numbered  394,336,  in  that 
of  668,  the  next  of  which  we  have  the  ac 
count,  had  not  increased  beyond  463,000, 
and  sixteen  years  later  was  only  450,000. 
But  the  precedent  now  set  for  the  first  time 
on  so  large  a  scale  bore  ample  fruit  in  the 
course  of  Roman  history.  The  full  franchise 
was  conceded  in  special  instances  to  various 
states  in  Spain,  Gaul  and  Africa  ;  while  the 
Latin,  which  conferred,  as  we  have  seen,  a 
certain  eligibility'  to  the  Roman,  was  even 
more  widely  diffused.  Pompeius  Strabo 
extended  it  to  the  entire  nation  of  the  Trans- 
padane  Gauls.  On  the  whole,  the  liberal 
concessions  of  this  period  evince  in  a  mark 
ed  manner  the  prudence  of  the  Roman  gov 
ernment  at  one  of  the  most  perilous  mo 
ments  of  its  career.  The  strong  national 
prejudice  against  which  they  were  carried 
was  now  fully  overthrown,  and  the  Roman 
writers  uniformly  agree  in  applauding  the 
policy  which  dictated  them,  and  ascribing  tc 
it  the  preservation  of  the  state  at  the  time,  and 
the  unabated  vigor  of  its  subsequent  piogresa. 


R18 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


At  a  ci  ideal  period  of  the  late  war  Marius. 
in  a  splenetic  mood,  had  quitted  the  camp 
and  buried  himself  in  a  distant  retreat, 
leaving  Sulla  as  consul,  in  666,  to  bring  the 
contest  to  a  close.  The  younger  champion 
was  now  in  the  ascendant.  Mithridates, 
King  of  Pontus,  had  defied  the  republic,  had 
overrun  the  province  of  Asia,  and  caused 
che  massacre  of  the  Roman  colonists  and 
traders,  amounting,  as  was  loudly  proclaim 
ed,  to  not  less  than  80,000  souls.  Sulla  was 
appointed  to  carry  on  the  war  against  this 
formidable  enemy ;  but  before  he  could  set 
forth  on  his  mission,  Marius,  alarmed  for  his 
own  pre-eminence  in  public  affairs,  attempt 
ed  to  create  a  revolution  in  the  city.  Sulla 
recalled  his  troops,  which  had  not  yet  quitted 
Italy,  drove  before  him  the  Marian  forces, 
and  entered  Rome  in  military  array.  Ma- 
rius,  flying  for  his  own  life,  concealed  himself 
in  the  marshes  of  Minturnae.  lie  was  discov 
ered  and  siezed ;  but  the  Cumbrian  captive 
who  was  sent  to  despatch  him  in  prison,  fled 
in  terror  from  before  him,  and  he  was  allow 
ed  to  escape  once  more,  and  make  his  way 
into  Africa.  Reclining  among  the  ruins  of 
Carthage,  he  meditated  the  recovery  of  his 
power.  On  Sulla's  departure  for  the  East, 
the  Marian  faction  again  made  head  under 
Cinna,  but  was  put  down  again  by  the  Sen 
ate  and  the  consul  Octavius.  Cinna  fled 
into  lower  Italy,  and  raised  some  levies  of 
turbulent  banditti.  At  the  same  time  Marius 
re-appeared  suddenly  in  Etruria,  and  both 
chiefs  approached  Rome  simultaneously  from 
opposite  quarters.  They  entered  the  city, 
overcoming  all  resistance,  and  executed  a 
sanguinary  proscription  of  their  enemies. 
Marius  became  consul  for  the  seventh  time 
in  668,  and  though  now  seventy  years  of 
age,  prepared  to  lead  an  army  into  Asia,  to 
supplant  his  rival  Sulla.  At  this  crisis,  how 
ever,  the  old  man  died  suddenly.  Cinna 
succeeded  to  his  power,  and  sent  Valerius 
Flaccus  to  assume  command  of  the  Roman 
forces  in  the  East.  Scarcely  had  Flaccus 
crossed  the  Hellespont  when  he  was  assassin 
ated  in  the  camp  by  one  of  his  own  officers. 


Sulla  was  enabled,  by  the  ascendancy  of  hia 
character,  to  join  the  legions  of  Flaccus  to 
his  own,  and,  thus  re-enforced,  put  Mithri 
dates  to  the  rout,  and  led  his  combined  forces 
against  the  enemies  of  the  Senate  at  Rome. 
Cinna  had  now  been  murdered  in  his  turn. 
Carbo  and  a  son  of  Marius  were  the  chiefs  of 
the  popular  faction,  but  they  could  make  no 
head  against  the  military  talents  and  the 
veteran  legions  of  Sulla.  In  the  battle  of 
Sacriportus,  and  again  before  the  Collino 
gate  of  Rome,  the  Italian  militia  who  sup 
ported  them  went  down  before  the  conquer 
ors  of  Mithridates.  The  senatorial  party 
received  their  avenger  with  exultation,  not 
unmixed  perhaps  with  fear,  and  stood  hor 
ror-stricken  by  his  side  while  he  did  bloody 
and  remorseless  executions  on  the  abettors 
of  the  late  revolution.  Sulla  massacred 
several  thousands  of  his  disarmed  prisoners 
in  the  Campus  Martins,  and  organized  a  sys 
tem  of  terror  and  proscription  for  the  extir 
pation  of  the  popular  leaders. 

It  still  remained  to  re-establish  the  su 
premacy  of  the  nobles  on  a  legal  basis,  and 
to  this  purpose  the  conqueror  now  applied 
the  powers  of  the  dictatorship  which  was 
now  conferred  upon  him  without  limita 
tion  of  time.  He  was  even  allowed  to  re 
tain  it,  together  with  the  consulship,  in  the 
year  674. 

Rome  had  hitherto  been  peculiarly  fortu 
nate  in  her  political  revolutions.  With 
whatever  violence  they  might  have  been 
conducted,  they  had  perhaps  uniformly  work 
ed  for  her  ultimate  advantage.  13ut  this 
was  because  they  were  all  the  offspring  of  a 
natural  progress  in  the  life  of  the  people. 
The  re-actionary  system  of  Sulla  was,  on  the 
contrary,  the  greatest  disaster  in  her  annals. 
The  aim  of  this  despot  was  to  undo  all  the 
popular  measures  of  the  last  half-century; 
to  check  the  progress  of  agrarian  distribu 
tions  ;  to  suspend  the  plantation  of  colonies  ; 
to  thwart,  if  he  could  not  abrogate,  the  l«*te 
enactments  for  the  enfranchisement  of  the 
Italians  ;  to  destroy  the  popular  authority  of 
the  tribunes ;  to  repel  the  knights  from  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE  WORLD 


519 


indicia ;  to  reserve  the  government  of  the 
provinces,  with  all  the  advantages  thence  ac 
cruing,  for  the  first  estate,  the  senatorial 
families  only.  The  utter  prostration  of  the 
opposite  party  enabled  him  to  cany  out  all 
these  plans  for  the  moment,  and  the  high 
character  borne  by  some  of  his  coadjutors, 
Buch  as  Catulus,  contributed  to  render  them 
palatable.  The  opening  career  of  the  young 
Cnseius  Pompeius,  the  bravest  of  his  lieuten 
ants,  whom  he  had  seduced  from  the  politics 
of  his  family  and  placed  in  the  first  rank  of 
the  senatorial  partisans,  augured  brilliantly 
for  the  military  triumphs  of  the  faction  to 
which  he  devoted  him.  Having  effected  the 
reforms  he  judged  necessary  for  his  views, 
filled  the  city  and  magistracy  with  his  friends, 
and  the  provincial  governments  with  his 
creatures ;  having  attained,  for  his  uniform 
successes,  the  surname  of  Felix,  "  the  Pros 
perous"  from  an  admiring  generation,  Sulla 
ventured  to  resign  his  dictatorship,  and  re 
tired  abruptly  into  private  life.  His  good 
fortune  still  befriended  him :  none  of  his 
enemies,  no  friend  of  his  slaughtered  victims, 
molested  him  in  his  defenceless  retreat ;  and 
he  died  in  his  bed,  though  harassed  indeed 
by  a  loathsome  infirmity,  in  the  year  676,  at 
the  age  of  sixty. 

The  establishment  of  the  Sullan  oligarchy 
was  a  severe  blow  to  the  ambition  of  large 
classes  at  home,  to  the  knights  and  other 
new  men  who  were  striving  by  their  wealth, 
or  their  credit  in  the  courts  and  the  Forum, 
to  thrust  themselves  into  public  office,  for 
which  they  had  no  claim  from  birth  or  fami 
ly  illustration.  It  was  an  attempt  to  restrict 
to  a  group  of  two  or  three  hundred  ancient 
houses  the  honors  and  emoluments  of  the 
government  of  the  world.  The  time,  indeed, 
was  passed  when  such  a  retrograde  step  co  dd 
be  permanent ;  but  in  the  meanwhile  the 
provincials  were  even  greater  sufferers  than 
the  citizens  themselves.  Great  as  had  been 
the  cruelty  and  oppressioi  of  the  governors, 
their  subjects  had  hitherto  had  a  remedy  in 
the  appeal  to  the  tribunals  at  Rome,  to  the 
iudges  of  peculation  and  extortion.  This 


appeal,  however,  would  have  been  oi  little 
service  but  for  the  jealousy  of  parties  in  the 
city.  As  long  as  the  knights  contended 
with  the  senators  for  the  judicia,  and  the 
Marians  with  the  nobles  for  the  magistracies, 
advocates  might  be  found,  and  the  machin 
ery,  however  imperfect,  of  Roman  justice 
might  be  employed  for  redress.  Proconsuls 
charged  with  extortion  towards  their  sub 
jects  might  sometimes  meet  with  punish 
ment,  as  well  as  those  whose  crimes  had  been 
committed  against  the  state  itself.  But 
when  the  judicia  were  restored  wholly  to 
the  Senate,  when  the  popular  leaders  were 
utterly  silenced,  the  magistrates  enjoyed,  at 
least  for  a  moment,  complete  impunity,  and 
the  provincials  found,  whatever  their  suffer 
ings,  that  redress  from  a  senatorial  tribunal 
had  become  entirely  hopeless. 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  subjects  of  Rome 
that  the  rampant  supremacy  of  the  Sullan 
oligarchy  could  not  long  be  maintained 
against  the  numbers,  the  activity,  and  the 
skill  of  the  party  over  which  it  had  triumph 
ed.  The  complaints  of  the  oppressed  were 
encouraged  by  the  chiefs  of  the  opposition, 
and  all  the  force  of  forensic  eloquence  was 
employed  to  bring  the  oppressors  to  justice. 
The  judges  were  more  accessible  to  bribery 
than  to  eloquence  ;  but  by  means  of  the  one 
or  the  other  many  of  the  Optimates  were  thus 
smitten  with  judicial  sentences,  while  the 
feelings  of  the  public  were  roused  against 
them,  and  a  strong  prejudice  excited  against 
the  monopoly  of  power  which  they  so  fear 
fully  abused.  The  case  of  Yerres,  the  plun 
derer  of  Sicily,  and  of  other  provinces  be 
fore,  who  was  dragged  at  last  before  the  bar 
of  justice  by  the  youthful  orator  Cicero,  and 
forced  to  abandon  his  defence  in  despair, 
shook  the  authority  of  the  nobles,  while  it 
vindicated  in  one  conspicuous  instance  the 
rights  of  the  subject  provincials. 

But  the  Marians  were  not  satisfied  with 
these  legitimate  modes  of  warfare.  Immo- 
diately  on  the  decease  of  Sulla,  Lepidus, 
then  actually  one  of  the  consuls,  took  up 
arms  ostensibly  in  their  interest,  but  was  put 


520 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


down  by  his  colleague  Catulus.  A  remnant 
of  the  party,  turbulent  and  self-willed,  and 
impatient  of  their  loss  of  power,  attached 
themselves  to  an  Italian  officer  named  Ser- 
torius,  who  raised  a  revolt  in  Spain,  and 
maintained  a  war  there  for  several  years 
against  the  best  generals  of  the  Senate.  Af 
ter  defeating  Metellus,  he  kept  the  brave 
Pompeius  at  bay  till  he  was  murdered,  in 
082,  by  Perperna,  one  of  his  own  lieuten 
ants,  after  which  event  the  movement  was 
quickly  suppressed.  This  was  another  great 
service  done  to  the  state  by  one  who  was  now 
acknowledged  by  the  nobles  as  the  foremost 
man  in  the  republic.  The  title  of  Magnus 
("  the  Great"  ),  with  which  Sulla  in  his  lofty 
generosity  had  already  saluted  him,  was  rati 
fied  by  the  consent  of  the  dictator's  faction, 
and  recommended  by  them  to  the  general 
approval  of  the  citizens.  The  popular  par 
ty  were  indeed  not  without  hopes  of  gaining 
him  to  their  own  side.  Flattered  on  all  hands, 
he  trimmed  from  side  to  side,  and  his  estima 
tion  still  rose  higher  as  fortune  gave  him  op 
portunities  of  distinction.  He  was  still  ab 
sent  in  Spain  when  Rome  was  terrified  by 
the  revolt  of  Spartacus  and  a  handful  of 
fugitive  gladiators,  soon  swelled  to  an  army 
by  opening  the  ergastula,  or  slave-prisons. 
More  than  one  legionary  force  was  defeated 
by  them:  they  were  checked  at  last  and 
crippled  by  Crassus ;  but  by  this  time  Pom 
peius  had  been  recalled  in  haste  to  combat 
them,  and  his  opportune  arrival  completed 
their  discomfiture,  while  it  earned  him  the 
whole  glory  of  the  victory  (A.U.  683,  B.C.  71). 
Such  was  the  favor  in  which  this  lucky  gen 
eral  was  now  held  that  he  could  lend  a  help 
ing-hand  to  Crassus,  and  raise  him  together 
with  himself  to  the  consulship  ;  an  act  of 
condescension  of  which  his  colleague  ever 

O 

retained  an  uneasy  recollection.  Courted 
by  both  parties,  the  two  consuls  combined 
in  their  policy,  and  exerted  their  authority 
on  the  side  of  the  Marians.  They  restored 
the  tribuneship,  and  transferred  the  judicia 
to  the  knights ;  and  thus  the  chief  measures 
of  Sulla  were  abrogated  by  the  leaders  he 


had  left  behind  him,  after  only  eleven  vears' 
|  continuance.  The  consuls  were  supported 
in  their  reforms  by  the  talents  of  the  i-sing 
orator  Cicero,  who  formed  in  his  own  mind 
an  ideal,  too  bright  for  realization,  of  the 
harmonious  co-operation  of  all  classes  in  the 
state,  and  strove  to  secure  for  the  second 
order  its  fair  share  in  the  administration, 
notwithstanding  the  selfish  resistance  of  an 
unconvincible  oligarchy. 

During  the  last  few  years  a  fresh  war  had 
been  in  progress  with  the  indomitable  King 
of  Pontus.  The  Roman  armies  were  led  by 
Licinius  Lucullus,  an  able  commander,  but 
not  vigorous  enough  to  cope  with  the  vast 
resources  and  energy  of  Mitliridates.  While 
the  republic  was  drained  of  men  and  treas 
ure  in  this  unprofitable  warfare,  it  was  still 
more  painfully  harassed  by  the  pirates  of 
Cilicia,  who,  since  the  decline  of  the  Greek 
maritime  powers,  had  covered  the  eastern 
Mediterranean  with  their  vessels,  and  carried 
their  predatory  enterprises  to  the  coasts  of 
Italy,  and  even  to  the  Pillars  of  Hercules. 
It  was  necessary  to  make  an  effort  to  sup 
press  them,  and  powers  such  as  had  never 
before  been  conferred  on  a  single  commander 
at  Rome  were  given  to  Pompeius  by  the 
Gabinian  bill  for  the  purpose.  He  was  con 
stituted  captain-general  of  all  the  forces  of 
the  republic  throughout  all  her  coasts,  and 
fifty  miles  inland.  Such  a  command  was 
practically  unlimited ;  such  a  commander 
was  virtually  the  autocrat  of  the  empire. 
Nevertheless  the  result,  complete  and  speedy 
as  it  was,  seemed  fully  to  justify  it.  The 
naval  campaign,  in  which  Pompeius  collect 
ed  all  the  maritime  resources  of  the  republic 
and  her  dependencies,  drove  the  pirates  from 
sea  to  sea,  and  at  last  crushed  them  in  their 
own  harbors,  was  an  achievement  as  brilliant 
as  it  was  unique.  Its  effect  also  was  perma 
nent  :  from  henceforth  the  police  of  the  seas 
was  kept  so  well  by  Rome  that  piracy  never 
made  head  again  in  the  Mediterranean  dur 
ing  the  existence  of  her  dominion.  But 
while  Pompeius  was  thus  gaining  the  most 
honorable  of  his  distinctions,  the  "piratic 


.  J 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


521 


laurel,"  one  of  his  creatures  in  the  city, 
named  Manilius,  took  advantage  of  his  in 
creasing  popularity  to  obtain  for  him  the 
command  against  Mithridates  (A.U.  688,  B.C. 

O  ^  ' 

SO;,  and  over  the  eastern  half  of  the  empire. 
This  enormous  grant,  far  exceeding  the  pow 
ers  ever  before  confided  to  a  proconsul,  was 
advocated  by  all  the  eloquence  of  Cicero ; 
and  Luculhis  was  directed  to  resign  his  com 
mand  to  the  favorite  of  the  people,  and  re 
turn  as  a  private  citizen  to  Rome.  Lucullus 
was  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  oligarchy  ;  and 
this  insult  to  the  individual  was  felt  more 
acutely  by  his  party  than  by  himself,  for  by 
temper  he  was  unusually  indifferent  to  pub 
lic  distinctions,  and  betrayed  at  least  no  an 
noyance  when  on  his  return  he  withdrew 
himself  from  affairs,  and  gave  his  leisure  to 
the  enjoyment  of  luxury,  and  to  private 
works  of  munificence.  But  the  jealousy 
with  which  the  Senate  had  begun  to  regard 
their  pretended  champion  Pompeius  was 
much  exasperated  :  he  repaid  their  suspicions 
vdth  haughty  scorn,  while  the  chiefs  of  the 
opposite  party  fanned  the  flame  of  discord 
between  them.  Cicero  rose  into  distinction 
with  the  general  favor  bestowed  upon  his  pat 
ron.  In  the  year  688  he  was  chosen  prsetor,  hav 
ing  already  served  the  lower  magistracies  ;  and 
now  in  the  full  career  of  honors,  he  might 
well  hope,  new  man  though  he  was,  without 
fortune  or  connections  of  his  own,  for  the 
crowning  glory  of  the  consulship. 

The  nobles  loudly  asserted  that  their 
champion  Lucullus  had  already  broken  the 
power  of  Mithridates,  when  Pompeius  was 
thrust  forward  to  reap  the  honor  of  his  suc 
cesses.  Certain  it  is  that  the  King  of  Pon- 
tus  sued  for  peace  on  the  first  arrival  of  his 
antagonist;  but  it  was  not  the  object  of 
Pompeius  to  gain  a  bloodless  triumph,  and 
he  refused  to  treat  with  the  enemy  till  he  had 
reduced  him  to  unconditional  submission. 
Mithridates  withdrew  from  Asia  Minor,  but 
he  retirol  through  the  difficult  country  of 
Iberia  and  Albania  to  his  dominions  in  the 
Tauric  Chersonese,  and  thither  Pompeius 
tried  in  vain  to  follow  him.  Some  political 
66 


complications  occurring  seasonably  in  Syria, 
the  baffled  Roman  made  them  an  excuse  for 
desisting  from  the  pursuit ;  and  turning 
southward,  he  arranged  the  affairs  of  the 
province,  and  decided  between  the  claims  of 
rival  pretenders  in  Palestine.  Pompeius  was 
the  first  Roman  that  entered  Jerusalem, 
where  he  penetrated  into  the  Temple,  and 
even  into  the  Holy  of  Holies.  Meanwhile 
Mithridates  fell  by  private  treachery  in  691, 
being  slain  by  one  of  his  own  sons,  Phar- 
naces,  who  obtained  in  recompense  a  con 
firmation  by  Pompeius  of  his  claim  to  the 
throne  of  the  Bosphorus.  On  the  eastern 
frontier  of  Asia  Minor,  Cappadocia,  Paphla- 
gonia,  Galatia,  and  Comana  were  formed 
into  dependent  sovereignties;  their  territo 
ries  were  declared  free  states  in  the  centre 
of  the  Roman  provinces ;  but  the  greater 
portion  of  the  peninsula,  including  Syria, 
was  definitely  annexed  to  the  empire.  Pal 
estine  became  a  vassal  monarchy  under  the 
Herods.  Beyond  the  Euphrates,  Armenia 
still  retained  a  nominal  independence ;  but 
the  efforts  of  Rome  were  constantly  directed 
to  preventing  her  from  falling  under  the  sway 
or  influence  of  the  Parthian s.  Pompeius 
the  Great,  the  conqueror  and  organizer  of 
the  East,  might  regard  himself  in  either 
capacity  as  the  rival  of  the  great  Alexander. 
During  the  absence  of  Pompeius  in  Asia 
the  extreme  section  of  the  senatorial  party, 
well  pleased  at  the  removal  of  a  champion 
they  suspected  and  feared  to  so  distant  an 
exile,  placed  themselves  under  the  guidance 
of  their  natural  chiefs,  men  of  ancient  line 
age  and  ancestral  honors,  such  as  Catulus, 
Lucullus,  Servilius,  Lentulus,  and  Marcellus. 
But  none  of  these  were  men  of  commanding 
ability,  nor  even-of  commanding  energy.  A 
large  number  of  the  principal  nobility  were 
engrossed  by  luxury  and  indolence ;  and  the 
eloquence  of  Hortensius,  their  best  speaker, 
was  speedily  eclipsed  by  that  of  the  upstart 
Cicero.  In  this  dearth  of  talent  among  them 
they  suffered  a  prominent  place  to  be  taken 
by  Cato,  the  great-grandson  of  the  censor,  a 
man  who  resembled  his  illustrious  ancestor 


622 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOltLD. 


in  the  antique  rigor  of  his  manners,  a  pedan 
tic  assertor  of  the  old  senatorial  privilege?, 
and  inflexible  in  the  maintenance  of  his 
hereditary  politics.  This  dogged  resolution 
and  dense  obstructiveness  were  as  valuable 
qualities  perhaps  as  a  chief  of  the  Optimates 
co  j.\  i  at  that  time  possess ;  for  Ca'to  knew 
how  to  keep  his  position  by  sheer  obstinacy 
long  after  a  reasonable  statesman  would  have 
confessed  that  it  was  untenable,  and  he  pro 
tracted  the  contest  with  the  ever-increasing 
power  of  the  popular  faction  through  many 
a  vicissitude  of  triumph  and  defeat,  as  acci 
dent  favored  or  depressed  him.  But  fortune 
was  on  the  whole  against  him ;  and  the 
chance  which  arrayed  the  unequalled  genius 
of  C.  Julius  Caesar  in  the  first  rank  of  his 
opponents,  was  alone  sufficient  to  overwhelm 
the  resistance  of  abler  men  than  Cato. 

Caesar  was  descended  from  a  noble  family, 
sprung,  as  is  pretended,  even  from  a  Trojan 
origin.  His  ancestors  had  enjoyed  the  high 
est  honors  of  the  state,  and  were  naturally 
attached  to  the  party  of  the  Senate  which 
some  of  them  had  defended  in  arms  during 
the  Social  and  Civil  wars.  But  he  was  at 
the  same  time  nephew  to  Marius,  and  he  had 
married  a  daughter  of  China.  These  con 
nections  outweighed  in  his  mind  the  preju 
dices  of  his  birth,  and  inspired  him  with  the 
ambition  of  ruling  Home  at  the  head  of  the 
democracy.  In  early  youth  he  had  been 
marked  out  by  Sulla  as  the  heir  of  his  rival's 
principles,  and  a  possible  successor  to  his 
own  ascendancy.  Caesar  had  escaped  the 
proscription  of  his  party,  had  served  abroad 
while  it  was  dangerous  to  appear  in  Rome ; 
and  when  on  his  return  he  found  his  friends 
once  more  drawing  breath  and  recovering 
their  spirits,  he  had  thrown-himself  manfully 
into  their  cause,  and  insisted  on  restoring  the 

*  O 

trophies  of  Marios,  displaced  by  his  success 
ful  enemy.  During  the  absence  of  Pompeius 
he  pushed  himself  with  undaunted  energy 
into  the  first  rank  of  the  popular  faction  ;  he 
dismayed  the  nobles  by  calling  to  account 
the  instruments  of  Sulla's  vengeance,  and  by 
inciting  the  people  to  inflict  a  public  slight 


upon  Catulus.  The  Optimates  were  al  ready 
tottering  under  the  repeated  blows  he  thus 
dealt  them,  when  a.i  event  occurred  which 
gave  them  an  opportunity  of  strengthening 
their  position.  Suddenly  the  commonwealth 
was  threatened  with  a  ruinous  disaster. 
Fortune  gave  the  nobles  the  means  of  avert 
ing  it  by  an  act  of  extraordinary  vigor,  and 
recovering  thereby  the  prestige  which  a  series 
of  weaknesses  and  defects  had  well  nigh  lost 
them.  The  conspiracy  of  Catilina  and  the 
courage  of  Cicero  gave  the  Senate  another 
lease  of  power  for  fourteen  years. 

Amid  the  contests  of  ostensible  parties  in 
the  state  there  lurked  a  greater  and  nearer 
danger  in  the  numbers  of  discontented  bank 
rupt  youths  thrown  loose  upon  society  by  the 
accidents  of  civil  commotion.  These  pests 
of  the  commonwealth  fell  at  this  moment 
under  the  lead  of  a  profligate  monster,  L. 
Sergius  Catilina,  who,  having  failed  of  his 
election  to  the  consulship,  intrigued  against 
all  constituted  authority,  arid  formed  a  con 
spiracy  to  seize  the  government  by  force. 
The  existence  of  such  a  plot  had  been  vague 
ly  apprehended  from  the  moment  of  Cati- 
lina's  defeat,  and  it  was  with  the  presenti 
ment  that  a  man  of  vigor  would  be  required 
at  the  helm  that  the  nobles,  notwithstanding 
his  ignoble  birth,  allowed  the  election  of 
Cicero,  whose  abilities  they  knew,  and  on 
whose  vanity  they  could  play,  to  the  consul 
ship  for  691.  Cicero  soon  made  himself 
master  of  the  plot,  surprised  certain  envoys 
from  the  Allobroges  with  whom  the  traitors 
had  been  tampering;  but  not  daring  to  seize 
the  chief  conspirator  himself  till  he  could 
make  his  guilt  patent  to  the  citizens,  denounc 
ed  him  in  the  Senate-house,  and  drove  him 
in  guilty  agitation  from  the  city.  Catilina 
threw  himself  prematurely  on  the  feeble 
levies  he  had  prepared  in  Etruria ;  while  the 
consul  arrested  his  chief  adherents,  some  of 
them  men  of  rank  and  distinction,  strangely 
mixed  up  in  so  desperate  an  enterprise, 
brought  them  before  the  Senate,  disclosed 
their  guilt  by  incontrovertible  proofs,  and 
demanded  thei:  punishment  The  tempei 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


523 


of  the  people,  it  seems,  could  not  be  trusted  ; 
and  notwithstanding  the  enormity  of  the 
guilt  thus  fastened  upon  them,  it  was  danger 
ous  to  allow  them  the  appeal  which  the  law 
permitted.  The  nobles  were  well  pleased  at 
the  opportunity  of  showing  their  confidence 
in  their  own  power,  and  proving  that  they 
were  not  afraid  to  act  with  the  vigor  of  the 
ancient  oligarchy,  even  in  the  absence  of 
Pornpeius  and  his  legions.  They  had  armed 
the  consul  with  the  "  ultimate  decree,"  re 
quiring  him  to  provide,  by  whatever  arbitrary 
measures,  for  the  safety  of  the  state ;  and  this 
stretch  of  their  prerogative  they  did  not 
scruple  to  enforce  with  the  instant  execution 
of  the  criminals.  Cicero  was  hurried  along 
by  his  enthusiasm,  as  the  saviour,  for  such  he 
was  loudly  proclaimed,  of  his  country.  He 
lent  himself  to  the  rash  policy  of  his  support 
ers  and  patrons ;  dazzled  by  the  splendor  of 
his  extraordinary  position,  intoxicated  by  the 
incense  of  aristocratic  flattery,  and  the  assur 
ance  that  he  had  secured  a  permanent  rank 
among  the  haughty  oligarchy  of  Home,  he 
consented  to  an  act  of  dubious  justice  and 
3xpediency,  of  which  he  had  cause  bitterly 
to  repent  not  many  years  after.  The  pre 
sumed  associates  of  Catilina,  whose  actual 
guilt  is  affirmed  only  on  ex  parte  evidence, 
were  strangled  in  prison ;  Catilina  himself, 
brought  to  bay  in  the  Apennines,  was  defeat 
ed  in  open  battle  by  the  forces  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  slain,  fighting  bravely  in  the  field. 
Caesar,  as  the  chief  of  the  popular  party, 
the  representative  of  its  constitutional  tra 
ditions,  had  protested  against  the  infliction 
of  capital  punishment  on  the  conspirators. 
It  required  great  courage  to'  take  this  part ; 
for  the  nobles  had  tried  to  incriminate  Caesar 
himself  in  the  plot,  and  he  had  with  difficulty 
extricated  himself  from  their  meshes.  Such, 
moreover,  was  the  influence  they  had  now 
acquired  over  the  passions  of  the  knights  and 
men  of  property  ;n  the  city,  that  he  was 
threatened  by  their  poniards  on  the  steps  of 
the  Senate-house.  But  the  reckless  populace 
whom  he  swayed  with  a  handful  of  trusty 
adherents,  by  unbounded  profusion  of  money, 


reigned  in  the  comitia.  He  was  chosen 
praetor  and  chief  pontiff ;  and  in  tie  year 
693  went  forth,  with  money  borrowed  from 
Crassus,  to  gain  his  first  laurels  as  a  governor 
in  the  further  Spain.  Pompeius,  returning 
this  year,  found  himself  the  object  of  jealousy, 
not  unmingled  with  scorn,  to  his  own  party, 
elated  as  they  were  by  their  recent  triumph, 
and  believing  themselves  strong  enough  to 
cast  off  his  odious  patronage.  On  reaching 
the  shores  of  Italy,  such  was  his  confidence 
in  himself,  and  in  the  position  he  supposed 
himself  to  hold,  that  he  magnanimously  dis 
banded  his  army,  and  took  his  seat  as  a 
private  citizen  in  the  Senate.  But  this 
moderation  served  only  to  confirm  the  short 
sighted  vanity  of  the  Optimates.  They 
amused  themselves  by  treating  him  with  the 
most  marked  coldness,  kept  him  waiting  a 
year  for  the  triumph  he  had  so  well  earned, 
and  put  off  from  day  to  day  the  ordinary 
compliment  of  ratifying  his  acts  or  political 
arrangements  in  the  East.  Upon  this  point, 
indeed,  he  could  get  no  satisfaction  till  he 
had  formed  a  coalition  with  Caesar  and 
Crassus,  by  which  they  entered  into  a  mutual 
pledge  to  support  each  other's  pretensions  to 
the  highest  offices  and  commands,  and  to 
share,  in  fact,  between  themselves  the  actual 
government  of  the  state.  Caesar  was  suing 
for  the  consulship ;  Crassus  was  desirous  of 
some  lucrative  command ;  Pompeius,  who 
had  attained  the  summit  of  his  ambition, 
wanted  only  the  confirmation  of  his  acts,  the 
reward  of  his  legionaries,  and  the  solemn  re 
cognition  of  his  pre-eminent  deserts.  He 
felt  as  yet  no  jealousy  of  his  associates ;  the 
one  he  regarded  as  a  fashionable  debauchee 
and  spendthrift,  the  other  as  a  selfish  and  in 
dolent  miser.  He  hoped  to  use  them  both 
as  the  props  of  his  own  supremacy,  and  to 
cast  them  away  whenever  he  had  recovered 
that  authority  with  the  nobles  which  he  con 
sidered  due  to  his  merits,  whatever  attitude 
he  might  assume  towards  them.  Such  was 
the  origin  of  the  compact  of  three  private 
citizens  for  the  control  of  the  republic,  known 
by  the  name  of  the  First  Triumvirate,  the 


524 


HISTOEY   OF   THE  WOKLD. 


fruits  of  which  were  soon  seen  in  the  success 
of  Caesar's  application  for  the  consulship,  and 
in  the  bold  popular  measures  he  was  enabled 
to  carry.  On  the  expiration  of  his  term,  he 
quitted  Rome  for  the  province  of  Gaul, 
where  he  found  himself  suddenly  engaged  in 
wars  with  the  Helvetians  and  the  Suevi. 
The  Optimates  recovered  in  his  absence  the 
curule  chairs,  but  their  consuls  fell  under  the 
patronage  of  Pompeius,  who  now  reigned  pa 
ramount  in  the  city.  Jealous  of  the  renown 
Cicero  had  acquired  in  the  affair  of  Gatilina, 
Pompeius  allowed  the  infamous  demagogue 
Clodius  to  accuse  him,  as  tribune,  before  the 
people,  and  obtain  a  sentence  of  banishment 
against  him  for  the  execution  of  the  conspira 
tors  without  due  form  of  law.  Cicero  re 
tired  into  Macedonia,  and  thence  into  Greece, 
und  lowered  his  character,  spotless  as  it  was, 
by  his  unmanly  lamentations.  Pompeius 
managed  also  to  degrade  the  rigid  Cato  by 
sending  him  on  a  harsh  and  unjust  mission 
to  dethrone  the  King  of  Cyprus,  and  annex 
his  dominions  to  the  empire. 

Caesar  had  entered  his  province  in  690, 
and  during  the  following  years  was  intently 
occupied  in  subjugating  the  tribes  of  Gaul 
from  the  Rhone  to  the  Rhine  and  the  Atlan 
tic.  According  to  the  usual  policy  of  Rome 
and  of  other  conquering  races,  he  effected  his 
purpose  by  directing  the  passions  of  the  na 
tive  tribes  against  one  another,  rather  than 
by  the  strength  of  Roman  arms  and  the  ef 
fusion  of  Roman  blood.  The  JEdui  and 
Arvcrni  in  the  centre  of  Gaul,  the  Remi  in 
the  north-east,  were  disposed,  with  selfish 
views  of  their  own,  to  assist  in  the  ruin  of 
their  common  country,  and  the  incursions  of 
the  Germans  from  beyond  the  Rhine  furnish 
ed  the  invader  with  an  excuse  for  proclaim 
ing  himself  the  protector  of  the  Gauls.  In 
697  Caesar  broke  the  confederation  of  the 
Belgic  tribea  in  the  IsTorth.  The  next  year 
he  worsted  at  sea  the  naval  power  of  the 
Veneti  in  Brittany,  while  his  lieutenants 
subdued  Aqvdtai.  ia.  In  699  he  threw  a  bridge 
across  the  Rhine  and  penetrated  for  an  in 
stant  into  the  Go  man  forests.  In  the 


autumn  of  the  same  year  he  crossed  with  a 
powerful  armament  into  Britain,  and  made 
a  second  attack  upon  the  islanders  in  the 
succeeding  summer.  Landing  on  each  oc 
casion  on  the  coast  of  Kent,  probably  on  the 
beach  at  AV  aimer,  he  made  in  his  second 
campaign  a  rapid  march  into  the  interior, 
forced  the  passage  of  the  Thames  some  miles 
above  London,  and  defeated  the  King  of  the 
Trinobantes,  the  most  powerful  of  the  south 
ern  chieftains,  before  his  stockade  in  Hert 
fordshire.  But  his  success  was  not  such  as 
to  encourage  him  to  leave  a  garrison  in  the 
country,  or  effect  a  permanent  lodgment 
there.  lie  was  satisfied  with  the  promise  of 
a  slender  tribute  ;  and  this,  in  all  probability, 
was  never  paid  after  the  return  of  the  legions. 
The  expedition,  indeed,  had  been  undertaken 
rather  for  the  amusement  of  the  citizens,  who 
listened  with  interest  to  their  hero's  des 
patches,  and  for  the  gratification  of  the  sol 
diers'  cupidity,  than  with  any  view  of  annex 
ing  a  new  province  to  the  empire. 

During  the  progress  of  his  campaigns  ; 
whatever  their  immediate  purpose,  the  vigi 
lance  of  Caesar  was  never  entirely  diverted 
from  the  march  of  events  in  the  city.  Year 
after  year,  when  the  season  for  military 
operations  was  closed,  he  repaired  to  the 
baths  of  Eucca  on  the  frontier  of  his  province 
— for  the  laws  did  not  suffer  an  impcrator  to 
enter  Italy  while  retaining  his  command — 
and  there  concerted  with  his  friends,  who 
flocked  to  him  in  numbers  from  Rome,  the 
measures  most  conducive  to  the  interests  of 
his  party  and  of  himself.  He  had  carried 
his  warfare  against  the  nobles  to  the  furthest 
limits  of  the  taw,  and  had  provoked  and 
alarmed  them  beyond  the  possibility  of  for 
giveness.  In  his  distant  command  he  was 
beyond  the  reach  of  their  enmity :  they  were 
well  pleased  at  his  absence,  and  did  not 
grudge  him  the  term  of  five  years  which  he 
had  in  the  first  instance  required.  But  he 
knew  whenever  he  returned  as  a  private 
citizen  to  Rome  he  should  foil  easily  into 
their  power,  and  he  had  no  trust  in  the  sup 
port  of  either  of  .is  confederates.  From  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


525 


moment  that  the  compact  had  been  made  be 
tween  them  he  had  felt  the  necessity  of 
binding  Pompeius  to  himself  by  a  stronger 
tie  than  political  interest ;  for  Pompeius 
could  not  persuade  himself  that  a  party  chief 
as  yet  so  little  distinguished  could  do  him 
more  than  a  momentary  service.  With  a 
keen  discernment  of  character,  Caesar  per 
ceived  how  this  reserved  and  selfish  magnate 
could  be  worked  on  through  his  sentimental 
affections.  Though  advanced  in  years,  and 
older  indeed  than  Csesar  himself,  Pompeius 
had  consented  to  give  his  hand  to  his  rival's 
youthful  daughter,  and  had  devoted  himself 
to  her  as  the  most  uxorious  of  husbands. 
He  had  thus  been  easily  blinded  to  the 
schemes  of  the  Gaulish  proconsul  which  kept 
the  Senate  in  alarm.  His  attention,  indeed, 
was  diverted  from  them  by  the  turbulence 
of  Clodius  and  some  popular  tribunes,  whose 
intrigues  for  harassing  and  dividing  the 
nobles  were  so  propitious  to  Caesar's  views 
that  we  must  suspect  him  of  covertly  instiga 
ting  them.  Pompeius,  on  his  part,  was  well 
pleased  to  see  the  Senate  humbled.  When, 
however,  he  was  himself  insulted,  and  his 
life  threatened,  he  thought  that  their  degra 
dation  had  gone  far  enough,  and  joined  with 
Crassus  to  secure  the  election  of  vigorous 
consuls,  and  tribunes  devoted  to  himself. 
He  countenanced  the  .turbulent  agitation 
with  which  Milo,  a  creature  of  the  Senate, 
rebutted  the  violence  of  Clodius,  and  finally 
obtained  the  recall  of  Cicero  from  banish 
ment.  The  people,  with  their  usual  fickle 
ness,  turned  their  backs  upon  Clodius,  and 
received  the  patriot  orator  with  acclamations. 
Caesar  congratulated  him-  with  a  warmth 

<-D 

congenial  to  his  generous  character,  and 
heaped  favors  on  his  brother  Quintus,  then 
serving  in  his  army.  Pompeius,  indeed, 
looked  coldly  upon  him.  The  nobles,  who 
had  got,  as  they  thought,  all  the  use  that 
was  to  be  made  of  him,  were  indifferent  to 
his  further  career,  and  he  remained  for  some 
years  in  a  subordinate  position,  seeking  to 
keep  himself  before  the  public  by  puerile 
appeals  to  his  former  services,  and  by  hollow 


flattery  of  the  men  really  in  power.  But 
Pompeius  required  his  own  services  to  be 
amply  requited.  On  the  occurrence  of  a 
scarcity  in  the  city,  the  Senate  hastened  to 
confer  upon  him  extraordinary  powers  for 
its  relief,  and  Cicero  was  required  to  recom 
mend  this  commission  to  the  people. 

Crassus  was  now  impatient  of  the  inferior 
ity  of  his  position.  He  was  not  a  great  mili 
tary  chief  like  Pompeius ;  he  had  conferred 
no  commands,  and  bestowed  no  crowns ;  he 
was  not  a  popular  leader  like  Csesar,  with 
a  crowd  of  hungry  dependents  urging  him 
on  for  their  own  advancement ;  he  \vas  not 
even  to  be  compared  as  an  orator  to  Cicero, 
though  he  had  made  some  useful  connections 
as  a  pleader  and  patron ;  but  he  was  the  rich 
est  of  the  Romans,  and  he  represented  one 
marked  feature  in  the  character  of  his  coun 
trymen  in  his  sordid  pursuit  of  wealth  and 
love  of  accumulation.  His  career  had  been 
that  of  a  banker  and  money-lender  in  the 
city;  his  acquisitions,  however  great,  had 
been  slow  and  gradual ;  now,  advanced  as  he 
was  in  years,  his  ambition  began  to  reach 
further  :  he  coveted  the  fame  of  a  commander 
and  a  conqueror,  and  lusted  for  the  plunder 
of  a  province  or  a  foreign  kingdom.  After 
fulfilling  his  term  of  office  as  consul,  he  de- 


Syria,  and  avowed  as  he  set  forth  from  Rome 
his  purpose  of  making  war  upon  Parthia. 
The  nobles,  who  were  unable  to  refuse  him 
the  proconsulate,  professed  a  pious  horror  at 
these  unprovoked  hostilities,  and  engaged  the 
tiibune  Ateius  to  denounce  it  as  a  sacrilege — 

o 

to  meet  him  as  he  issued  through  the  gates 
of  the  city,  and  devote  him,  with  awful  so 
lemnities,  to  the  vengeance  of  the  offended 
gods.  The  minds  of  the  soldiers  were  pain 
fully  affected  by  this  formidable  ceremony, 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  Crassus  could 
overcome  their  terrors,  and  engage  them  by 
redoubled  promises  to  follow  him  on  his  ill- 
omened  expedition. 

Then  did  the  Senate  watch  and  strain 
every  nerve  to  baffle  the  movements  of  the 
triumvirs.  But  the  coalition  was  too  power- 


B26 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


fnl  tor  it.  While  Crassus  was  gratified  with 
his  eastern  command,  Pompeius  claimed  and 
obtained  the  provinces  of  Spain  and  Africa, 
which  he  governed  by  lieutenants,  remaining 
himself  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
Rome ;  and  Caesar's  command  in  Gaul  was 
prolonged  for  a  second  period  of  five  years. 
The  power  of  the  triumvirate  was  thus  ap 
parently  confirmed ;  but  the  Senate  turned 
with  a  gleam  of  satisfaction  to  the  enterprise 
of  Crassus,  the  disastrous  issue  of  which  was 
already  augured  from  surer  tokens  than  those 
of  the  diviners.  Crassus  was  quite  incompe 
tent  for  the  task  he  had  undertaken.  Hav 
ing  defied  the  Parthians  upon  frivolous  pre 
tences,  he  led  his  army  across  the  Euphrates, 
and  directed  his  march  across  the  desert 
which  divides  that  river  from  the  Tigris. 
The  Parthians  retreated  before  him  till  they 
had  enticed  him  to  a  considerable  distance, 
and  finally  attacked  him  with  overwhelming 
force  when  his  men  were  exhausted  with 
fatigue  and  heat.  A  Roman  army  of  three 
legions  was  routed  and  almost  destroyed  in 
the  terrible  battle  of  Charrhse  and  the  disas 
trous  flight  which  followed.  The  proconsul 
was  induced  to  sue  for  terms  of  capitulation, 
and  then  treacherously  slain.  A  reinnant  of 
his  army  was  saved  and  conducted  back  to 
Antioch  by  Cassius  Longinus,  the  ablest  of 
his  lieutenants. 

The  triple  league  thus  suddenly  dissolved 
had  already  been  shaken  by  the  death  of 
Julia,  the  daughter  of  Caesar,  espoused  to 
Pompeius.  The  nobles  saw  their  opportu 
nity,  and  exerted  themselves  diligently  to 
improve  it.  They  renewed  their  overtures 
to  Pompeius,  who  was  becoming  jealous  of 
the  advance  of  Caesar  in  power  and  general 
estimation,  and  allowed  him  the  unprece 
dented  distinction  of  holding  the  consulslwp 
for  six  months  without  a  colleague — a  kind 
of  dictatorship  without  the  name,  for  which 
the  disturbances  in  the  city  seemed  to  afford 
an  excuse.  The  Gauls,  once  apparently  con 
quered,  had  risen  again  ir  a  wide-spread  re 
volt,  and  the  position  of  the  conqueror  had 
become  imminently  precarious.  Pompeiu? 


who  had  suffered  from  a  dangerous  sickness, 
was  elated  by  the  extravagant  acclamations 
of  the  citizens  on  his  recovery,  and  the  Sen 
ate  easily  persuaded  him  that  he  could  stand 
alone  at  the  head  of  the  government,  and, 
even  if  Ca?sar  escaped  the  perils  in  which  he 
was  involved,  securely  spurn  his  alliance  and 
defy  his  enmity.  But  all  these  calculations 
were  doomed  to  disappointment.  The  abili 
ties  and  fortune  of  Caesar  triumphed  over 
the  Gauls,  and  he  was  enabled  to  complete 
his  conquests,  and  recruit  his  exhausted  le 
gions  from  the  flov/er  of  the  Gaulish  youth. 
Before  the  expiration  of  his  second  form  of 
office,  he  had  finished  the  task  he  had  under 
taken  to  accomplish,  and  found  himself  in  a 
position  to  demand  the  consulship  a  second 
time.  The  Senate,  alarmed  at  the  prospect 
of  his  return,  required  him  to  relinquish  his 
command  before  venturing  to  sue  for  a  civil 
office ;  but  he  was  well  aware  that,  once  di 
vested  of  military  support,  he  would  lie  at 
the  mercy  of  unscrupulous  enemies ;  and  he 
retorted  with  the  demand,  which  he  knew 
would  not  be  complied  with,  that  Pompeius. 
who  at  the  moment  held  the  command  of 
the  armies  in  Spain,  while  continuing  to  re 
side  within  sight  of  the  city,  should  at  the 
same  time  surrender  his  extraordinary  ap 
pointments.  Both  parties  could  appeal  to 
the  letter  of  the  law ;  but  on  both  sides  tha 
appeal  to  the  letter  of  the  law  was  a  mere 
pretence.  Party  animosities  and  private 
ambitions  had  come  to  such  a  head  that  Cae 
sar  could  not  be  safe  without  the  guarantee 
of  a  high  official  position ;  the  Senate  could 
not  be  safe  without  degrading  and  trampling 
him  under  its  feet.  A  contest  had  become 
inevitable,  and  it  was  little  matter  from 
which  side  the  first  blow  actually  came. 

Still,  with  a  people  devoted  like  the  Ro 
mans  to  the  observance  of  constitutional  fic 
tions,  it  was  an  object  of  some  importance  to 
preserve  a  mere  show  of  legality ;  and  this 
advantage,  such  as  it  was,  was  secured  to 
Coesar  when  two  of  the  tribunes,  who  had 
protested  against  the  fierce  demands  of  the 
Senate,  fled  from  Home  by  night,  affecting 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


521 


alarm  for  their  own  safety,  and  sought  refuge 
in  the  camp  of  the  proconsul,  which  he  had 
advanced  to  the  frontier  of  his  province. 
The  news  of  their  flight  outstripped  their 
own  arrival ;  and  Caesar,  with  his  usual  light 
ning-speed,  crossed  the  Rubicon  with  a  few 
battalions,  and  met  them  at  Ariminum,  pro 
claiming  that  he  entered  Italy  in  arms  to 
vindicate  the  majesty  of  the  law.  Thus  out 
raged  in  their  persons,  Pompeius  and  the 
Senate  were  dismayed  at  the  boldness  of  this 
movement.  Slender  as  were  the  forces  of 
the  invader,  they  were  unprepared  to  meet 
them  in  arms.  Their  legions  were  scattered 
in  Spain  and  in  the  East,  and  the  raw  levies 
of  the  city  were  not  fit  to  oppose  to  the  de 
termined  veterans  of  the  Gallic  wars.  Pom- 
peius  required  the  knights  and  senators  to 
•  quit  the  city  and  retire  with  him  to  the  south 
of  Italy.  The  negotiations  with  which  he 
sought  to  amuse  the  assailant  had  no  effect 
in  retarding  him.  One  fortress  after  another 
fell  with  their  garrisons  into  Caesar's  hands ; 
the  population  of  Italy  rose  to  welcome  him  ; 
and  he  well-nigh  succeeded  in  surprising 
Pompeius  in  Brundisium,  and  intercepting 
his  escape  into  Illyricum.  But  the  Senate 
had  possession  of  the  sea,  arid  for  the  present 
their  enemy  was  unable  to  follow  them.  Cre- 
sar  then  retraced  his  steps  to  Rome,  where 
the  people  received  him  with  acclamations. 
He  summoned  a  Senate  of  the  remnant  of 
the  order,  seized  the  treasures  of  the  state, 
which  Pompeius  in  his  haste  had  neglected 
to  secure,  gave  an  assurance  of  his  favor  to 
all  the  nobles  who  would  abandon  the  falling 

O 

fortunes  of  the  fugitives,  and  defied  the  ab 
dicated  government  as  traitors  and  rebels. 

In  sixty  days  Caesar  had  driven  his  ene 
mies  out  of  Italy.  He  had  cut  their  position 
in  two.  The  best  half  of  the  Pompeian  ar 
mies  were  quartered  in  Spain  ;  but  Pompeius 
had  more  reliance  on  the  resources  of  Greece 
and  Asia,  \vhich  he  had  so  long  wielded,  and 
eft  his  lieutenants  in  the  west  to  defend 
themselves  as  best  they  might,  while  he  raised 
the  forces  of  his  own  division  of  the  empire, 
Roman  and  barbarian,  and  trainel  them  to 


gether  for  the  future  invasion  of  Italy.  Cae 
sar,  as  we  have  seen,  had  no  ships  for  trans 
porting  himself  across  the  Adriatic.  He  was 
aware  also  that  it  would  take  a  long  time  to- 
equip  the  Pompeian  armaments  in  the  East 
But  meanwhile  the  base  of  his  own  resources 
in  Gaul  was  threatened  by  the  forces  of  the 
enemy  in  Spain,  and  his  first  operations  were 
directed  to  crushing  this  stronghold  of  the 

o  o 

senatorial  party  and  securing  his  own  rear. 
He  led  his  legions  along  the  coast  of  Italy 
and  Gaul ;  besieged  and  reduced  Massilia, 
which  ventured  to  rise  against  him  in  the 
interest  of  the  oligarchy ;  crossed  the  Pyre 
nees,  and  attacked  the  Pompeian  lieutenants 
in  the  north  of  Spain.  Having  mastered  his 
opponents  in  a  brilliant  campaign,  he  re 
turned  swiftly  to  Rome,  quelling  a  mutiny 
among  his  own  soldiers  at  Placentia  on  the 
way,  assumed  the  dictatorship  with  a  faint 
show  of  legal  forms,  and  proclaimed  himself 
once  more  the  champion  of  the  state  against 
every  foreign  and  domestic  enemy.  Collect 
ing  his  forces,  to  the  amount  of  about  30,000 
men,  at  Brundisium,  he  effected  the  passage 
of  the  straits  by  skill  and  good  fortune,  in 
the  face  of  a  superior  fleet,  and  conducted 
operations  against  Pompeius,  who  had  assem 
bled  a  large  but  ill-disciplined  armament  on 
the  coast  of  Epirus.  It  was  the  policy  of 
Pompeius  to  avoid  an  engagement.  He  suf 
fered  himself  to  be  blocked  up  in  his  camp 
on  the  land  side,  having  still  the  command 
of  the  sea,  and  Caesar  found  himself  baffled 
and  reduced  to  straits  for  the  support  of  his 
army.  When  at  last  he  made  a  desperate 
attack  on  the  Pompeian  lines  he  was  repulsed 
with  some  loss,  and  was  obliged  to  break  up 
from  his  position.  Military  critics  have  af 
firmed  that  the  younger  captain  had  been 
out-generalled  by  the  elder.  But  this  is 
hardly  a  fair  account  of  the  matter.  Caesar's 
policy  required  him  to  fight  against  odds 
both  of  numbers  and  position.  It  was  no 
disparagement  to  his  military  talents  that  he 
failed  under  such  conditions.  But  his  peri] 
was  now  extreme.  Retreat  across  the  sea, 
could  he  have  hazarded  a  retrograde  move- 


528 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WORLD. 


ment,  was  intercepted.  He  boldly  dashed 
into  Thessaly,  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy's 
country,  in  the  hope  of  drawing  Pompeius 
from  his  impregnable  stronghold  in  pursuit 
of  him.  The  Pompeians,  elated  with  their 
success,  followed  him  with  exultation,  and 
insisted  on  their  leader  accepting  the  battle 
so  urgently  demanded.  Pompeius  hesitated, 
and  only  yielded  to  the  importunity  of  the 
civilians  against  his  own  judgment.  His 
forces  doubled  those  of  his  antagonist,  but 
they  were  not  equally  serviceable. 

The  armies  met  at  last  on  the  plain  be 
neath  the  hill-fortress  of  Pharsalia ;  and  on 
the  9th  of  August,  706,  the  great  battle 
was  fought  which  utterly  broke  the  power 
of  the  Senate,  scattered  their  leaders,  and 
drove  Pompeius  across  the  seas  as  a  suppli 
ant  to  the  coast  of  Egypt.  Gesar  was  in 
tent  on  following  the  steps  of  his  great  ad 
versary,  more  formidable  to  him  than  all  the 
rest  of  his  party  ;  but  from  the  want  of  ship 
ping  he  was  obliged  to  lead  his  troops  by  a 
long  circuitous  march  through  Asia  Minor 
and  Syria.  Meanwhile  the  young  Ptole- 
maeus,  who  owed  his  throne  to  the  man  who 
now  sought  his  protection,  was  persuaded  by 
his  ministers  to  sacrifice  him.  Pompeius 
was  inveigled  out  of  ship,  stabbed  in  the  boat 
which  conveyed  him  to  the  shore,  his  head 
cut  off  and  sent  to  Cassar. 

After  Pharsalia  the  nobles  for  the  most 
part  made  their  submission,  and  the  clemency 
with  which  Caesar  treated  them,  so  different 
from  the  measure  dealt  to  their  conquered 
enemies  by  a  Marius  or  a  Sulla,  gained  him 
the  fervent  applause  both  of  his  contempora 
ries  and  of  posterity.  A  remnant  indeed  of 
the  defeated  faction,  under  the  indomitable 
Cato,  effected  their  escape  to  Africa,  and 
raised  the  standard  of  the  oligarchy  at  Utica ; 
but  the  greater  number  of  the  senators  and 
nobles  returned  to  Rome,  and  acquiesced 
without  a  murmur  in  the  acclamations  with 
which  the  people  conferred  the  dictatorship 
on  their  favorite  for  the  second  time.  Caesar 
meanwhile  was  received  with  hollow  demon 
strations  of  respect  by  Ptolemaeus  in  Egypt, 


and  he  remained  there  for  some  months,  fas 
cinated,  it  was  said,  by  the  charms  of  tho 
king's  sister  Cleopatra.  He  supported  her 
claims  against  her  brother,  seeking  perhaps 
an  opportunity  for  demanding  money,  of 
which  he  was  much  in  need  ;  but  the  Alex 
andrians,  on  discovering  how  slender  his 
forces  were,  rose  in  arms  against  him,  and 
he  was  reduced  to  the  direst  peril,  till  re 
lieved  by  the  advance  of  re-inforcements 
from  Syria.  Had  Cato's  Senate  acted  with 
energy  at  this  crisis,  it  would  seem  that  it 
might  easily  have  crushed  him.  Possibly  it 
was  hampered  by  want  of  means  for  moving 
an  army  by  sea.  It  is  difficult  to  understand 
the  next  movement  of  Cassar,  who  it  seems 
did  not  hesitate  to  leave  such  an  enemy  to 
gather  force  in  his  rear,  while  he  led  his, own 
troops  through  Syria  into  Pontus,  arid  occu 
pied  himself  with  waging  war  against  its 
king,  Pharnaces,  the  son  of  Mithridates. 
He  could  describe,  indeed,  his  success,  which 
was  rapid  and  complete,  by  the  three  words 
veni,  vidij  vici ;  and  here,  too.  we  must  sup 
pose  that  the  motive  of  his  delay  was  the 
need  he  felt  for  money  to  satisfy  his  rapacious 
mercenaries.  From  Asia  he  repaired  to 
Rome,  and  assumed  the  dictatorship  for  the 
third  time ;  but  before  the  end  of  the  yeai 
(A.  u.  707)  he  sallied  forth  again  to  confront 
the  remnant  of  the  senatorial  party,  and 
landed  with  a  large  force  near  Adrumetum. 
The  battle  of  Thapsus  in  70S,  in  which  Ca 
to's  troops,  with  their  ally  the  Kumidian 
Juba,  were  routed*  completed  the  overthrow 
of  the  senatorial  faction.  The  chiefs  of  the 
party  were  slain  in  the  battle  or  the  pursuit. 
Caesar's  soldiers  wreaked  their  fury  upon  a 
large  number  of  the  captives.  Cato,  finding  it 
impossible  to  hold  out  in  Utica,  recommend 
ed  his  followers  to  make  their  peace  with  the 
conqueror,  and  consummated  his  career  of 
futile  self-devotion  by  throwing  himself  on 
his  own  sword. 

Caesar  returned  once  more  to  Rome  to 
celebrate  a  series  of  triumphs,  to  reform  the 
laws,  and  lay  the  foundations  of  an  empire. 
The  battle  of  Thapsus  is  the  termination  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


529 


the  republic.  Though  the  old  offices  of  the 
free  state  were  to  be  preserved  ;  though  the 
consuls,  praetors,  and  tribune  were  to  be  se 
lected  as  of  yore  by  the  assemblies  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  to  issue  from  Rome  for  the  govern 
ment  of  the  provinces,  the  forms  of  the  com- 
'  monwealth  were  really  to  be  subordinated  to 
the  will  of  a  single  autocrat ;  and  the  title  of 
Imperator,  "a  commander,"  which  Csesar 
now  assumed,  not  to  denote  an  occasional 
and  temporary  office,  but  a  permanent  dis 
tinction,  symbolized  the  rule  of  the  sword, 
which  was  henceforth,  to  become  actually 
predominant.  Nevertheless,  Csesar  is  not  to 
be  regarded  as  a  vulgar  despot,  who  seizes 
his  opportunity  to  suppress  the  liberties  of 
his  countrymen,  and  con  /ert  a  free  state  into 
a  tyranny.  Csesar  considered  himself  the 
sovereign,  not  of  the  ancient  Roman  people, 
but  of  the  world,  their  subjects.  His  aim, 
from  an  early  period,  had  been  to  carry  out 
to  the  fullest  practicable  extent  the  princi 
ple,  long  admitted  but  imperfectly  exercised, 
of  provincial  emancipation.  The  popular 
party  which  he  led  had  incorporated  itself 
with  the  Italians ;  his  policy  wras  to  incorpo 
rate  it  with  the  nations  beyond  Italy.  He 
had  enlisted  the  subject  Gauls  in  the  legions, 
and  placed  them  side  by  side  with  the  Ro 
man  soldier.  He  had  conferred  the  citizen 
ship  on  the  Cisalpine  population.  He  now 
threw  open  the  doors  of  the  Senate  to  the 
chiefs  of  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Africa,  and  filled 
the  mansions  of  Rome  with  men  of  strange 
garb  and  uncouth  idioms,  that  all  the  nations 
which  owned  the  sway  of  the  republic  might 
learn  to  know  each  other,  and  mingle  at  last 
in  one  homogeneous  community.  He  did 
not  scruple  to  proclaim  his  passion  for  the 
Grseco-Egyptian  princess  Cleopatra,  to  invite 
her  to  Rome,  lodge  her  in  a  Roman  palace, 
and  allow  one  of  his  creatures  to  propose  a 
dispensation  to  enable  him  to  marry  her. 
He  suffered  himself  to  be  adored  with  the 
title  of  a  divinity,  and  his  statue  to  be  conse 
crated  in  the  temple  of  Mars.  Such  acts  as 
these,  in  daring  violation  of  the  national  prej 
udices,  announced  a  new  era  in  public  ideas. 
67 


If  Caesar  should  succeed  in  effecting  them, 
he  would  lay  the  basis  of  a  new  national  edi 
fice  ;  he  would  be  the  last  and  the  greatest 
founder  of  Rome.  But  though  he  was  thus 
unscrupulous  in  overthrowing  the  ancient 
fabric  of  the  constitution,  he  was  considerate 
and  clement  in  the  treatment  of  parties ;  for, 
the  moment  that  they  laid  down  their  arms, 
he  regarded  his  adversaries  in  the  same  light 
as  the  rest  of  the  citizens.  He  suffered  no 
punishment,  no  confiscations.  He  took 
their  chiefs  into  his  favor,  and  admitted  them 
to  his  counsels.  When  he  celebrated  hia 
four-fold  triumphs  over  the  Gauls,  the  Egyp 
tians,  over  Juba  and  Pharnaces,  he  allowed 
the  greatest  of  his  victories  to  be  passed  ovor 
in  silence.  He  pretended  to  be  still  the 
father  of  his  country,  and  accepted  with  a 
pride  which  he  himself  believed  to  be  legiti 
mate,  this  title,  the  proudest  which  any 
Roman  had  ever  won  from  his  countrymen. 
Rome  had  indeed  yet  a  series  of  revolutions 
to  undergo  before  this  idea  of  a  universal 
empire  could  be  carried  out,  and  when  final1) 
established,  the  empire  was  a  doubtful  bless 
ing  at  best ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  continuance  of  the  free  state,  with  the 
incitement  it  gave  to  lawless  and  turbulent 
ambition,  had  become  manifestly  impossi 
ble  ;  and  further,  that  the  only  possible  solu 
tion  of  the  political  problem,  the  establish- 
ment  of  a  monarchy,  had  been  long  the  half- 
conscious  object  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  Ro 
man  people.  The  consummation,  it  must 
never  be  forgotton,  had  not  been  averted, 
but  only  delayed,  for  forty  years,  by  the 
bloody  occupation  of  the  Sullan  oligarchy. 
The  fall  of  the  terrible  dynasty  of  the  Epi- 
goni,  so  to  term  the  political  heirs  of  the 
dictator,  was  regretted  neither  by  the  citi 
zens  nor  the  subjects  of  Rome. 

As  chief  of  the  empire,  Cassar  effected 
many  great  works ;  the  building  of  temples, 
the  construction  of  posts,  the  establishment 
of  colonies,  the  restoration  of  the  great 
cities,  once  the  redoubted  rivals  of  Rome, 
henceforth  her  sisters,  Capua,  Corinth  and 
Carthage.  He  projected  a  complete  survey 


530 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


of  Italy  and  the  provinces,  as  the  basis  of 
the  imperial  finance  ;  the  codification  of  the 
laws  and  usages  of  the  republic,  which  no 
doubt  he  would  have  applied  to  every  sub 
ject  nation ;  and  he  executed  a  correction  of 
the  calendar,  not  the  least  practically  useful 
of  these  reforms,  which  has  lasted,  with 
trifling  rectifications,  even  to  our  own  days, 
and  become  the  common  heritage  of  Europe. 
The  power  of  the  senatorial  faction  had 
been  completely  broken  at  Pharsalia  and 
Tl lapsus,  but  Cnaeus  and  Sextus,  the  sons  of 
Pompeius,  with  a  few  desperate  adherents 
of  his  family,  rather  than  of  any  public 
cause,  raised  their  standard  again  in  Spain, 
where  they  found  recruits  among  the  Ro 
man  residents  and  the  still  turbulent  natives. 
Caesar  hastened  from  Italy  to  crush  this  re 
volt,  which  he  could  easily  have  effected  had 
his  own  soldiers  been  disposed  to  fight  as 
constantly  as  hitherto  in  his  behalf ;  but  even 
the  tenth,  his  favorite  legion,  had  been  de 
bauched  by  victory  and  plunder,  and  could 
hardly  be  brought  to  engage  till  he  threw 
himself  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy's  ranks, 
and  called  upon  it  to  deliver  him.  The  bat 
tle  of  Munda  ended  in  the  final  overthrow 
of  the  opponents  of  the  empire.  Cngeus 
was  slain  in  the  pursuit ;  Sextus  escaped  to 
lurk  for  some  years  longer  among  pirates 
and  outlaws.  Returning  to  Rome,  Caesar 
assumed  the  consulship  with  his  friend  M. 
Antonius  for  the  year  ensuing :  but  now 
that  all  resistance  had  been  quelled,  and  no 
further  heights  of  glory  and  ambition  re 
mained  to  be  scaled,  a  change  seems  to  have 
come  over  the  calm  serenity  of  his  temper, 
and  that  perfect  self-command  and  clear 
perception  of  his  aims  which  had  so  long 
distinguished  him.  The  possession  of  un 
limited  power  still  left  a  void  to  be  filled 
up.  He  became  proud  towards  his  nobles, 
harsh  and  tyrannical  towards  his  weaker 
subjects,  impatient  in  his  temper,  restless  in 
his  schemes.  While  the  whole  Roman  world 
lay  before  him  to  be  moulded  into  an  em 
pire  .f  uniform  laws  and  usages,  he  was 
b<  nt  on  prosecuting  a  vast  scheme  of  foreign 


warfare,  chastising  the  Parthians,  recovering 
the  standards  won  from  Crassus,  exploring 
the  recesses  of  the  Mithridatic  realms  on 
the  further  coast  of  the  Euxine,  and  uniting 
to  the  empire  the  yet  untrodden  regions  be 
tween  the  Don  and  the  Danube.  These 
dreams  of  the  imagination  were  destined  to 
be  rudely  broken.  While  in  the  first  months 
of  the  year  710  he  was  intent  on  his  military 
preparations,  and  was  sending  forward  the 
legions  designed  for  his  expedition,  Rome 
was  filled  with  rumors  that  the  dictator,  not 
satisfied  with  the  glorious  titles  he  had  ac 
quired,  desired  to  be  saluted  with  the  odious 
style  of  king.  This  was  the  device  so  often 
repeated  whenever  the  nobles  of  Rome  want 
ed  to  raise  the  people  against  their  champions, 
which  had  never  perhaps  failed  of  success ; 
and  it  seems  more  probable  that  the  charge 
was  invented  by  Caesar's  enemies  than  that 
he  should  have  actually  imperilled  his  life 
and  fortunes  for  an  empty  sound.  Yet,  none 
perhaps  can  tell  what  influence  a  sound  may 
exercise  on  the  imagination  of  a  man  like 
Caesar,  who  had  attained  the  substance  of 
all  that  he  desired,  and  still  craved  for  some 
thing  more  to  attain.  All  Roman  antiquity 
agreed  in  imputing  this  insane  caprice  to 
the  wisest  of  the  Roman  heroes,  and  refused 
to  believe  the  denial  of  it  whioh  it  allowed 
him  to  have  openly  expressed.  Antonius, 
we  are  told,  thrice  offered  him  the  diadem, 
and  on  hearing  the  murmurs  of  the  citizens, 
he  thrice  rejected  it.  But  the  jealousy  of 
M.  Brutus  was  aroused.  This  man,  son-in- 
law  of  Cato,  had  submitted  after  Pharsalia 
to  the  conqueror,  who  treated  him  with  pe 
culiar  indulgence,  and  gave  him  the  Cisal 
pine  province  to  govern.  He  had  acquiesced, 
however  reluctantly,  in  the  usurpation,  and 
had  even  consented  to  serve  it ;  but  his  char 
acter  for  patriotism  stood  high  with  the 
people ;  he  was  reputed  a  descendant,  on 
the  father's  side,  from  Brutus  the  liberator, 
on  the  mother's  from  Servilius  Ahala  the 
tyrannicide ;  his  own  imagination  had  fed 
on  the  lessons  of  a  self-devoting  philosophy  ; 
and  when  the  conspirators  against 


HISTOKY    OF    THE    WOELD. 


531 


life  looked  for  a  name  under  which  to  range 
themselves,  they  found  none  so  suitable  as 
his  for  their  purpose.  Brutus  was  won  over 
to  join  them,  with  Cassius  and  others,  who 
for  the  most  part  were  galled  by  personal 
Blights,  or  inflamed  by  petty  jealousies. 
Brutus,  indeed,  such  was  the  judgment  of 
the  Romans  themselves,  was  the  only  one 
amongst  them  whose  aims  were  really  pure 
and  patriotic.  Though  Caesar  had  renounced 
many  of  his  highest  qualities,  his  courage 
had  not  deserted  him.  No  tyrant  was  ever 
so  fearless,  so  confident  in  his  fortune,  and 
in  tlie  greatness  of  his  own  destiny.  His 
legions  had  quitted  Italy  ;  he  had  refused 
the  bodyguard  offered  him  by  the  Senate. 
He  traversed  the  streets  of  Rome  in  the 
midst  of  all  the  factions  he  had  outraged 
with  no  other  attendants  than  his  troop  of 
private  friends  and  clients.  His  person  was 
assailable  at  any  moment ;  and  the  conspi 
rators  selected  the  Senate-house  itself  as  the 
spot  in  which  to  attack  him.  On  the  Ides 
of  March,  the  15th  of  the  month,  they  fell 
upon  him  with  poniards  borne  beneath  their 
robes ;  and  he  fell,  pierced  with  thirty 
wounds,  at  the  foot  of  the  statue  of  Pom- 
peius. 

Cicero,  who  had  accepted  the  supremacy 
of  the  popular  leader  even  before  the  battle 
of  Pharsalia,  and  had  submitted,  with  the 
sorrow  of  a  philosopher  and  patriot,  to  a 
revolution  which  he  had  himself  long  felt 
to  be  inevitable,  was  no  party  to  this  act  of 
personal  animosity.  But  when  the  deed  was 
done,  and  the  assassins  proclaimed  them 
selves  the  deliverers  of  their  country,  he  too 
indulged  in  the  dream  of  reviving  liberty, 
and  cited  many  an  ancient  precedent  to  jus 
tify  the  crime.  Cicero  now  united  himself 
to  the  band  of  self-styled  patriots  in  the 
Capitol,  whither  they  had  repaired  for  fear 
of  tli3  populace,  and  assisted  them  with  his 
ad  vie?.  It  had  been  well,  indeed,  for  the 
cause  of  the  oligarchy,  if  the  men  who  now 
assumed  to  be  its  champions  had  listened  to  ! 
his  counsels.  But  they  suffered  themselves  I 
to  be  cajoled  by  Antonius;  and  that  skill 


ful  partizan,  having  obtained  permission  to 
celebrate  Caesar's  obsequies  in  public,  con 
trived  to  play  on  the  feelings  of  the  multi 
tude,  and  raise  a  storm  of  grief  and  indigna 
tion  which  completely  paralyzed  them.  The 
people  insisted  on  burning  the  body  in  the 
Forum,  and  erected  a  chapel  on  the  spot, 
which  was  afterwards  converted  into  a 
temple.  The  murdered  Caesar  was  advanc 
ed  to  the  honors  of  divinity,  which  had  not 
been  offered  to  Marius,  or  Scipio,  or  Camil- 
lus,  before  him.  His  soul,  it  was  declared, 
was  borne  to  heaven  in  the  comet  which  ap 
peared  conspicuously  about  the  period  of 
his  decease.  ]STot  the  citizens  only  but  for 
eigners  of  every  nation  residing  in  Rome, 
and  particularly  the  Jews,  united  in  these 
demonstrations  of  sorrow,  and  showed  that 
the  death  of  Caesar  was  regarded  as  a  general 
calamity  to  mankind. 

Antonius  and  the  liberators  had  combined 
together  in  proclaiming  a  general  amnesty  ; 
but  such  was  now  the  state  of  irritation  in 
the  city,  that  the  actors  in  the  recent  tragedy 
for  the  most  part  withdrew  from  public  sight. 
During  the  dictator's  lifetime  the  friends  of 
freedom  had  comforted  themselves,  in  the 
eclipse  under  which  it  had  fallen,  with  the 
remembrance  of  his  advanced  year.-,  of  the 
perils  into  which  he  was  continually  thrust 
ing  himself,  and  of  his  having  no  direct  de 
scendant.  He  had  left,  however,  a  nephew,  the 
son  of  an  Octavius,  whom  he  had  adopted 
as  his  son,  and  who  now  bore  the  name  of 
C.  Julius  Caesar  Octavianus.  This  youth 
was  at  this  time  only  nineteen,  and  at  the 
moment  of  his  uncle's  death  he  was  absent 
with  a  military  tutor  in  Illyricum.  Few 
supposed  he  would  have  the  courage  to  pro 
claim  himself  the  heir  of  the  murdered 
usurper,  to  claim  his  private  property,  which 
Antonius  had  got  into  his  own  hands,  stiL 
less  to  assert  his  legitimate  title  to  the  cham 
pionship  of  the  popular  party,  and  to  the 
first  place  in  the  commonwealth.  But  the 
ambition  of  the  young  Octavius  (such  is  the 
name  by  which  he  is  most  commonlj  desig- 
nated)  was  equalled  by  his  confiden  :c,  said 


532 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


these  again  by  his  cunning  and  ability. 
Throwing  himself  boldly  into  the  midst  of 
the  citizens,  he  cajoled  Cicero  with  the 
warmest  professions  of  patriotism,  while  he 
demanded  the  restitution  of  his  private  in 
heritance  from  Antonius.  The  field  gradually 
cleared  around  him.  Brutus  and  Cassius, 
finding  themselves  unpopular  and  even  inse 
cure  in  the  city,  retired  first  into  Campania, 
and  then  to  their  provinces  Macedonia  and 
Syria.  Antonius  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  some  legions,  prepared  to  fight  for  pay 
and  plunder  under  any  commander,  and 
took  up  a  threatening  position  in  the  Cis 
alpine.  The  Senate,  inspired  with  energy 
by  the  eloquence  of  Cicero,  who  thundered 
forth  the  series  of  orations  against  the  traitor 
to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Philippics, 
armed  the  consuls  Ilirtius  and  Pansa,  and 
Bent  them  to  confront  him ;  while  Octavius 
led  an  army  of  his  own,  the  most  devoted 
of  his  uncle's  battalions,  ostensibly  to  sup 
port  the  government,  but  really  to  watch 
the  event,  and  attach  himself  to  the  party 
which  should  prove  the  stronger.  A  third 
division  of  the  Caesarean  force  had  also  as 
sumed  an  attitude  of  observation  under  Le- 
pidus  in  Gaul.  In  the  spring  of  711  An 
tonius  came  to  an  engagement  with  the 
consuls  near  Mutina,  in  which,  though  he 
was  himself  defeated,  both  Hirtius  and 
Pansa  were  slain.  This  event  proved  a 
death-blow  to  the  Senate.  Octavius,  instead 
of  pursuing  the  routed  Antonius,  as  he  was 
expected  to  do,  chose  rather  to  unite  himself 
to  him,  and  concert  a  coalition  with  Lepidus 
and  Antonius  for  the  joint  usurpation  of  the 
empire.  This  combination,  known  by  the 
name  of  the  Second  Triumvirate,  was  effect 
ed  in  an  island  of  the  River  Rhenus,  near 
Bologna.  The  contracting  parties  agreed 
between  themselves  to  exercise  consular 
power  in  common  for  five  years,  to  dispose 
of  all  the  offices  of  state,  and  to  enforce 
their  decrees  as  the  law  of  the  republic. 
They  assigned  the  two  Gauls  to  Antonius, 
Spain  and  the  KarbonensL*  f<^  Lepidus, ! 
Africa  and  the  islands  to  Octavius.  Italy  { 


was  to  remain  neutral  ground  ;  the  provim  ea 
of  the  East  were  to  be  left  for  future  divis- 
sion,  when  Brutus  and  Cassius  should  have 
been  overthrown  by  their  united  forces. 
This  compact  was  followed  by  the  proscrip 
tion  of  their  enemies  in  Rome,  each  triumvir 
claiming  to  insert  the  names  of  those  most 
odious  to  himself,  and  each  sacrificing  in 
return  friends  and  kinsmen  of  his  own. 
Antonius '  demanded  the  head  of  Cicero, 
which  Octavius  ungratefully  surrendered  to 
him.  Their  edicts  were  immediately  put  in 
execution.  Some  hundreds  of  the  senators 
and  2000  knights  were  destroyed  by  hired 
assassins :  Cicero,  though  long  warned  of 
his  danger,  neglected  to  make  his  escape  till 
too  late,  and  was  overtaken  and  slain  at  his 
country  villa. 

An  interval  of  eighteen  months  had 
elapsed  since  the  retreat  of  Brutus  and  Cas 
sius  into  the  East  before  the  triumvirs  were 
at  leisure  to  engage  in  a  campaign  against 
them.  During  this  period  the  republican 
chiefs  had  foreseen  the  struggle  that  was 
impending,  and  they  had  not  been  remiss 
in  asembling  troops,  and  collecting  money 
and  munitions.  But  their  armies  were  for 
the  most  part  composed  of  raw  levies  ;  and 
in  the  indifference  manifested  by  the  popu 
lations  of  Greece  and  Asia  to  the  watch 
words  of  party  in  the  "West,  they  had  been 
obliged  to  extort  treasure  by  force,  some 
times  to  inflict  cruel  chastisement  on  the 
reluctant  provincials.  Brutus  himself  had 
sullied  his  great  name  by  these  terrible  ex 
actions.  As  the  crisis  of  the  struggle  drew 
near,  and  Octavius,  with  Antonius  at  his 
side,  led  their  formidable  forces  into  Mace 
donia,  his  fortitude  seems  to  have  forsaken 
him  ;  the  peaceful  philosopher  was  haunted 
with  a  vision  of  Caesar's  ghost,  and  he  waa 
impatient  for  the  day  which  should  end, 
either  by  death  or  triumph,  the  perturbation 
of  his  afflicted  mind.  When  the  opposing 
armies  met  at  last  on  the  plains  of  Philippi, 
Cassius,  a  more  experienced  officer,  would 
have  postponed  the  combat,  but  Brutus  in 
sisted  on  precipitating  the  crowning  struggle. 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


533 


Brutus  was  confronted  with  Octavius,  Cas- 
sius  with  Antonius.  Brutus  had  gained  the 
advantage  on  his  side  of  the  field  ;  but  Cas 
eins,  dismayed  at  his  own  partial  failure, 
threw  himself  on  his  sword.  The  survivor 
now  found  himself  obliged  to  withdraw. 
Nevertheless,  circumstances  were  still  in  his 
favor ;  the  enemy  was  straitened  for  sup 
plies,  and  delay  might  even  yet  have  secured 
him  a  bloodless  triumph.  But  again  his  impa 
tience  was  not  to  be  controlled ;  and  in  a 
second  combat,  twenty  days  later,  on  the 
same  ground,  he  suffered  a  defeat,  which, 
by  killing  himself,  he  rendered  irretrievable. 
His  party,  deprived  of  both  its  leaders,  was 
now  utterly  broken.  Several  of  the  officers, 
chiefs  of  the  nobility,  put  an  end  to  their  own 
lives ;  but  the  conquerors  showed  more 
clemency  in  the  hour  of  victory  than  at  the 
outset  of  their  enterprise,  and  allowed  their 
enemies  for  the  most  part  to  save  themselves 
by  submission.  Some  of  them  escaped  by 
sea,  and  attached  themselves  to  the  fortunes 
of  Sextus  Pompeius ;  but  the  republican 
party  never  rallied  again  in  the  cause  of 
.iberty,  and  the  battle  of  Philippi  closes  the 
annals  of  the  Roman  free  state. 

The  battle  of  Philippi  had  been  won  by 
the  efforts  of  two  only  of  the  triumvirs,  and 
the  third  found  himself  from  this  time  wholly 
set  at  nought  by  his  more  vigorous  colleagues, 
the  masters  of  the  united  forces  of  the  em 
pire.  But  the  union  of  these  mighty  poten 
tates  was  of  short  duration.  Antonius  as 
sumed  the  command  of  all  the  regions  of  the 
East ;  and  while  he  amassed  plunder  for  him 
self,  or  squandered  it  upon  his  followers  and 
parasites,  he  fell  into  the  toils  of  Cleopatra, 
the  fascinating  queen  of  Egypt,  who  sailed 
from  Alexandria  to  Tarsus  to  captivate  him. 
Returning  with  her  to  the  banks  of  the 
Kile,  he  abandoned  himself  without  remorse 
to  voluptuous  pleasures,  which  degraded  him 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Romans,  wliile  his  late 
colleague,  now  his  rival,  Octavius,  was  gov 
erning  Rome  and  Italy  with  a  prudence  and 
self-control  which  won  the  applause  of  the 
citizens.  Ile^e  the  wife  and  brother  of  An 


tonius  intrigued  against  him,  and  raised  the 
standard  of  faction.  The  brother  was  over 
come  at  Perusia ;  and,  though  spared  him 
self  by  the  policy  of  the  conqueror,  three 
hundred  of  his  most  distinguished  adherents 
were  sacrificed,  according  to  the  populai 
story,  to  the  shade  of  the  murdered  dictator. 
The  wife  retired  to  join  her  husband  in  the 
East,  but  was  ill-received  by  him,  and  died, 
perhaps  of  mortification,  soon  after.  A  new 
alliance  was  now  formed  between  the  rival 
leaders,  who  could  not  divide  the  empire  be* 
tween  them,  or  contend  for  its  sole  possession, 
till  they  had  united  to  put  down  Sextua 
Pompeius.  The  treaty  of  Brundisium,  ef 
fected  by  the  agency  of  Cocceius,  Pollio,  and 
Maecenas,  provided  for  a  combined  effort 
against  this  annoying  adversary,  and  was 
cemented  by  the  marriage  of  Antonius  with 
Octavia,  the  sister  of  his  ally. 

Sextus,  at  the  head  of  a  piratical  flotilla, 
occupied  the  seas  between  Italy  and  Africa 
and  held  some  maritime  stations  in  Sicily. 
In  this  situation  he  was  able  to  cut  off  the 
corn  ships  which  supplied  Rome,  and  the 
city  was  reduced  from  time  to  time  to  the 
direst  necessity.  The  rule  of  Octavius  at 
Rome  was  shaken  at  every  access  of  scarcity 
and  impending  famine  ;  and  the  suppression 
of  this  cause  of  annoyance  was  of  more  vital 
importance  to  him  than  to  Antonius.  Octa 
vius  therefore  undertook  the  conduct  of  the 
war ;  but  he  prudently  invited  the  enemy  to 
come  to  terms,  and  they  arranged  a  treaty  at 
Misenum,  by  which  he  was  admitted  to 
a  definite  share  in  the  empire.  To  him  were 
assigned  the  three  great  islands  of  the  Tyr 
rhene  Sea;  and  the  families  of  Pompeius 
and  Octavius  were  further  united  by  a  mar 
riage  (A.U.  715,  B.C.  39).  Octavius  was  now 
at  liberty  to  turn  his  arms  against  some  re 
volted  tribes  in  Gaul,  while  Antonius  under 
took  to  lead  an  expedition  into  Parthia,  and 
avenge  the  disaster  of  Crassus.  The  first 
soon  executed  his  purpose  with  his  usua* 
promptitude;  the  other  lingered  indolently 
in  Greece.  Sextus  meanwhile  failed  to  sur 
render  some  places  he  had  previously  occu 


534 


HISTORY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


pied  on  the  coast  of  Italy,  and  again  inter- 
2epted  the  supplies  of  the  city.  Octavius 
had  no  alternative  but  to  make  war  upon 
him.  He  summoned  his  colleagues  to  his 
aid.  Lepidus  promised,  but  delayed ;  An- 
tonius  sent  him  ships,  but  demanded  soldiers 
for  his  Parthian  expedition  in  return.  Oc 
tavius,  lowever,  was  better  served  by  the 
skill  and  spirit  of  his  friend  Agrippa,  who 
gained  him  victories  at  sea,  and  repaired  the 
disasters  which  he  experienced  in  his  own 
person.  The  struggle  ended  in  the  complete 
overthrow  of  the  armaments  of  Sextus,  from 
which  the  chief  himself  escaped  only  to 
perish  miserably  a  few  months  afterwards. 
At  the  last  moment  Lepidus  rashly  commit 
ted  himself  to  an  act  of  hostility  against  the 
victorious  triumvir.  He  was  instantly  -worst 
ed.  ;  and  though  his  life  was  contemptuously 
Bpared,  his  armies  and  his  provinces  passed 
finally  into  the  hands  of  Octavius. 

The  contest  for  empire  was  now  reduced 
to  a  struggle  between  two  competitors,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  it  came  to  the  arbitra 
ment  of  the  sword.  "While  Octavius  was 
winning  golden  opinions  in  Rome  and  Italy 
by  the  plausible  moderation  of  his  manners, 
and  by  the  ability  of  his  government,  in 
which  he  was  seconded  by  Agrippa  and 
Maecenas,  his  rival  was  falling  more  and 
more  into  contempt.  Antonius  undertook 
indeed  an  expedition  against  the  Parthians ; 
but  the  issue  was  disastrous ;  and  the  morti 
fication  of  the  citizens  was  redoubled  when 
their  worsted  champion  quitted  his  flying 
troops  to  fling  himself  into  the  pleasures  of 
his  Egyptian  capital,  and  celebrated,  with 
Cleopatra  at  his  side,  the  mockery  of  a  Ro 
man  triumph  in  a  foreign  dependency.  He 
had  already  renounced  the  amity  of  Octavius 
by  repudiating  the  sister,  whom  he  had  taken 
to  wife.  He  now  devoted  himself  wholly  to 
Cleopatra,  and  passed  his  days  and  nights  in 
sensual  revelry.  These  eccentricities,  re 
ported,  perhaps  with  some  exaggeration,  at 
Rome,  caused  the  deepest  feelings  of  disgust ; 
and  disgust  was  succeeded  by  alarm  when  he 
was  said  t'  be  preparing  an  attack  on  the 


Empire  of  the  West,  and  Cleopatra  was  de 
clared  to  have  boasted  of  he  laws  she  would 
issue  from  the  Capitol.  I5y  this  time  Octa 
vius  had  recruited  his  legions,  and  amassed 
treasure.  When  he  found  the  minds  of  the 
citizens  fully  enlisted  in  his  support,  he  came 
forward  as  the  protector  of  the  state — the 
champion  of  the  Senate,  the  people,  and  tho 
gods  of  Rome — and  led  all  his  forces  in  per 
son  across,  the  Adriatic.  Antonius,  on  his 
part,  had  not  been  slack  in  preparations. 
He  too  advanced,  with  Cleopatra  in  his  train, 
and  brought  all  the  resources  of  the  wealthy 
realm  of  Egypt  to  support  the  presidiary 
cohorts  of  Greece  and  Asia.  Armies,  num 
bering  more  than  100,000  men  on  either 
side,  confronted  each  other  on  the  coast  of 
Acarnania,  near  the  entrance  of  the  Ambra- 
cian  Gulf;  but  the  fortune  of  war  was  first 
tried  by  the  rival  fleets  off  the  promontory 
of  Actium.  The  vessels  of  Antonius  were 
bulkier  and  more  numerous ;  but  the  light 
barks  of  Octavius,  under  the  command  of  the 
experienced  Agrippa,  were  more  skillfully 
handled,  and  fought  more  gallantly.  The 
issue  of  the  combat,  however,  was  still  doubt 
ful,  when  Cleopatra,  through  fear  or  treach 
ery,  gave  her  own  squadron  the  signal  of  re 
treat,  and  carried  off  with  her  sixty  galleys 
of  Egypt.  Antonius  madly  rushed  away  to 
follow  her,  leaving  his  ships  and  armies  to 
their  fate.  His  ships,  indeed,  still  continued 
the  combat  under  every  disadvantage,  and 
were  finally  overpowered,  and  for  the  most 
part  destroyed.  His  legions,  however,  find 
ing  themselves  thus  miserably  deserted,  re 
fused  to  fight  for  their  betrayer,  and  sur 
rendered  without  a  blow.  The  battle  of  Ac 
tium,  fought  on  the  2d  Sept.  A.U.  723  (B.O. 
21),  threw  the  whole  military  force  of  the 
empire  into  the  hands  of  Octavius,  and  as 
sured  him  of  a  complete  and  speedy  triumph 
over  the  remnant  of  his  rival's  resources. 

Antonius  and  Cleopatra  reached  Alexan 
dria;  but  the  Roman  was  indignant  at  the 
conduct  of  his  mistress,  to  whose  base  deser 
tion  he  ascribed  his  overthrow,  and  at  first 
refused  to  s*>e  her.  Blinded,  however,  by 


53a 


his  passion,  he  yielded  again  to  her  blandish 
ments,  and  she  amused  him  with  schemes, 
8ometm.es  for  defence  against  the  expected 
enemy,  at  other  times  for  flying  beyond  the 
southern  sea,  and  reigning  in  remote  security 
over  some  Arabian  province.  She  hoped 
probably  to  make  her  own  peace  with  Octa- 
vius  by  the  sacrifice  of  her  infatuated  admirer. 
The  conqueror  at  last  appeared  on  the  fron 
tier.  Antonius  went  forth  gallantly  to  meet 
him,  and  gained  some  partial  success.  But 
Cleopatra  meanwhile  had  betrayed  her  fleet 
to  the  invader,  and  the  gates  of  Alexandria 
were  opened  to  him  without  resistance.  An 
tonius,  in  his  frenzy,  threatened  to  destroy 
his  ensnarer,  and  she  took  refuge  in  a  tower, 
and  sent  him  word  that  she  had  killed  her 
self.  The  passion  of  the  insensate  Roman  re 
vived  ;  he  stabbed  himself,  and  while  slowly 
dying,  caused  himself  to  be  removed  beneath 
the  windows  of  her  place  of  retreat,  and  en 
treated  her  attendants  to  place  him  beside 
her  body.  Cleopatra  caused  him  to  be  lifted 
Lato  her  chamber,  and  he  expired  immedi 
ately  in  her  arms.  She  now  exerted  all  her 
artifice  to  obtain  terms  from  the  conqueror. 
She  had  vanquished  both  Csesar  and  Anto 
nius  by  her  charms,  and  she  still  hoped  to 
prevail  over  the  youthful  Octavius.  Admit 
ted  to  an  interview,  he  resolutely  kept  his 
eyes  averted,  and  she  despaired  of  moving 
his  sensibility.  She  could  consent  to  surren 
der  her  kingdom,  but  she  spurned  with  in 
dignation  his  cruel  demand  to  exhibit  her  to 
the  Roman  citizens  in  his  triumph.  When 
he  still  insisted,  though  with  the  fairest  words 
and  promises,  she  had  no  choice  but  death, 
and  as  he  set  a  guard  over  her  to  prevent 
her  using  the  sword,  she  contrived  to  get  an 
asp  conveyed  to  her  in  a  basket  of  figs,  ap 
plied  it  to  ner  arm,  and  perished. 

The  expected  triumph  of  Octavius  was  de 
prived  of  its  most  coveted  ornament ;  but 
Egypt  was  straightway  annexed  as  a  province 
to  the  empire  ;  Csesarion,  a  son  of  the  dictator 
by  Cleopatra,  put  to  death,  and  the  sons  of  An 
tonius  by  the  deserted  Octavia  carried  to 
Rome  to  be  bred  as  scions  of  the  conqueror's 


own  family.  Octavius  made  a  progress 
through  the  eastern  provinces  on  his  return, 
receiving  the  homage  of  dependent  poten 
tates,  putting  down  the  partizans  of  his  ad 


versary,    and 


setting 


up  his   own  in  theii 


place,  securing  the  fidelity  of  the  Roman 
garrisons  under  officers  of  his  own  choice. 
When  he  arrived  at  his  capital  in  the  yeai 
725  he  had  consolidated  the  whole  empire 
under  the  government  of  his  single  arm,  and 
the  republic  of  Rome  was  finally  exchanged 
for  a  monarchy. 

About  this  great  political  fact  there  could 
be  no  doubt  then  or  since ;  but  the  genius 
and  the  merit  of  Octavius  consisted  in  the 
specious  disguise  which  he  succeeded  in 
throwing  over  it.  At  the  moment  of  his  re 
turn  to  Rome  the  ancient  constitution  was 
still  existing  in  all  its  forms ;  the  Senate  still 
possessed  the  ample  prerogatives  assigned  to 
it  of  old,  and  the  people  were  sti]l  the  legiti 
mate  depositaries  of  power  in  the  last  resort. 
Octavius  affected  still  to  recognize  the  para 
mount  authority  of  the  public  will.  He  pro 
fessed  to  have  wielded  hitherto  only  delegated 
functions,  and  in  these  he  pretended  to  have 
followed  the  spirit  of  established  precedents. 
In  all  extraordinary  emergencies  the  Romans 
had  had  resort  to  extraordinary  commissions. 
Such  were  the  dictatorships  of  the  early  re 
public,  the  repeated  consulships  of  Marius, 
the  permanent  dictatorship  of  Sulla,  the  vast 
military  charges  and  the  sole  consulship  of 
Pompeius.  The  "  triumvirate  for  the  ar 
rangement  of  public  affairs  "  was  itself  the 
application  of  an  ordinary  title  to  one  of  these 
extraordinary  commissions.  But  this  com 
mission,  constitutional  or  not,  Octavius  had 
scrupulously  resigned  at  the  expiration  of  the 
term  to  which  he  had  restricted  it ;  it  was  as 
consul  and  the  elected  of  the  popular  assem 
bly  that  he  had  conquered  at  Actiuin  and 
subjugated  Egypt.  The  regulation  he  had 
made  of  the  affairs  of  the  empire  in  the  East, 
after  the  manner  of  Pompeius  and  Sulla, 
still  awaiteu  the  formal  sanction  of  the 
Senate ;  and  the  Senate  was  supposed  to  re 
tain  authority  for  granting  or  withholding 


536 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


from  him  the  triumph  he  had  a.)  gloriously 
earned. 

The  "acts"  were  duly  ratified,  and  the 
triumph  was  accorded.  Wl-  en  the  ceremony, 
together  with  the  shows  and  festivals  and 
glowing  acclamations  which  accompanied  it, 
had  reached  its  termination,  the  imperator 
etill  stood  at  the  head  of  the  legions  which 
had  followed  his  triumphal  car.  According 
to  the  laws  of  the  free  state,  Octavius  must 
now  disband  his  army  or  resign  it  to  the  dis 
posal  of  the  Senate;  for  with  the  triumph 
his  impwium  was  become  extinct.  But  he 
evaded  this  necessity.  He  allowed  the 
Senate,  prone  as  it  was  to  flatter  and  caress 
him,  to  give  him  the  title  of  Imperator  in  the 
same  sense  in  which  it  had  been  conferred 
upon  Julius  Caesar,  thereby  proclaiming  him 
commander-in-chief  of  the  national  forces, 
placing  every  legion  under  his  auspices,  and 
every  officer  under  his  orders.  As  impera 
tor,  he  retained  the  right  of  bearing,  even  in 
the  city,  the  sword  and  cloak,  the  ensigns  of 
military  power ;  but  this  prerogative  he 
cautiously  refrained  from  using.  The  fate  of 
Caesar  had  warned  him  to  accept  less  than 
was  offered  him.  Content  with  the  substance 
of  power,  he  declined  all  invidious  shows  and 
titles.  Though  the  people,  in  their  enthusi 
asm  for  him,  would  have  acceded  to  any 
usurpation  on  his  part,  he  knew  that  neither 
king  nor  dictator  would  have  been  safe  from 
the  daggers  of  the  senators.  It  was  to  exalt 
the  estimation  and  give  a  fair  shadow  of 
authority  to  the  Senate  that  his  next  efforts 
were  directed.  Having  obtained  the  powers 
of  the  censorship,  he  proceeded  to  revise  the 
list  of  senators,  to  eject  the  unworthy,  to  en- 
low  the  impoverished,  and  create  a  body 
distinguished  for  its  family  and  personal  in 
fluence.  Caesar  had  degraded  the  order  in 
its  own  eyes  by  intruding  into  it  foreigners 
and  base-born  citizens.  The  triumvirs  had 
boen  tempted  to  carry  this  practice  still  fur 
ther.  Octavius  now  retraced  his  steps.  He 
reduced  the  number  from  1000,  to  which 
A.ntoniu3  had  swelled  it,  to  its  proper  limits 
of  600,  and  required  a  considerable  property 


qualification.  To  the  Senate,  thus  re-model 
led,  he  left  its  ancient  distinctions,  and  the 
greater  part  of  its  ancient  prerogatives,  di 
recting  its  decisions  in  political  and  legisla 
tive  affairs  by  management  rather  than  by 
strict  control ;  but  he  settled  the  course  of 
his  administration  with  the  help  of  a  private 
council  of  fifteen  assessors,  and  decided  the 
vexed  question  of  the  judicia  by  appointing 
a  court  of  salaried  judges,  one  hundred  in 
number.  To  the  people  he  left  the  old 
forms  of  popular  assembly  and  the  election 
of  magistrates ;  but  here  again  he  interfered 
so  far  as  to  nominate  the  candidates  to  be 
submitted  to  their  choice.  The  names  and 
generally  the  functions  of  these  magistrates 
remained  as  of  yore.  But  in  order  to  secure 
an  easy  means  of  guiding  the  Senate,  Octa 
vius  revived  in  his  own  behalf  the  title  of 
"Princeps,"  which  gave  him  the  first  place 
and  the  first  voice  in  the  curia.  This  purely 
civil  dignity,  ennobled  by  some  illustrious 
occupants  under  the  commonwealth,  had 
been  always  held  for  life,  and  accordingly 
Octavius  could  venture  to  accept  it  in  per 
petuity,  while  he  demanded  the  powers  of 
the  censorship  for  five  years  onhr,  and  offer 
ed,  with  much  appearance  of  earnestness,  to 
resign  the  imperium  after  ten.  He  allowed, 
however,  both  these  powers  to  be  renewed 
to  him  for  successive  terms  to  the  end  of  his 
career. 

The  consulship  Octavius  continued  to  ex 
ercise  for  several  years  successively  ;  but  he 
ultimately  renounced  the  title,  though  he  re 
tained  its  powers  by  an  extraordinary  prero 
gative.  Invested  with  the potestas  consularis, 
he  occupied  the  highest  place  in  the  city, 
and  was  recognized  as  the  chief  of  the  state, 
the  head  of  the  legislative  and  executive, 
the  organ  of  its  foreign  policy.  When  the 
consul  quitted  his  post  in  the  city,  he  carried 
to  the  frontiers  of  the  empire  the  same 
supreme  authority  which  he  had  before 
wielded  at  Rome.  Whei  he  vacated  the 
office,  and  assumed  the  government  of  a 
province,  he  commanded  the  soldiers  and 
citizens  as  imperator,  and  reigned  as  procon- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


537 


ml  over  the  subjects  of  the  state.  But  Octavius 
allowed  himself  to  claim  proconsular  power 
together  with  the  consular.  As  imperator, 
he  had  divided  with  the  Senate  the  direct 
admistration  of  the  provinces,  choosing  for 
Lis  own  all  those  in  which  large  armies  were 
maintained  for  aoforession  or  defence,  and 

OO  ' 

leaving  to  chiefs  appointed  by  the  Senate 
a  civil  supremacy  in  the  unarmed  and  tran 
quil  ;  but  his  proconsular  authority  was  ex 
tended  alike  over  all,  and  he  asserted  para 
mount  powers,  when  occasion  required  it,  in 
every  quarter  of  the  empire.  The  circle  of 
the  imperial  prerogatives  was  completed  by 
the  powers  of  the  tribuneship.  This  potestat 
was  also  declared  perpetual,  though  renewed 
nominally  from  year  to  year.  The  authority 
this  power  gave  the  emperor  in  the  Senate 
was  a  safeguard  against  any  possible  insubor 
dination  in  that  assembly ;  but  its  chief 
value  lay  perhaps  in  the  continued  populari 
ty  of  its  name.  The  populace  of  the  city 
still  regarded  the  tribuneship  as  the  legiti 
mate  guardian  of  its  rights  and  interests, 
and  hailed  Octavius  as  its  proper  champion, 
its  protector  against  the  sinister  intrigues  of 
the  Senate.  It  gave  a  sanctity  to  his  charac 
ter,  and  rendered  his  person  inviolable. 
When  to  this  was  added,  at  a  later  period  of 
his  career,  the  dignity  of  sovereign  Pontiff, 
he  acquired  the  control  of  the  instrument  of 
the  state  religion ;  and  the  defence  of  the 
citizens  against  the  machinations  of  the  no 
bles  was  supposed  to  be  complete. 

The  assumption  of  all  these  offices  and 
functions  was  not  effected  at  once  :  Octavius 
ascended  to  the  summit  of  his  ambition 
cautiously,  and  step  by  step.  Meanwhile  he 
discreetly  waived  every  designation  which 
should  imply  in  itself  the  sovereignty  he 
affected  to  disguise.  Antonius  had  abolished 
the  dictatorship  to  gratify  the  people,  and 
Octavius  took  care  not  to  revive  it.  No 
voice  was  suffered  to  hail  him  with  the  title 
of  king.  Nevertheless  he  was  ambitious  of 
a  distinctive  appellation  ;  but  it  must  be  per 
sonal,  not  official.  He  wrould  not  be  called 
"  Quirinus  " — such  a  title  would  be  extrava- 
68 


gant;  nor  "Romulus" — the  name  was  of 
evil  omen.  To  the  epithet  of  "  Augustus," 
which  was  next  suggested,  no  objection  could 
attach.  It  implied  the  nobleness  of  his  char 
acter  and  functions ;  it  had  an  air  of  sanctity, 
and  even  divinity;  it  bore  an  auspicious 
reference  to  the  anticipated  increase  of  his 
honors  through  time  and  eternity.  The 
worship  of  Octavius  as  a  god  was  rapidly 
spreading  in  the  provinces;  in  the  city,  it 
was  only  permitted  to  pour  libations  to  his 
genius — a  distinction  hardly  palpable  in  the 
purest  ages  of  religious  usage  and  belief,  and 
which  court  poets  and  flatterers  could  now 
easily  obliterate. 

Octavius,  or,  as  he  may  now  be  styled, 
Augustus,  retained  the  sovereign  power  to 
the  end  of  his  career,  a  period  of  more  than 
forty  years.  During  all  that  time  his  life 
and  fortunes  were  assailed  twice  or  thrice, 
but  only  by  private  conspiracy  among  the 
nobles,  never  by  any  movement  of  the  peo 
ple.  From  first  to  last  no  audible  murmur 
was  raised  against  his  ascendancy.  This  must 
be  accepted  as  a  proof  how  welcome  were 
the  safety  and  tranquillity  he  offered  to  the 
Romans,  after  a  century  of  intestine  divis 
ions  and  sanguinary  struggles ;  but  it  proves 
beyond  this,  that,  in  the  deliberate  judgment 
of  the  nation,  a  limited  or  veiled  autocracy 
was  the  form  of  government  which,  in  the 
advance  of  decline  of  civilization,  whichever 
we  may  deem  it,  had  become  most  advan 
tageous  for  them.  Doubtless  their  first  im 
pulse  was  to  hail  the  victor  of  Actium  as  the 
restorer  of  peace,  and  the  saviour  of  the  state 
from  foreign  aggression  and  domestic  dissen 
sions.  The  remains  we  possess  of  the  litera 
ture  of  the  period  breathe  this  spirit  of  in 
tense  satisfaction,  as  at  the  revival  of  a  gold 
en  age.  The  mission  of  the  Romans  is  now 
declared  to  be,  not  to  conquer  all  nations,  to 
trample  upon  all  national  usages,  or  to  luxu 
riate  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  world's  wealth, 
but  to  bind  all  peoples  together  in  one  com  • 
mon  union ;  to  bend  the  necks  of  rebellious 
potentates  to  the  yoke  of  international  law ; 
to  quell  all  unruly  ambitions,  and  inaugurate 


638 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


a  reign  of  universal  contentment  and  moder 
ation.  Once  before,  and  once  onV,  the  an 
cient  world  had  been  brought  under  the  sway 
of  a  single  sceptre,  and  enthusiasts  might 
have  indulged  under  the  Macedonian  Alex 
ander  in  such  dreams  of  human  happiness  ; 
but  the  fair  vision  had  been  quickly  over 
clouded  when  his  premature  death  left  his 
empire  to  be  torn  in  pieces  by  rival  generals. 
The  great  bulk  of  the  Roman  people  had  no 
other  anxiety  about  the  empire  of  Augustus 
but  the  fear  lest  at  his  decease — and  his  con 
stitution  was  weakly  and  his  health  preca 
rious — the  solid  fabric  of  material  prosperity 
he  had  raised  should  crumble  under  the  vio 
lence  of  mere  selfish  usurpers.  The  idea  of 
hereditary  succession  in  political  office  had 
hitherto  met  with  no  favor  in  the  republic  ; 
but  the  circumstances  of  the  time  now 
strongly  recommended  it ;  and  without  any 
formal  concession  of  the  principle,  the  minds 
of  the  Romans  became  implicitly  reconciled 
to  the  anticipation  of  a  dynasty  of  Caesars. 
But  this  favorable  disposition  on  the  part 
of  the  people  would  have  been  of  no  avail 
to  maintain  and  perpetuate  the  empire  had 
not  Augustus  been  himself  singularly  endow 
ed  with  the  temper  and  talents  required  for 
advantageously  using  it.  Heartless  and  cruel 
as  he  had  proved  himself  in  the  pursuit  of 
his  ambitious  projects,  he  henceforth  pre 
scribed  to  himself  a  career  of  clemency  and 
considerate  indulgence.  lie  opened  the  field 
of  public  honors  to  men  of  all  parties,  and 
caressed  with  marked  favor  the  kinsmen  of 
his  own  most  noted  opponents.  Even  on 
those  who  actually  conspired  against  him,  he 
could  not  always  be  brought  to  inflict  pun 
ishment.  He  gloried  in  constraining  his 
public  enemies  to  become  his  private  friends. 
There  may  have  been  little  genuine  feeling 
in  this  course  of  policy — the  Romans  them 
selves  may  not  have  been  wholly  deceived 
by  this  pretended  generosity ;  but  while  they 
enjoyed  the  benefit  of  it,  they  did  not  criti 
cise  it  too  closely :  Augustus  succeeded  in 
his  object  of  securing  their  confidence  and 
affection.  He  was  not  satisfied,  however, 


with  enlisting  their  personal  feelings  in  be 
half  of  his  government.  His  ambition  waa 
not  wholly  selfish ;  he  undoubtedly  looked 
beyond  his  own  greatness,  his  own  security 
or  even  the  establishment  of  his  family  in 
greatness  and  security  after  him.  He  looked 
even  beyond  the  establishment  of  his  own 
future  fame.  He  had  a  true  and  earnest  de 
sire  to  revive  the  fortunes  of  the  Roman 
state,  and  launch  it  again,  after  the  terrible 
crisis  of  the  civil  wars,  on  a  fresh  career  of 
prosperity  and  glory.  Unfortunately  his 
views  were  warped  by  the  common  spirit  of 
antiquity,  the  spirit  of  heathenism,  which, 
devoid  of  a  faith  in  Providence  and  hope  for 
the  future,  always  placed  its  ideal  of  excel 
lence  in  some  dreamy  misconception  of  the 
past.  Augustus  sought  to  re-animate  the 
life  of  Rome  by  restoring  the  ideas  and 
principles  of  a  shadowy  antiquity.  These 
ideas,  indeed,  in  so  far  as  they  had  really 
guided  the  actions  of  the  Scipios  and  the 
Camilli,  had  sprung  from  the  laws  and  usages 
of  their  times  :  it  followed  then,  so  he  fond 
ly  reasoned,  that  by  restoring  the  usages  the 
ideas  themselves  would  be  revived.  By  a 
strict  execution  of  the  functions  of  the  cen 
sorship,  by  sumptuary  laws,  by  police  regu 
lations,  by  reviving  the  honor  of  matrimony 
and  the  priesthood,  by  restoring  the  temples 
of  the  gods  and  the  temple  services — by 
these  and  such  like  measures  he  hoped  to 
create  again  the  people  who  had  rejected 
the  bribes  of  Pyrrhus,  and  retorted  the  in 
vasion  of  Hannibal  by  an  attack  on  Carthage. 
These  efforts  were  no  doubt  wholly  unavail 
ing  :  the  Roman  people  had  lost  its  belief  in 
religion,  and  therewith  the  only  potent  prin 
ciple  of  self-control ;  the  springs  of  public 
and  private  life  had  been  poisoned  by  selfish 
and  criminal  indulgence ;  and  by  drawing 
closer  the  bands  of  law,  Augustus  only  pro 
duced  some  outward  decency  at  the  expense 
of  honesty  and  self-respect.  The  corruption 
of  the  times  is  more  painfully  marked  in  the 
affected  decorum  of  Horace  than  in  the 
glaring  coarseness  of  Catullus;  in  the  easy 
indifference  of  Ovid  than  in  the  open  infi« 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


539 


del  ity  of  Lucretius.  In  his  vigilant  control 
of  tlie  public  administration,  the  imperial 
reformer  was  more  successful.  The  ordinary 
procedure  cf  justice  was  conducted  with  a 
fi. -iiiness  and  equity  unknown  probably  in 
tlie  best  times  of  the  republic.  A  strong 
check  was  imposed  on  the  violence  and  ra 
pacity  of  the  officials  in  the  provinces.  The 
Romans  and  their  subjects  were  taught  to 
regard  each  other  with  mutual  respect.  On 
the  whole,  whatever  its  drawbacks  and  de 
fects,  the  policy  of  Augustus  must  be  pro 
nounced  eminently  successful  in  promoting 
the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  Roman 
world.  Few  or  none  of  the  citizens  could 
look  beneath  the  fair  surface  then  presented 
to  them,  and  anticipate  the  decay  of  public 
feeling,  the  decline  of  high  principles,  the 
growing  acquiescence  in  merely  sensual  en 
joyments,  which  would  surely  ensue  from  the 
stagnation  of  public  life,  and  the  concentra 
tion  in  a  single  hand  of  all  the  powers  of  the 
government.  The  Romans  had  had  no  ex- 
•  ample,  on  a  similar  scale  and  under  similar 
conditions,  of  the  transition  from  freedom  to 
subjection.  The  autocracy  of  Augustus  was 
an  experiment  in  politics,  from  which  they 
hoped  the  best,  of  which  possibly  they 
augured  the  best,  but  of  which,  whatever 
they  might  hope  or  augur,  they  felt  in  their 
inmost  hearts  the  absolute  and  over-ruling 
necessity. 

On  the  restoration  of  universal  peace, 
Augustus  closed  the  temple  of  Janus,  an  act 
of  grace  which  the  citizens,  who  could  record 
but  two  previous  instances  of  it,  celebrated 
with  the  loudest  acclamations.  His  own 
military  ardor  was  satisfied  by  the  victories 
he  had  won  over  domestic  enemies  by  the 
hands  of  Agrippa ;  he  had  no  ambition  for 
the  fame  of  a  conqueror ;  and  henceforth  he 
c  nly  led  his  legions  to  repress  the  brigandage 
of  the  Iberian  mountaineers,  or  sent  a  grand 
son  to  demand  from  the  Parthians  the  long- 
abandoned  standards  of  Crassus.  He  allow 
ed  some  minor  expeditions  to  be  undertaken 
against  the  predatory  hordes  which  infested 
the  frontiers  of  Egypt  or  Mauretania  ;  and 


he  sanctioned  one  wild  and  profitless  expe 
dition  against  the  nomade  tribes  of  Arabia. 
The  border  warfare  on  the  Rhine,  of  which 
more  special  notice  must  be  taken  presently, 
was  another  exception  to  this  pacific  policy  ; 
but  generally  the  arms  of  Rome,  under 
Augustus,  were  confined  to  securing  the 
peace  of  the  empire,  and  sedulously  with 
held  from  aggression  in  every  quarter.  A 
long  period  of  repose  was  required  to  consol 
idate  the  heterogeneous  elements  which  com 
posed  this  vast  dominion.  Italy,  the  centre 
of  the  empire,  and  now  made  to  comprise  the 
whole  peninsula  from  the  Alps  to  the  Straits 
of  Messina,  was  divided  into  eleven  regions, 
and  placed  under  the  direct  control  of  the 
prsetor  in  the  city.  The  rest  of  the  empire 
was  apportioned,  as  we  have  said,  between 
the  emperor  and  the  Senate.  The  imperial 
provinces  were  the  Tarraconensis  and  Lusi- 
tania  in  Spain ;  the  whole  of  Gaul  beyond 
the  Alps,  divided  into  several  commands,  in 
cluding  the  Upper  and  Lower  Germanics,  as 
they  were  called,  on  the  Rhine  ;  Pannonia 
and  Macedonia;  Coelesyria,  Phoenicia,  Cili- 
cia,  Cyprus,  and  Egypt.  To  the  latter  were 
assigned  Boetica,  Numidia,  Africa,  the  Cy- 
renaica,  Achaia,  and  Asia.  Dalmatia,  in 
cluding  Illyricum,  at  first  given  to  the  Sen 
ate,  was  soon  afterwards  taken  by  the  empe 
ror  in  exchange  for  the  JSTarbonensis  and 
Cyprus.  Before  the  end  of  his  career, 
Augustus  annexed  Palestine  also  to  the  em 
pire,  which  then  extended  over  every  coast 
and  island  of  the  Mediterranean.  In  some 
quarters,  as  in  Gaul  and  Pannonia,  the  sway 
of  Rome  penetrated  some  hundreds  of  miles 
into  the  interior  of  the  continent ;  but  the 
regions  remote  from  the  great  inland  sea, 
the  highway  of  international  traffic,  were  al 
most  wholly  barbarous.  Gaul  and  Thrace 
were  little  better  than  vast  forests;  only  a 
small  portion  of  their  soil  was  as  yet  sub 
jected  to  cultivation.  The  great  cities  of 
the  empire,  the  marts  of  human  industry 
and  emporia  of  commerce,  were  for  the  most 
part  seated  on  the  shore,  or  on  the  banks  of 
navigable  rivers.  When  the  Romans  boast- 


540 


HISTOEY   OF   THE  WOELD. 


ed  of  having  subdued  the  world,  they  really 
confined  their  view  to  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  countries  immediatery  bordering 
upoi.  it. 

When  Augustus  had  consolidated  under 
his  sway  the  regions  between  the  Rhine,  the 
Danube,  the  Euphrates,  and  Mount  Atlas, 
the  empire  reached  the  farthest  limits  that 
it  ever  permanently  retained.  The  popula 
tion  it  embraced  at  this  period  may  be  ap 
proximately  calculated  at  a  little  less  than 
100  millions ;  but  it  may  be  fairly  supposed 
that,  under  the  general  reign  of  peace  and 
domestic  prosperity  which  prevailed  through 
out  it,  the  number  continued  to  increase  at 
least  for  another  century.  With  regard  to 
the  interesting  question  of  the  population  of 
the  great  city,  "the  head  and  mistress  of 
nations,"  now  at  the  zenith  of  her  glory,  if 
not  yet  of  her  grandeur,  some  calculation 
will  be  exhibited  in  another  place.  It  will 
be  sufficient  here  to  estimate  it  roughly  at 
700,000,  and  to  add  that  this  continued  also 
to  increase  perhaps  even  after  the  general 
population  of  the  empire  had  become  station 
ary,  or  even  declined,  though  it  may  never 
have  much,  if  at  all,  exceeded  one  million. 
One  of  the  principa.  cares  of  the  new  em 
peror  was  the  embellishment  of  Rome.  With 
this  view,  he  erected  himself  many  temples 
and  public  buildings,  and  he  stimulated  the 
great  nobles  of  the  city  to  follow  his  exam 
ple.  In  this  and  in  every  other  object  of  his 
policy  he  was  ably  seconded  by  his  friend 
Agrippa,  whose  valor  had  won  some  of  his 
most  important  victories,  whose  counsels  were 
not  less  useful  to  him  in  peace  than  in  war, 
and  who  distinguished  himself  above  all  his 
countrymen  by  the  loyalty  with  which,  hav 
ing  secured  beyond  dispute  the  second  place 
in  the  commonwealth,  he  abstained  from  aim 
ing  at  the  first.  More  than  once  Agrippa 
was  entrusted  with  the  command  of  all  the 
eastern  provinces ;  but  he  executed  his  charge 
with  an  unshaken  fidelity,  which  it  was  hard 
ly  less  honorable  in  Augustus  to  appreciate 
without  fear  or  jealousy.  On  the  death  of 
the  young  Marcellus,  sister's  son  to  the  em 


peror,  and  his  presumptive  successor,  Agrip 
pa  received  the  widow  Julia,  the  daughter 
of  Augustus,  in  marriage.  Gains  and  Lucius, 
the  eldest  children  of  this  union,  were  brought 
up  as  heirs  to  the  empire,  but  both  of  them 
were  cut  oif  prematurely.  Agrippa  himself 
died  many  years  before  his  patron,  and  Julia 
was  married  a  third  time  to  Tiberius  Claudi 
us  Nero,  the  stepson  of  the  emperor,  whose 
mother  Livia,  a  clever  intriguer,  contrived  to 
secure  the  succession  for  him  over  the  heads 
of  her  husband's  direct  descendants.  The 
ambition  and  the  vices  of  his  own  family 
caused  Augustus,  particularly  in  his  latter 
years,  more  disquietude  than  the  government 
of  the  empire. 

Besides  the  advantage  he  derived  from  the 
assistance  of  Agrippa,  Augustus  was  sup 
ported,  throughout  the  earlier  part  of  his 
reign,  by  the  tact  and  prudence  of  Maecenas. 
This  man  had  administered  for  him  the  gov 
ernment  of  Italy  during  the  period  of  the 
struggle  with  Antonius.  He  continued  to 
be  his  chief  adviser  in  the  settlement  of  the 
empire;  and  the  Romans  ascribed  to  him 
the  first  delineation  of  the  principles  of  gov 
ernment  which  they  saw  gradually  extended 
and  confirmed  from  one  reign  to  another.  A 
popular  tradition,  for  which  there  is  probably 
no  other  foundation  than  the  temper  gener 
ally  attributed  to  the  men  respectively,  af 
firmed  that  when  Augustus  deliberated  ubout 
resigning  his  power,  he  allowed  Agrippa  and 
Maecenas  to  discuss  the  question  in  his  pres 
ence,  and  that  Agrippa  counselled  the  resto 
ration  of  the  republic,  Maecenas  the  retention 
of  supreme  authority.  The  private  manners 
and  habits  of  the  minister  w7ere  not  less  ser 
viceable  to  his  master's  position  than  his  politi 
cal  counsels.  Maecenas  contrived  to  attach  to 
the  new  system  many  of  the  best  and  ablest 
public  men  of  the  day,  while  he  secured  in  its 
favor  the  suffrages  of  the  literary  class.  The 
table  at  which  Virgil  and  Horace,  Varius  and 
Pollio,  conversed  genially  together,  under  the 
patronage  of  Maecenas,  and  in  the  presence 
of  Augustus  himself,  was  tie  field  on  which 
all  the  adverse  theories  of  pc  litics  and  philos- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


541 


ophy  laid  down  their  arms  and  came  to  an 
amicable  understanding.  Never  was  a  state 
revolution  so  gilded  with  the  flattery  of  poets 
and  historians  as  the  seasonable  usurpation 
of  Augustus. 

Nevertheless,  successful  as  the  emperor 
nad  been  in  the  execution  of  his  great  enter 
prise,  and  in  confirming  its  results,  his  lat 
ter  years  were  not  unclouded  by  reverses. 
While  the  citizens  were  getting  at  last  a 
little  weary  of  the  monotony  of  his  long  des 
potism,  suffering  some  disgust  at  the  dis 
graces  of  his  family,  some  apprehension  at 
the  prospect  of  an  unpopular  successor,  they 
were  suddenly  alarmed  and  dismayed  at  the 
occurrence  of  a  great  military  disaster. 
Though  Gaul  had  long  been  pacified,  the 
frontier  was  subject  to  the  incursions  of  rest 
less  hordes  from  Germany,  and  it  was  neces 
sary  to  keep  up  a  large  force  and  legions,  as 
we  have  seen,  in  stationary  camps  on  the 
Khine.  The  temptation  to  employ  these 
troops  in  aggression,  no  less  than  in  defence, 
proved  irresistible.  These  scions  of  the  Cae- 
sarean  family  were  anxious  for  opportunities 
of  military  distinction.  Augustus  allowed 
his  stepsons,  Drusus  and  Tiberius,  to  conduct 
Expeditions  into  Germany.  Drusus  penetra 
ted  as  far  as  the  Elbe,  but  died  in  early  life 
from  an  accident.  His  successors  in  the 
command  established  the  Roman  outposts 
as  far  at  least  as  the  Ems  or  Weser,  and  the 
district  between  the  Mayn  and  the  Lippe  was 
beginning  to  assume  the  form  of  a  province, 
when  the  government  of  this  district  fell  in 
to  the  hands  of  Yarus,  a  pedantic  official, who 
so  mismanaged  his  affairs  as  to  excite  against 
himself  a  general  conspiracy  of  the  natives. 
Entangled  in  a  country  with  which  they 
were  imperfectly  acquainted,  his  legions, 
three  in  number,  were  attacked  by  over 
whelming  numbers,  and  destroyed  in  the 
forest  of  Teutoburg.  Yarns  was  slain,  the 
whole  Roman  establishment  overthrown,  and 
the  remnant  of  its  soldiers  and  civilians  driv 
en  in  conf  ision  behind  the  Rhine.  In  the 
face  of  such  a  disaster  Augustus,  now  old 
and  timid,  gave  way  to  nervous  alarms.  He 


trembled  for  the  tranquillity  of  the  city,  for 
the  loyalty  of  the  citizens,  much  more  than 
for  the  defence  of  the  prov.nces.  With  the 
assistance,  however,  of  Tiberius,  he  acted 
with  sufficient  vigor  in  recruiting  his  forces 
and  restoring  confidence.  The  younger  Css- 
sar  took  the  field,  and  made  a  show  at  least 
of  offensive  operations  against  the  victorious 
Germans.  He  did  not  venture,  however,  to 
occupy  again  the  footing  lately  held  beyond 
the  Rhine.  Augustus,  who  died  soon  after 
wards,  in  the  year  767,  left  it  in  charge  to 
his  successor  not  to  extend  in  any  direction 
the  limits  of  the  empire. 

Tiberius,  now  in  his  fifty-sixth  year,  had 
discharged  the  most  important  offices  in  the 
Senate  and  the  field,  and  was  regarded  as  an 
able  and  accomplished  prince.  But  the  state 
of  constraint  under  which  he  had  lived  as 
the  presumptive  successor  of  the  empire, 
under  a  jealous  and  exacting  stepfather,  to 
gether  with  some  sacrifice  of  the  affections 
which  had  been  extorted  from  him  in  his 
youth,  had  soured  a  temper  naturally  re 
served  and  proud.  For  a  time  he  had  with 
drawn  altogether  from  public  affairs,  and 
during  his  retreat  at  Rhodes  rumor  had  been 
busy  in  representing  him  as  indulging  in  the 
grossest  vice  and  cruelties.  But  his  mother 
Livia,  an  able  intriguer,  watched  over  his 
interests.  On  the  death  of  Augustus,  the 
Senate  learnt  that  he  had  been  appointed 
the  head  of  the  Ca3sarean  family,  and  they 
readily,  and  indeed  with  much  eager  flattery, 
thrust  upon  him  all  the  public  honors  and 
functions  which  Augustus  had  vacated.  For 
some  time  lie  enacted  the  farce  of  pretending 
to  refuse  them ;  but  this  affectation  was 
speedily  overcome,  and  he  retained  a  deep 
grudge  against  those  among  the  senators  who 
had  been  blunt  enough  to  take  him  at  his 
word.  His  first  act,  an  omen  of  a  bloody 
reign,  was  the  assassination  of  a  surviving 
son  of  Julia  and  Agrippa,  called  Posthumus, 
as  having  been  born  after  his  father's  death ; 
a  youth  of  acknowledged  evil  temper  and 
defective  understanding,  whom  Augustus  had 
himself  removed  from  public  affairs  and  rele- 


542 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


gated  to  an  is.and.  The  jealousy  of  Tiberi 
us  soor  extended  to  his  nephew  Germanicus, 
son  of  his  elder  brother  Drusus,  whom  Au 
gustus  had  required  him  to  adopt  and  place 
on  the  same  line  of  succession  with  a  son  of 
his  own.  Germanicus  was  a  great  favorite 
with  the  people.  He  seems  to  have  been  a 
man  of  military  genius,  which  he  exercised 
with  considerable  success  against  the  Ger 
mans  beyond  the  Rhine,  though  a  naval  ex 
pedition  under  his  order  suffered  a  terrible 
disaster  from  tempest.  He  had  formed  a 
plan  for  the  complete  reduction  of  the  coun 
try  as  far  as  the  Elbe,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
barbarians  had  been  so  far  broken,  in  spite 
of  the  gallantry  of  their  hero  Arminius  that 
in  another  campaign  he  might  possibly  have 
succeeded;  but  Tiberius  was  jealous  of  his 
fame  and  popularity,  and  forbade  any  more 
blood  and  treasure  to  be  lavished  on  conquests 
beyond  the  bounds  of  the  empire,  as  he  had 
received  it  from  Augustus.  Germanicus  was 
recalled  to  Rome,  and  allowed  the  empty 
honor  of  a  triumph.  The  emperor  was  glad 
to  rid  himself  of  his  presence  on  the  first 
opportunity,  and  soon  after  dispatched  him 
into  the  East,  to  overawe  the  Parthians.  Not 
content  with  removing  him  from  Rome,  he 
deputed — such  at  least  was  the  common  be 
lief — an  officer  named  Piso  to  watch  his 
conduct,  and  connived  at  this  man's  thwart 
ing  and  disobeying  his  legitimate  command 
er.  Germanicus  ordered  Piso  to  surrender 
his  office  in  Syria,  but  at  the  same  time  he 
found  himself  attacked  by  a  debility,  which, 
after  a  short  interval,  terminated  in  his  death. 
His  family  accused  Piso  of  foul  play  either 
by  poison  or  at  least  by  magical  incantations. 
Agrippina,  the  spirited  consort  of  the  de- 
oeased  prince,  prosecuted  a  charge  of  murder 
against  him  at  Rome.  Confident  in  the  em 
peror's  favor,  Piso  did  not  shrink  from  meet 
ing  it;  but  when  he  found  that  the  emperor 
looked  coldly  upon  him,  and  was  disposed  to 
abandon  him  to  his  fate,  he  anticipated  the 
decision  of  the  judges  by  a  voluntary  death. 
But  the  suspicions  of  the  people  were  not 
thus  averted  finm  Tiberius.  The  deep  sor 


row  they  evinced  at  the  loss  of  their  favorite 
gave  great  umbrage  to  the  tyrant,  and  indu 
ced  him  to  treat  with  jealousy  and  harshness 
the  widow  and  her  children. 

From  the  first,  Tiberius  had  dissembled 
with  the  Senate,  and  he  naturally  distrusted 
them ;  while  towards  the  other  classes  of  his 
subjects,  and  particularly  in  the  provinces, 
his  conduct,  though  stern,  was  equitable ;  he 
took  every  opportunity  to  trample  on  the 
pride  of  the  senators,  to  lower  their  estima 
tion,  and  to  make  them  feel  his  superior  pow 
er.  It  >vas  a  great  relief  to  them  when, 
towards  the  middle  of  his  reign,  after  devo 
ting  himself  to  the  business  of  state  with 
unwearied  assiduity  for  many  years,  and 
never  quitting  Rome  even  for  ordinary  relax 
ation,  he  began  gradually  to  withdraw  more 
and  more  to  the  solitude  of  the  isle  of  Ca- 
preae,  an  imperial  domain  purchased  by  Au 
gustus,  in  which  he  took  great  delight 
Though  the  popular  notion,  repeated  by  the 
historians,  that  he  here  abstained  altogethei 
from  public  affairs,  and  suffered  the  conduct 
of  the  administration  to  slip  from  his  hands, 
seems  to  be  grossly  exaggerated,  it  was 
impossible  but  that  an  inordinate  share  of 
influence  and  power  should  accrue  to  the 
confidential  minister  whom  he  must  leave  in 
his  place  at  Rome.  Sejanus,  the  notorious 
favorite  of  Tiberius,  had  risen  by  artifice  and 
ability  to  the  highest  office  of  state.  He 
ventured  to  pay  his  addresses  to  a  kinswoman 
of  the  emperor  himself,  and  though  he  awa 
kened  thereby  the  emperor's  jealousy,  he 
seems  not  to  have  been  unsuccessful.  At  all 
events,  he  effected  the  removal  of  some  of 
his  master's  nearest  relations,  among  them 
the  luckless  Agrippina,  and  the  common  ru 
mor  may  not  have  been  ill  founded,  that  ho 
aspired  to  imperial  power.  But  Tibe 
rius,  it  seems,  had  dissem"  led  with  Sejanus, 
as  with  others,  and  had  allowed  him  to  sup 
pose  himself  more  necessary  to  his  master's 
policy  than  he  really  was.  Once  fully  per 
suaded  of  the  extent  of  his  views  and  of  his 
own  danger  in  consequence,  Tiberius  had  the 
energy  to  strike  him  down  at  a  blow.  Seja- 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


543 


nus  was  in  the  city,  in  the  ripeness  of  his 
power,  surrounded  by  the  senators  and  the 
soldiers ;  and  Tiberius,  now  old  and  feeble, 
with  scarcely  a  guard  about  his  person,  in 
his  distant  retreat,  with  only  his  ships  to  rely 
on  for  escape  if  the  blow  should  fail.  Great 
circumspection  and  artifice  were  required, 
but  the  tyrant  was  equal  to  the  crisis.  The 
missive  which  he  sent  to  be  recited  to  the 
Senate,  in  whch  he  flattered  and  honored 
his  victim  till  he  had  thrown  him  completely 
off  his  guard,  and  then  ordered  the  consul  to 
arrest  him,  is  celebrated  as  a  masterpiece  of 
king-craft.  Sejanus  fell  amidst  the  execra 
tions  of  the  senators,  who  up  to  this  moment 
had  caressed  him,  and  the  people  declared, 
with  thoughtless  exultation,  that  the  state 
had  been  saved  in  the  safety  of  Tiberius. 

The  citizens  indeed  were  willing  to  per 
suade  themselves  that  the  tyranny  under 
which  they  had  lately  suffered  was  due  to 
the  vile  counsels  of  the  upstart  favorite, 
rather  than  to  the  evil  disposition  of  their 
emperor  himself.  They  entreated  Tiberius 
to  return  to  Home,  and  administer  the  gov 
ernment  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  as 
their  potentates  had  done  before.  That  the 
head  of  the  Roman  commonwealth  should 
lead  the  life  of  a  voluptuous  lounger  in  the 
Grecian  villas  of  Campania,  seemed  to  them 
monstrous  and  degrading.  Of  a  noble  Ro 
man  who  could  so  forget  his  country,  and  his 
duty  to  it,  any  horror  might  easily  be  be 
lieved,  any  crime,  or  vice,  or  unnatural  tor- 
pitude,  might  be  plausibly  imputed  to  him. 
If,  then,  the  account  we  have  received  of  the 
/ile  debaucheries  of  Tiberius  at  Caprese  ex 
ceed  any  modern  instance  of  human  deprav 
ity,  it  is  not  much  more  than  might  fairly 
De  expected  from  the  tongue  of  popular  ru 
mor  exasperated  at  this  glaring  dereliction  of 
duty  and  renunciation  of  conventional  prin 
ciple.  Considering  the  sources  from  which 
we  seem  to  have  derived  them,  some  shade 
of  doubt  must  certainly  attach  to  these  re 
puted  enormities.  But  even  if  we  admit 
them  in  their  fullest  extent,  we  must  still 
acknowledge  that,  frightful  as  they  are,  they 


may  be  paralleled  perhaps  in  every  particu 
lar  in  the  conduct  of  less  notorious  person 
ages  of  heathen  antiquity.  The  cruelty  and 
impurity  ascribed  to  Tiberius  belonged  to 
his  class  as  much  as  to  himself,  and  were  ex 
ercised  by  many  a  noble  Roman  at  home  and 
abroad,  among  their  subjects  and  their  para 
sites.  The  horrors  of  imperial  vice  have  be 
come  especially  notorious,  from  the  pre 
eminence  of  the  personages  to  whom  they 
were  imputed  in  the  histories  of  the  times ; 
but  they  wrere  not  the  excesses  of  imperial 
power  uncontrolled  by  law,  so  much  as  of 
our  common  human  infirmity  unsustained  by 
religious  principle.  However  this  may  be, 
Tiberius  deserves  credit  as  a  ruler,  for  wield 
ing  his  authority  twenty-three  years  almost 
without  drawing  the  sword,  and  for  leaving 
his  dominions  in  peace  and  prosperity.  His 
end  was  precipitated,  at  the  advanced  age 
of  seventy-nine,  and  on  a  sick-bed  from  which 
he  could  hardly  again  have  risen,  by  the 
hands  of  an  attendant  in  the  interest  of  his 
grand-nephew  Caius  Caligula,  impatient  for 
the  succession,  and  not  without  apprehen 
sions  for  his  own  life. 

Caius  Csesar,  the  son  of  Germanicus  and 
Agrippina,  had  been  bred  in  his  father's  camp, 
and  received  from  the  soldiers  the  familiar 
nickname  of  Caligula  (from  the  boot  or  caliga), 
by  which  he  is  most  commonly  known  at 
least  in  later  history.  He  was  adopted  by 
Tiberius  on  the  same  footing  as  a  younger 
Tiberius,  the  emperor's  own  grandson.  As 
a  few  years  older  than  his  cousin,  he  was  al 
lowed,  indeed,  to  regard  himself  as  the  im 
mediate  heir  to  the  empire,  though,  accord 
ing  to  the  loose  ideas  of  hereditary  succession 
still  current  among  the  Roman  statists,  Tibe 
rius  was  considered  as  having  a  presumptive 
claim  to  be  associated  with  him  when  he 
should  arrive  at  manhood.  Thus  Augustus 
had  delegated  a  portion  of  his  authority,  first 
to  Agrippa,  and  at  a  later  period  to  the  elder 
Tiberius.  His  successor,  indeed,  had  nevei 
prevailed  on  himself  to  make  any  such  surren 
der  of  his  sole  autocracy,  nor  was  it  possible, 
perhaps,  for  two  kings  to  reign  together 


644 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


again  at  Home.  From  the  first  the  young 
Caius,  who  assumed  the  empire  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five,  felt  the  deepest  jealousy  of 
his  unfortunate  kinsman,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  he  invented  a  pretext  for  destroying 
him.  At  first,  indeed,  no  prince  was  ever 
more  popular  than  this  child  of  the  people's 
favorite,  succeeding  as  he  did  to  a  morose 
and  odious  tyrant.  During  the  first  months 
of  the  new  reign  both  prince  and  people 
seemed  to  be  equally  intoxicated.  The  prov 
inces  partook  of  the  exultation  of  the  citizens. 
When  the  furious  dissipation  into  which  the 
young  man  plunged  had  prostrated  him  with 
an  alarming  illness,  the  Romans  and  their 
subjects  combined  in  the  expression  of  the 
deepest  distress,  and  in  frantic  vows  for  his 
recovery.  This  assurance  of  his  people's  de 
votion  seems  to  have  removed  from  its  object 
all  sense  of  shame  or  apprehension.  He  in 
dulged  in  every  excess  of  vice  and  turpitude 
without  scruple.  Utterly  devoid  of  the  con- 
scions  reserve  which  had  induced  Tiberius  to 
veil  his  indulgences  from  the  prurient  curi 
osity  of  his  countrymen,  Caius  was  equally 
free  from  the  jealous  fears  which  harassed 
his  predecessor.  Whether  from  the  wanton 
gaiety  of  his  disposition,  or  from  a  touch  of 
actual  insanity,  he  had  none  of  the  cowardice 
which  generally  accompanied  tyranny.  From 
the  second  year  of  his  reign  he  continued  to 
provoke  the  patience  of  the  world  by  a  series 
of  indignities  and  injuries  such  as  the  prov 
inces  might  have  sometimes  suffered  from 

O 

the  worst  of  the  proconsuls,  but  such  as  had 
never  yet  fallen  upon  the  Romans  themselves. 
His  cruelties  and  oppressions  were  'indeed 
generally  inflicted  upon  the  nobles,  who  had 
lost  the  respect  and  could  no  longer  com 
mand  the  affection  of  the  populace,  while  the 
populace  itself  he  soothed  and  caressed  by 
the  profuseness  of  his  shows  and  largesses ; 
yet  his  blows  fell  sometimes  among  the 
crowd  also,  and  the  Romans  shuddered  at  the 
terrible  exasperation  with  which  he  uttered 
a  wish  that  the  whole  people  had  but  one 
neck. 

The  frantic  dissinatnn  in  which  this  Cse- 


sar  indulged,  kept  his  mind  and  body  in  con 
stant  fever.  His  haggard  countenance,  hi? 
shattered  frame,  his  agitated  gait,  his  frenzy 
by  day  and  sleepless  perturbation  at  night, 
as  described  by  the  historians,  form  one  of 
the  most  fearful  pictures  on  record  of  the 
consequences  of  guilty  indulgence.  Shock 
ing  as  such  a  picture  must  be  in  the  case  of 
a  private  individual,  in  a  king  of  men — the 
tyrant  of  a  hundred  millions  of  fellow-crea 
tures — it  is  truly  awful.  Caius  had  imbibed 
from  the  Jewish  chief  Agrippa,  the  compan 
ion  and  counsellor  of  his  early  years,  the  ori 
ental  idea  of  monarchy.  He  scouted  the 
restraints  of  Roman  law  and  usage ;  he  tore 
away  the  veil  of  republican  forms  by  which 
Augustus  and  Tiberius  had  disguised  the 
real  extent  of  their  power ;  he  determined 
that  all  his  subjects  should  know  that  he  was 
a  despot,  and  that  his  will  was  practically 
as  unrestrained  as  that  of  a  king  of  Babylon 
or  Alexandria.  He  scorned  to  dwell  in  a 
mansion  suitable  to  a  Roman  noble,  such  as 
the  palatium  of  Augustus  and  Tiberius,  and 
covered  a  large  part  of  the  Palatine  Hill 
with  additional  buildings,  which  he  connected 
with  the  Capitol  by  a  bridge  flung  boldly 
across  the  valley  of  the  Yelabrum.  Oer 
this  bridge  he  marched  in  pomp  to  the  tem 
ple  of  Jupiter,  seated  himself  by  the  side  of 
the  god  himself,  and  affected  to  whisper  in 
his  ear,  and  suggest  the  counsels  of  Provi 
dence.  He  aped  the  dress  and  style  of  the 
deities  himself;  and  when  his  sister  Brasilia 
died,  with  whom,  like  an  eastern  potentate, 
he  had  lived  in  incestuous  commerce  revolt 
ing  to  the  feelings  of  the  Romans,  he  declared 
that  she  had  become  a  divinity,  and  required 
his  subjects  to  pay  her  worship.  He  encir 
cled  his  own  head  with  the  oriental  diadem 
armed  with  spikes  or  rays,  the  well-known 
symbol  of  divinity  in  the  East.  Augustus 
had  been  honored  after  his  death  with  a  tem 
ple  and  a  priesthood  at  Rome — a  tribute  of 
respect  which  the  Senate  had  refused  to  Ti 
berius  ;  but  had  Caius  lived  a  little  longer, 
we  can  hardly  doubt  that  he  would  have  in 
sisted  on  receiving  divine  worship  himself 


HISTOKY  OP  THE  WOULD. 


545 


from  the  citizens,  as  well  as  from  the  subjects 
of  the  state. 

The  extravagances  of  this  wretched  tyrant 
were  chieiiy  shown  in  the  Barnes  of  the  cir 
cus,  in  which  he  took  a  frantic  pleasure,  so 
as  to  threaten,  it  was  said,  to  make  his  favor 
ite  horse  a  consul.  The  bridge  of  boats  which 
he  constructed  across  the  Bay  of  Puteoli,  for 
the  sake  of  driving  in  triumph  upon  the 
ocean,  was  an  extraordinary  freak  of  reckless 
ostentation.  The  story,  that  instead  of  lead 
ing  his  troops,  as  he  had  promised,  into 
Britain,  he  drew  them  up  with  great  parade 
on  the  shore  at  Boulogne,  and  then  bade 
them  pick  up  shells,  and  return  laden  with 
"  the  spoils  of  the  ocean"  to  Rome,  may  pos 
sibly  be  a  misrepresentation.  The  account 
we  have  received  of  his  expedition  into  Gaul, 
and  his  aimless  enterprises  in  that  quarter, 
is  not  much  to  be  relied  on.  The  commander 
of  the  forces  on  the  Rhine  had  ventured  to 
defy  Tiberius  in  the  old  age  of  that  timid 
emperor,  and  it  was  an  object  not  unworthy 
of  the  boldness  of  Gains  to  throw  himself  in 
person  into  the  camp  of  his  formidable  lieu 
tenant,  and  inflict  condign  punishment  upon 
him.  We  are  loath  to  believe  that  a  prince 
who  could  act  so  promptly  and  courageously 
on  a  suitable  occasion,  should  have  debased 
himself  by  the  wretched  trivialities  imputed 
to  him  in  connection  with  this  expedition ; 
nevertheless,  we  must  remember  that  we  are 
reviewing  the  career  of  one  who  can  hardly 
be  regarded  in  any  other  light  than  as  a 
madman. 

This  career,  disgusting  as  it  is,  was  hap 
pily  cut  short  before  the  end  of  four  years  by 
the  blows  of  an  assassin.  A  madman  in  the 
possession  of  unlimited  power  must  be  con 
sidered  beyond  the  pale  of  moral  sanctions ; 
and  if  there  was  no  other  way  to  remove  him, 
no  one  would  judge  severely  the  man  who 
wielded  even  the  dagger  against  him.  But 
Caius  was  not  doomed  to  the  death  he  so 
amply  merited  by  the  decree  of  the  outraged 
Senate,  or  the  general  rising  of  an  indignant 
people.  He  had  provoked  a  domestic  enemy 
in  the  person  of  an  officer  of  his  guard,  and 


he  was  stabbed  by  a  baud  of  private  con 
spirators  in  the  vault  of  a  passage  in  his  pal 
ace.  The  blow  was  quite  unexpected,  and 
surprised  both  the  Senate  and  the  imperial 
family  alike.  There  was  none  to  claim  the 
succession  on  the  one  hand;  there  was  no 
plan  for  assuming  the  government  on  the 
other.  After  a  moment's  delay,  the  consuls, 
finding  the  throne  vacant,  proclaimed  the 
restoration  of  the  republic ;  but  the  citizens 
were  wholly  unprepared  for  such  a  revolu 
tion,  and  the  soldiers  of  the  guard,  anxious 
only  for  the  largess  writh  which  the  accession 
of  a  new  emperor  must  be  accompanied, 
seized  on  Claudius,  the  uncle  of  the  deceased, 
whom  they  found  by  accident  lurking  in  a 
corner,  carried  him  on  their  shoulders  to  the 
camp,  and  announced  to  the  still  trembling 
senators  that  they  had  chosen  a  chief  for  the 
republic. 

Resistance  was  perhaps  impossible ;  none 
at  least  was  attempted.  The  consuls  took 
at  once  the  oath  of  devotion  to  the  new  em 
peror,  and  the  Senate  and  people  followed 
their  example.  Tiberius  Claudius  was  brother 
to  Germanicus,  and  uncle  to  Caius.  lie  had 
reached  the  age  of  fifty,  during  which  his 
natural  taste  for  retirement  and  study,  as 
much  perhaps  as  the  jealousy  of  the  heads  of 
his  family,  and  the  weakness  of  mind  and 
body  currently  imputed  to  him,  had  kept 
him  almost  entirely  in  a  private  station.  lie 
had  applied  himself  to  abstruse  studies,  and 
composed  elaborate  treatises,  but  he  had 
made  no  acquaintance  with  the  conduct  of 
affairs,  either  military  or  civil.  He  was  ad 
dicted  to  women,  and  had  generally  allowed 
himself  to  be  swayed  by  them  and  by  the 
freedmen  who  surrounded  them.  His  acces 
sion  to  power  was  regarded  as  no  augury  of 
good  government  by  any  portion  of  his  sub 
jects  :  it  was  a  relief,  however,  to  be  rid  of 
the  furious  caprices  of  their  last  tyrants ;  and 
the  pledges  Claudius  gave  the  Senate  of  def 
erence  to  their  counsels  were  accepted  with 
grateful  acknowledgments.  Though  betrayed 
occasionally  into  acts  of  harshness  and  cru 
elty  towards  men  of  distinction  through  his 
69 


546 


HISTORY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


weakness  rather  than  tyranny,  Claudius  con 
tinued  throughout  his  reign  to  respect  the 
character  of  the  senatorial  order.  His  prin 
ciple  of  government  was  to  follow  the  exam 
ple  of  Augustus — to  restore  and  confirm  an 
cient  usages,  to  maintain  the  ancient  laws, 
to  enact  the  head  of  the  family  rather  than 
the  emperor  of  the  state.  His  assiduity  in 
business  was  extraordinary;  presiding  day 
by  day  at  the  tribunals,  he  tired  out,  infirm 
as  he  was,  the  judges  and  officers ;  and  if  at 
the  close  of  an  exhausting  session  he  indulged 
with  indecent  avidity  in  the  pleasures  of  the 
table,  his  excesses  may  be  partly  accounted 
for  and  excused  by  the  exhausting  labors  to 
which  he  had  devoted  himself.  His  manners 
and  his  measures  were  equally  those  of  a 
pedant  on  the  throne;  his  awkward  figure, 
rendered  more  uncouth  by  the  effects  appar 
ently  of  a  paralytic  seizure,  gave  occasion  for 
much  ribald  mockery ;  but  on  the  whole  we 
must  ir  fairness  pronounce  that  his  efforts  at 
governing  the  world  under  such  formidable 
tlLia~T«fi cages  were  truly  meritorious,  and 
his  failure  in  a  task  to  which  he  was  constitu 
tionally  unequal  a  matter  of  commiseration 
rather  than  of  ridicule. 

NOT  was  it  only  in  the  city  and  on  the 
judgment-seat  that  Claudius  felt  it  incum 
bent  on  him  to  carry  out  the  complete  idea 
of  the  prince  and  emperor  of  the  Romans. 
Augustus  had  placed  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  legions;  feeble  though  he  too  was  in 
bodily  frame,  he  had  fought  against  the  ene 
mies  of  Rome,  and  merited  the  glories  of  a 
triumph.  The  successor  of  Augustus  must 
not  shrink  from  following  him  in  this  field 
also.  Caesar  had  imposed  a  tribute  on  the 
Britons ;  Augustus  had  insisted  on  its  pay 
ment  ;  but  these  obligations  had  been  long 
evaded,  and  the  threats  of  Cains  had  resulted 
in  ridiculous  failure.  Claudius  determined 
to  seek  his  laurels  in  an  enterprise  against 
these  distant  enemies.  He  sent  a  lieutenant 
to  secure  a  landing  and  make  good  a  footing 
on  the  island  ;  but  he  followed  himself  with 
out  delay,  traversing  the  whole  of  Gaul  at 
the  hea  '  of  his  army ;  and  after  crossing  the 


Thames  jie  succeeded  in  bringing  a  British 
potentate  to  an  engagement,  and  obtaining  a 
decisive  victory.  The  foundation  of  a  colony 
at  Camalodunum,  or  Colchester,  secured  the 
conquest  of  the  southern  part  of  Britain  ;  and 
Claudius  fully  deserved  the  triumph  with 
which  his  ambition  was  gratified.  This  suc 
cess,  though  shaken  by  a  later  disaster  under 
the  emperor  that  followed,  seemed  to  be 
completed  by  the  capture  of  the  bravest  of 
the  Britons,  the  renowned  Caractacus.  It 
does  honor  to  Claudius,  unless  it  may  be  as 
cribed  to  the  greater  humanity  of  the  times 
— inhuman  as  in  too  many  respects  we  must 
still  regard  them  —  that,  instead  of  being 
strangled  in  his  prison  like  Jugurtha  or  Pon 
tius  under  the  republic,  this  fallen  enemy 
was  treated  with  the  consideration  due  to  his 
valor,  and  suffered  to  live  in  freedom  at 
Rome. 

The  contempt  with  which  the  character  of 
this  unfortunate  emperor  has  been  loaded, 
has  been  chiefly  derived  from  the  mishupe 
of  his  domestic  life,  and  the  fatal  effects  of 
the  influence  exerted  over  him  by  his  worth 
less  consorts.  He  had  been  more  than  once 
married  as  a  private  citizen ;  after  he  became 
emperor  he  united  himself  to  Valeria  Messa- 
lina,  a  woman  whose  name  has  become  a  bye- 
wrord  for  the  excess  of  female  dissoluteness. 
In  his  relations  to  this  wanton  woman,  Clau 
dius  is  represented  as  a  miserable  wittol, 
cajoled  by  a  partner  who  hardly  deigned  to 
throw  a  veil  over  her  flagitious  infidelities. 
To  her  fatal  sway  were  imputed  many  acts 
of  cruelty  and  rapacity,  covered  by  the  name 
of  the  emperor.  If  she  ruled  him,  she  shared 
her  influence  with  Pallas  and  Narcissus, 
freedmen  and  favorites  of  his  court,  who 
amassed  vast  fortunes  by  the  crimes  to  which 
they  extorted  his  consent.  At  last,  to  the 
relief  of  the  Roman  world,  these  hateful  con 
federates  fell  out  among  themselves.  Nar- 
cissus  vowed  to  effect  the  ruin  of  Messalina. 
Her  own  conduct,  now  become  utterly  un 
guarded,  soon  furnished  an  opportunity 
which  he  was  bold  enough  to  seize.  Having 
fixed  her  roving  passions  on  a  ton  (Ay  young 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


547 


noble  named  Silius,  she  Lad  the  incredible 
audacity,  so  we  are  assured,  to  insist  upon 
his  publicly  espousing  her.  Besides  the 
monstrous  impiety  of  the  act  in  the  eyes  even 
of  that  careless  generation,  it  was  an  open 
avowal  of  treason.  Silius  could  have  no 
other  course  but  to  overthrow,  by  force  or 
fraud,  the  prince  whom  he  had  so  grossly 
outraged.  Not  without  difficulty  did  Nar 
cissus  open  the  eyes  of  Claudius  to  the  insult 
he  had  sustained;  with  still  greater  diffi 
culty  he  inspired  him  with  courage  to  inflict 
a  suitable  punishment.  The  freedman  insisted, 
and  the  emperor  yielded :  Silius  and  Messa- 
lina  were  arrested  and  slain ;  and  the  execu 
tion  was  hardly  over  before  the  stupidest  of 
husbands  was  found  to  have  forgotten  all 
about  it. 

Such  is  an  outline  of  the  story  related  or 
confirmed  by  all  our  authorities.  It  is  evi 
dently  derived  from  one  source  ;  but  wheth 
er  that  source  be  the  actual  truth  of  the  occur 
rence,  or  the  fabrication  of  one  whose  posi 
tion  was  such  as  to  confer  on  it  unmerited 
authority,  may  still  be  considered  as  doubt 
ful  ;  for  Messalina  was  succeeded  by  another 
wife,  Agrippina.  Messalina  left  a  son, 
Britannicus.  Agrippina  had  also  a  son, 
Domitius.  The  great  object  of  this  last  of 
the  empresses  was  to  advance  the  fortunes  of 
this  son  by  an  earlier  marriage,  to  secure  for 
him  the  succession  over  the  head  of  the 
orphan  Britannicus.  The  wickedness  of 
this  intriguing  woman  is  at  least  as  well 
accredited  as  Messalina's,  and  it  may  easily 
be  supposed  that  she  wrould  scruple  at  no 
falsehood  to  exasperate  her  husband  against 
her  predecessor,  and  to  persuade  him  that 
Britannicus  could  not  really  be  a  son  of  his 
own  begetting.  However  she  may  have 
represented  the  affair  to  Claudius,  it  is  prob 
able  that  in  the  memoirs  of  her  times,  which 
she  is  known  to  have  written,  she  colored 
them  to  suit  her  own  purpose  and  deceive 
the  citizens.  The  child  of  Messalina  was  to 
be  disparaged  in  their  eyes  as  well  as  in  the 
emperor's,  and  Jhe  narrative  of  a  palace 
scandal  from  the  pen  of  a  mistress  of  the 


palace  was  likely  to  meet  with  ready  accep 
tance  from  the  prurient  curi  >sity  of  the  Roman 
people.  It  is  no  unreasonable  scepticism  to 
withhold  implicit  reliance  from  the  story 
of  Messalina,  even  though  told  us  by  Taci 
tus. 

The  young  Domitius  was  two  01  three* 
years  older  than  Britannicus,  and  when 
Claudius  was  persuaded  to  adopt  him,  .ie  be 
came,  under  the  name  of  Nero  Csesar,  the 
presumptive  heir  to  the  purple.  Thus  far 
successful  in  the  accomplishment  of  her 
cherished  object,  Aprippina  was  now  only 
solicitous  to  anticipate  a  reverse  of  fortune, 
and  for  this  end  she  did  not  scruple  to  com 
pass  the  death  of  the  now  doting  emperor. 
She  caused  poison  to  be  administered  to  him 
in  a  dish  of  mushrooms,  and  he  died  from 
the  effects  of  it  in  her  presence,  almost  at 
table,  in  the  year  of  the  city  807.  She  con 
tinued  to  conceal  his  decease  till  she  had 
completed  her  arrangements  for  securing  the 
succession  to  her  son,  who  was  led  to  the 
camp  by  Burrhus,  the  prefect  of  the  praeto 
rians,  and  accepted  without  hesitation,  on 
the  promise  of  an  ample  donative,  as  the 
heir  of  Claudius  and  the  descendant  of  Ger- 
manicus.  The  Senate  hastened  to  ratify  the 
choice  of  the  soldiers. 

The  exultation  with  which  the  accession 
of  Caius  had  been  received  on  the  demise  «t 
Tiberius,  was  renewed  with  increased  favor 
on  the  auspicious  transfer  of  imperial  power 
from  the  old  imbecile  Claudius,  to  the  gay 
young  prince  who  now  united  the  suffrages 
of  all  classes  of  citizens.  "With  their  late 
emperor,  whether  from  the  real  defects  of  hia 
character,  or  from  the  misrepresentations  of 
it  with  which  their  minds  Jiad  been  abused, 
the  Romans  had  become  thoroughly  disgust 
ed  ;  but  the  youth  and  beauty  of  Nero  had 
made  a  very  favorable  impression  on  them, 
and  this  was  heightened  by  the  artful  terms 
in  which  his  accomplishments,  his  abilities, 
and  his  temper  had  been  described  to  them. 
Seneca  the  philosopher,  a  man  of  known  ac 
quirements,  and  at  the  same  time  of  popular 
manners,  had  been  given  him  for  his  tutor. 


648 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


The  young  man  had  been  bred  in  the  school 
of  wisdom  and  morality,  which  the  sage 
see  ined  to  find  means  to  reconcile  with  the 
tastes  and  habits  of  the  day.  Nero  was  to 
combine  the  man  of  virtue  with  the  man  of 
fashion,  and  the  world  was  invited  to  admire 
in  his  person  the  harmonious  results  of  an 
alliance  between  things  which  the  precepts 
of  the  schools  and  the  experience  of  men  had 
hitherto  pronounced  incompatible.  But  the 
world  accepted  the  announcement  without 
misgiving,  on  the  word  of  the  philosopher, 
and  echoed  the  applause  with  which  he 
greeted  the  work  of  his  own  hands,  antici 
pating  in  the  advent  of  this  favorite  of  for 
tune  the  return  of  a  golden  age,  the  descent 
of  an  Apollo  upon  the  earth. 

Nero  possessed  perhaps  some  graces  of 
person,  and  some  natural  abilities.  lie  was 
not  devoid  of  natural  feelings,  of  kindliness, 
and  affection.  With  an  impulsive  temper, 
and  a  rather  feminine  susceptibility,  he  was 
easily  led  to  seek  the  applause  of  those 
around  him,  and  to  shun  their  disapproval. 
The  objects  of  interest  which  his  tutor  set 
before  him  were  no  doubt  pure  and  virtuous, 
such  as  the  love  of  his  kindred,  respect  for 
his  mother,  regard  for  the  common  weal  and 
for  the  pleasures  of  the  people.  But  if  Sen 
eca  led  his  pupil  well,  he  exerted  no  moral 
power  in  controlling  him.  From  the  mo 
ment  that  the  youth  began  to  press  upon  the 
reins,  Seneca  relaxed  his  restraint,  arid  gave 
full  course  to  the  indulgence  of  his  passions. 
lie  hoped  to  retain  a  little  influence  by 
yielding  much,  and  for  some  years  after  his 
accession  the  force  of  habit  still  inclined  the 
restless  pupil  to  lend  an  ear  to  his  occasional 
suggestions.  The  first  five  years  of  the  new 
reign,  the  Quinquennium  Neronis,  as  this 
term  was  called  by  way  of  favorable  distinc 
tion,  have  been  celebrated  as  a  period  of 
really  good  and  conscientious  government  ; 
nevertheless,  they  were  marked  by  crimes  of 
the  deepest  dye,  and  no  wise  man  could  an 
ticipate  from  the  weak  and  wricked  prince 
who  committed  such  enormities  any  other 
developments  of  his  career  than  the  fright 


ful   tyranny    which   actually   succeeded    to 
them. 

Notwithstanding  the  marked  applause 
with  which  Nero's  accession  was  greeted  by 
the  Senate  and  the  people,  it  was  soon  sug 
gested  to  him  that  he  might  have  cause  of 
fear  in  the  victim  whom  he  had  supplanted. 
The  feelings  of  nature  were  too  strong  for 
those  of  custom,  and  still  regarded  Britanni- 
cus,  the  actual  son  of  the  late  emperor,  a 
more  legitimate  claimant  of  his  throne  than 
Nero,  whom  he  had  only  adopted.  The 
usurper  was  easily  persuaded  that  it  was 
necessary  to  remove  the  rightful  heir  ;  and 
by  the  agency  of  the  notorious  poisoner  Lo- 
custa,  the  child  of  Messalina  was  murdered, 
not,  it  may  be  feared,  without  the  sanction 
of  Seneca  himself.  Nero  was  married  to 
Octavia,  the  sister  of  Britannicus ;  but  this 
creature,  though  celebrated  both  for  her 
beauty  and  her  virtue,  gained  no  ascendant 
O7er  him.  He  fell  under  the  fascinations  of 
the  intriguer  Popprea,  whom  he  took  from 
his  friend  Otho,  and  under  whose  influence- 
he  engaged  in  the  horrible  design  of  ridding 
himself  of  his  own  mother.  The  rivalry 
between  Agrippina  and  Popprea  had  con 
tinued  for  some  time.  In  her  eagerness  to 
retain  her  authority  in  the  palace,  the  moth 
er,  it  was  said,  had  actually  tempted  her 
wretched  son  to  incest ;  but  when  disappoint 
ed  and  defeated,  she  began  to  set  up  a  rival 
court,  and  threatened  to  divulge  the  murder 
of  Claudius,  and  recommend  Octavia  to  the 
citizens,  he  was  prevailed  on  to  sacrifice  her 
to  the  anger  of  his  mistress,  and  what  he 
considered  the  necessity  of  his  own  position. 
Again,  it  is  reported  that  Seneca  consent 
ed  to  the  crime ;  it  is  more  probable  that  he 
was  not  consulted  about  it ;  but  undoubtedly 
both  he  and  Burrhus,  who  had  also  the  char- 
I  acter  of  a  brave  and  honest  man,  allowed 
:  themselves  to  justify  it  when  done.  Under 
the  mildest  view  their  conduct  is  without 
excuse.  Nor  was  it  of  any  avail.  The  peo- 
'  pie  were  horror-struck  ;  the  Senate,  awaken 
ed  by  some  sufferings  of  their  own  to  the 
hollowr.ess  of  their  prince's  professions  of 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


549 


good  government,  resented  it  with  murmurs 
and  conspiracies  Seneca  and  Burrhus  lost 
all  favor  and  all  influence,  and  both  fell  vic 
tims  in  a  short  dme  to  their  master's  inap- 
pea  sable  jealousy.  Seneca,  indeed,  seems  to 
nave  entered  into  a  plot  for  his  overthrow, 
the  discovery  of  which  cost  the  lives  of  many 
distinguished  nobles,  as  well  as  of  an  old 
companion  of  Nero,  the  republican  poet  Lu- 
can.  The  cruelties  of  Nero  were  now  re 
peated  and  extended,  falling  upon  the  men 
most  conspicuous  for  virtue,  as  well  as  the 
noblest  and  the  wealthiest.  The  murders  of 
Barea  Sorannus  and  of  Psetus  Thrasea,  two 
of,  the  staun chest  professors  of  the  Stoic 
creed  of  philosophy,  seemed  to  aim  at  the 
"  extinction  of  virtue  itself." 

Amidst  these  dismal  excesses  of  an  unlim 
ited  despotism,  the  reign  of  Nero  is  remark 
able  for  a  disaster  of  another  kind,  of  which, 
though  imputed  by  many  voices  at  the  time 
to  Nero  himself,  the  hand  of  man  may  fairly 
be  acquitted.  In  the  year  817  Rome  was 
ewept  by  a  terrible  conflagration,  which  con 
sumed  a  large  portion  of  the  whole  city. 
The  populace,  in  their  terror  and  distress, 
demanded  victims,  and  the  emperor  suffered 
the  Christians  to  be  convicted  on  the  charge 
of  willfully  destroying  it.  Against  the  per 
sons  thus  designated,  of  whom  there  were 
many  now  at  Rome  (but  whether  they  were 
exclusively  the  believers  in  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ,  or,  partly,  at  least,  included  the 
Jewish  sectarians,  the  followers  of  false 
CKrists,  who  had  often  caused  disturbances 
even  in  the  heart  of  Italy,  is  still  liable  to 
question),  a  cruel  persecution,  and  the  most 
cruel  of  punishments  were  directed.  Death  by 
burning  was  an  ancient  punishment  of  the 
republic  for  the  crime  of  seditious  incen 
diarism  ;  and  to  this  death  the  reputed  burn 
ers  of  the  city  were  devoted.  They  were 
tied  to  stakes  and  consumed  in  shirts  smeared 
with  pitch.  The  fierceness  of  the  flames 
thus  kindled,  added  to  the  horror  of  the 
execution,  and  the  brutal  levity  of  Nero  in 
driving  his  chariot  by  the  light  of  these 
human  torches,  heightened  the  commisera 


tion  to  which  the  fury  of  the  people  had 
been  quickly  con  verted ;  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  invention  of  the  pitched 
shirt  was  meant  to  shorten  and  not  to  aggra 
vate  the  sufferings  of  the  victims. 

The  horror  with  which  Nero's  cruelties 
were  regarded  by  the  Senate  was  enhanced 
by  their  indignation  at  the  levities  with 
which  he  gratified  his  own  morbid  passion 
for  applause,  and  courted  the  flattery  of  the 
populace.  He  was  devoted  to  the  games  of 
the  circus,  and  insisted  on  outraging  decorum 
by  driving  the  chariot  in  person.  He  was 
not  less  addicted  to  the  amusement,  reputed 
equally  vile  by  the  graver  citizens,  of  play 
ing  and  singing  in  public.  It  was  said  that 
in  the  midst  of  the  general  dismay  at  the 
great  conflagration  he  had  witnessed  the 
scene  from  the  top  of  a  tower  in  his  palace, 
and  performed  upon  his  flute  the  drama  of 
the  sack  of  Troy.  This  piece  of  unfeeling 
impertinence,  followed  by  the  avidity  with 
which  he  seized  on  the  space  laid  open  by 
the  flames  to  construct  the  immense  extent 
of  his  "  Golden  House,"  gave  color  to  the 
suspicion  above  noticed,  that  he  had  actually 
caused  the  fire,  or  had  at  least  forbidden  its 
extinction.  Soon  after  this  event  he  quitted 
Rome  to  seek  new  laurels  among  the  games 
and  shows  of  Greece,  where  he  expected  to 
find  his  peculiar  talents  better  appreciated 
than  by  his  own  morose  or  ignorant  country 
men.  He  traveled  from  theatre  to  theatre, 
and  won  all  the  applauses  and  all  the  chap- 
lets  which  Athens,  Corinth,  and  Olympia 
could  bestow.  During  the  course  of  his 
reign  foreign  affairs  had  proceeded  on  the 
whole  prosperously.  A  disaster  in  Britain 
had  been  retrieved.  Some  successes  had 
been  gained,  by  negotiation  rather  than  by 
arms,  over  Parthia ;  and  Nero  had  got  much 
ridicule  by  claiming  a  triumph  for  them. 
His  ablest  lieutenant,  Corbulo,  he  had  wan 
tonly  put  to  death,  when  the  breaking  out  of 
a  revolt  in  Palestine  demanded  his  best 
generals  and  his  bravest  legions.  The  con 
duct  of  this  war  was  entrusted  to  the  vet 
eran  Vespasian;  but  when  at  last  a  revolt 


650 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


broke  out  against  him  in  his  own  army  in 
Spain,  he  found  himself  without  men  or 
commanders  to  meet  it.  While  he  was  still 
.ingering  in  Greece,  Galba,  at  the  head  of 
his  forces,  was  marching  towards  Rome. 
The  troops  stationed  in  Gaul  were  induced 
to  join  the  movement,  or  to  observe  neutral 
ity.  Nero  returned  in  haste  to  Italy;  but 
at  the  first  news  of  some  temporary  success 
relapsed  into  his  frivolous  dissipation.  The 
arrival  of  each  succeeding  courier  roused 
him  to  paroxysms  of  alarm  or  confidence  ; 
but  he  made  no  effective  preparations  to  re 
pel  the  danger,  till  the  Senate,  seeing  the 
defencelessness  of  his  position,  summoned 
courage  to  anticipate  the  arrival  of  the 
avenger,  by  denouncing  him  as  a  public  ene 
my,  and  setting  a  price  on  his  head.  The 
wretched  tyrant  evinced  the  utmost  pusil 
lanimity  in  this  crisis  of  his  fortunes.  He 
fled  from  the  palace  in  disguise,  but  despair 
ed  of  ultimately  escaping,  and  afto*  much 
hesitation,  and  with  much  childish  complaint, 
at  last  gave  himself  the  death-blow. 

Galba,  as  he  advanced  towards  Rome,  de 
clared  that  he  had  turned  his  arms  against 
the  tyrant  in  the  interest  of  the  Senate,  and 
that  he  left  to  that  venerable  body  the  future 
settlement  of  the  empire.  He  had  lived  to 
a  great  age  in  the  tranquil  discharge  of  high 
civil  and  military  functions ;  and  it  is  proba 
ble  that  he  had  first  commenced  his  move 
ment  for  his  own  safety  rather  than  from 
motives  of  ambition.  But  when  his  enter 
prise  was  crowned  with  success,  he  could  not 
doubt  that  the  Senate  would  offer  the  empire 
to  him,  nor  had  he  any  scruple  in  accepting 
it.  "With  Nero  the  last  of  the  imperial  race 
of  the  great  Julius  had  perished :  there  re 
mained  no  clu'ef  to  whom  the  proconsul  owed 
obedience.  Galba  was  released  from  the 
military  oath  which  bound  him  to  the  suc 
cessor  of  Caesar  and  Augustus,  the  descend 
ant  of  Drusus  and  Germanicus.  He  accept 
ed  the  honors  proffered  him,  and  having 
quelled  all  opposition  to  himself,  and  learnt 
the  discomfiture  of  some  military  pretenders 
In  the  provinces,  he  entered  the  city  at  the 


head  of  his  forces,  and  assun  ed  the  empire 
not  less  as  the  nominee  of  the  army  than  as 
the  chosen  of  the  Senate.  Serving Snlpiciufl 
Galba  was  a  man  of  good  family ;  the  her 
aids  tried  to  connect  him  with  a  mythologi 
cal  ancestry  ;  but  the  transfer  of  empire  from 
the  race  of  the  Julii,  of  whom  three  at  least 
had  been  enrolled  among  their  tutelary  dei 
ties,  gave  a  shock  to  the  national  feeling 
from  which  it  never  recovered.  Never  again 
could  the  Romans  surrender  themselves  to 
the  illusion,  that  their  emperor  reigned  by 
right  of  a  divine  descent ;  the  attempt  to  es 
tablish  such  a  descent,  though  made  in  favoi 
of  some  later  rulers,  never  again  laid  hold  ef 
the  national  sentiment,  and  established  itselt 
as  a  popular  superstition.  As  regarded  the 
successor  to  Nero,  it  was  wholly  futile.  The 
manners  which  Galba  brought  from  the  camp 
to  the  palace  were  rude  and  harsh;  his  prin 
ciples  were  austere ;  he  was  frugal  himself, 
and  parsimonious  in  relation  to  others.  He 
refused  the  soldiers  their  expected  donative  ; 
and  to  both  the  soldiers  and  the  people 
showed  himself  a  strict  disciplinarian.  Such 
a  commencement  of  a  new  reign — a  reign 
founded  on  favor,  not  on  right — irritated  all 
classes,  and  made  them  apprehend  a  severity 
more  galling  than  the  capricious  cruelties  of 
the  late  tyrant.  "Warned,  but  not  dismayed 
at  the  murmurs  he  heard  around  him, 
Galba  selected  an  associate  more  young  and 
vigorous  than  himself,  named  Piso ;  but  in 
trigues  were  already  in  motion  against  him  ; 
Otho,  once  the  confident  of  Nero,  and  as 
profligate  as  his  master,  was  tampering  with 
the  praetorians.  Galba  had  exercised  his 
power  but  one  fortnight  when  this  conspira 
cy  burst  upon  him,  and  unsupported  by  the 
people,  undefended  by  his  own  guards,  he 
fell  by  the  sword  of  a  mutinous  soldiery. 

The  successor  to  Galba  was  proclaimed  bj 
the  praetorians  without  even  a  ~.  retence  o? 
consulting  the  senators,  who  tacitly  acqiu 
esced  in  the  appointment,  but  abstained  per 
haps  as  far  as  they  could  from  actually  ac 
knowledging  it.  "While  the  emperor  assum 
ed  the  privilege  of  striking  the  gold  and  sil- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


ver  coinage,  the  privilege  of  issuing  the  more 
vulgar  copper  currency  was  accorded  to  the 
Senate.  The  fact,  that  no  copper  coinage 
of  Oth/s  brief  reign  has  been  discovered, 
may  be  taken  to  show  the  reluctance  of  this 
W.traged  body  to  stamp  their  approval  of 
his  \L3urpation  on  the  public  money.  But 
however  this  may  be,  the  usurper's  career 
wae  speedily  cut  short.  The  legions  in  the 
north  of  Gaul  had  already  declared  against 
Galba,  and  put  Aulus  Vitellius  at  their  head 
to  contest  the  empire  with  him.  The  report 
of  Galba's  death  and  Otho's  succession  made 
no  difference  in  their  measures.  They  want 
ed  an  emperor  of  their  own  creation,  from 
whom  they  might  receive  a  largess  worthy 
of  their  services;  perhaps  they  already 
thirsted  for  the  plunder  of  Italy  and  Rome. 
Otho,  though  long  steeped  in  luxury,  was  by 
nature  gallant  and  high-spirited.  He  ac 
cepted  the  challenge  with  alacrity,  and  went 
forth  to  the  Cisalpine  to  encounter  the  ene 
my.  But  his  temper  was  light  and  capri 
cious,  and  on  the  first  check  received  by  his 
followers,  he  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  the 
contest,  of  which  he  was  weary  rather  than 
afraid,  by  falling  on  his  own  sword.  The 
victory  of  Bedriacum  thus  crowned  by  the 
self-sacrifice  of  his  rival,  there  was  nothing 
to  prevent  or  delay  the  succession  of  Vitel- 
lius  to  power,  enforced  by  the  swords  of  his 
impatient  soldiery,  and  accepted  with  entire 
submission  by  the  Senate.  At  the  head  of 
his  Gauls  and  Germans,  the  conqueror  enter 
ed  the  city  in  military  array  and  accoutre 
ments  ;  and  Rome,  for  the  first  time,  felt 
herself  in  the  power  of  an  undisguised  in 
vader. 

But  the  same  high  tide  of  revolution  which 
had  wafted  Galba  and  Yitellius  to  Rome  on 
the  wave  of  military  insurrection,  was  pre 
paring  the  triumph  of  yet  another  compet 
itor  for  the  pui-ple.  "While  the  armies  of 
the  West  were  contending  for  the  substantial 
rewards  of  nominating  to  the  empire,  the 
legio?is  which  occupied  the  opposite  portion 
of  the  Roman  dominions  were  not  less  eager 
to  strike  in  with  a  claim  of  their  own.  The 


progress  of  the  war  in  Pa  eEtine  retarded 
their  movements ;  but  at  last,  suspending 
though  not  abandoning  these  important  ope 
rations,  which  also  promised  abundant  glory 
and  plunder,  their  leaders  agreed  to  set  up 
Vespasian,  chief  in  command  among  them, 
as  the  worthiest  candidate  for  the  empire. 
Vespasian  indeed  remained  for  a  time  in 
Egypt  to  secure  the  resources  of  that  im 
portant  province,  and  placed  his  son  Titus 
in  charge  of  the  war  against  the  Jews  ;  but 
his  friend  Mucianus  lead  a  mighty  force 
through  Asia  and  Greece  into  Italy,  and  his 
lieutenant  Antonius  Primus  engaged  the 
Vitellians  in  the  Cisalpine  with  the  first 
division  of  his  armaments.  Yitellius  was 
hardly  seated  in  his  palace,  where  he  was 
disgracing  himself  by  the  vilest  sensuality, 
and  betraying  a  total  incapacity  for  govern 
ment,  when  his  repose  was  shaken  by  the 
attack  of  these  new  assailants.  A  second 
battle  at  Bedriacum  broke  the  strength  of 
his  forces.  Antonius,  anxious  to  secure  the 
full  merit  of  completing  his  success  before 
Mucianus  could  come  up  with  further  re-ec- 
forcements,  followed  on  the  heels  of  the 
Vitellians,  and  the  partizans  of  Yespasian 
mustered  so  strongly  in  the  Senate-house 
and  the  Forum  that  Yitellius,  sluggish  and 
pusillanimous,  hastened  to  proffer  his  sub 
mission.  Sabinus,  the  conqueror's  brother, 
dictated  the  terms  of  his  abdication ;  but 
his  soldiers,  enraged  at  his  cowardly  deser 
tion,  still  retained  their  arms,  and  made  a 
tumultuous  night  attack  on  the  position  of 
their  adversaries  in  the  Capitol.  The  vener 
able  citadel  of  the  republic  was  not  regularly 
defensible.  Climbing  over  the  roofs  of  the 
adjoining  houses,  and  flinging  torches  before 
them,  they  involved  the  august  temple  of 
Jupiter  in  flames,  and  burst  in  the  confu 
sion  into  the  inclosure.  Sabinus  was  cap 
tured  and  slain ;  Domitian,  a  younger  son 
of  Yespasian,  escaped  in  disguise.  Vitellius 
was  compelled  to  resume  the  purple ;  but 
Antonius  had  now  reached  the  outskirts  of 
the  city,  and  his  opponents,  who  went  forth 
without  a  leader  to  encounter  him,  were 


fi52 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD 


beaten  back  step  by  step  within  the  walls, 
which  he  entered  along  with  them,  filling 
the  streets  with  slaughter.  A  remnant  of 
the  Yitellians  withdrew  into  the  praetorian 
camp,  but  their  last  stronghold  was  speedily 
stormed.  Their  wretched  emperor  lingered 
about  the  palace,  uncertain  whether  to  fly  or 
sue  for  mercy,  but  was  seized  by  the  infuri 
ated  soldiery,  and  slaughtered  with  many 
indignities.  Mucianus,  following  in  the 
rear  of  Antonius,  and  bringing  Domitian 
with  him,  assumed  the  government  in  the 
name  of  Yespasian ;  and  Rome  once  more 
settled  down  in  the  hope  of  tranquillity 
under  the  new  usurper. 

Titus  Flavius  Yespasianus,  the  founder  of 
the  Flavian  dynasty,  had  been  saluted  em 
peror  by  his  soldiers  in  the  East  in  July 
822,  and  it  was  from  that  era  that  the  years 
of  his  government  were  technically  number 
ed  ;  but  his  accession  to  power  at  Rome 
dates  from  the  first  days  of  823  (A.D.  70), 
when  he  assumed  the  consulship,  and  receiv 
ed  all  the  ensigns  of  imperial  sovereignty 
from  the  Senate,  though  still  absent  from 
the  city.  He  allowed  some  months  to  inter 
vene  before  making  his  appearance  in  the 
capital,  choosing  perhaps  to  leave  to  his 
lieutenants  the  invidious  task  of  punishing 
the  most  obnoxious  of  the  citizens,  and 
smoothing  his  entrance  into  power.  When 
he  arrived,  about  the  middle  of  the  year,  he 
accepted  the  submission  of  the  Senate  with 
complacency,  and  assured  it  of  his  favor 
and  consideration.  He  proclaimed  the  ad 
vent  of  a  new  era  of  peace,  and  this  an 
nouncement  was  received  with  the  same 
satisfaction  as  when  Augustus  closed  the 
temple  of  Janus.  But  the  announcement 
was  at  least  premature,  while  the  Jews  still 
maintained,  behind  the  walls  of  Jerusalem, 
their  indomitable  defiance  of  the  power  of 
Rome.  Driven  in  three  campaigns  from  al 
most  every  other  stronghold,  they  defended 
the  Holy  City  with  desperate  obstinacy. 
Religious  fanaticism  supplied  the  place  of 
skill  or  discipline.  Though  weakened  by 
internal  dissensions,  they  repulsed  every  at 


tack  of  the  enemy,  and  submitted  to  the 
extremity  of  famine  rather  than  surrender 
to  the  sacrilegious  assailant.  Exhausted  by 
a  long  blockade,  they  were  at  last  over 
powered  by  the  perseverance  of  Titus  ;  their 
walls  were  stormed  one  after  another,  the 
inclosure  of  the  temple  scaled,  and  the  Holy 
of  Holies  given  to  the  flames.  The  resistance 
was  still  protracted  for  a  time  in  the  streets 
of  Jerusalem,  and  even  when  the  city  was 
taken  and  razed  to  the  ground,  a  dying 
gleam  of  glory  was  shed  over  the  fall  of 
Judaea  by  the  defence  of  Machoerus  and 
Massada.  But  Titus  at  length  completed 
his  bloody  task,  in  which  he  had  exercised 
relentless  severity.  On  his  arrival  at  Rome 
he  was  associated  with  his  father  in  the 
honors  of  a  triumph,  commemorated  by  the 
arch,  still  existing,  which  bears  his  name, 
and  received  a  share  in  the  government  of 
the  empire. 

The  conquest  of  Judea  had  cost  Rome  a 
greater  effort  than  any  of  her  foreign  wars 
since  the  great  struggle  with  Carthage  ;  but 
such  was  her  energy,  such  at  this  period  the 
extent  of  her  resources,  that  she  had  con 
tinued  to  conduct  it  in  the  midst  of  the  dis 
tractions  of  civil  strife,  and  during  the  de 
termined  mutiny  of  one  of  her  finest  armies. 
Immediately  on  the  departure  of  Yitellius 
for  Rome,  with  a  large  portion  of  the  Ger 
manic  legions,  the  German  and  Gaulish  aux 
iliaries  in  the  north  of  Gaul  revolted  against 
their  commanders,  set  up  the  standard  of  a 
Gaulish  empire,  and  succeeded  in  breaking 
up  the  whole  of  the  Roman  force  in  their 
country.  Under  the  Batavian  chief  Civilis, 
they  continued  to  defy  the  power  of  the 
empire  till  the  overthrow  of  Yitellius  allow 
ed  the  new  government  at  Rome  to  pour  its 
legions  across  the  Alps.  Civilis  was  beaten 
in  several  encounters  by  the  Flavian  general 
Cerialis.  Domitian  advanced  in  person  into 
Gaul  to  support  the  efforts  of  his  lieutenant ; 
but  the  resistance  of  the  mutineers  was 
crushed  before  his  arrival  on  the  Rhine,  and 
in  the  north,  as  well  as  in  the  east,  the  sway 
of  Yespasian  was  secured  and  consolidated. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


553 


This  fortunate  soldier  held  the  reign  of 
empire  ten  years,  during  which  period  the 
Senate  was  allowed  to  resume  much  of  its 
ancient  consideration,  and  the  personal  vir 
tues  of  the  ruler,  his  simplicity  and  modera 
tion  of  character,  exercised  a  favorable  in 
fluence  on  the  manners  of  the  age.  A  re 
action  set  in  from  the  reckless  extravagance 
fostered  by  the  example  of  Nero.  The  for 
tunes  of  the  great  nobles  had  been  broken 
down  by  the  exactions  of  that  rapacious 
tyrant,  and  had  suffered  still  more  perhaps 
in  the  confusion  of  the  civil  wars ;  many  of 
the  chief  families  had  become  extinguished, 
and  their  place  in  the  Senate,  and  in  the 
high  offices  of  the  state,  was  supplied  by 
men  of  meaner  birth  and  provincial  extrac 
tion.  Raised  by  Yespasian  to  their  new 
dignities,  these  men  took  Vespasian  for 
their  model,  and  introduced  into  their  house 
holds  the  fashion  of  economy  and  self-con 
trol.  Though  rude  and  unpolished  himself, 
the  soldier-emperor  paid  respect  to  letters, 
and  established  throughout  his  dominions  a 
corps  of  salaried  professors.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  banished  the  philosophers  from 
Rome ;  but  to  this  harsh  measure  he  was 
perhaps  amply  provoked  by  the  pertinacity 
with  which  they  preached  disaffection  and 
rebellion.  Yespasian  had  none  of  the  finer 
qualities  of  the  high-bred  Roman  aristocrat ; 
there  was  nothing  genial  or  magnanimous  in 
his  character ;  once  or  twice  he  acted  with 
revolting  cruelty.  But  his  rule  was  marked 
on  the  whole  by  equity  and  mildness,  and 
his  reign  deserves  to  be  noted  as  one  of  the 
brightest  periods  in  the  annals  of  the  em 
pire. 

Yespasian  had  prudently  erected  a  tem 
ple  to  his  predecessor  Claudius,  and  he  re 
ceived  a  similar  honor  after  death  from  his 
succescor  Titus.  The  Flavian  family  was 
formally  admitted  among  the  tutelary  div 
inities  of  the  Roman  people  ;  but  the  hero- 
worship  of  the  emperors  was  a  service  from 
which  the  life  and  spirit  had  now  wholly 
evaporated.  The  conqueror  of  Judea,  who 
now  occupied  his  father's  place  on  earth, 
70 


bore  the  character  of  a  mild  and  studious 
philosopher.  His  conduct  indeed  in  the 
field  had  been  marked  with  the  cold-blooded 
cruelty  common  to  all  the  Roman  generals, 
but  towards  the  citizens,  and  especially  the 
senators,  he  displayed  the  moderation  and 
self-control  which  always  commanded  their 
wannest  acclamations.  Out  of  deference  to 
the  prejudices  of  his  countrymen,  he  re 
frained  from  marrying  the  Jewish  princess 
Drusilla,  of  whom  he  was  passionately  en 
amoured  ;  and  this  condescension  to  national 
feelings  gained  him  perhaps  no  less  applause 
than  the  sentiment  he  was  said  to  have  once 
expressed,  that  "  he  had  lost  a  day"  in  which 
he  had  performed  no  special  act  of  virtue. 
There  seems  to  have  been  some  softness,  and 
perhaps  some  effeminacy,  in  the  character 
of  Titus.  He  was  addicted  to  voluptuous 
habits ;  he  was  prone  to  indulge  in  expen 
sive  ostentation  ;  and  had  he  not  succeeded 
to  a  hoard  of  treasure  amassed  by  his  father  s 
economy,  which  he  did  not  live  to  exhaust, 
he  might  have  resorted  at  last  to  the  cruel 
ties  of  a  JSTero  to  supply  his  prodigality. 
Though  the  Romans  agreed  in  entitling 
this  prince  the  "  delight  of  the  human  race," 
they  admitted  that  he  was  saved  by  an  early 
death  from  the  snares  of  a  position  to  which 
he  might  have  proved  unequal.  Titus  died 
of  a  fever,  his  frame  having  been  weakened 
by  an  immoderate  use  of  the  bath,  after 
a  short  reign  of  only  two  years,  in  831 
(A.D.  81). 

Domitian,  who  succeeded  to  his  elder 
brother,  had  never  been  regarded  with  the 
same  hope  and  favor  by  the  Romans.  His 
head  had  been  turned  by  the  glories  which 
accrued  to  his  family  in  his  tender  years. 
During  the  short  interval  in  which  he  had 
exercised  power  before  his  father's  arrival  at 
Rome,  he  had  given  the  rein  to  his  youthful 
passions,  and  the  evil  nature  thus  early  deve 
loped  in  him  had  been  repressed  but  not 
eradicated  by  the  control  of  Yespasian.  The 
Romans  declared  that  he  had  shown  the 
cruelty  of  hi:,  disposition  in  early  youth  by 
his  passion  for  killing  flies.  He  seems  to 


654 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


have  had  some  taste  for  literature ;  he  was 
himself  a  poet ;  he  encouraged  arid  reward 
ed  poets,  and  instituted  poetical  contests  and 
prizes.  He  persecuted  the  philosophers,  in 
deed,  like  his  father  ;  nevertheless  the  reign 
of  Domitian  did  not  fail  to  produce  many 
brilliant  writers  and  enduring  works  of 
genius.  But  the  temper  of  this  emperor 
was  weak  and  cowardly;  and  after  a  few 
years  of  professed  deference  to  the  Senate, 
he  grew  weary  of  the  dissimulation  he  had 
practised,  exacted  from  them  the  grossest 
adulation,  watched  all  their  movements  with 
anxious  jealousy,  tormented  them  with  his 
miserable  fears,  and  decimated  them,  on  the 
slightest  pretext,  with  remorseless  barbarity. 
He  was  himself  tormented  with  the  desire 
of  emulating  his  father  and  brother  in  their 
military  achievements.  With  this  view,  lie 
did  not  hesitate  to  exchange  the  pleasures  of 
the  capital  for  the  hardships  of  war.  He 
made  one  campaign  beyond  the  Rhine,  and 
another  beyond  the  Danube.  He  pretended 
to  obtain  successes,  and  to  celebrate  tri 
umphs  over  both  the  Germans  and  the  Da- 
cians  ;  and  his  equestrian  statue,  one  of  the 
most  magnificent  works  of  art  at  Rome,  re 
presented  him  trampling  victoriously  on  the 
captive  enemies  of  his  country.  Whether 
really  satisfied  or  not  with  the  applauses  he 
demanded  from  the  citizens,  he  could  not 
bear  to  witness  the  genuine  glory  of  a  lieu 
tenant.  During  the  latter  years  of  Vespa 
sian,  and  through  the  short  reign  of  Titus, 
the  gallant  Agricola,  one  of  the  best  of  the 
Roman  captains,  had  conducted  a  series  of 
campaigns  in  Britain.  The  country  south 
of  the  Humber  or  the  Tyne  had  been  al 
ready  reduced  ;  but  Agricola  undertook  to 
complete  the  conquest  of  the  island,  which 
he  was  the  first  to  circumnavigate.  In  the 
course  of  eight  years  he  penetrated  to  the 
foot  of  the  Grampians,  and  finished  his 
career  of  victory  with  the  defeat  of  the 
Caledonian  Galgacus.  He  drew  a  line  of 
forts  from  the  Firth  of  Forth  to  the  Clyde, 
which  was  strengthened  at  a  later  period, 
and  established  as  the  boundary  of  the  Ro 


man  possessions.  But  he  would  not  have 
rested  here,  with  his  work  half  accomplished, 
had  not  the  emperor  suddenly  recalled  him 
to  Rome,  and  reminded  him  of  the  danger 
of  making  himself  too  conspicuous  among 
the  subjects  of  so  pusillanimous  a  master. 
He  conducted  himself  at  Rome  with  becom 
ing  modesty  and  reserve  ;  but  the  jealousy 
of  the  tyrant  was  not  to  be  appeased,  and 
his  death,  which  speedily  followed,  was  too 
surely  attributed  to  poison. 

Domitian  had  purchased  the  favor  of  the 
populace  by  shows  and  largesses,  but  at  tho 
expense  of  the  nobles,  whose  estates  he  con 
fiscated  ;  and  as  his  enemies  multiplied  and 
his  fears  increased,  he  was  constrained  to 
secure  the  support  of  the  soldiers  by  raising 
their  pay,  and  indulging  their  indolence  and 
vanity.  The  guards  had  now  become  well 
aware  of  their  position  as  the  real  masters 
of  the  city  and  of  the  empire.  Their  van 
ity  and  their  licentiousness  were  almost 
equally  odious  to  the  citizens,  over  whom 
they  domineered  with  impunity.  The  life 
and  power  of  the  emperor  were  in  their 
hands,  and  he  was  obliged  tc  wink  at  their 
excesses.  They  could  only  be  restrained  by 
the  strong  arm  of  a  soldier  like  themselves. 
They  had  quailed  before  veteran  Yespasian 
— they  had  respected  the  victorious  Titus  ; 
but  Domitian,  whose  futile  pretences  to 
military  prowess  they  despised,  could  only 
retain  their  swords  by  yielding  immediately 
to  all  their  caprices.  Thus  supported,  how 
ever,  the  nobles,  now  trembling  daily  for 
their  lives,  could  not  ver  ture  to  assail  him. 
He  continued  to  persecute  them  with  un 
ceasing  barbarity,  while  himself  so  appre 
hensive  for  his  own  safety  tliat  he  shut  him 
self  up  in  apartments  mirrored  on  every 
side,  and  so  thickly  carpeted  that  his  footfalls 
could  not  be  heard  beneath.  At  last,  how 
ever,  vengeance  overtook  him  from  the  cen- 

O 

tre  of  his  own  palace.  He  was  wont  to  in 
scribe  on  his  tablets  day  by  day  the  names 
of  those  he  meant  to  put  to  death,  continu 
ing  to  treat  them,  till  the  moment  arrived, 
with  attentions  which  disarmed  all  suspicion. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


55C 


An  accident  discovered  the  fatal  record  to 
the  Empress  Domitia,  who  was  dismayed  at 
finding  her  own  name  set  down  in  it,  to 
gether  with  those  of  others  in  high  office 
about  the  emperor's  person.  To  these  she 
imparted  the  secret ;  and  they  all  conspired 
together  to  save  themselves  by  assassinating 
their  treacherous  master.  The  tyrant  of 
Rome  fell  by  the  hand  of  a  Greek  freed- 
man ;  and  with  him  the  line  of  the  Flavian 
emperors  came  to  an  end.  He  left  no  chil 
dren,  nor  would  the  indignant  senators,  who 
met  to  nominate  a  new  ruler  before  the 
guards  could  recover  from  their  consterna 
tion,  have  endured  another  scion  of  a  stock 
now  rendered  detestable  to  them.  Domitian 
was  the  twelfth  of  the  Caesars,  a  name  or 
title  which  the  Flavian  emperors  had  con 
tinued  to  bear,  and  which  was  still  perpetu 
ated  in  their  successors ;  but  the  accident, 
perhaps,  of  the  Lives  of  the  Caesars  by  Sue 
tonius  terminating  with  him,  has  limited  its 
special  application  in  popular  language  to 
these  twelve  only. 

The  praetorians  were  irresolute,  the  popu 
lace  was  indifferent ;  and  when  the  Senate 
declared  that  Cocceius  Nerva,  an  aged  vete 
ran  of  high  birth  and  character,  should  suc 
ceed  to  the  chief  place  in  the  state,  his  elec 
tion  might  be  regarded  as  ratified  by  the 
suffrage  of  the  Roman  people.  But  Kerva, 
it  was  remarked,  was  the  first  of  the  emperors 
of  Italian,  not  of  Roman  parentage.  His 
family  came  from  Karnia,  in  the  Umbrian 
territory;  and  he  might  still,  it  seems,  be 
stigmatized  as  a  foreigner,  though  the  Italians 
had  now  enjoyed  Roman  citizenship  for 
nearly  two  centuries.  In  this  respect  the 
new  appointment  of  the  Senate  was  consider 
ed  by  some  as  a  striking  innovation  on  the 
ideas  of  antiquity.  It  was  remembered, 
however,  that  the  elder  Tarquin,  one  of  the 
most  popular  of  the  kings,  was  by  birth  an 
Etruscan  ;  and  a  saying  was  current  among 
the  curious  in  such  matters,  that  the  Romans 
had  generally  prospered  most  by  their  native 
genius  under  foreign  rulers.  But  such  reflec 
tions  as  these,  delivered  to  us  by  some  of 


their  latest  writers,  were  no  doubt  the  s  >pl> 
isms  of  another  age:  at  the  moment,  the 
citizens  thought  little  of  the  origin  of  theii 
new  emperor ;  they  were  occupied  with  feel 
ings  of  vengeance  against  the  slaughtered 
tyrant,  whose  images  they  overthrew,  while 
the  Senate  decreed  that  his  "acts"  should 
be  abolished,  and  the  honor  of  the  apothe 
osis  refused  to  him.  The  man  of  their  choice 
Was  pledged  to  support  their  authority  and 
respect  their  persons.  !Nerva  bound  himself 
by  an  oath  that  no  senator  should  suffer  death 
during  his  reign ;  a  pledge  which  was  for 
mally  repeated  by  some  succeeding  sover 
eigns.  This  was  the  charter  of  the  Roman 
constitution  under  the  new  dynasty,  which 
depended  only  on  the  word  of  the  emperor, 
but  wras  preserved  inviolate  at  least  by  ISTerva 
and  his  next  successor.  Under  this  pledge  of 
personal  safety  the  senators  again  raised  their 
heads,  and  enjoyed  a  considerable  share  of 
real  authority  in  affairs.  Nerva,  indeed,  was 
a  man  of  no  great  strength  of  character,  nor 
were  his  health  and  vigor  of  body  such  as  to 
allow  him  to  enter  on  any  struggle  with  the 
patrons  who  had  advanced  him  to  the  head 
of  the  commonwealth.  The  Senate,  how 
ever,  on  their  part,  fully  acquitted  them 
selves  of  their  share  in  the  compact  implied 
between  them,  exalting  the  natural  mildness 
and  moderation  of  his  temper  as  the  highest 
sense  of  justice  and  most  unbounded  clemen 
cy.  It  mattered  little  to  them  that  the  poor 
old  man  surrendered  to  the  clamors  of  the 
praetorians  the  freedmen  who  had  slain  Do 
mitian;  and  when  he  himself  put  swords 
into  the  hands  of  some  nobles  whom  he  knew 
to  be  conspiring  against  him,  they  extolled 
what  was  perhaps  mere  conscious  helplessness 
as  the  most  magnanimous  intrepidity.  It 
was  in  the  interest  of  this  class  that  the 
legislation  of  Nerva  seems  to  have  been 
principally  conceived.  He  enacted  rigid  laws 
against  the  informers,  and  screened  the  sena 
tors  from  delation,  not  in  cases  of  treason 
only,  but  of  other  criminal  charges ;  while 
he  enforced  the  utmost  severity  of  the  bar 
barous  law  of  Rome  against  the  £  aves  of 


556 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


their  households.  The  reign,  however,  of 
this  prince  did  not  last  long  enough  to  try 
the  principles  on  which  he  conducted  it.  lie 
died,  after  holding  power  a  little  more  than 
sixteen  months,  but  not  before  he  had  con 
ferred  the  greatest  o  aJ  boons  on  the  Ro 
man  empire,  in  the  choice  of  the  best  and 
ablest  of  his  subjects  to  succeed  him. 

This  man  was  M.  Ulpius  Trajanus,  a  native 
of  Italica  in  Spain,  distinguished  for  his  bold 
and  straightforward  character,  as  well  as  for 
his  military  capacity.  It  was  for  these  qual 
ities,  and  not  for  his  rank  or  riches,  for  he 
was  the  son  of  a  plain  officer  in  the  armies 
of  Vespasian,  that  the  emperor  chose  him 
for  the  support  of  his  own  throne,  and  adop 
ted  him  into  his  family.  This  was,  more 
over,  the  best  way  of  securing  the  tranquil 
transmission  of  the  empire  on  the  vacancy 
which  might  soon  be  expected  to  occur. 
Trajan  was  in  command  of  the  forces  at  Co 
logne  at  the  time  of  Nerva's  death  ;  but  not 
only  the  Senate  and  people,  but  the  praeto 
rians  and  the  soldiers  generally,  acquiesced 
with  perfect  satisfaction  in  the  announcement 
of  his  succession.  He  seems,  indeed,  to  have 
been  personally  popular  with  all  classes ;  nor 
did  he,  throughout  the  whole  course  of  his 
reign,  seek  to  ingratiate  himself  with  any  one 
at  the  expense  of  the  others.  The  accounts 
delivered  to  us  of  this  reign,  as  well  as  of 
others  of  the  same  period,  are  unfortunately 
very  meagre.  We  possess,  however,  abun 
dant  evidence  that  the  Romans,  not  then 
only,  but  for  many  generations  afterwards, 
regarded  it  as  the  brightest  epoch  in  the  im 
perial  annals.  The  Senate  continued  to  en 
joy  the  highest  respect  and  consideration  ; 
the  people  were  gratified  by  shows — not  in 
deed  the  aimless  extravaganzas  of  Nero,  but 
the  martial  displays  of  the  amphitheatre, 
barbarous  and  disgusting,  no  doubt,  accord 
ing  to  our  ideas,  yet  dignified  in  Roman  eyes 
by  ancient  national  associations.  The  go 
vernment  of  Trajan  is  also  distinguished  by 
die  attention  it  paid,  for  the  first  time  per 
haps  in  the  political  history  of  antiquity,  to 
the  relief  of  poverty  by  eleemosynary  insti 


tutions.  The  provision  it  made  for  the  main 
tenance  of  orphans  in  Italy,  though  we  can 
but  imperfectly  understand  it  from  the  no 
tices  which  remain,  is  a  marked  feature  in  the 
public  economy  of  this  interesting  period. 
The  architectural  works  of  Trajan  for  the 
embellishment  of  the  city  were  conceived 
on  the  grandest  scale,  and  executed  with  nc 
want  of  taste.  He  constructed,  moreover, 
the  naval  stations  of  Centumcellfie  and  An- 
cona.  But  the  bent  of  his  genius  was  mili 
tary,  and  he  humored  the  passions  of  the 
army,  as  well  as  his  own,  by  the  wars  he 
waged  against  the  enemies  of  Rome.  He 
avenged  the  humiliation  inflicted  on  the  em 
pire  by  the  Dacians  and  their  king  Deceba- 
lus,  which  the  pretended  triumph  of  Domi- 
tian  had  failed  to  disguise,  and  reduced  the 
countries  of  modern  Hungary  and  Transyl 
vania  to  the  form  of  a  province.  The  remains 
of  Roman  cities,  and  the  deep  root  still  held 
there  by  the  Latin  language,  prove  the  com 
pleteness  of  the  conquest  he  effected,  though 
his  next  successor  thought  fit  to  resign  this 
tardy  acquisition.  The  Pillar  of  Trajan  at 
Rome,  sculptured  with  the  events  of  the 
Dacian  war,  still  exists  as  another  monument 
of  the  conqueror's  prowess.  The  emperor 
carried  his  arms  also  across  the  Euphrates, 
and  annexed  to  the  empire  some  districts  in 
Mesopotamia.  He  penetrated  into  the  deserts 
of  Arabia,  extending  the  empire,  nominally 
at  least,  as  far  as  the  city  of  Medina.  It  is 
said  that  his  lieutenants  carried  the  eagles 
beyond  Syene  on  the  Nile,  and  subjugated 
Nubia.  But  these  conquests,  if  they  really 
deserve  the  name,  were  also  surrendered  on 
the  death  of  the  conqueror,  which  took  place 
at  Selinus  in  Cilicia,  in  the  year  870,  after  a 
reign  of  nineteen  years  and  a  half. 

The  chief  blot  on  the  character  of  this 
able  and  potent  prince  is  the  persecution 
which  he  suffered  to  be  inflicted  upon  the 
Christians,  who  were  becoming  at  this  period 
an  important  element  in  tie  population  of 
the  empire.  By  the  earlier  Caesars  the  Jews 
had  been  treated  with  great  favor,  both  in 
their  own  country  and  in  Rome.  This  peo 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


557 


pie  had  taken  the  part  of  Julius  Caesar  in 
their  hatred  of  Pompeius ;  they  had  sided 
with  Augustus  against  Antonius;  and  thus 
had  been  suffered  to  return  to  practice  their 
rites  unmolested  in  the  city,  and  to  make  a 
great  harvest  of  proselytes  among  the  noble 
and  wealthy  classes,  particularly  of  the  fe 
male  sex.  Under  Tiberius,  indeed,  and 
Claudius,  their  turbulence  had  subjected 
Jhem  to  rigid  measures  of  repression ;  they 
had  been  banished  for  a  time  from  Rome  ; 
but  these  measures  were  soon  relaxed,  and 
they  returned  in  no  less  numbers  nor  less 
turbulently  disposed  than  before.  In  their 
own  country  the  leaders  of  these  repeated 
seditions  had  been  known  by  the  appellation 
of  Christs,  and  when  the  true  disciples  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  became  first  conspicuous 
in  the  city,  we  might  expect  them  to  be  pop 
ularly  confounded  with  the  deluded  follow 
ers  of  Judas  the  Galilean,  or  Theudas,  who 
had  made  the  name  of  Christ  odious  to  the 
Roman  people.  "We  have  seen  how  Nero 
gratified  the  Roman  populace  by  sacrificing 
the  Christians  at  Rome  to  their  fury,  and  we 
have  remarked  that  under  this  name,  not  the 
true  disciples  only,  but  the  unbelieving  Jews 
also,  may  possibly  have  been  included.  The 
fierce  struggle  which  ensued  in  Palestine, 
ending  in  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem  and  a 
general  dispersion  of  the  native  population, 
exasperated  the  feelings  of  the  Romans 
against  the  Jews,  and  it  is  probable  that, 
though  the  Christians  were  now  of  almost 
every  nation  under  the  Roman  dominion,  the 
fundamental  connection  of  their  religion 
with  that  of  the  Jews  marked  them  as  in 
some  sense  pertaining  to  those  detested  ene 
mies  of  Rome.  Hence  every  jealous  meas 
ure  directed  against  tho  Jews  themselves, 

o  * 

or  against  their  rites  and  usages,  would  ap 
ply  with  equal  force  to  the  Christians ;  the 
believers  might  be  required  at  any  moment, 
at  the  discretion  of  the  rulers  and  governors, 
to  give  a  pledge  for  their  loyalty  to  Rome 
by  swearing  in  the  name  of  the  emperor,  or 
by  sacrificing  to  his  genius.  This  was  a 
simple  test,  which  saved  all  discussion  on  the 


character  of  the  Christians  or  the  merits  of 
their  religious  tenets;  the  praetors  ir  the 
provinces  might  be  anxious  to  show  Their 
zeal  for  their  master  by  exacting  this  com 
pliance  ;  they  were  bound  at  least  to  exact, 
it  in  the  case  of  any  person  denounced  to 
them  as  the  holder  of  dangerous  opinions, 
whether  specified  as  Jewish  or  Christian,  and 
hence  we  find  such  inquisition  made,  and 
cruel  punishments  inflicted,  both  under 
Domitian  and  Trajan.  The  latter  prince 
checked  the  zeal  of  his  officers  by  expressly 
forbidding,  as  in  the  case  of  Pliny  in  Bithy- 
nia,  any  inquiry  for  Christians  to  be  made. 
If  denounced,  then  indeed  the  test  must  be 
applied,  but  not  otherwise.  Thus  circum 
scribed,  the  persecution  seems  to  have  quick 
ly  relaxed,  and  before  his  death,  Trajan,  with 
his  natural  justice  and  benevolence,  resolved 
to  suppress  it  altogether. 

Trajan  was  undoubtedly  the  greatest  of 
the  Roman  commanders  after  the  days  of 
Caesar,  and  under  him  the  frontiers  of  the 
empire  were  advanced  to  the  farthest  limits 
they  ever  attained.  The  legions  were  never 
more  triumphant ;  the  bravery  of  the  soldiers, 
the  conduct  of  their  officers,  never  more 
conspicuous:  the  military  power  of  Rome 
was  raised  perhaps  at  this  epoch  to  its  high 
est  pitch.  It  may  be  doubted,  however 
whether  the  men  who  bore  the  eagles  of 
Trajan  were  really  animated  with  the  same 
spirit  of  devotion  to  the  service,  of  discipline 
and  endurance,  as  the  conquerors  of  Zama  or 
of  Pydna :  they  won  many  victories,  but  it 
was  over  barbarian  enemies ;  and  their  con 
stancy  was  seldom  tried  by  defeats.  The 
practice,  introduced  indeed  before,  but  car 
ried  out  most  systematically  by  Trajan,  of 
defending  the  frontiers  of  the  empire  by 
long  lines  of  fortifications,  such  as  that 
which  may  still  be  traced  in  many  places 
from  the  Rhine  to  the  Danube,  must  have 
contributed  to  weaken  the  soldier's  reliance 
on  his  own  strength  and  courage,  and  taught 
him  to  depend  on  the  shelter  of  ditches 
and  ramparts.  Thus  protected,  he  would 
soon  begin  to  relax  in  his  attention  to  drill 


558 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


and  exercise.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that 
the  immediate  object  for  which  these  works 
were  raised  was  not  s«  much  defence  as  em 
ployment.  The  legioi  .s  on  the  frontiers  had 
too  little  occupation.  On  the  Danube  they 
had  broken  out  in  dangerous  mutinies  ;  on  the 
Rhine  they  had  set  up  an  emperor  of  their 
own  against  the  emperor  of  the  Senate.  The 
Roman  soldier  had  been  always  taught  to 
use  the  pick-axe  as  well  as  the  sword ;  the 
raising  of  earthworks  and  fixing  of  palisades 
were  part  of  his  business  as  much  as  the 
leaping,  running,  swimming,  and  fencing 
which  formed  his  daily  exercise.  Every 
night  on  march,  on  arriving  at  his  halting- 
place,  he  was  required  to  throw  up  a  wall  of 
turf  round  his  camp  before  betaking  himself 
to  rest.  The  arrangement  and  dimensions  of 
the  camp  are  fully  set  forth  by  the  historian 
Polybius,  from  which  we  may  calculate  the 
amount  of  labor  imposed  on  the  legionary 
in  the  best  age  of  the  republic.  But  under 
Trajar  we  find  that  a  new  system  of  cas- 
trametation  was  in  practice,  known  by  the 
name  of  its  expounder  Hyginus,  according 
to  which  an  equal  number  of  men  was 
lodged  in  an  encampment  of  not  more  than 
half  the  size  of  those  of  the  Csesars  and  the 
Scipios.  We  cannot  suppose  that  the  armies 
of  the  empire  carried  with  them  less  baggage 
or  required  fewer  followers  than  those  of  the 
republic ;  and  we  can  only  see  in  this  reduc 
tion  of  the  size  of  the  camp  a  relaxation  of 
discipline,  and  a  concession  to  the  indolence 
of  the  legionaries.  The  walls  of  Trajan  in 
Germany  and  Moldavia,  and  the  diminished 
extent  of  the  Hyginian  encampments,  are 
the  first  visible  symptoms  of  decline  in  the 
military  spirit  of  the  Romans. 

The  wise  and  vigorous  rule  of  Trajan 
seems  to  have  completely  restored  the  har 
monious  working  of  the  different  orders  and 
classes  of  the  empire.  The  sovereign  author 
ity  of  the  Senate  was  recognized  on  all 
hands ;  and  the  emperor,  when  engaged  on 
his  distant  expeditions,  could  leave  the  reins 
of  government  to  the  consuls  without  fear 
for  liis  own  pcwer  or  for  tl.e  tranquillity  of 


the  state.  When  he  suddenly  died  in  a  cor 
ner  of  an  obscure  province,  the  mere  asser 
tion  by  his  wife  Plotina,  that  he  had  nomi 
nated  Hadrian  his  heir  and  successor,  waa 
received  without  opposition  or  question  ;  and, 
in  default  of  sons  of  his  own,  it  was  consid 
ered  most  natural  and  proper  that  he  should 
thus  endow  with  the  purple  a  man  of  known 
ability  and  experience,  a  native  of  his  own 
province,  and  allied  to  his  own  family.  T. 
yElius  Hadrianus,  who  really  owed  his  ele 
vation  to  an  intrigue  of  the  palace  rather 
than  to  the  actual  choice  of  his  predecessor, 
was  a  man  whom  even  a  Trajan,  the  best 
hitherto  of  the  Roman  emperors,  might  be 
proud  of  appointing  to  succeed  him.  Though 
his  private  conduct  was  not  devoid  of  de 
fects,  and  though  his  temper  was  eventually 
spoiled  by  indulgence,  he  seems  to  have  pos 
sessed  on  the  whole  the  highest  combination 
of  princely  qualities  that  ever  graced  the 
Roman  purple.  Though  a  brave  and  skillful 
captain,  he  refrained  from  the  unprofitable 
pursuit  of  military  laurels,  and  chose  rather 
to  abandon  the  useless  and  expensive  con 
quests  of  Trajan  than  waste  the  resources  of 
the  empire  in  retaining  them.  The  Euphrates 
and  the  Danube  became  again,  and  long 
continued  to  be,  the  frontiers  of  his  ample 
dominions.  While  he  retained  the  swords 
of  the  legionaries  in  their  scabbards,  he  did 
not  shrink  from  passing  a  large  portion  of 
his  time,  as  an  imperator  should  do,  among 
them ;  and  whether  in  the  camp  or  in  the 
field,  he  set  a  noble  example  of  abstinence 
and  simplicity.  He  marched  at  the  head  of 
his  troops  generally  on  foot,  never  in  a  litter, 
from  one  end  of  the  empire  to  the  other ; 
his  fare  was  as  rude  as  that  of  the  meanest 
soldier;  he  wore  no  covering  to  his  head,  and 
he  endured  without  a  murmur  the  oppressive 
weight  of  his  arms  and  corslet.  But  the 
merits  of  Hadrian  as  a  commander  were  far 
outshone  by  those  he  manifested  in  the  con 
duct  of  civil  aifairs.  He  visited  every  prov 
ince  in  succession,  exercising  a  vigilant  con 
trol  over  the  local  administration,  $f  Curing  to 
his  people  the  due  execution  of  justice,  alle- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


559 


viating  their  fiscal  burdens,  adorning  their 
cities  with  sumptuous  edifices,  laboring  night 
and  day,  with  the  assistance  of  the  ablest 
counsellors,  for  the  happiness  and  prosperity 
of  his  subjects.  Hadrian  was  the  first  to 
undertake  the  great  work  of  codifying  the 
Roman  law,  a  work  which  Caesar  had  pro 
posed,  but  which  none  of  his  successors  had 
ventured  to  lay  their  hands  to.  This  object, 
indeed,  was  not  destined  to  be  accomplished 
by  any  single  emperor ;  but  Hadrian  deserves 
the  full  credit  of  showing  it  was  practicable 
by  commencing  it.  In  the  attitude  he  as 
sumed  towards  the  religious  creeds  of  his 
subjects,  he  proved  himself  an  intelligent 
statesman.  In  the  absence  of  any  definite 
views  of  his  own,  he  displayed  an  enlighten 
ed  tolerance  of  those  of  others,  and  relaxed 
the  harsh  restrictions  which  the  empire  still 
placed,  in  the  spirit  of  antiquity,  on  many 
foreign  superstitions.  Unfortunately  his  lib 
erality  deserted  him,  like  so  many  other  phi 
losophers  of  heathendom,  in  the  presence  of 
Christianity  alone.  Against  the  true  believ 
ers  he  did  not  scruple  to  exercise  the  rigor  of 
old  Roman  prejudice.  He  still  confounded 
them  apparently  with  the  Jews,  from  whom 
they  could  not  yet  be  at  first  sight  easily 
distinguished ;  and  the  Jews  had  alarmed 
and  irritated  him  by  a  furious  revolt,  which, 
commencing  under  Trajan,  continued  to  rage 
far  into  the  reign  of  his  successor,  and  to  de 
mand  for  its  suppression  all  the  energy  and 
unscrupulous  cruelty  of  the  ruling  people. 
_)n  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem  Hadrian  planted 
the  colony  of  JElia  Capitolina,  called  ^Elia 
after  himself  as  the  founder,  and  Capitolina 
after  Jupiter  of  the  Roman  Capitol,  whose 
shrine  he  reared  on  the  spot  once  honored  by 
the  temple  of  Jehovah.  The  Jews  w^ere 
now  at  last  finally  subdued,  and  they  never 
made  head  again  against  the  power  appoint 
ed  to  overthrow  them. 

The  state-religion  of  the  empire  was  honor 
ed  by  several  monuments  of  Hadrian's  muni 
ficence.  The  temple  of  Rome  and  Yenus 
which  he  erected,  the  remains  of  which  are 
6till  visible  betweer  the  Forum  and  the 


Colosseum,  was  the  largest  of  nil  the  build 
ings  devoted  to  the  worship  of  the  gods  in 
the  city;  while  that  of  Jupiter  Olyrnpius, 
which  he  completed  at  Athens,  the  work  of 
a  series  of  governments  and  princes,  was  re 
puted  the  most  magnificent  of  all  earthly 
shrines,  and  alone  worthy  of  the  mighty  be 
ing  to  whom  it  was  dedicated.  But  while 
the  emperor  paid  this  external  homage  to 
the  religious  sentiment  of  his  people,  he  did 
not  scruple  to  outrage  it  by  exalting  to  divine 
honors  a  minion  of  his  own,  the  beautiful 
Antinous,  who  was  drowned  accidentally  in 
the  Nile.  Both  the  compliment  and  the  out 
rage,  however,  were  regarded  probably  with 
equal  indifference  by  the  great  majority  of 
his  subjects,  whose  notions  of  the  supernatur 
al  world  were  limited  for  the  most  part  to  a 
belief  in  omens  and  incantations,  while  the 
outward  forms  of  religion  served  them  mere 
ly  as  a  pretext  for  the  cultivation  of  art  and 
taste.  Hadrian  has  left  another  monument 
to  himself  deserving  of  notice  in  Eng 
land.  Consistently  with  his  uniform  policy 
of  withdrawing  the  presidiary  garrisons  of 
the  frontier  from  the  least  tenable  outposts, 
he  abandoned  the  forts  of  Agricola  between 
the  Forth  and  Clyde,  and  drew  a  h'ne  of 
military  stations,  connected  with  a  fosse  and 
rampart  of  earth,  from  the  Tyne  to  the  Sol- 
way  :  this  became  now  the  boundary  of  the 
province  of  Britain.  It  is  probable  that  he 
also  completed  the  rampart  of  Trajan  be 
tween  the  Rhine  and  Danube,  which  is 
sometimes  called  after  him  the  Limes  Iladri- 
ani. 

"With  such  claims  to  respect  in  his  public 
character,  it  must  be  confessed  that  Hadrian 
showed  much  personal  weakness.  It  is  proba 
ble  that  no  man,  in  that  age  of  moral  decline, 
could  cultivate  every  intellectual  faculty  to 
the  utmost  without  betraying  some  pitiable 
vanity  and  overweening  self-confidence.  Not 
in  the  arts  of  government  only,  but  in  letters, 
in  science,  in  taste,  he  would  allow  of  no 
superior.  He  put  to  silence  the  grammarian 
Favorinus,  who  found  it  prudent,  as  he  said, 
to  desist  from  arguing  "  with  the  master  of 


560 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


thirty  legions."  It  is  asserted  that  he  put  to 
death  the  architect  Apollodorus,  through 
jealousy  of  his  professional  accomplishments. 
In  his  latter  years  ue  became  more  than  ever 
impatient  of  contradiction,  and  the  fretfulness 
of  his  temper,  which  degenerated  at  last  into 
gloominess  and  cruelty,  was  aggravated  by 
painful  infirmities.  Towards  the  end  of  his 
reign  he  adopted  L.  Verus,  with  no  other 
merit  than  that  of  being  the  handsomest  of 
the  Roman  nobles ;  but  this  intended  succes 
sor  fortunately  died  before  him,  and  on  his 
death-bed  he  made  the  more  auspicious  choice 
of  T.  Aurelius  Antoninus,  a  man  of  the  high 
est  promise,  which  promise  he  amply  fulfilled. 
Hadrian  died,  worn  out  by  bodily  sufferings, 
in  the  year  891  (A.D.  138),  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
three,  after  a  reign  of  twenty-one  years,  hav 
ing  unfortunately  lived  long  enough  to  cloud 
with  indelible  stains  the  career  of  the  wisest 
of  the  Roman  emperors. 

Before  his  death  Hadrian  had  raised  the 
mausoleum  in  which  he  wished  his  ashes  to 
repose;  arid  the  remains  of  this  immense 
work  still  existing  constitute  one  of  the  most 
striking  monuments  of  antiquity  at  Rome. 
But  his  reputation  he  was  obliged  to  leave 
in  the  hands  of  jealous  survivors,  and  the 
Senate  would  have  vented  its  spite  on  his 
memory  by  refusing  him  the  honors  of  an 
apotheosis,  had  not  his  successor  interfered, 
and  exerted  all  his  influence  to  gain  him  the 
coveted  distinction.  Antoninus  earned,  it  is 
said,  the  title  of  "  Pius  "  by  the  affection  he 
thus  displayed  towards  his  adopted  father. 
The  character  of  this  prince  was  truly 
amiable ;  and  the  strict  though  generous  dis 
cipline  of  his  immediate  predecessors  had 
fortunately  so  calmed  the  temper  of  the  Ro 
man  people,  and  suppressed  all  irregular  am 
bitions,  that  the  heir  of  their  power  was  en 
abled  to  carry  on  the  government  on  the 
principles  of  magnanimous  moderation  which 
naturally  belonged  to  him.  During  the 
three-and-twenty  years  of  Antoninus's  reign 
we  read  of  no  intestine  dissensions  ;  nor  was 
even*  the  peace  of  the  frontiers  disturbed  by 
foreign  aggressions.  Hadrian  is  accused  of 


being  the  first  to  sanction  the  fatal  policy  of 
bribing  the  barbarians.  How  far  he  is  justly 
amenable  to  the  charge  we  do  not  positively 
know.  He  certainly  did  not  adopt  any  such 
plan  generally,  and  exceptional  occasions 
there  may  have  been  on  which  it  was  net 
unwise  to  employ  it.  However  this  may  be, 
we  find  that  the  peace  of  the  empire  was  now 
substantially  secured  for  more  than  a  quartei 
of  a  century.  Antoninus,  indeed,  saw  reason 
to  depart  from  Hadrian's  cautious  policy  in 
Britain,  Avhere  his  lieutenant,  Lollius  Urbi- 
cus,  advanced  again  to  the  boundary-line  of 
Agricola.  He  departed  from  it  also  in  an 
other  particular,  in  which  we  may  take  a 
greater  interest,  by  repressing  the  perse 
cutions  which  had  so  long  raged  against  the 
Christians.  On  the  whole,  however,  theic  is 
no  period  of  equal  length  in  the  Roman  an 
nals  of  which  we  know  so  few  particulars  as 
this.  This  is  owing  partly,  no  doubtv  to  the 
uneventful  character  of  the  times,  and  partly 
also  to  the  tameness  of  the  Roman  people 
themselves,  who  seem  to  have  produced  no 
men  of  prominence  in  public  life  during  this 
reign.  Even  in  arts  and  literature  the  spirit 
of  Rome  seems  to  have  been  quiescent ;  but 
Greece  witnessed  a  great  revival  in  letters, 
and  was  distinguished  by  a  flourishing  school, 
if  not  of  original  genius,  at  least  of  correct 
and  elegant  imitation.  But  the  single  his 
tory  of  the  times  which  survives  is  peculiarly 
meagre,  and  we  must  regret  the  transient 
glimpse  which  is  allowed  us  of  a  reign  so  full 
of  social  if  not  of  political  interest. 

Antoninus  Pius  evinced  his  regard  for  hia 
predecessor  by  honorably  fulfilling  the  obli 
gation  imposed  upon  him  of  adopting  M. 
Aurelius,  the  son  of  Annius  Yerus,  and  his 
own  nephew.  For  this  youth,  even  in  his 
tender  years,  Hadrian  had  shown  a  great 
predilection,  being  struck  by  his  noble  char 
acter  as  well  as  his  excellent  abilities.  He 
used  to  call  him,  not  Yerus,  but  Yerissimus ; 
and  on  the  death  of  his  associate  -^Elius 
Yenis,  he  was  only  prevented  by  his  extreme 
youth  from  nominating  him  at  once  as  his 
successor.  Aurelius  was  carefully  educated 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


5C1 


inder  his  uncle,  whose  daughter  Faustina  he 
received  in  due  time  in  marriage.  Acquir 
ing  after  his  adoption  his  father's  name  An 
toninus,  he  became  distinguished  from  him 
in  common  speech  by  the  further  title  of 
"  the  Philosopher."  He  devoted  himself  to 
the  study  of  the  Greek  writers  on  morals, 
and  professed  himself  a  strict  disciple  of  the 
Stoic  school.  The  memoir  he  has  left,  con- 
Bisting  of  reflections  on  his  own  life  and  con 
duct,  is  considered  one  of  the  most  interest 
ing  relics  of  antiquity.  It  presents  us  at 
least  with  a  picture  drawn  from  life  of  a  man 
in  high  station,  and  full  of  public  cares, 
striving  ingenuously  to  square  all  his  actions 
to  the  rules  of  the  truest  wisdom  of  the  an 
cients.  Austere  and  pure  as  the  Stoic  princi 
ples  were,  they  were  not,  it  seems,  too  high- 
flown  to  be  practically  fulfilled  by  a  man  of 
strong  resolution,  lofty  feeling,  and  thorough 
ly  in  earnest.  The  noble  Roman,  imbued 
with  the  Grecian  philosophy,  formed  the  fair 
est  combination  of  moral  excellences  of  which 
heathen  antiquity  was  capable.  Aurelius 
succeeded  Antoninus  in  the  year  914  (A.D. 
161),  and  following  again  the  arrangement 
prescribed  so  long  before  by  Hadrian,  asso 
ciated  with  himself  Lucius  Verus,  a  son  of 
Hadrian's  favorite.  This  man  was  indeed 
of  a  very  different  character  from  himself; 
but  while  Aurelius,  whose  health  was  not 
strong,  inclined  to  a  quiet  career  of  business 
and  study  at  home,  he  might  expect  to  find 
in  his  colleague,  who  was  a  man  of  great 
vigor  of  body,  without  any  tincture  of  letters, 
an  able  assistant  in  the  affairs  of  the  camp. 
Immediately  on  the  death  of  Antoninus  the 
Parthians  threatened  the  empire  with  war, 
and  Verus  was  dispatched  to  take  the  field 
against  them.  But  neither  did  Aurelius 
contemplate  a  life  of  tranquil  retirement. 
The  Chatti,  a  German  people  on  the  JVIayn, 
were  assuming  an  attitude  of  defiance  ;  and 
an  insurrection  wras,  at  the  same  time,  appre 
hended  in  Britain.  The  defence  of  the  West 
was  undertaken  by  the  Philosopher  in  per- 
Bon. 

While  the  vigilance  of  Aurelius  kept  the 
71 


Germans  and  Britons  in  check,  the  lieuten 
ants  of  Verus,  rather  than  Verus  himself, 
who  indulged  without  stint  or  shame  in  the 
licentious  voluptuousness  of  his  Syrian  head 
quarters,  inflicted  a  severe  defeat  on  the  ar 
rogant   Parthians.      The   successes    of    the 
eastern  war  were  celebrated  by  the  two  em 
perors  in  a  splendid  triumph,  and  commem 
orated  in  the  sounding  titles  they  appended 
to  their  names.     But  in  the  midst  of  these 
rejoicings  a  double  calamity  was  impending 
over  the  empire :    a  combination  of  hostile 
tribes  along  the  northern  bank  of  the  Dan 
ube,  known  by  the  terrible  names  of  the 
Marcomanni,  the  Quadi,  the  Alani,  and  the 
Sarmatae,  was  preparing  to  pour  over  the 
frontier  and  overwhelm  the  Pannonian  and 
Illyrian  provinces;  at   the   same   time   the 
seeds  of  a  fatal  pestilence  had  been  imported 
by  the  soldiers  of  Verus  from  the  East,  and 
become  disseminated  among  the  mass  of  the 
population  almost  throughout  the  Roman  do 
minions.     The  alarm  and  distress  of  the  peo 
ple  were  aggravated  by  the  inclemency  of 
the  seasons.     The  city  was  visited  by  one  of 
the   fearful  inundations,  periodically  recur 
ring,  against  which  no  adequate  precautions 
had  been  taken  through  so  many  centuries, 
which  swept  away  the  magazines  of  corn  by 
the  river's  side,  and  cut  off  the  supplies  of 
the  turbulent  multitude.     The  two  emperors 
went  forth  together  to  combat  the  enemy  on 
the  frontier,  and  returned  after  a  temporary 
success.     Again  they  were  summoned  to  the 
rescue,   and  this   time   Verus   died   on  his 
march.  The  prevalence  of  the  plague  render 
ed  recruiting  slow  and  difficult ;  and  Aure 
lius,  determined  to  spare  no  effort  in  the  de 
fence  of  his  country,  did  not  scruple  to  enrol 
slaves  and  gladiators  in  his  legion,  a  resource 
which  had  never  been  adopted  but  in  the 
greatest  extremity.      At  the  same  time  hf 
made  what  was  to  him  a  much  less  sacrifice 
by  selling  the  vast  stores  of  jewels  and  furni 
ture   amassed  by  a  succession  of  princes  in 
the  imperial  palaces.     The  victory  of  Aure- 
Ihis   over   the  Quadi,  in  927  (A.D.  174),  ia 
rendered  memorable  by  the  claim  advanced 


C62 


HISTORY   OF  THE  WORLD. 


by  the  Christians  to  a  miraculous  interpo 
sition.  The  affairs  of  the  Romans  were  re 
trieved,  it  seems,  by  the  occurrence  of  a  sea 
sonable  storm  ;  a  fact  which  is  commemor 
ated  on  the  column  erected  by  the  emperor 
in  Rome.  Some  fathers  of  the  church  main 
tained,  at  a  later  period,  that  the  rain  was 
sent  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  a  legion  of 
Christian  soldiers,  to  which  the  name  of  Ful^ 
mmat/'ix  ("  the  thundering  ")  was  in  conse 
quence  given.  They  added  that  Aurelius 
suspended  the  persecution  of  the  believers  in 
consequence  of  this  manifest  sign  of  the  Di 
vine  favor  towards  them.  It  has  been  prov 
ed,  however,  that  the  name  of  Fulminatrix 
was  of  earlier  origin  ;  and  modern  Christian 
divines  will  not  allow  that  there  was  any  sus 
pension  of  persecution  during  the  reign 
of  the  philosophic  emperor.  The  story,  we 
must  suppose,  was  embellished,  perhaps  un 
consciously,  by  the  fervid  imagination  of 
Tertullian. 

But  before  he  had  broken  the  power  of  the 
Danubian  tribes,  Aurelius  was  called  away 
to  confront  a  more  pressing  danger  in  the 
East.  The  Empress  Faustina,  the  daughter 
of  the  good  Antoninus,  inherited,  it  seems, 
none  of  her  father's  virtues.  The  dissolute 
ness  of  her  conduct  is  said  to  have  been 
notorious  at  Rome,  and  her  husband,  who 
loved  her  tenderly,  was  alone  blinded  to  it. 
A  crime  of  still  deeper  dye  is  imputed  to  her 
by  the  historians.  Apprehensive  of  the  risks 
the  emperor  ran  from  the  infirmity  of  his 
health,  as  well  as  from  the  chances  of  distant 
warfare,  and  trembling  for  the  succession,  in 
case  of  his  sudden  death,  of  her  young  son 
Commodus,  she  intrigued,  we  are  assured, 
with  Avidius  Cassius,  the  commander  in 
Syria,  offering  him  her  hand  in  the  event  of 
her  husband's  demise ;  an  offer  which  might 
be  considered  equivalent  to  an  invitation  to 
accelerate  it.  While  Cassius  was  deliberat 
ing  on  this  proposal,  a  false  rumor  of  the 
emperor's  death  actually  reached  him.  He 
immediately  started  up  as  a  candidate  for 
the  empire,  and  his  soldiers  were  rot  indis 
posed  to  leid  him  in  triumph  to  Home 


Aurelius,  on  his  part,  prepared  to  n.eet  him 
in  the  East ;  but  when  the  conflict  was  on 
the  eve  of  commencing,  the  usurper  was  as 
sassinated  by  one  of  his  own  officers.  The 
conduct  of  Aurelius,  while  the  evert  waa 
still  uncertain,  seems  to  have  been  truly 
noble.  lie  declared  that  he  only  wished  to 
have  an  opportunity  of  pardoning  his  incon 
siderate  rival;  and  it  is  much  to  be  lamented 
that  the  history  of  Rome  should  hate  been 
deprived  of  so  rare  an  instance  of  imperial 
clemency. 

Aurelius  set  the  affairs  of  the  East  in 
order,  still  retaining  his  generous  confidence 
in  the  guilty  Faustina,  who  accompanied 
him  on  his  progress,  but  who  died  by  her 
own  hand,  as  some  affirmed,  in  the  course 
of  it.  He  visited  Egypt  and  Athens,  and 
celebrated  a  triumph  at  Rome  in  the  year 
929.  After  six  months'  respite,  ;e  was 
dragged  away  again  to  the  Danube,  whero 
he  continued  to  conduct  operations  against 
the  restless  barbarians  for  two  more  years. 
His  self-devotion  was  crowned  with  repeated 
successes,  but  he  was  still  unable  to  make  a 
decisive  impression  on  the  wide  spread  com 
bination  of  Germans  and  Sarmatians.  Vex 
ed  by  the  cruel  destiny  which  retained  him 
so  long  in  the  camp,  but  lamenting  still 
more  deeply  the  manifest  weakness  of  the 
empire,  which  his  arm  only  could  uphold,  he 
sank  at  last,  from  fatigue  and  chagrin,  in  the 
year  933  (A.D.  180),  the  fifty-ninth  of  his  age, 
and  the  twentieth  of  his  reign.  His  career, 
though  calamitous,  had  been  glorious.  He 
had  attained  the  fame  which  he  never  covet 
ed,  of  a  warrior ;  but  he  has  earned  still 
greater  fame,  and  such  as  he  would  doubt 
less  have  more  dearly  prized,  as  a  patriot 
and  a  philosopher.  He  seems  to  have  lived 
up  to  his  professions,  and  those  professions 
the  highest  perhaps  that  a  heathen  could 
make,  more  fully  than  any  heathen  and  al 
most  any  Christian  moralist.  .No  character, 
at  least  in  ancient  history,  deserves  to  be 
held  in  higher  honor  by  the  wise  and  good 
of  all  ages.  In  his  virtues,  in  his  sufferings, 
*:i  his  triumphs  and  his  reve"ses,  he  ran  very 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AVORLD. 


563 


nearly  the  same  course  as  the  English  Alfred ; 
but  while  Alfred  has  been  appreciated  more 
and  more  by  the  advancing  goodness  and 
wisdom  of  his  countrymen,  Aurelius,  in  the 
now  rapid  decline  of  the  empire,  found  no 
Roman  imitators  and  few  admirers. 

If  the  good  and  wise  Aurelius  betrayed 
some  weakness  of  character  in  suffering  him 
self  to  be  blinded  to  his  wife's  infidelities, 
he  erred  more  seriously  in  allowing  the  suc 
cession  to  his  empire  to  devolve  on  a  son  so 
unworthy  as  Commodus.  This  youth  seems 
to  have  possessed  none  of  his  father's  vir 
tues,  nor  had  the  training  in  wisdom  which 
we  must  suppose  his  father  to  have  given 
him  produced  any  fruit.  Though  eminently 
handsome  in  person  and  skillful  in  his  mar 
tial  exercises,  he  was  coarse  and  brutal  in 
manners,  cruel  and  cowardly  in  disposition. 
Admirably  as  the  empire  had  been  governed 
from  the  time  of  Nerva,  and,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  Domitian's  reign,  from  the  time 
of  Yespasian,  a  period  of  more  than  a  hun 
dred  years,  it  now  became  evident  that  the 
happiness  of  the  Roman  world  depended 
on  the  general  good  qualities  of  the  sover 
eign,  and  not  on  the  stability  of  the  prin 
ciples  on  which  the  administration  was 
founded.  Yespasian  had  restored  the  dig 
nity  of  the  Senate,  and  the  improvement 
he  introduced  in  the  manners  of  the  no 
bility  had  contributed  to  strengthen  its 
position  in  public  opinion.  Succeeding  em 
perors,  with  one  base  exception,  had  con 
descended  to  lean  upon  the  authority  of 
this  illustrious  body,  to  consult  it  in  the  con 
duct  of  affairs,  to  defer  to  it  in  cases  of  adop 
tion  or  association  in  their  supreme  power. 
The  Senate,  on  the  other  hand,  had  had  the 
good  sense  and  modesty  to  accept  the  part 
assigned  it  without  presuming  further:  it 
had  responded  to  the  emperor's  appeals,  but 
had  refrained  from  dictation  and  perhaps 
even  from  suggestion.  It  is  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  incidents  in  his 
tory,  that  two  co-ordinate  powers,  so  un 
equally  matched  in  real  force,  should  have 
continued  to  maintain  for  so  long  a  period 


the  tacit  understanding  which  secured  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  mankind.  The  ma 
chine  had  hitherto  moved  so  easily  that  no 
one  perhaps  at  Rome  was  aware,  at  the  mo 
ment  of  Aurelius's  death,  how  precarious 
were  the  ties  which  actually  held  it  togethei . 
Aurelius  himself  was  unable  to  anticipate 
the  certain  disruption  which  must  ensue 
from  the  collision  of  a  rude  and  selfish 
prince  with  a  proud  but  impotent  nobility. 

The  detestation  which  the  new  emperor 
incurred  may  throw  some  suspicion  perhaps 
on  the  details  transmitted  to  us  of  his  cruel 
ties  and  other  enormities,  in  which  he  is  said 
to  have  equalled  the  jealousy  of  Domitian, 
the  caprice  of  ^ero,  and  the  extravagance 
of  Caius.  But  with  these  loathsome  parti 
culars  we  need  not  much  concern  ourselves. 
The  peace  which,  immediately  on  his  father's 
death,  he  made  with  the  JVlarcomanni  was 
undoubtedly  premature  ;  it  is  not  necessary 
to  inquire  whether,  as  asserted,  it  was  pur 
chased  with  money.  After  his  departure  for 
Rome  the  frontiers  were  more  than  once 
assailed  by  the  barbarians,  but  successfully 
defended  by  the  captains  trained  under  the 
brave  Aurelius.  Commodus  commenced 
at  once  a  career  of  profusion  and  dissipa 
tion,  showing  too  plainly  the  weakness  of 
character  which  an  untoward  accident  soon 
exasperated  into  fury.  The  jealousy  of  a 
sister  towards  his  wife  seems  to  have  been 
the  cause  of  the  first  conspiracy  against  him, 
which  only  failed  from  the  hasty  exclama 
tion  of  the  assassin,  "  The  Senate  sends  you 
this  F"  -Cemmodus  had  time  to  parry  the 
blow.  His  life  was  saved,  the  conspirators 
punished  ;  but  his  suspicions  had  been  awak 
ened,  and  from  this  time  he  could  never  rest 
while  he  saw  before  him  the  wise  and  able 
men  whom  his  father  had  introduced  intc 
the  highest  places  of  the  state.  All  his  mo 
ments  were  now  divided  between  extrava 
gant  amusements  on  the  one  hand,  and 
sanguinary  precautions  for  his  own  safety 
on  the  other.  His  sensuality  was  as  brutal 
as  that  of  the  worst  of  his  predecessors  ;  his 
prodigality  in  shows  and  entertainments  ai 


564 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


excessive  ;  he  exhibited  his  skill  in  shooting 
the  beasts  in  the  circus ;  but  the  Roman 
spirit,  even  in  this  stage  of  its  decline,  was 
outraged  by  his  assuming  the  name  and  at 
tribute*  of  Hercules,  and  requiring  (the  first 
of  the  Roman  emperors)  that  divine  honors 
should  be  paid  him  while  still  living.  He 
commanded  that  not  one  only,  as  Julius, 
Augustus  and  others,  but  all  the  twelve 
months  should  be  named  after  his  own  titles, 
and  that  the  city  and  empire  itself  should 
be  designated,  not  as  Roman,  but  Commo- 
dian.  All  power  he  threw  into  the  hands 
of  a  favorite  rramed  Perennis  ;  but  this  man 
was  eventually  murdered  by  the  praetorians. 
Disgusted  and  incensed  as  the  senators  were 
at  the  outrages  of  all  kinds  committed  by 
this  abominable  tyrant,  they  were  utterly  in 
capable  of  concerting  any  plan  for  over 
throwing  him.  They  neither  raised  the 

O  v 

people  against  him,  nor  won  over  his  guards, 
nor  invited  the  commanders  of  the  legions 
to  draw  the  sword  in  their  behalf ;  they  had 
not  even  confidence  enough  in  one  another 
to  plot  his  assassination.  He  fell  at  last, 
after  a  career  of  twelve  vears,  bv  an  intrigue 

v  f         v  O 

of  the  palace.  The  contriver  of  his  death 
was  his  own  concubine  Marcia,  who  discov 
ered,  it  was  said,  her  own  name  on  the  list 
of  the  victims  he  was  about  to  massacre. 

The  Senate,  it  seems,  was  not  privy  to  the 
murder,  and  had  made  no  preparations  to 
profit  by  it.  Laetus,  the  prefect  of  the 
guards,  and  Eclectus,  chamberlain  of  the 
palace,  agreed  to  present  Publius  Helvius 
Pertinax,  an  officer  of  obscure  family,  but 
of"  distinguished  ability,  to  the  praetorians, 
and  by  the  promise  of  a  liberal  donative 
their  support  was  purchased.  The  Senate, 
to  whom  Pertinax  next  exhibited  himself, 
accepted  the  nomination  with  joy,  and  de 
clared  that  he  was  the  emperor  of  their  own 
choice.  Probably  the  empire  could  have 
furnished  no  worthier  successor  to  Trajan 
than  this  brave  and  virtuous  veteran,  and 
the  nobles  of  Rome  might  be  proud  of  the 
respect  and  deference  he  manifested  towards 
them.  It  seemed  as  if,  after  a  momentary 


eclipse,  the  principles  of  government  conse 
crated  by  so  many  virtuous  rulers,  fYom  Ves 
pasian  to  Aurelius,  were  about  to  shine  out 
again.  But  it  was  too  late.  The  interreg 
num  of  Commodus  had  lasted  too  long.  The 
interval  of  licentiousness  in  the  court  had 
corrupted  the  discipline  of  the  camp.  The 
praetorians,  thoroughly  debauched  by  the 
indulgence  of  the  late  tyrant,  disdained  the 
restrictions  placed  upon  them  by  their  new 
master.  An  attempt  at  reform  and  repres 
sion  resulted  in  a  military  insurrection,  in 
which  Pertinax  lost  his  life,  after  a  brief 
reign  of  only  three  months.  Though  the 
real  power  of  the  Senate  had  long  passed 
away,  it  had  still  retained  up  to  this  fatal 
epoch  a  shadow  of  authority,  and  we  have 
seen  how  throughout  the  Flavian  and  An- 
tonine  period  all  the  good  emperors,  all,  that 
is,  but  two  of  the  series,  had  lent  their  coun 
tenance  to  its  pretensions.  Though  ruling  by 
the  sword  themselves,  they  had  kept  the 
sword  carefully  under  the  gown,  or  suspend 
ed  it  from  the  palace  wall.  This  modera 
tion  had  been  well  rewarded.  The  good 
emperors  of  Rome  had  reigned  long  and 
prosperously.  The  honors  they  had  bestow 
ed  on  the  Senate  had  been  repaid  them  by 
the  Senate,  the  people,  and,  so  at  least  the 
Romans  might  believe,  by  the  gods  of  Rome 
also.  This  period  has  often  been  disting 
uished  with  the  title  of  "  the  happiest  era 
of  the  human  race."  It  is  difficult  indeed 
to  point  to  any  period,  at  least  of  ancient 
history,  in  which  so  largo  a  portion  of  man 
kind  enjoyed  peace  so  nearly  unbroken, 
wealth  so  widely  diffused,  laws  so  generally 
equitable,  manners  so  polished,  the  appli 
ances  of  art  and  science  so  numerous  and  so 
accessible.  Yet  we  cannot  commit  ourselves  ! 
to  so  bold  a  panegyric  on  an  age  in  which 
morality  was  so  lax,  religion  so  effete,  public 
spirit  so  nearly  extinct.  Even  amidst  un 
clouded  material  prosperity  such  deficiencies 
as  these  must  have  left  a  canker  in  millions 
of  hearts,  and  poisoned,  though  unseen,  tlie 
actual  enjoyment  of  life.  Indications,  how 
ever,  are  not  wanting  that  even  the  material 


HISTORY  OF  THE    WORLD. 


5G5 


prosperity  of  the  Romans  was  undergoing 
through  this  period  a  slow  but  steady  de 
cline.  Population  was  stationary  or  decreas 
ing  ;  production  was  suffering  with  the  de 
cay  of  industry  and  the  vital  forces  of  the 
ttate.  "When  a  nation  has  arrived  at  this 
turning-point  in  its  career  an  external  shock 
from  war  or  pestilence  may  give  it  a  blowr 
from  which  it  cannot  recover.  At  a  healthier 
and  stronger  period  the  onslaughts  of  the 
barbarians  on  the  frontiers,  and  the  ravages 
of  the  plague  within,  would  have  been  cheer 
fully  encountered  and  rapidly  repaired.  But 
stricken  as  she  was  at  heart,  Rome  could  now 
recover  from  neither.  The  barbarians  ever 
continued  to  prey  on  her  vitals  through  the 
remainder  of  her  feeble  career,  and  the 
great'  plague  of  Aurelius  swept  away  re 
sources  which  she  had  no  longer  strength  to 
replace. 

From  this  epoch  all  the  interest  of  Roman 
hi&tory,  as  the  record  of  a  political  organiza 
tion,  must  cease.  We  enter  upon  a  period 
of  a  hundred  years,  during  which  the  gov 
ernment  remains  an  undisguised  military 
usurpation,  extorted  and  retained  by  the 
drawn  sword.  On  the  death  of  Pertinax 
the  Senate  lost  all  hope.  The  men  of  the 
gown  cowered  in  silent  despair ;  while  the 
praetorians  proclaimed  aloud  that  they  would 
offer  the  empire  to  the  men  of  their  choice, 
and  allowed,  it  is  said,  more  than  one  com 
petitor  to  bid  for  their  suffrages  with  lar 
gesses.  Didius  Julianus,  a  wealthy  but  in 
capable  senator,  promised  most,  and  was 
accordingly  accepted.  He  commenced  his 
reign  at  Rome  with  the  acquiescence  of  the 
civil  power,  but  under  the  protection  of  the 
guards ;  but  the  legions  were  not  content 
with  leaving  such  lucrative  patronage  in  the 
hands  of  a  few  favored  cohorts,  and  as  soon 
as  the  accession  of  their  nominee  was  known 
in  the  camps  abroad,  the  army  of  Illyricnm 
proclaimed  their  own  general,  Septimius 
Severus ;  that  of  Syria,  Percennius  Niger ; 
and  that  of  Britain,  Clodius  Albinus.  Of 
these,  Severus  was  the  nearest  to  Rome,  and 
he  was  perhaps  the  most  active  and  ener 


getic  of  all  the  competitors.     He  marched 
without   delay   upon   the   capital,   and  the 
Senate  hastened  to  anticipate  his  reprisals 
by  decreeing  the  death  of  Julianus.     The 
puppet  of  the  praetorians  was  deserted  by 
his  mercenary  patrons,  and  suffered  without 
an  attempt  at  defending  himself.     Severus 
had  conquered  Rome,  and  this  fact  he  made 
no  affectation  of  disguising.     Supported  by 
the-  army,  he  disarmed  and   broke  up  the 
praetorian   cohorts ;    he  punished   also    the 
murderers  of  Pertinax  ;  but  he  did  not  pre 
tend  to  rule  by  any  other  means  but  force, 
and  he  immediately  replaced  the  old  guards 
of  the  city  with  more  numerous  battaliono 
of  legionaries.      Having  thus  fortified  his 
position  in  the  city,  he  prepared  to  encounter 
the  rivals  arming  against  him  in  the  prov 
inces.    It  was  easy  to  deceive  the  voluptuary 
Albinus  with  overtures  for  a  division  of  the 
empire ;  but  Niger  was  a  man  of  spirit  and 
ability,  and  required  to  be  met  boldly  in  the 
field.     The  shock  of  battle  took  place  near 
the  Gulf  of  Issus  in  Cilicia  in  the  year  A.D. 
174,  and  ended  in  the  defeat  of  the  Syrian 
pretender.    Niger  was  soon  afterwards  slain, 
and  Severus  exercised  remorseless  vengeance 
on  his  adherents.     From  thence  he  turned 
his  steps  westward,  first  attempting  to  effect 
the  death  of  Albinus  by  assassination,  but 
when    that    failed,   leading    his    victorious 
troops  to  encounter  him  in  Gaul.     Against 
a  man  so  vigorous  and  resolute  the  British 
commander  had  no  chance  of  success ;  but 
the  hopes  of   donatives   and  plunder   stilJ 
animated  his  men,  and  they  ventured  to  con 
tend  with  the  forces  of  the  emperor  near 
Lyons.    Albinus  was  completely  routed,  and 
fell  on  his  own  sword.     Severus  again  fol 
lowed  up  his  victory  with   a   bloody  ven 
geance.     But  though  relieved  from  all  his 
rivals,  and  secured  against  the  renewal  of 
domestic  hostilities,  the  conqueror  was  not 
permitted  to  rest  for  a  moment.     The  over 
throw  of  the  Syrian  army  had  laid  bare  the 
frontier  of  the  Euphrates,  and  the  Parthians 
invaded  the  undefended  rrovince.     Severus 
hastened  to  confront  tht/  foreign  foe  with 


5G6 


HISTORY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


Unabated  alacrity,  and  the  exploits  of  his 
legions  in  the  East,  under  his  able  guidance, 
might  be  likened  to  those  of  Trajan,  the 
greatest  commander  of  the  empire. 

The  reign  of  Severus  was  in  fact  a  series 
of  marches  from  one  end  of  the  empire  to 
the  other.  His  sojourns  in  Koine  were  few 
and  transient,  but  his  conduct  when  there 
was  marked  with  the  arrogance  and  harsh 
ness  of  a  mere  soldier.  The  nobles,  whom 
lie  insulted  and  harassed,  hailed  his  departure 
with  satisfaction.  Old  and  infirm,  he  deter 
mined  at  last  to  visit  Britain  in  person,  and 
complete  the  subjection  of  the  Caledonians, 
by  whose  inroads  the  province  was  repeat 
edly  afflicted.  He  recovered  the  territory 
south  of  the  Clyde  and  Forth,  and  penetrat 
ed  some  way  into  the  Highlands.  The  Ro 
man  stations,  which  may  still  be  traced  as 
far  north  as  the  Moray  Firth,  are  due  per 
haps  to  the  energy  with  which  he  pushed  his 
successes.  But  he  was  now  suffering  from 
gout ;  his  constitution  wras  broken  by  exces 
sive  fatigues  ;  and  while  his  conquests  were 
yet  uncompleted,  he  retired  to  Eboracum 
(York)  to  die.  His  last  watchword,  given 
on  his  death-bed,  Laboremus  ("  we  must  be 
doing "),  marks  the  character  of  this  inde 
fatigable  warrior,  whose  whole  idea  of  poli 
tical  government  was  unceasing  movement 
and  action. 

Severus  left  his  inheritance  in  partnership 
between  his  sons  Bassianus,  vulgarly  called 
*'  Caracalla,"  and  Geta.  The  elder  proved  him 
self  a  monster  of  tyranny,  of  the  coarse  type 
of  Caius  and  Commodus ;  the  younger  hardly 
promised  better ;  but  he  was  early  cut  off, 
being  stabbed  by  his  own  brother  in  his 
mothers  arms,  before  he  had  fully  developed 
his  evil  qualities.  Of  the  other  crimes  of 
Caracalla,  his  dissoluteness  and  ferocity, 
there  is  no  occasion  to  say  more  ;  they  will 
be  too  easily  understood  from  the  examples 
already  presented  to  us.  Timid  as  well  as 
ferocious,  he  too  was  assassinated  by  Ma- 
crinus,  the  prefect  of  his  own  guards,  after  a 
bloody  reign  of  gix  years.  The  Roman 
wx>rld  was  already  weary  of  him.  The  vast 


edifice  which  he  had  constructed  for  the 
pleasures  of  the  people  bore  the  title  of 
Thermae  Antoninianae,  for  down  to  Caracalla 
the  successors  of  the  first  Antoninus  had  all 
assumed  his  venerated  name  in  conjunction 
with  that  of  Augustus ;  but  this  once-cher 
ished  appellation  was  now  rendered  odious 
to  the  Romans,  and  was  henceforth  dropped 
from  the  imperial  appellations.  Yet  not 
withstanding  his  personal  excesses,  the  reign 
of  Caracalla  deserves  to  be  noticed  as  an 
epoch  in  Roman  jurisprudence.  The  admin 
istration  of  the  wise  and  learned  Papinicin 
extended  over  the  latter  years  of  Severus, 
and  commencement  of  the  following  reign, 
and  was  distinguished  by  the  application  of 
just  principles  of  law  and  government. 
That  great  jurist  himself  fell  a  victim  to  his 
young  master's  jealousy  ;  but  to  him  may 
probably  be  ascribed  the  grand  and  compre 
hensive  measure  by  which  the  boon  of  citi 
zenship,  the  cause  of  BO  many  contests  in 
earlier  times,  was  finally  extended  to  the 
whole  mass  of  the  free  population  through 
out  the  empire.  It  is  true  that  this  conces 
sion  was  no  longer  regarded  as  a  favor.  It 
conferred  no  privilege  or  exemption,  as  in 
days  of  yore  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  brought  all 
the  subjects  of  the  emperor  within  the  scope 
of  the  direct  tax  on  successions,  which  had 
been  imposed  by  Augustus  on  the  citizens 
of  Rome  only.  But  the  effect  of  this  great 
measure  was  to  obliterate  henceforth  all  dis 
tinctions  of  descent  and  race,  and  complete 
the  fusion  into  a  single  nation  of  a  hundred 
millions  of  civilized  men. 

The  deed  of  blood  had  been  accomplished 
on  the  borders  of  Syria,  where  the  emperor 
was  engaged  in  leading  an  expedition  against 
the  Parthians.  Severus  had  enjoined  his  son 
to  pay  court  to  the  soldiers,  and  despise  all 
other  classes  of  his  subjects ;  and  the  army, 
which  was  attached  to  him,  would  not  have' 
conferred  his  power  on  Macrinus  had  it  been 
aware  that  the  assassination  had  been  com 
mitted  at  that  chief's  instigation.  Macrinus, 
however,  as  the  ablest  of  its  officers,  was  now 
chosen  for  the  command ;  and  the  distant 


HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD. 


507 


Senate  was  informed,  probably  with  no  punc 
tilious  phrases,  that  a  new  ruler  had  succeed 
ed  to  the  throne  of  the  Csesars.  The  Senate 
would  have  offered  no  resistance ;  but  in  fact 
it  had  not  time  to  resist.  The  news  of  the 
election  could  hardly  have  reached  Rome 
when  Macrinus  himself  fell  by  a  ^evolt  of  the 
province  in  favor  of  a  cousin  ol  Caracalla,  a 
Syrian  by  birth,  Elagabalus,  priest  of  the  Sun 
at  Emesa,  who  bore  himself  the  name  of  the 
divinity  he  was  appointed  to  serve.  It  was 
time  that  all  the  nations  of  the  empire  should 
coalesce  into  one  when  their  rulers  were  thus 
repeatedly  chosen  from  the  provinces.  Tra 
jan  and  Aurelius  had  been  Spaniards,  Anto 
ninus  a  Gaul,  Severus  an  African.  But  these 
men  were  great  themselves,  and  the  nations 
to  which  they  belonged  deserved  to  be  re- 
Bpected  by  the  Romans.  Elagabalus  was  a 
miserable  stripling,  without  virtue  or  talent ; 
and  the  Syrians,  as  a  people,  were  despised 
for  their  effeminacy  and  profligacy.  The 
claim  of  affinity  with  Severus  was  the  sole 
recommendation  this  unworthy  creature  pos 
sessed;  but  his  grandmother  Moesa  was  a 
ciever  intriguer,  and  played  on  the  affections 
of  the  soldiery,  who  eagerly  embraced  his 
cause.  They  quickly  overthrew  the  upstart 
Macrinus,  who  perished  with  his  son  and  as 
sociate  Diadumenianus.  Macrinus  had  al 
ready  purchased  peace  from  Parthia.  The 
soldiers  carried  their  new  emperor  to  Rome, 
where  he  speedily  immersed  himself  in  the 
vilest  and  most  disgusting  debauchery.  The 
majesty  of  the  purple,  often  as  it  had  been 
sullied  by  stains  of  every  kind,  was  never 
perhaps  so  utterly  prostituted  and  degraded 
as  by  the  nameless  enormities  of  Elagabalus. 
For  four  years  the  praetorians  endured  him ; 
then  even  their  patience  was  exhausted,  and 
they  rose  and  slew  him  ignominiously. 

The  empire  was  now  offered  to  another 
Bcion  of  the  stock  which  claimed  connection 
with  Severus.  Moesa,  the  sister  of  that  em 
peror's  consort,  had  had  two  daughters.  Sooe- 
mias.  the  elder,  was  the  mother  of  Elagaba 
lus  ;  the  younger,  Mammnea,  had  borne  Al 
exander  Severus,  whose  character  throws  one 


bright  though  transient  gleam  over  this 
gloomy  period.  Under  the  prudent  training 
of  his  mother,  this  prince  had  unfolded  both 
virtues  and  abilities :  and  he  continued  to 
profit  on  the  throne  by  the  lessons  he  still 
permitted  her  to  instill  into  him.  "W  ith  the 
aid  of  Ulpian  and  other  illustrious  jurists,  he 
carried  on  the  great  work  of  Roman  legisla 
tion  ;  the  sole  but  sufficient  token  which  en 
ables  us  to  augur  that,  amidst  the  depravity 
of  its  rulers  and  the  violence  of  its  soldiers, 
the  empire  was  still  the  cherished  home  of 
private  graces  and  tranquil  enjoyments.  The 
rescripts  of  Alexander  himself,  and  the  di 
gests  of  his  ministers,  are  more  significant 
monuments  of  the  civilization  of  the  age  than 
the  baths,  the  columns,  and  the  palaces  which 
continued  to  be  raised  to  the  vanity  of 
princes,  or  for  the  gratification  of  the  popu 
lace.  The  reign  of  this  gallant  emperor  was 
prosperous  both  in  peace  and  war,  but  he 
too  was  required  to  buckle  on  his  armor  for 
a  contest  in  the  East.  The  revolution,  in 
deed,  by  which  the  dynasty  of  the  Parthian 
Arsaces  was  overthrown,  and  the  Sassanidce, 
a  native  race,  succeeded  to  power  at  Seleu- 
cia,  was  an  augury  of  evil  days  to  come. 
The  great  Eastern  Empire,  henceforth  no 
longer  Parthian,  but  Persian  once  more,  as 
01  old,  sprang  up  in  renewed  vigor,  and  in 
flicted,  under  succeeding  rulers,  many  terri 
ble  blows  on  Rome. 

The  last  of  the  Alexanders  gained,  how 
ever,  a  great  victory  over  the  foes  of  his  illus 
trious  namesake,  and  returned  to  celebrate  a 
triumph  in  the  Capitol.  Scarcely  had  he 
enjoyed  the  reward  of  his  bravery,  when  he 
was  summoned  to  repel  another  attack  of  the 
Germans  on  the  Rhine,  and  the  necessary 
enforcement  of  discipline  caused  a  mutiny 
among  the  enervated  legions  on  that  long 
peaceful  frontier,  in  which  he  unfortunately 
lost  his  life.  His  reign  had  lasted  thirteen 
years,  and  for  that  brief  space  his  prudence 
and  vigor  had  arrested  the  decline,  now  too 
clearly  apparent,  of  the  empire.  It  had  now 
become  abundantly  manifest  that  it  was  by 
the  soldiers  alone  that  an  emperor  could  be 


568 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


made,  and  that  the  soldiers  themselves  could 
not  long  endure  the  creatures  of  their  own 
making.  The  long  Jst  of  military  princes 
who  now  follow  in  rapid  succession  presents 
us  with  one  or  two  names  only  that  command 
the  slightest  respect ;  while  the  events  of  our 
history  become  as  uninteresting  as  the  char 
acters  of  the  chief  actors  in  them.  A  rapid 
glance  will  suffice  for  the  period  of  half  a 
century,  from  the  death  of  Alexander  in  235, 
to  the  accession  of  Diocletian  in  284. 

Such  is  the  variety  of  names  which  now 
rapidly  succeed  one  another  at  the  head  of 
the  Roman  world,  that  it  will  be  well  to  di 
vide  the  period  on  which  we  now  enter  into 
two  parts,  according  to  the  leading  features 
which  distinguish  it.  The  first  comprises 
the  attempts  of  the  Senate  to  resume  its  sov 
ereignty  over  the  empire  ;  the  second  signal 
izes  the  efforts  of  the  generals,  when  these 
attempts  have  completely  failed,  to  secure 
the  permanence  of  military  supremacy  by  re 
storing  the  discipline  and  subordination  of 
the  soldiers.  The  elevation  of  the  Thracian 
peasant  caused  an  unwonted  shock  to  the 
susceptibilities  of  the  Roman  nobles ;  and  if 
their  disgust  was  enhanced  by  the  report  of 
his  severities  and  barbarous  violence,  they 
were  encouraged  to  make  head  against  him 
by  his  continued  absence  from  Italy,  which, 
during  his  short  career  of  undisputed  power, 
he  did  not  even  deign  to  visit.  It  was  not 
from  the  Senate,  however,  or  in  Italy,  that 
the  movement  against  Maximin  arose.  While 
he  was  occupied  with  military  operations  on 
the  northern  frontiers,  the  chief  inhabitants 
of  Africa  raised  an  aged  noble  named  Gordi- 
anus  to  the  purple,  in  which  they  associated 
with  him  his  son,  and  invoked  the  Senate  of 
Rome  to  accept  him  as  their  leader  against 
the  emperor  of  the  army.  The  Senate  ac 
quiesced  ;  denounced  Maximin  as  a  usurper, 
and  called  on  all  the  provinces  to  rise  against 
him.  The  summons  was  not  ineffectual. 
Maximin  found  himself  deserted  both  by 
provinces  and  armies.  But  a  fresh  insurrec 
tion  in  Africa  cut  off  both  his  ri  rals ;  and 
when  he  led  his  troops  into  Italy,  and  be 


sieged  Aquileia,  he  found  himself  opposed, 
not  by  the  Gordians,  but  by  Maximus  and 
Balbinus,  whom  the  Senate  hastily  elected  in 
their  place.  Maximin  fell  in  a  camp  muti 
ny  ;  Maximus  and  Balbinus  were  slain  soon 
afterwards  in  a  military  insurrection ;  but  a 
third  Gordian,  a  mere  stripling,  had  been 
already  associated  with  them,  out  of  icspect 
for  the  great  virtues  of  the  grandfather,  and 
the  soldiers  suffered  this  nominee  of  the  Sen 
ate  to  retain  possession  of  the  purple.  The 
third  Gordian  was  amiable,  but  probably 
weak  in  disposition.  The  reins  of  power 
were  held  for  him  with  a  strong  hand  by  his 
prefect  Misitheus ;  and  the  government  was 
conducted,  while  this  man  lived,  with  credit 
and  success.  The  formidable  attitude  of  the 
Persians  called  the  emperor  to  the  Syrian 
frontier.  Misitheus  was  cut  off  by  the  in 
trigues  of  Julius  Philippus ;  and  when  this 
man  succeeded  to  the  post  of  prefect,  the 
emperor  fell  helplessly  into  his  power,  and 
was  soon  sacrificed  to  his  ambition.  Philip, 
who  now  seized  the  empire,  was  a  native  of 
Bostra.  He  is  generally  called  "  the  Arab," 
but  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  he 
was  of  Arabian  extraction.  At  all  events, 
he  was  received  without  a  murmur  by  the 
Senate,  whose  feelings  were  gratified,  no 
doubt,  by  the  celebration  of  the  secular 
games,  which  he  instituted  in  248,  on  the 
thousandth  anniversary,  for  so  it  was  reck 
oned,  of  the  foundations.  The  government 
of  this  emperor  was  mild  and  prudent.  Some 
Christian  writers  have  claimed  him  for  a 
convert.  If  the  evidence  for  the  fact  is  slen 
der,  the  argument  against  it  may  be  dismiss 
ed  as  nugatory ;  but  the  Christians,  it  may 
be  enough  to  remark,  were  disposed  to  speak 
favorably  of  the  victim  of  a  man  who  waa 
notorious  as  one  of  their  fiercest  persecutors. 
Philip  fell  in  a  military  insurrection,  and  waa 
succeeded  by  Trajanus  Decius,  an  excellent 
officer,  and  a  man  of  genuine  Roman  de 
scent.  Thus  recommended  to  both  the  sol 
diers  and  the  Senate,  he  confirmed  the  predi 
lection  of  the  first  by  the  bravery  with  -vhich 
he  made  head  against  the  attacks,  n  w  re* 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


569 


newed  year  by  year,  of  the  Goths  and  Sar- 
matians  in  the  north ;  and  of  the  latter,  by 
the  sweeping  attack  he  made  against  the 
lon<jr-hated  sect  of  the  Christians,  of  whom 

O  ' 

we  have  for  some  time  lost  sight  in  our  his- 
tory. 

The  Christians,  harmless  as  they  were  both 
socially  and  politically,  had  been  objects  of 
popular  hatred  from  the  time  when  they 
were  first  confounded  in  the  common  appre 
hension  with  the  turbulent  and  rebellious 
Jews.  They  had  fallen  under  the  suspicions 
of  emperors  and  prefects,  and  had  often  been 
required  to  make  proof  of  their  loyalty  by 
performing  acts  of  heathen  sacrifice,  or  swear 
ing  by  the  imperial  name ;  and  the  firmness 
with  which,  on  such  occasions,  they  had 
maintained  their  religious  principles  had  con 
signed  them  too  often  to  tortures  and  death. 
More  than  once  the  anger  and  alarm  of  the 
civil  authorities  had  prompted  still  further 
inquisition  into  the  tenets  of  the  new  sect, 
and  from  single  and  occasional  cases  of  vio 
lence  the  persecution  had  extended  to  con 
gregations  and  communities.  It  is  probable, 
however,  that  the  persecution  was  first  gen 
eral  under  Decius ;  and  we  may  believe  that 
to  the  vigorous  and  systematic  effort  this  em 
peror  made  for  the  suppression  of  the  true 
faith  he  was  prompted  not  only  by  his  wish 
to  conciliate  the  nobles  at  Rome,  but  by  a 
long-growing  persuasion  that  the  evils  which 
afflicted  the  empire  might  be  traced  to  the 
alleged  impiety  of  these  reputed  fanatics. 
The  recent  celebration  of  the  secular  games 
had  given  a  stimulus  to  Roman  superstition  ; 
and  this  now  wreaked  itself,  without  stint  or 
scruple,  on  the  unresisting  victims,  whose 
marked  indisposition  to  enroll  themselves  in 
the  military  service  of  the  state  rendered 
them  doubly  objects  of  suspicion  in  the  gen 
eral  panic  which  prevailed  throughout  the 
empire.  For  this  panic,  indeed,  there  were 
sufficient  grounds,  both  within  and  without. 
The  northern  nations,  then  known  under  the 
names  of  the  Quadi  and  Marcomanni,  had  \ 
been  controlled  by  M.  Aurelius,  and  had  re-  j 
mained  generally  quiescent  during  the  sev-  j 


enty  years  which  had  followed ;  but  now  the 
Franks,  the  Goths,  and  the  Alemanni  were 
pouring  in  ever-increasing  numbers  across 
the  Rhine  and  Danube :  the  inundation,  long 
pent-up,  had  gathered  force  and  volume,  and 
threatened  to  overflow  the  whole  empire. 
The  resources  of  the  government,  first  shaken 
by  the  long-protracted  pestilence  of  the  An- 
tonine  period,  had  never  been  restored.  The 
population  and  wealth  of  Italy  and  the  prov 
inces  continued  gradually  to  decline ;  but  if 
these  distant  symptoms  of  decay  were  yet 
hardly  visible  except  to  statesmen,  the 
plagues  which  swept  the  great  cities  of  the 
empire  in  succession,  between  the  years  250 
and  265,  alarmed  men  of  every  class  with  the 
prospect  of  its  impending  dissolution. 

There  was  no  hope  for  Rome  in  the  favor 
of  its  gods  nor  in  the  virtues  of  its  people ; 
but  there  was  still  hope  in  the  personal  brav 
ery  of  its  captains ;  and  from  this  time  we 
find,  with  only  one  or  two  interruptions,  a 
remarkable  succession  of  able  chiefs  at  the 
head  of  its  affairs.  Decius  fell  in  battle 
against  the  Goths.  The  legions,  satisfied 
with  the  late  appointments,  left  the  choice 
of  his  successor  to  the  Senate,  and  Gall  us 
purchased  a  respite  from  attack  by  the  pay 
ment  of  tribute  to  the  barbarians.  This  dis 
grace  was  soon  wiped  out  in  his  blood.  Va 
lerian,  a  favorite  officer  of  Decius,  reigned 
in  his  stead.  The  Franks  and  Alemanni 
were  checked  in  the  West ;  but  in  the  East 
the  Goths  made  an  irruption  into  Greece  and 
Asia  Minor,  crossing  the  Black  Sea,  and  tra 
versing  the  Hellespont,  and  were  stopped 
rather  by  the  effects  of  luxury  and  climate 
than  by  the  sword  of  a  defender.  When 
these  swarms  were  cleared  away  from  the 
fertile  lands  they  had  desolated,  Valerian 
had  a  harder  task  to  perform  in  hurling  back 
the  Persians  from  Syria.  Defeated  and  taken 
by  Sapor,  he  was  condemned  to  chains  and 
menial  offices,  while  his  son  Gallienus,  a  dis 
solute  youth,  refused  to  arm  for  his  recovery. 
The  advance  of  the  Persians  was  checked, 
not  by  the  emperc  r  and  the  legions  of  Rome, 
but  by  the  brave  Odenatlms,  and  the  still 


670 


HISTORY   OF   THE   WORLD. 


braver  Zonobia  his  wife,  the  rulers  of  the 
tributary  kingdom  of  Palmyra.  Elated  by 
hie  success,  and  vain  of  the  splendor  of  his 
capital  in  the  desert,  Odenathus  was  not  con 
tent  with  aspiring  to  independence,  but 
claimed,  it  is  said,  to  be  associated  with  Gal- 
lienus  in  the  government  of  the  empire.  But 
pretenders  to  the  purple  sprung  up  now  in 
various  quarters.  The  attacks  of  the  barba 
rians  called  forth  the  legions  on  every  fron 
tier  into  the  field,  and  whenever  a  victory 
was  gained,  or  an  imposing  front  assumed  by 
the  defenders  of  the  state,  there  a  new  em 
peror  was  proclaimed,  and  the  submission  of 
the  Senate  and  people  demanded.  To  this 
host  of  competitors,  most  of  whom  fell. quick 
ly  by  one  another's  hands,  the  name  of  the 
"  thirty  tyrants"  was  popularly  given.  Their 
real  number  was  little  less  than  twenty.  One 
of  the  most  successful  of  them,  Aureolus, 
penetrated  into  Italy,  and  Gallienus  fell  in  a 
tardy  attempt  to  assert  his  power  and  dignity 
against  him. 

But  the  usurper  was  shut  up  in  Milan,  and 
the  death  of  Gallienus  served  only  to  raise 
up  a  stronger  antagonist  in  the  person  of  M. 
Aurelius  Claudius,  whom  the  Italian  forces 
appointed  their  commander.  Claudius  was 
a  man  of  high  military  virtue.  He  destroy 
ed  Aureolus,  overcame  the  Germans,  and 
totally  routed  the  Goths  in  the  great 
battle  of  Nissa,  from  which  he  derived  the 
title  of  "  Gothicus."  But  this  brave  chief 
was  speedily  cut  off  by  sickness  on  his  route 
to  the  East.  Claudius  breathed  his  last  at 
Sirmium  on  the  Danube,  and  it  was  at  Sir- 
mium  that  Aurelian,  his  illustrious  successor, 
had  been  born.  This  man,  the  son  of  an  Illy- 
rian  peasant,  was  one  of  the  greatest,  as  he 
was  almost  the  last,  of  the  heroes  of  the  Ro 
man  legions.  He  was  intelligent  as  well  as 
brave  ;  and  after  defeating  a  fresh  attack  of 
the  Goths,  he  recognized  the  policy  of  with 
drawing  the  outposts  of  the  empire  from  be 
yond  the  Danube,  and  finally  renounced  the 
conquests  of  Trajan  in  Dacia,  which  seem  to 
have  been  re-occupied  after  the  time  of  Had 
rian.  A  still  more  urgent  necessity  compelled 


him  to  admit  into  his  pay  large  bodies  of  these 
formidable  enemies,  which,  for  i  time  at 
least,  added  fresh  vigor  to  the  Ro  nun  arms. 
Aurelian  led  his  forces  against  the  Queen  of 
Palmyra,Odenathus  being  now  dead.  Though 
gallantly  resisted,  he  overcame  his  presump 
tuous  rival,  and  exhibited  Zenobia  in  his 
triumph  at  Rome.  He  continued  to  rule 
with  vigor  and  discretion ;  but  the  barbaric 
inundation  was  still  swelling  on  the  fron 
tiers,  and  at  last  a  body  of  Alemanni  burst 
into  Italy,  and  advanced  for  a  moment  with 
in  the  confines  of  Umbria.  At  this  crisis 
the  safety  of  the  city  itself  seemed  in  ques 
tion.  Aureh'an  condescended  to  secure  it  by 
tracing  the  ample  lines  of  fortification  which 
now  for  the  first  time  encompassed  the  capi 
tal  of  Augustus  and  Trajan.  But  the  le 
gions,  under  a  chief  like  Aurelian,  formed 
still  a  stronger  rampart  than  brick  or  stone. 
The  Alemanni  were  speedily  repulsed. 
Aurelian  was  summoned  soon  afterwards 
ir to  the  East ;  but  while  leading  an  expedi 
tion  against  the  Persians  he  was  assassinated 

O 

in  his  tent,  at  the  instigation  of  his  secretary 
Mnestheus.  The  soldiers  lamented  his  loss, 
and  avenged  it  with  the  blood  of  the  assas 
sins.  They  paid  a  higher  tribute  of  respect 
to  his  memory  by  awaiting  six  months  the 
election  of  his  successor  by  the  Senate. 
When  that  body  placed  the  victorious  but 
aged  Tacitus  at  their  head,  they  cheerfully 
acquiesced  in  the  well-meant  but  imprudent 
choice.  Tacitus  led  his  troops  manfully 
against  the  Scythian  Alani.  He  was  victo 
rious  in  battle  ;  but  the  fatigues  of  the  cam 
paign  were  too  much  for  his  enfeebled  pow 
ers,  and  he  died  of  exhaustion  in  the  course 
of  a  few  months. 

The  army  now  chose  their  own  leader,  and 
they  also  chose  well.  Aurelius  Probus  was 
accepted  by  the  Senate,  and  Florianus,  the 
brother  of  Tacitus,  who  had  assumed  the 
purple,  without  authority  either  from  the  one 
power  or  the  other,  relinquished  the  contest 
he  had  provoktd  by  a  voluntary  death. 
Probus,  like  Aurelian,  was  a  native  of  Sir. 
mium,  and  he  proved  himself  worthy  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


571 


military  rule — the  only  rule  now  possible — 
by  his  skill,  his  bravery,  and  his  hardy  vir 
tues.  During  a  short  but  active  reign  of  six 
years  he  defeated  the  Germans  on  the  Rhine 
and  Danube,  and  constructed,  or  rather  re 
paired,  the  rampart  which  connected  those 
rivers.  He  overthrew  the  Goths;  and, 
passing  from  the  West  to  the  East,  led  his 
forces  against  the  Persians.  From  this  ene 
my  he  extorted  aii  honorable  peace,  and  then, 
having  put  down  some  competitors  for  pow 
er,  employed  his  legions  in  draining  marshes 
and  planting  vineyards.  But  the  discipline 
he  enforced,  and  the  wholesome  labors  he 
required,  alike  disgusted  his  licentious  war 
riors;  and  Probus,  who  never  quitted  the 
camp,  lost  his  life  in  a  mutiny. 

The  nead-quarters  of  the  deceased  mon 
arch  were  again  the  spot  on  which  his  suc 
cessor  was  to  be  elected.  The  choice  of  the 
soldiers  fell  once  more  on  a  rude  but  valiant 
soldier  named  Carus,  and  the  Senate  once 
more  ratified  it  without  a  murmur.  These 
warrior-princes  paid  no  attention  to  Rome, 
and  the  nobles  of  the  city  had  discovered 
that  if  they  lost  in  dignity,  they  were  gain 
ers  by  their  absence  in  ease  and  security. 
The  movements  of  the  army,  wholly  recruit 
ed  and  supplied  from  the  frontier  provinces, 
were  regarded  with  little  interest  by  the 
voluptuaries  of  the  capital.  These  unworthy 
Romans  were  content  to  leave  the  task  of 
defending  the  empire  to  men  who  claimed 
from  them  only  a  few  empty  titles  in  token 
of  their  submission.  Carus,  associating  with 
himself  his  sons  Carinus  and  JSTumerianus, 
gained  some  fresh  victories  over  the  Goths. 
Leaving  Carinus  in  the  West,  he  again  con 
fronted  and  overthrew  the  Persians.  He 
advanced  as  far  as  Ctesiphon  on  the  Tigris, 
whe;ie  his  career  was  suddenly  arrested  by  a 
strode  of  lightning,  according  to  the  popular 
account,  but  more  probably  by  some  secret 
conspiracy.  The  sons  of  Carus  were  unable 
to  retain  the  diadem  of  their  father :  Nu- 
merianus  was  slain  by  his  prefect  Aper, 
though  his  death  was  speedily  avenged  by 
Diocletian.  The  soldiers  in  the  East  imme 


diately  proclaimed  this  man  their  e  nperor, 
regardless  of  the  claims  of  Carinus,  which 
were  supported  by  the  armies  in  the  West. 
The  contending  powers  met  on  the  p  ains  of 
Moesia.  Diocletian  was  worsted  in  battle  ; 
but  in  the  moment  of  his  success  Carinua 
was  slain  by  an  officer  whose  wife  he  had 
dishonored ;  and  thus  suddenly  deprived  of 
a  leader,  the  victorious  legions  united  with 
the  vanquished  in  acknowledging  the  surviv 
ing  candidate. 

The  accession  of  Diocletian  to  powei 
marks  the  last  great  epoch  in  the  history  of 
the  Roman  empire.  Hitherto,  however  in 
trinsically  weak,  the  Senate  had  found  op 
portunities  for  putting  forth  its  claims  to 
authority ;  if  it  was  but  rarely  allowed  to 
exercise  its  cherished  prerogative  of  election 
to  the  throne,  it  was  still  regarded  as  the 
legitimate  centre  of  administration,  the  foun 
tain  of  law  and  social  order.  There  was  at 
least  no  constituted  authority  to  oppose  it. 
The  chosen  of  the  legions  had  been  for  some 
time  past  the  commander  of  an  army  rather 
than  the  sovereign  of  the  state.  He  had 
seldom  quitted  the  camp,  rarely  or  never 
presented  himself  in  the  capital ;  content 
with  the  provision  for  his  own  pride  and 
power  extorted  from  the  provinces  in  which 
he  quartered  himself,  he  had  allowed  the  or 
dinary  march  of  government  to  proceed  in 
its  usual  routine  ;  the  social  fabric  continued 
to  be  upheld  in  Italy  and  throughout  the 
provinces  by  the  force  impressed  upon  them 
by  the  Antonines.  But  this  was  the  torpor 
of  decrepitude,  not  the  tranquillity  of  con 
tentment.  The  provinces  lay  at  the  mercy 
of  the  armies  of  the  frontier ;  and  the  em 
pire  might  split  asunder  at  any  moment 
into  as  many  kingdoms  as  there  were  armies, 
unless  the  chiefs  of  the  legions  felt  them 
selves  controlled  by  the  strength  or  genius 
of  one  no  re  eminent  than  the  rest.  We  have 
noticed  many  local  revolts,  and  no  doubt 
many  more  of  the  kind  were  constantly  oc 
curring.  Gaul,  Britain,  Africa,  or  Egypt 
were  more  than  once  the  prey  of  soldiers 
who  aspired  to  become  independent  sc  ver- 


672 


H1STOBY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


eigns ;  the  chief  of  the  strongest  camp  and 
largest  array,  who  called  himself  the  empe 
ror,  fo  ind  prompter  aid  in  the  daggers  of 
assassins  tlian  in  the  swords  of  liis  own  legion 
aries:  his  opponents  were  generally  struck 
down  by  their  own  unruly  followers ;  and  it 
was  by  fortune  rather  than  by  any  control 
ling  principle  of  cohesion  that  the  frame  of 
the  empire  was  still  held  together.  The 
danger  of  disruption  was  becoming  from 
year  to  year  more  imminent,  when  Diocletian 
arose  to  re-establish  the  organic  connection 
.of  the  parts,  and  breathe  a  new  life  into  the 
heart  of  the  empire. 

A  jealous  edict  of  Gallienus  had  forbidden 
the  senators  to  take  service  in  the  army  or  to 
quit  the  limits  of  Italy.  The  degradation 
of  that  once  illustrious  order,  which  was 
thus  made  incapable  of  furnishing  a  candi 
date  for  the  empire,  was  completed  by  the 
indolent  acquiescence  of  its  members  in  this 
disqualifying  ordinance.  The  nobles  of 
Rome  relinquished  ah1  interest  in  affairs 
which  they  could  no  longer  aspire  to  conduct. 
The  emperors,  on  their  part,  ceased  to  regard 
them  as  a  substantive  power  in  the  empire  ; 
and  in  constructing  the  new  imperial  consti 
tution  Diocletian  wholly  overlooked  their 
existence.  Nevertheless  it  would  seem  that 
he  was  still  haunted  by  the  undying  tradi 
tion  of  ihe  majesty  of  Rome  itself,  and  it 
seemed  more  fitting  to  abstain  from  visiting 
the  city  than  to  take  up  his  residence  there 
without  paying  due  respect  to  the  Senate, 
which  was  still  enthroned  on  its  seven  hills. 
While  he  disregarded  the  possibility  of  op 
position  at  Rome,  he  contrived  a  new  check 
upon  the  rivalry  of  his  distant  lieutenants, 
by  associating  three  other  chiefs  with  him 
self,  welded  together  by  strict  alliances  into 
one  imperial  family,  each  of  whom  should 
take  up  his  residence  in  a  different  quarter 
of  the  empire,  and  combine  with  all  the  rest 
in  maintaining  their  common  interest.  His 
first  step  was  to  choose  a  single  colleague  in 
the  person  of  a  brave  soldier  of  obscure  ori 
gin,  an  Illyrian  peasant  like  himself,  by  name 
Maximian,  whom  he  invested  with  the  title 


of  Augustus,  in  the  year  286.  The  associ 
ated  rulers  assumed  at  the  same  time  the 
epithets  of  Jovius  and  Herculius ;  auspicious 
names,  which  made  them  perhaps  popular 
in  the  camp.  Maximian  was  deputed  to 
control  the  legions  in  Gaul,  and  to  make 
head  against  the  revolt  of  Carausius  in  Brit 
ain,  while  Diocletian  opposed  the  enemies 
or  pretenders  who  were  now  rising  up  in 
various  quarters  in  the  East.  His  dangers 
multiplied,  and  again  the  powers  of  the  em 
pire  were  subdivided  to  meet  them.  In  the 
year  292  Diocletian  created  two  Ceesars  :  the 
one,  Galerius,  to  act  subordinately  to  him 
self  in  the  East ;  the  other,  Constantius 
Chlorus,  to  divide  the  government  of  the 
western  provinces  with  Maximian.  The 
Caesars  were  bound  more  closely  to  the  Au 
gusti  by  receiving  their  daughters  in  mar 
riage  ;  but,  though  they  acknowledged  each 
a  superior  in  his  own  half  of  the  empire,  and 
admitted  a  certain  supremacy  of  Diocletian 
overall,  yet  each  enjoyed  monarchical  sway  in 
his  own  territories,  and  each  established  a 
court  and  capital  as  well  as  an  army  and  a 
camp.  Diocletian  retained  the  richest  and 
most  tranquil  portion  of  the  empire,  and  reign- 
in  NicomeoMa  (now  Asia  Minor),  Syria,  and 
Egypt;  while  he  entrusted  to  the  Caesai 
Galerius,  established  in  Sirmium,  the  mor« 
exposed  provinces  on  the  Danube.  Max 
imian  occupied  Italy,  the  islands,  and  Africa 
stationing  himself,  however,  not  in  Rome 
but  at  Milan.  Constantius  was  required  tc 
defend  the  Rhenish  frontier;  and  the  mar 
tial  provinces  of  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Britain 
were  given  him  to  furnish  the  forces  neces 
sary  for  the  maintenance  of  that  important 
trust.  The  capital  of  the  western  Grsar 
was  fixed  at  Treves.  Inspired  with  a  com 
mon  interest,  and  controlled  by  the  superior 
genius  of  Diocletian  himself,  all  the  empe 
rors  acted  with  vigor  in  their  respective 
provinces.  Diocletian  recovered  Alexandria, 
and  quieted  the  revolt  of  Egypt.  Maximian 
routed  the  unruly  hordes  of  Mauritania,  and 
overthrew  a  pretender  to  the  purple  in  that 
quarter.  Constantius  discomfited  an  itivad 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


573 


ing  host  of  Alemanni,  and  wrested  Britain 
from  the  hands  of  Allectus.  Galerius  brought 
the  legions  of  lllyricum  to  the  defence  of 
Syria  against  the  Persians,  and  though  once 
defeated  in  the  plains  of  Carrhae,  he  succeed 
ed  eventually  in  reducing  the  enemy  to  sub 
mission.  Thus  victorious  in  every  quarter 
of  the  em j ire,  Diocletian  celebrated  the 
commencement  of  the  twentieth  year  of  his 
reign  with  a  triumph  at  Rome,  and  again 
taking  leave  of  the  city  of  the  Csesars,  re 
turned  to  his  customary  residence  at  jSacome- 
dia.  The  illness  with  which  he  was  attack 
ed  on  his  journey  suggested,  or  more  proba 
bly  fixed,  his  resolution  to  divest  himself  of 
the  purple  ;  and  on  the  1st  of  May,  A.D.  305, 
being  then  fifty-nine  years  old,  he  performed 
the  solemn  act  of  abdication  on  the  spot 
where  he  had  first  assumed  the  empire  at 
the  bidding  of  his  soldiers.  Strange  to  say, 
he  did  not  renounce  the  object  of  his  ambi 
tion  alone.  On  the  same  day  a  similar  scene 
was  enacted  by  his  colleague  Maximian  at 
Milan  ;  but  the  abdication  of  Maximian  was 
not  a  spontaneous  sacrifice,  but  imposed 
upon  him  by  the  influence  or  authority  of 
his  elder  and  greater  colleague.  Diocletian 
had  established  the  principle  of  patrimonial 
succession  by  which  the  supreme  power  was 
to  descend.  On  the  abdication  of  the  two 
Angusti,  the  Caesars  Constantius  and  Gale 
rius  stepped  into  their  places  respectively, 
while  each  of  them  called  up  another  Csesar 
to  supply  the  posts  thus  vacated  by  them 
selves.  Flavins  Severus  succeeded  to  Constan 
tius,  Maximinus  Daza  to  Galerius.  Having 
seen  the  completion  of  all  these  arrange 
ments,  and  congratulated  himself  on  the 
success  of  his  great  political  experiments, 
Diocletian  crowned  his  career  of  wisdom  and 
moderation  by  confining  himself  strictly  dur 
ing  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  the  tranquil 
enjoyment  of  a  private  station.  Retiring  to 
the  residence  he  had  built  for  himself  at  Sa- 
lona,  he  found  occupation  and  amusement  in 
the  cultivation  of  his  garden  ;  and  the  story 
went,  that  when  bis  more  restless  colleague 
lolicited  him  to  resume  the  honors  from 


which  he  had  disengaged  them  botl  ,  he  in 
vited  him  to  see  the  vegetables  he  had  grown, 
and  learn  a  lesson  of  simplicity  and  content 
ment. 

The  wisdom  and  moderation  of  Diocle 
tian's  character  have  been  justly  praised, 
and  it  is  with  pain  that  we  notice  how  he 
forfeited  both  the  one  and  the  other  in  his 
sanguinary  and  obstinate  persecution  of 
the  Christians.  The  disciples  of  the  true 
faith  were  still  increasing  in  numbers  ;  they 
were  continuing  more  and  more  to  absorb 
into  their  body  the  intelligence,  the  activity, 
and  the  moral  force  of  the  empire.  Diocle 
tian  cannot  have  been  blind  to  the  impossi 
bility  of  reviving  the  spirit  of  heathenism, 
or  raising  up  in  the  strongholds  either  of 
superstition  or  philosophy,  any  moral  or  intel 
lectual  force  to  combat  them.  Nor  can  we 
suppose  that  he  was  actuated  by  the  alarms 
so  prevalent,  as  we  have  seen,  fifty  or  a  hun 
dred  years  earlier,  when  many  of  the  best, 
and  some  no  doubt  of  the  wisest  of  the 
heathens,  really  believed  that  the  calamities 
of  the  empire  were  caused  by  the  anger  of 
their  gods  at  the  impiety  tolerated  in  ita 
bosom.  The  era  of  Diocletian,  under  the 
sway  of  a  bold  and  able  ruler,  was  a  period 
of  comparative  revival  and  hopefulness. 
The  worst  seemed  to  be  past.  A  better 
day  had  dawned.  New  objects  were  in 
view,  new  principles  of  government  were 
coming  into  operation.  The  Senate  of  Rome, 
the  stronghold  of  old  and  vain  tradition,  had 
ceased  to  exercise  any  influence  in  the  gov 
ernment.  Diocletian  had  no  need  to  sacri 
fice  to  its  prepossessions,  or  to  buy  its  favor 
by  the  concession  of  a  principle.  The  fury 
which  animated  three,  at  least,  of  the  empe 
rors  (for  Constantius  alone  held  aloof  from 
the  persecution  which  now  raged  through 
three-quarters  of  the  empire)  must  be  traced 
to  a  different  source.  The  object  of  Dio 
cletian's  policy  was  to  establish  a  uniform 
system  of  administration,  radiating  from 
each  centre  of  government.  During  the 
last  century  the  government  of  the  empire 
had  become  completely  de-centralized.  Each 


574 


HISTOKY  OF  1HE  WOELD. 


province  bad  provided  for  itself ;  each  army 
had  drawn  its  supplies  from  its  own  neigh 
borhood.  The  authority  of  the  Senate  had 
hardly  extended  beyond  Italy  ;  the  power 
e\en  of  the  emperor  had  generally  been 
limited  to  the  territory  in  the  midst  of 
which  his  army  was  quartered.  Even  De- 
cius  and  Probus,  vigorous  as  they  proved 
themselves  in  their  own  camp,  might  fear 
to  provoke  a  resistance  which  they  had  not 
leisure  to  quell,  if  they  tried  to  enforce  their 
edicts  in  Gaul  or  Africa.  But  when,  by  the 
multiplication  of  sovereigns,  the  executive 
authority  was  extended  once  more  through 
out  the  empire,  it  became  necessary  to  show 
that  the  imperial  power  was  no  longer  a 
mere  shadow.  The  laws  were  to  be  enforc 
ed,  uniformity  to  be  restored,  every  province 
and  every  subject  to  be  made  to  acknowledge 
the  paramount  supremacy  of  the  monarch's 
will.  Christianity,  however  innocent  in  act, 
had  become  in  its  forms  and  in  its  ideas  a 
ftate  within  the  state.  "Whatever  the  gov- 
irnment  might  think  of  its  opinions,  it  could 
not  fail  to  see  a  rival  in  its  organization. 
Counts  and  prefects  were  jealous  of  metro 
politans  and  bishops  ;  and  the  claims  of  the 
church  to  admit  to,  or  exclude  from,  a  share 
in  privileges  of  membership,  which  had  now 
become  connected  with  the  enjoyment  of 
benefices  and  endowments,  might  seem  to 
trench  upon  political  prerogatives.  Having 
subdued  every  external  enemy  and  compe 
titor,  Diocletian  turned  his  attention  to  the 
domestic  foe,  for  as  such  he  regarded  it, 
which  had  set  up  a  co-ordinate  sovereignty 
within  the  limits  of  his  own  jurisdiction : 
he  proclaimed  internecinal  war  against  the 
Christian  society,  the  extent  of  which  he 
perhaps  miscalculated,  the  moral  power  of 
which  he  totally  misapprehended ;  and  he 
committed  himself  to  a  struggle  in  which 
success  was  impossible,  though  he  did  not 
live  himself  to  know  how  completely  he  was 
defeated. 

Notwithstanding  the  ability  which  Dio 
cletian  had  displayed  in  the  government  of 
the  empire,  the  distribution  he  made  of  pow 


er  on  his  abdication  marks  caprice  and  weak 
ness,  and  was  speedily  followed,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  by  fresh  disturbances. 
Instead  of  inviting  both  the  Caesars  to  asso 
ciate  with  them  princes  of  their  own  choice, 
he  had  allowed  his  son-in-law  and  favorite, 
Galerius,  to  nominate  both  the  new  candi 
dates,  and  to  pass  over  the  claims  of  Con- 
stantine,  the  son  of  Constantius,  altogether. 
The  Caesar  of  the  Gaulish  provinces  was  far 
distant  in  Britain,  and  was  ill:  Galerius  ex 
pected  his  death,  or  ventured  to  overlook  him 
in  his  absence ;  and  hoped,  by  calling  crea 
tures  of  his  own  to  the  succession,  to  secure 
supreme  authority  over  the  whole  empire  foi 
himself.  But  the  moderation  of  Constan 
tius,  which  had  made  him  an  object  of  dis 
like  and  jealousy  to  his  unscrupulous  col 
leagues,  endeared  him  to  his  own  subjects  as 
well  as  to  the  Christian  faction  throughout 
the  empire.  Great  multitude?  of  the  new 
faith  had  taken  refuge  under  his  sway,  and 
had  enjoyed  his  protection.  The  legions  ad 
mired  him  for  his  victories  over  the  Aleman- 
ni  and  the  Caledonians ;  and  when,  at  the 
moment  of  his  death,  they  proclaimed  his 
son  Constantine  emperor  in  their  encamp 
ment  at  York,  the  nomination  was  received 
with  enthusiasm  by  the  population  of  the 
western  provinces.  Galerius  did  not  ven 
ture  to  oppose  this  demonstration  of  feeling. 
He  suffered  his  new  rival  to  exercise  author 
ity  in  the  place  of  his  father,  but  claimed 
the  right,  as  the  eldest  and  first  of  the  asso 
ciated  princes,  to  assign  him  only  the  fourth 
rank  among  the  rulers  of  the  empire,  with 
the  subordinate  title  of  Caesar.  Constantine 
was  satisfied  for  the  present,  and  continued 
for  six  years  (A.  D.  30G-312)  to  confine  him 
self  to  the  administration  of  the  Gaulish  pre 
fecture.  During  this  period  he  carried  out 
his  father's  policy  in  every  f  articular.  He 
chastised  the  barbarians  in  the  north  of 
Britain,  and  put  the  Roman  possessions  in 
that  island  in  a  complete  state  of  defence. 
He  flew  to  the  succour  of  the  garrisons  on 
the  Rhine,  which,  on  the  death  of  Constan 
tius,  were  immediately  assailed  by  fresh  in- 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


575 


cursions  of  the  German  tribes,  and  followed 
up  the  great  victory  of  Novio  by  the  most 
terrible  massacres  of  his  captives.  At  the 
same  time  he  displayed  the  utmost  modera 
tion  and  clemency  towards  his  subjects,  tol 
erating  and  protecting  the  Christians,  and 
remitting  the  fiscal  burdens  of  all  classes  of 
the  community.  Though  personally  indiffer 
ent  perhaps  to  all  forms  of  religion,  he  could 
not  fail  to  mark  now  great  were  the  num 
bers,  how  active  the  intelligence,  of  the 
Christian  society,  and  to  feel  the  miserable 
impolicy  of  alienating  them  by  persecution. 
His  vigorous  imagination  was  at  the  same 
time  kindled  by  the  claim  these  sectarians 
advanced  to  divine  interferences  and  miracu 
lous  powers ;  it  is  probable  also  that  the  def 
erence  which  their  bishops  were  willing  to 
pay  to  him  as  the  temporal  ruler,  while  the 
pagan  hierarchy  regarded  him  with  undis 
guised  dislike,  affected  him  favorably  from 
the  first  toward  the  outward  forms  of  Chris 
tianity.  While  watching  his  opportunity 
for  raising  himself  to  the  highest  place  in 
the  empire,  Constantine  was  already  perhaps 
meditating  terms  of  alliance  with  the  great 
est  spiritual  influence  of  the  period. 

Meanwhile,  the  Senate  also,  the  centre  of 
heathenism,  exhibited  for  a  moment  fresh 
signs  of  vitality.  Affecting  indignation  at 
the  claims  of  its  late  ruler  Maximian  beinj? 

~ 

entirely  postponed  to  those  of  Galerius,  it 
had  taken  on  itself  to  confer  on  his  son  Max- 
entins  the  title  of  Augustus.  Maximian 
himself,  defying  the  remonstrances  of  the 
aged  Diocletian,  issued  from  his  retirement, 
and  re-assumed  power,  under  pretence  of 
lending  the  weight  of  his  name  aiid  expe 
rience  to  the  cause  of  his  son.  He  gave  his 
daughter  Fausta  in  marriage  to  Constantine, 
and  cemented  an  alliance  between  the  pre 
fect  of  Gaul  and  the  claimant  of  Italy.  But 
no  sooner  did  Maxentius  taste  of  power  than 
lie  drove  his  own  father  out  of  his  domin 
ions,  and  Constantine  suffered  his  father-in- 
law  to  find  an  asylum  in  Gaul  only  on  con 
dition  of  resigning  a  second  time  all  share 
in  the  imperia.  government.  When,  on  the  j 


report  of  Constantino's  death,  the  restless 
veteran  again  assumed  the  purple,  he  was  at 
tacked,  defeated,  and  put  to  death  without 
remorse  by  the  Gaulish  emperor. 

The  death  of  Maximian  was  followed  ir. 
311  by  that  of  Galerius,  whose  painful  sick 
ness  was  ascribed  with  grim  satisfaction  by 
the  Christians  to  a  divine  visitation.  Four 
Augusti  of  equal  rank  now  once  more  shared 
the  empire ;  but  it  was  immediately  appar 
ent  that,  without  the  avowed  ascendancy  of 
one,  in  genius  if  not  in  power,  the  rude  edi 
fice  of  the  Caesardom  must  inevitably  fall  in 
pieces.  The  genius,  indeed,  of  Constantine, 
soon  proved  to  be  preeminent,  but  his  ascen 
dancy  was  admitted  by  none  of  his  col 
leagues,  and  it  remained  to  be  seen  whether 
he  Lad  the  means  of  establishing  it  by  force. 
Maxentius  in  Italy  and  Africa,  and  Maxim 
ian  in  Asia  and  Egypt,  ruled  in  voluptuous 
indolence,  making  themselves  more  and  more 
detested  by  the  provinces  which  had  fallen 
under  their  sway.  Severus  was  already 
dead,  and  Galerius  had  survived  to  replace 
him  in  Illyricum  by  a  Dacian  peasant  named 
Licinius,  recommended  to  him  by  his  mili 
tary  abilities  and  his  popularity  among  the 
soldiers.  This  man  had  now  at  least  discre 
tion  enough  to  ally  himself  with  Constan- 
tine;  he  contrived  also  to  leave  his  new  con 
federate  to  conduct  hostilities  against  Maxen 
tius  alone,  while  he  watched  himself  from  a 
distance,  the  issue  of  the  contest.  Scarcely, 
indeed,  was  Galerius  dead  before  the  two 
Augusti  of  the  West  rushed  into  deadly  con 
flict  with  one  another.  Constantine  crossed 
the  Alps  and  gained  three  successive  victo 
ries  at  Turin,  at  Yerona,  and,  lastly,  at  the 
Milvian  bridge,  two  miles  from  Rome.  Max 
entius,  routed  in  this  final  engagement,  was 
drowned  in  the  Tiber,  and  Constantine  en 
tered  Rome  towards  the  end  of  the  year  312, 
where  he  was  received  with  acclamations,  and 
was  acknowledged  as  chief  of  the  empire  by 
Italy  and  Africa,  as  well  as  by  the  provinces 
of  his  own  prefecture.  He  had  already  is 
sued  from  Milan  the  famous  decree  which 
assured  the  Christians  of  his  favor  and  prr 


576 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


tection ;  and  it  was  oil  his  march  towards 
Rome,  before  the  battle  of  the  Milvian 
bridge,  that  he  bel.eid  according  to  the  his 
torians,  the  vision  of  the  cross  in  the  heav 
ens,  inscribed  with  the  blazing  legend — "  By 
this  conquer." 

Constantino  had  little  sympathy  for  the 
name  of  Rome,  or  for  the  Senate  which  rep 
resented  it ;  nevertheless,  upon  entering  the 
old  capital  of  the  Caesars  in  triumph,  he  af 
fected  to  restore  the  consideration  of  that 
illustrious  but  decrepit  body,  while  he  took 
measures  for  preventing  Rome  from  ever 
again  giving  laws  to  the  empire,  by  disband 
ing  the  praetorian  guards  and  destroying 
their  fortified  camp.  "With  this  military 
Btitution  the  imperial  power  departed  finally 
from  Rome,  and  the  seat  of  empire  was 
henceforth  to  be  established  wherever  the 
emperor  should  choose  to  take  up  his  own 
permanent  residence.  Master  of  the  West, 
Constantino  was  not  satisfied  till  he  had 
brought  the  East  also  under  his  sceptre. 
His  rival,  Licinius,  equalled  him  in  ambition, 
but  neither  in  ability  nor  fortune.  During 
the  contest  in  Italy  the  prefect  of  Illyricum 
had  been  prosecuting  his  own  views  of  con 
quest  no  less  successfully  in  Asia.  He 
had  overthrown  Maximin,  and  seized  all  the 
eastern  provinces  of  the  empire,  confirming 
his  victory  by  the  massacre  of  all  the  chil 
dren  of  Galerius  and  Severus,  as  well  as  of 
Maximin  himself.  So  far  did  he  carry  his 
precautions  as  to  insist  on  the  execution  of 
the  widow  and  daughter  of  Diocletian.  Thus 
triumphant  in  opposite  quarters  of  the  em 
pire,  the  two  competitors  were  equally  pre 
pared  for  a  struggle  with  one  another.  In 
the  first  content  between  them,  Constantine 
wrested  Dlyri<  um  from  Licinius.  After  an 
interval  of  eight  years  war  was  renewed. 
Licinius  was  overthrown  in  the  great  battle 
of  Adrianople,  in  the  year  323  ;  but  his  spir 
it  was  still  unbroken,  and  while  Constantine 
was  occupied  in  the  siege  of  Byzantium,  he 
collected  a  numerous  force  of  raw  levies  to 
try  his  fortune  in  another  field.  The  battle 
•rf  Chrysoprlis  brought  the  contest  to  a  final 


decision.  Licinius  was  deprived  of  his  im 
penal  honors,  and  permitted  to  retire  to 
Thessalonica,  there  to  pass  the  remainder  of 
his  days  in  a  private  station.  But  Ccnstan- 
tine  had  not  magnanimity  enough  to  observe 
the  conditions  he  had  imposed  en  himself. 
The  deposed  emperor  was  soon  afterwards 
accused  of  intriguing  with  foreign  powers 
for  his  restoration,  and  the  victor  did  not 
scruple  to  secure  his  own  supremacy  by  put 
ting  his  last  rival  to  death.  The  family  com 
pact  devised  by  the  astute  Diocletian,  re 
sulted,  in  the  second  generation,  in  the  re-es 
tablishment  of  an  undivided  monarchy . 

Conscious  of  his  own  energy  and  abili 
ties,  and  sensible  of  the  inherent  weakness  of 
the  scheme  for  dividing  the  imperial  powers 
devised  by  his  predecessor,  Constantine  de 
termined  to  retain  in  his  own  hand  the  scep 
tre  of  the  united  empire,  while  he  contrived 
a  more  elaborate  scheme  for  lightening  the 
burden  it  imposed  upon  him.  The  original 
policy  of  Augustus,  according  to  which  the 
emperor  was  regarded  as  the  delegate  of  the 
state,  and  his  functions  were  only  those  of 
the  various  popular  magistracies  co-nbined 
together  in  one  person,  had  become  utterly 
obliterated  for  at  least  i  century.  The  spe 
cious  constitutionalism  of  the  early  Cajsars 
had  vanished,  but  no  organized  system  of 
despotism  had  been  substituted  in  its  place. 
The  chiefs  of  the  state  had  been  content,  as 
we  have  seen,  to  rule  with  the  sword,  and  to 
announce  their  caprices  from  the  camp.  In 
return,  their  title  had  received  no  sanction 
in  the  feelings  of  their  subjects.  They  had 
been  accepted  by  the  Senate  and  the  people 
as  emperors  de  facto,  but  no  idea  of  right 
had  clung  to  their  names  and  titles,  no  honor 
had  been  paid  to  their  families,  no  respect 
shown  to  their  memories.  The  notion  of 
monarchical  government  had  been  in  a  state 
of  transition ;  the  old  foundations  had  per 
ished  ;  it  remained  for  Constantine  to  replace 
them  with  the  ideas  of  hereditary  succession, 
of  divine  right,  and  of  organized  adminis 
tration,  upon  which  they  have  subsisted 
throughout  Europe  to  the  present  day. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


571 


It  "was  only  in  the  oriental  courts  that  the 
imperial  reformer  could  find  the  exemplar  of 
government  by  which  to  shape  his  own  sys 
tem.  He  surrounded  his  own  person  with 
the  pomp  and  ceremony  of  Asiatic  sove 
reignty,  affecting  the  reserve  of  a  superior 
being,  and  allowing  access  to  him  only 
through  a  crowd  of  eunuchs,  chamberlains, 
and  ministers.  The  old  Roman  idea  of  the 
essential  equality  of  the  emperor  and  his 
chief  nobles  was  entirely  swept  away.  A 
complete  separation  was  made  between  the 
civil  and  military  authorities ;  and  again  the 
vital  principle  of  the  ancient  republic,  ac 
cording  to  which  every  citizen  was  a  soldier, 
and  the  chief  civil  magistracies  wielded  the 
power  of  the  sword,  was  finally  abolished. 
All  the  great  offices  of  state  were  according 
ly  remodelled,  with  new  titles  suited  to  the 
new  arrangements.  They  were  classed  in 
the  three  ranks  of  Illustres,  Spectabiles,  and 
Clarissimi,  and  distributed  among  the  three 
departments  of  the  court,  the  army,  and  the 
civil  service.  The  officers  of  the  court  and 
of  state  were  chiefly  the  lords  of  the  bed 
chamber  and  the  palace,  with  special  minis 
ters  of  finance,  of  justice,  of  the  interior,  of 
the  crown  revenues,  and  of  the  household 
guards.  The  army  was  controlled  by  a  com- 
inander-in-chief,  assisted  by  generals  of  in 
fantry  and  generals  of  cavalry,  and  below 
these  were  officers  of  inferior  rank,  known 
as  dukes  (duces)  and  counts  (comites).  The 
civil  department  was  divided  into  four  great 
prefectures:  those  of  the  east,  including 
Thrace  and  the  Asiatic  provinces ;  of  Italy, 
comprising  Italy,  Rhoetia,  Noricum  and  Af 
rica;  of  Illyricum,  embracing  Illyricum, 
Pannonia,  Macedonia,  and  Greece ;  and  of 
Gaul,  which  comprehended  the  provinces  of 
western  Europe.  Under  the  four  prefects 
were  thirteen  high  functionaries,  wrho  pre 
sided  over  the  thirteen  dioceses  into  which 
the  prefectures  were  subdivided,  and  who 
were  known  by  the  titles  of  comites  or  vica- 
rii.  Asia,  Africa,  and  Achaia  were  govern 
ed  by  pro-consuls,  and  the  whole  number  of 
provinces,  each  under  a  separate  but  depen- 
73 


dent  governor,  a  pro-consul,  a  corrector,  a 
consularis,  or  a  praesidens,  amounted  to  117. 
The  department  of  the  imperial  court  was  oc 
cupied  by  seven  high  functionaries,  of  a  char 
acter  entirely  new  in  the  history  of  the  Roman 
monarchy.  The  chief  of  these  was  theprceposi- 
tus  sacri  cubiculi,  or  lord  chamberlain ;  next 
to  him  the  magister  officiorum,  who  may  be 
compared  to  a  modern  minister  of  home  af 
fairs;  the  quozstor,  or  lord  chancellor  and 
keeper  of  the  seals;  the  comes  sacrarum 
largitionum,  or  chancellor  of  the  public  ex 
chequer;  the  comes  rerum  privatarum  divi- 
nce  domus,  or  lord  of  the  privy  purse ;  and 
finally,  two  comites  domesticorurn,  or  cap 
tains  of  the  imperial  body-guard.  While 
the  machinery  of  government  was  thus  re 
constructed,  the  finances  by  which  it  was  to 
be  kept  in  motion  were  placed  upon  a  new 
footing.  We  may  suppose  that  for  many 
years  the  collection  of  the  revenues  had  fall 
en  into  the  utmost  confusion.  It  had  be 
come  necessary  to  review  the  entire  basis  of 
the  land-tax,  the  most  permanent  and  certain 
source  of  the  imperial  revenues ;  and  the  In 
dictions,  or  fifteen  years'  settlements,  which 
became  important  eras  for  the  chronology  of 
succeeding  ages,  are  dated  from  the  acquisi 
tion  of  Italy  by  Constantine,  in  the  year  312. 
The  Christian  church,  which  the  emperor 
determined  to  convert  into  a  great  instrument 
of  government,  was  already  modeled  to  his 
hand  in  the  hierarchical  form  in  which  he 
desired  to  cast  the  state.  Its  metropolitans, 
its  primates,  its  archbishops  and  bishops,  with 
the  inferior  classes  of  clergy,  formed  a  spir 
itual  subordination  of  powers  similar  to  that 
which  he  introduced  into  the  civil  adminis 
tration,  and  quite  unlike  anything  which  had 
existed  in  the  sacerdotal  arrangements  of 
Greek  and  Roman  antiquity.  The  Roman? 
had  never  recognized  a  distinction  between 
clergy  and  laity;  they  had  never  admitted 
the  powers  of  priestly  absolution  or  excom 
munication;  the  idea  of  a  spiritual  authority 
independent  of  the  civil  was  totally  alien 
from  their  vJews  of  polity.  But  undoubtedly 
the  spread  of  Christian  ideas,  and  the  grad- 


578 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


ual  decay  of  those  which  weremos*  essential 
ly  opposed  to  them,  had  rendered  tnee3  prin 
ciples  more  and  more  familiar  to  subjects  and 
rulers ;  and  Constantino  was  struck  with  the 
vast  influence  they  evidently  exercised  over 
the  minds  of  their  votaries,  and  was  prepar 
ed  to  subject  his  own  fervid  imagination  to 
their  control.  When  he  found  that  the  Chris 
tian  priesthood  had  discovered  a  way  of  rec 
onciling  their  own  spiritual  claims  with  a 
technical  supremacy  in  the  ruler  of  the  state, 
he  was  satisfied  with  the  terms  of  the  alliance 
they  offered  to  him,  and  quickly  determined 
to  exchange  the  toleration  he  had  already 
extended  to  their  religion  for  special  favor 
and  formal  establishment.  The  revenues 
bequeathed  in  past  times  by  private  piety  to 
the  uses  rf  Christian  worship,  which  had  been 
confiscated  under  the  persecutors  of  the  faith, 
were  sedulously  restored,  the  Christian  tem 
ples  repaired  and  reopened,  many  public  halls 
01  lasilicce  especially  appropriated  to  Chris 
tian  use,  and  fresh  endowments  secured  to 
them;  the  bishops  and  ministers  of  the  Chris 
tian  religion  were  invited  to  court,  and  placed 
in  situations  of  trust  and  favor  about  the 
emperor's  person.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
institutions  of  pagan  worship  were  placed 
under  many  jealous  restrictions ;  the  old  dis 
tinction  between  public  and  private,  licensed 
and  unlicensed  cults,  was  harshly  enforced, 
and  many  shrines  shut  up,  many  special  ser 
vices  abolished.  The  civil  laws  against  im 
morality  and  indecency  were  applied  to 
many  licentious  usages  connected  with  the 
heathen  ceremonies ;  and,  discountenanced 
as  the  ancient  worship  was  by  the  emperor 
and  the  court,  it  may  be  supposed  that  the 
magistrates  were  often  tempted  to  stretch 
the  powers  accorded  them  by  legislative  en 
actments  to  the  control  and  oven  the  perse 
cution  of  tl.e  falling  faith.  Personally,  in 
deed,  Constantine  still  halted  between  two 
opinions.  Up  to  the  age  of  forty  at  least 
(A.D.  314),  he  continued  to  make  public  pro 
fession  of  paganism,  although  he  had  already 
struck  severe  blows  against  its  interests  as 
well  as  its  pride  of  exclusiveness.  His  de 


votion  was  divided  between  the  gods  of 
Olympus  on  the  one  hand,  and  Christ  and 
the  saints  of  Christendom  on  the  other.  Aa 
late  as  the  year  321  he  insisted  on  consulting 
the  Haruspices.  The  consolidation  of  his 
power  confirmed  his  wavering  confidence  ic 
the  Being  whose  favor  he  was  assured  he  had 
gained,  even  by  the  limited  honor  he  had 
paid  to  him.  After  the  defeat  of  Licinius 
he  surrendered  his  conscience  to  his  favorite 
bishop,  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  allowed  his 
children  to  be  educated  as  Christians,  and 
assumed  without  scruple  the  headship  of  the 
Church,  and  the  presidency  in  its  councils, 
which  its  rulers  freely  tendered  to  him.  It 
was  not,  however,  till  he  felt  the  approaches 
of  a  mortal  disease,  in  the  sixty-third  year 
of  his  life,  that  he  finally  enrolled  himself 
among  the  converts  to  Christianity,  by  sub 
mitting  to  the  rite  of  baptism,  which  he  was 
taught  to  regard  as  the  pledge  of  a  blessed 
death  rather  than  the  token  of  a  new  life. 

The  policy  indeed  of  the  emperor,  raised 
to  a  precarious  elevation,  and  maintaining 
himself  by  force  or  craft  against  innumera 
ble  jealousies  and  animosities,  was  constantly 
demanding  the  perpetration  of  some  crime 
which  struck  his  awal  ened  conscience  with 
horror  and  alarm,  though  he  had  not  courage 
and  religious  confidence  to  repudiate  it.  His 
execution  of  his  son  Crispus  is  still  the  deep 
est  stain  upon  a  character  which,  notwith 
standing  its  many  great  qualities,  must  ever 
be  subject  to  the  charge  of  dissimulation  and 
cruelty.  There  seems  reason  for  questioning 
the  justice  of  the  charge  commonly  made 
against  him,  of  having  caused  the  assassina- 

O  o 

tion  of  his  wife  Fausta ;  and  generally  we 
must  remember  that  the  hostility  of  the  pagan 
writers  is  quite  as  marked  in  their  account 
of  this  prince  as  the  favor  of  the  Christians. 
It  is  to  the  encomiums  of  the  latter,  no  doubt, 
that  he  owes  the  appellation  of  "  the  Great," 
which  has  been  appended  in  after  ages  to  In3 
name ;  nevertheless  so  distinguished  a  title  is 
not  undeserved  by  one  who,  not  to  mention 
his  claims  to  the  respect  of  Christian  poste 
rity,  effected  the  consolidation  of  a  vast  un- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


571) 


wieldj  empire  by  his  personal  valor  and 
ability,  and  maintained  it  in  honor  and  pros 
perity  against  all  enemies,  foreign  and  do 
mestic,  for  more  than  thirty  years.  In  the 
history  of  the  Christian  church  he  assumes 
a  prominent  place,  from  the  zeal  with  which 
he  devoted  himself  to  adjusting  the  dogmatic 
differences  which  prevailed  in  it  during  his 
roign;  and  especially  from  the  council  of 
Nicrea,  at  which  he  presided  in  the  year  325, 
in  which  the  orthodox  creed  was  triumphantly 
established.  But  with  this,  and  with  the 
controversies  which  followed,  the  history  of 
Rome  has  nothing  to  do.  We  have  felt,  dur 
ing  our  account  of  the  last  hundred  years 
or  more,  how  far  we  have  drifted  away  from 
the  ideas  which  animated  the  records  of  Rome 
during  the  earlier  periods  of  her  existence. 
We  can  with  difficulty  recognize  any  bond 
of  continuity  between  the  Rome  of  the  lower 
empire  and  that  of  Augustus  and  the  Scipios. 
From  the  time  that  all  the  subjects  of  the 
empire  became  comprehended  in  a  common 
citizenship  we  have  lost  all  interest  in  the 
name  of  Romans.  Since  the  edict  of  Gal- 
lienus,  which  interdicted  military  service  to 
the  senators,  we  have  ceased  to  regard  the 
nobles  of  the  capital  as  an  element  in  the 
policy  of  the  state.  The  armies  of  the  em 
pire  have  long  been  composed  almost  wholly 
of  subsidized  barbarians,  and  been  led  almost 
\vi  thout  exception  by  provincials,  half  barba 
rians  themselves.  Roman  literature,  which 
revived  from  the  false  taste  of  the  silver  age 
j>f  Nero  and  Domitian,  and  produced  a  school 


at/least  of  correct  imitators  under  the  Anto- 
mncs  and  Severi,  perished  utterly  in  the  age 
which  followed,  or  was  transferred  to  the 
camp  of  the  Christians,  and  became  the  in 
heritance  of  Gauls,  Africans,  and  Asiatics. 
The  contempt  and  decrepitude  into  which 
Rome  had  fallen  is  finally  marked  by  the  in 
cident,  which  may  on  some  accounts  be  con 
sidered  the  most  memorable  in  the  memora 
ble  reign  of  Constantino — the  foundation  of 
the  new  Rome  on  the  Bosphorus,  to  which 
he  gave  the  name  of  Constantinople,  and 
which  he  made  the  seat  of  his  government 
and  the  capital  of  the  Roman  empire.     It 
was  in  the  year  330  that  this  revolution  was 
effected.     Though  Rome,  as  we  Lave  seen, 
had  long  ceased  to  be  the  residence  even  of 
the  western  emperors,  her  influence,  and  in 
some  sense  her  authority,   as  a  metropolis, 
might  still  be  recognized  as  long  as  no  rival 
was  formally  installed  in  the  place  of  honor 
she  had  so  long  held  unquestioned.     The  re 
moval  of  the  seat  of  empire  to  the  East  car 
ried  away  many  of  the  ancient  families  still 
surviving  in  the  palaces  of  the  republic ;  it 
converted  the  descendants,  if  any  still  remain 
ed,  of  the  Claud ii  and  Cornelii  into  Greeks 
and  Asiatics.     It  left  to  ancient  Rome  her 
name,  her  buildings,  a  more  obstinate  attach 
ment  to  old  forms  and  traditions,  to  the  old 
pagan  cult,  and  to  the  observation  of  heathen 
auguries ;  but  it  broke  for  ever  the  continuity 
of  her  political  history,  which  must  hence 
forth  be  transferred  to  another  centre  and  as 
sume  another  title. 


580 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


THE    EMPIRE    OF    THE    EAST. 


CONSTANTINOPLE,  anciently  Byzau- 
tium,  became  the  seat  of  empire  under 
Constantine  the  Great.  Its  removal  to  this 
quarter  is  generally  considered  as  having 
been  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  sud 
den  decline  of  the  western  empire  after  this 
period. 

In  the  year  332  the  Sarmatians  implored 
Constantine's  assistance  against  the  Goths, 
who  had  made  an  irruption  into  their  terri 
tories,  and  destroyed  every  thing  by  fire  and 
Bword.  The  emperor  readily  granted  their 
request,  and  gained  a  complete  victory. 
Nearly  a  hundred  thousand  of  the  enemy 
perished,  either  in  the  battle,  or  after  it  from 
hunger  and  cold.  In  consequence  of  this 
overthrow  the  Goths  were  obliged  to  sue  for 
peace  ;  but  the  ungrateful  Sarmatians  were 
no  sooner  delivered  from  their  enemies  than 
they  turned  their  arms  against  their  benefac 
tor,  and  ravaged  the  provinces  of  Moesia  and 
Thrace.  The  emperor,  having  received  in 
telligence  of  this  treachery,  returned  with  in 
credible  expedition,  cut  great  numbers  of 
them  in  pieces,  and  obliged  the  remainder  to 
submit  to  such  terms  as  he  pleased  to  impose. 

Constantine  seems  to  have  been  a  prince 
very  highly  respected,  even  by  distant  na 
tions.  In  the  year  333,  according  to  Eusebi- 
us,  ambassadors  arrived  at  Constantinople 
from  the  Blemyes,  Indians,  Ethiopians,  and 
Persians,  to  solicit  his  friendship.  They 
were  received  in  a  most  gracious  manner; 
and  having  ascertained  from  the  ambassadors 
of  Sapor,  king  of  Persia,  that  there  were 


great  numbers  of  Christians  in  their  i  ftaster  a 
dominions,  Constantine  wrote  a  letter  in 
their  behalf  to  the  Persian  monarch. 

Next  year  the  Sarmatians  being  again  at 
tacked  by  the  Goths,  found  themselves 
obliged  to  set  at  liberty  and  to  arm  their 
slaves  against  the  assailants.  By  this  means 
they  were  enabled  to  overcome  the  Goths ; 
but  the  victorious  slaves  turning  their  arms 
against  their  masters,  drove  the  latter  out  of 

O  ' 

the  country.  This  misfortune  obliged  them, 
to  the  number  of  three  hundred  thousand,  to 
apply  for  relief  to  the  Roman  emperor,  who 
incorporated  with  his  legions  such  of  them  as 
were  capable  of  service,  and  gave  settlements 
to  the  remainder  in  Thrace,  Scythia,  Mace 
donia,  and  Italy.  This  was  the  last  remark 
able  action  of  Constantine  the  Great.  He 
died  on  15th  May,  337,  after  having  divided 
the  empire  among  his  children  and  nephews. 
Constantine,  his  eldest  son.  obtained  GuuL, 
Spain,  and  Britain  ;  Constantius,  the  second, 
Asia,  Syria,  and  Egypt  •  and  Constans,  the 
youngest,  Illyricum,  IrAiy,  and  Africa.  To 
his  nephew  Dalmatius  he  gave  Thrace,  Mace 
donia,  and  Achaia ;  and  to  King  Annibalia- 
nus,  his  other  nephew,  Armenia  Minor,  Pon- 
tus,  Cappadocia,  and  the  city  of  Cresarea, 
which  he  desired  might  be  the  capital  of  his 
kingdom. 

After  the  death  of  Constantine  the  army 
and  senate  proclaimed  his  three  sons  ernper- 
ors  without  taking  any  notice  of  his  two 
nephews,  who  were  soon  afterwards  murder 
ed,  with  J  nlius  Constantius  the  late  emperor's 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


581 


brother,  and  all  their  friends  and  adherents. 
Thus  the  family  of  Constantine  was  at  once 
reduced  to  his  three  sons,  and  two  nephews, 
Gall  us  and  Julian,  the  sons  of  Julius  Con- 
fitantius ;  and  of  these  the  former  owed  his 
life  to  a  malady,  from  which  no  one  thought 
ho  could  recover,  and  the  latter  to  his  infancy, 
being  then  about  seven  years  of  age.  The 
three  brothers  divided  among  themselves  the 
dominions  of  the  deceased  princes  ;  but  they 
did  not  long  agree  together.  In  340,  Con- 
Btantine,  having  in  vain  solicited  Constans  to 
yield  to  him  part  of  Italy,  raised  a  consider 
able  army,  and,  under  pretence  of  marching 
to  the  assistance  of  his  brother  Constantius, 
who  was  then  at  war  with  the  Persians,  made 
himself  master  of  several  places  in  Italy. 
Upon  this  Constans  detached  part  of  his 
army  against  him  ;  and  Constantine,  having 
been  drawn  into  an  ambuscade  near  Aqui- 
leia,  was  cut  off  with  his  whole  force.  His 
body  was  thrown  into  the  river  Ansa ;  but 
being  afterwards  discovered,  it  was  sent  to 
Constantinople,  and  interred  there  near  the 
tomb  of  Constantine. 

l>y  the  defeat  and  death  of  his  brother, 
Constans  remained  sole  master  of  all  the 
western  part  of  the  empire,  in  the  quiet  pos 
session  of  which  he  continued  till  the  year 
350.  This  year  Magnentius,  the  son  of  one 
Magnus,  a  native  of  Germany,  finding  that 
Constans  was  despised  by  the  army  on  ac 
count  of  his  indolence  and  inactivity,  resolved 
to  murder  him,  and  set  up  fur  himself.  Hav 
ing  found  means  to  gain  over  to  his  designs 
the  principal  officers  of  the  army,  he  seized 
on  the  imperial  palace  at  Autun,  distributed 
among  the  populace  the  sums  which  he 
found  there,  and  thus  induced  not  only  the 
dty,  but  the  neighboring  country,  to  espouse 
his  cause.  Constans,  informed  of  what  had 
passed,  and  unable  to  resist  the  usurper,  fled 
towards  Spain.  He  was,  however,  overtaken 
by  Gaiso,  whom  Magnentius  had  sent  after 
him  with  a  chosen  body  of  troops,  and  dis 
patched  with  many  wounds,  at  Helena,  a 
email  village  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  Py 
renees 


Thus  Constantius  acquired  a  right  to  the 
whole  Roman  empire,  though  one  half  of  it 
had  been  seized  by  Magnentius  after  the 
murder  of  Constans.  The  former  had  been 
engaged  in  a  war  with  the  Persians,  in  which 
little  advantage  was  gained  on  either  side  ; 
but  as  the  Persians  now  gave  him  scarcely 
any  disturbance,  the  emperor  marched 
against  the  usurpers  in  the  West.  Besides 
Magnentius,  there  were  at  that  time  two 
other  pretenders  to  the  western  empire. 
Yeteranio,  general  of  infantry  in  Pannonia, 
had,  on  the  first  news  of  the  death  of  Con 
stans,  caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  em 
peror  by  the  legions  under  his  command. 
He  was  a  native  of  upper  Mcesia,  and  ad 
vanced  in  years  when  he  usurped  the  sov 
ereignty,  but  so  illiterate  that  he  then  for 
the  first  time  learned  to  read.  The  third 
pretender  was  Flavius  Popilius  Nepotianus, 
son  of  Eutropia,  the  sister  of  Constantine  the 
Great.  Having  assembled  a  company  of 
gladiators  and  men  of  desperate  fortunes, 
this  person  assumed  the  purple  on  the  3d  of 
June,  350,  and  in  that  attire  presented  him 
self  before  the  gates  of  Rome.  The  prefect 
Anicetus,  who  commanded  there  for  Mag- 

*  O 

nentius,  sallied  out  against  him  with  a  body 
of  Romans,  who,  however,  were  soon  driven 
back  into  the  city.  Soon  afterwards  Nepo- 
tianus  made  himself  master  of  the  city  itself, 
which  he  filled  with  blood  and  slaughter. 

~ 

Magnentius  being  informed  of  what  had  hap 
pened,  sent  against  this  new  competitor  his 
chief  favorite  and  prime  minister  Marcellinus. 
Nepotianus  received  him  with  great  resolu 
tion;  and  a  bloody  battle  ensued  between 
the  soldiers  of  Magnentius  and  the  Romans 
who  had  espoused  the  cause  of  BTepotianus ; 
but  the  latter  being  betrayed  by  a  senator 
named  Heraclitus,  his  men  were  put  to  flight, 
and  he  himself  killed,  after  having  enjoyed 
the  sovereignty  only  twenty-eight  da}*s. 
Marcellinus  ordered  his  head  to  be  carried 
on  the  point  of  a  lance  through  the  principal 
streets  of  the  city ;  put  to  death  all  those 
who  had  declared  for  him  ;  and,  under  pre 
tence  of  preventing  disturbances,  commanded 


582 


HISTORY   OF    THE  WORLD 


a  general  massacre  of  all  the  relations  of  Con 
stantino.  Soon  afterwards  Magnentius  himself 
came  to  Rome  to  make  the  necessary  prepara 
tions  for  resisting  Constant! us,  who  was  exert 
ing  himself  to  the  utmost  in  order  to  revenge 
the  death  of  his  brother.  In  the  city  he  behav 
ed  most  tyranically,  putting  to  death  many 
persons  of  distinction  in  order  to  seize  their  es 
tates,  and  obliging  others  to  contribute  half 
of  all  they  were  worth  towards  the  expense 
of  the  war.  Having  by  this  means  raised  a 
great  sum,  he  assembled  a  mighty  army, 
composed  of  Romans,  Germans,  Gauls, 
Franks,  Britons,  Spaniards,  and  other  nations ; 
and  at  the  same  time,  dreading  the  uncertain 
issues  of  wrar,  he  despatched  ambassadors  to 
Constantius  with  proposals  of  accommoda 
tion.  Constantius  set  out  from  Antioch 
about  the  beginning  of  autumn,  and,  passing 
through  Constantinople,  arrived  at  Heraclea, 
where  he  was  met  by  deputies  from  Mag 
nentius  and  Yeteranio,  who  had  agreed  to 
support  each  other  in  case  the  emperor  would 
hearken  to  no  terms.  The  deputies  of  Mag 
nentius  proposed  in  his  name  a  match  be 
tween  him  and  Constant! a,  or  rather  Con 
stant  ina,  the  sister  of  Constantius  and  widow 
of  Annibalianus,  offering  at  the  same  time 
to  Constantius  the  sister  of  Magnentius.  At 
first  the  emperor  would  listen  to  no  terms ; 
but  afterwards,  that  he  might  not  be  obliged 
to  contend  with  two  enemies  at  once,  he  con 
cluded  a  separate  treaty  with  Yeteranio,  by 
which  he  agreed  to  adopt  him  as  his  partner 
in  the  empire.  But  when  Yeteranio  ascend 
ed  the  tribunal  along  with  Constantius,  the 
eoldiers  pulled  him  down,  crying  out  that 
they  would  acknowledge  no  other  emperor 
than  Constantius.  Upon  this  Yeteranio 
threw  himself  at  the  emperor's  feet  and  im 
plored  his  mercy.  Constantius  received  him 
with  great  kindness,  and  sent  him  to  Prusa, 
m  Bithynia,  where  he  allowed  him  a  main 
tenance  suitable  to  his  quality. 

Constantius,  now  master  of  Illyricum,  and 
of  the  army  commanded  by  Yeteranio,  re 
solved  to  march  without  delay  against  Mag 
nentius.  In  thn  mean  time,  however,  being: 

J  /  ~ 


informed  that  the  Persians  were  preparing 
to  invade  the  eastern  provinces,  he  married 
his  sister  Constantina  to  his  cousin-german 
Gallus,  created  him  Caesar  on  the  15th  of 
March,  and  allotted  him  as  his  share  not  only 
all  the  East,  but  likewise  Thrace  and  Con 
stantinople.  About  the  same  time  Magnen 
tius  conferred  the  title  of  Caesar  on  his  bro 
ther  Decentius,  whom  he  dispatched  intc 
Gaul  to  defend  that  country  against  the  bar 
barians  who  had  invaded  it ;  for  Constantiug 
had  not  only  stirred  up  the  Franks  and  Sax 
ons  to  break  into  that  province,  by  promising 
to  relinquish  to  them  all  the  places  which 
they  should  conquer,  but  had  sent  them  large 
supplies  of  men  and  arms  foi  the  purpose. 
On  this  encouragement  the  barbarians  invad 
ed  Gaul  with  a  mighty  army,  overthrew  De 
centius  in  a  pitched  battle,  committed  every 
where  dreadful  ravages,  and  reduced  the 
country  to  a  most  deplorable  situation.  In 
the  mean  time  Magnentius  having  assembled 
a  numerous  army,  left  Italy,  and  crossing 
the  Alps,  advanced  into  the  plains  of  Panno 
nia,  where  Constantius,  whose  main  strength 
consisted  in  cavalry,  waited  his  approach. 
Magnentius  hearing  that  his  competitor  had 
encamped  at  a  small  distance,  invited  him 
by  a  messenger  to  proceed  to  the  extensive 
plains  of  Sciscia,  on  the  Save,  there  to  decide 
wrhich  of  them  had  the  best  title  to  the  em 
pire.  This  challenge  Constantius  received 
with  great  joy ;  but  as  his  troops  marched 
towards  Sciscia  in  disorder,  they  fell  into  an 
ambuscade,  and  were  put  to  flight  with 
great  slaughter.  This  success  so  elated 
Magnentius  that  he  rejected  the  terms  of 
peace  which  were  now  offered  by  Constan 
tius  ;  bat  after  some  time  a  general  engage 
ment  ensued  at  Mursa,  in  which  Magnei^tius 
was  entirely  defeated,  with  the  loss  of  twenty- 
four  thousand  men. 

After  his  defeat  at  Mursa,  Magnentius  re 
tired  into  Italy,  where  he  recruited  his  shat 
tered  forces  as  well  as  he  could.  But  in  the 
beginning  of  the  following  year,  352,  Con 
staritius,  having  assembled  his  troops,  sur 
prised  and  took,  without  the  oss  of  a  man, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


583 


strong  castle  on  the  Julian  Alps  belonging  to 
Magnentius.  After  tliis  tlie  emperor  ad- 
vanced  in  order  to  force  the  remainder  ;  up 
on  which  Magnentius,  struck  with  terror, 
immediately  abandoned  Aquileia,  and  order 
ed  the  troops  who  guarded  the  other  passes 
of  the  zilps  to  follow  him.  Thus  Constanti- 
us  having  entered  Italy  without  opposition, 
made  himself  master  of  Aquileia,  and  thence 
advanced  to  Pavia,  where  Magnentius  gained 
a  considerable  advantage  over  him.  Not 
withstanding  this  loss,  however,  Constantius 
reduced  the  whole  country  bordering  on  the 
Po,  and  Magnentius' s  men  deserted  to  him 
in  whole  troops,  delivering  up  the  places 
which  they  had  garrisoned ;  which  circum-  | 
stances  so  disheartened  the  tyrant,  that  he 
left  Italy,  and  retired  with  all  his  forces  into 
Gaul.  Soon  after  this,  Africa,  Sicily,  and 
Spain,  declared  for  Constantius,  upon  which 
Magnentius  sent  a  senator,  and  after  him 
some  bishops,  to  negotiate  a  peace ;  but  the 
emperor  treated  the  senator  as  a  spy,  and 
bent  back  the  bishops  without  any  answer. 
Magnentius  now  finding  that  his  affairs  were 
desperate,  and  that  there  were  no  hopes  of 
pardon,  recruited  his  army  in  the  best  man 
ner  he  could,  and  despatched  an  assassin  into 
the  East  to  murder  Gallus  Caesar;  hoping 
that  the  death  of  the  latter  would  oblige  the 
emperor  to  withdraw  his  forces  from  Gaul, 
and  to-  march  in  person  for  the  defence  of 
the  eastern  provinces,  which  were  threatened 
by  the  Persians.  The  assassin  gained  over 
Borne  of  Gallus's  guards ;  but  the  plot  being 
discovered  before  it  could  be  put  in  execu 
tion,  they  were  all  seized  and  executed  as 
traitors. 

In  the  year  353,  the  war  against  Magnen 
tius  was  carried  on  with  more  vigor  than 
ever,  and  at  last  happily  ended  by  a  battle 
fought  in  the  higher  Dauphiny.  Magnenti 
us,  being  defeated,  took  shelter  in  Lyons ; 
but  the  few  soldiers  who  attended  him,  de 
spairing  of  any  further  success,  resolved  to 
purchase  the  emperor's  favor  by  delivering 
up  his  rival,  the  author  of  so  calamitous  a  j 
war.  Accordingly  they  surrounded  the 


house  where  he  lodged;  upcn  which  the 
tyrant  in  despair  slew  with  his  own  hand  hig 
mother,  his  brother  Desiderius,  whom  he  had 
created  Caesar,  and  such  of  his  friends 
relations  as  were  with  him;  and  then 
his  sword  in  a  wall,  threw  himself  upon  it, 
in  order  to  avoid  a  more  shameful  death, 
which  he  had  every  reason  to  apprehend. 

After  the  death  of  Maguentius,  his  brothei 
Decentius  Caesar,  who  was  marching  to  hia 
assistance,  and  had  already  reached  Sens, 
finding  himself  surrounded  on  all  sides  by 
the  emperor's  forces,  chose  rather  to  strangle 
himself  than  to  fall  alive  into  the  hands  of 
his  enemies.  Thus  Constantius  was  left  sole 
master  of  the  Roman  empire.  His  panegyr 
ists  tells  us  that,  after  his  victory,  he  be 
haved  with  the  greatest  humanity,  forgiving 
and  receiving  into  favor  his  greatest  enemies ; 
but  other  historians  affirm  that  Constantiug 
now  became  haughty,  imperious,  and  cruel, 
of  which  disposition  many  instances  arc 
given. 

This  year  the  empire  was  subjected  to  the 
most  grievous  calamities.  Gaul  was  ravaged 
by  the  barbarians  beyond  the  Rhine,  and 
the  disbanded  troops  of  Magnentius.  At 
Koine,  the  populace  rose  on  account  of  a 
scarcity  of  provisions.  In  Asia,  the  Isaurian 
robbers  overran  Lycaonia  and  Pamphylia, 
and  even  laid  siege  to  Seleucia,  a  city  of 
great  strength,  of  which,  however,  they  fail 
ed  to  make  themselves  masters.  At  the 
same  time  the  Saracens  committed  dreadful 
ravages  in  Mesopotamia ;  and  the  Persians 
also  invaded  the  province  of  Anthemusia  on 
the  Euphrates.  But  the  eastern  provinces 
were  not  so  much  harassed  by  the  barbarians 
as  by  Gallus  Caesar  himself,  who  ought  to 
have  protected  them.  That  prince  was  na 
turally  of  a  cruel,  haughty,  and  tyrannical 
disposition,  and  being  elated  with  his  sue 
cesses  against  the  Persians,  he  behaved  rnu*e 
like  a  tyrant  and  a  madman  than  a  govenu  r. 
His  natural  cruelty  is  said  to  have  been 
heightened  by  the  instigations  of  his  wife 
Constantina,  who  is  styled  by  Ammianua 
the  Megcera,  or  fury  of  her  sex ;  and  he  adds, 


584 


HISTOEY  OF   THE  AVOKLD. 


that  her  ambition  was  equal  to  her  cruelty. 
Thus  all  the  provinces  and  cities  in  the  East 
were  filled  with  blood  and  slaughter.  No 
man,  however  innocent,  coi  Id  be  sure  to  live 
or  enjoy  his  estate  a  whole  day ;  for  Gallus's 
temper  being  equally  suspicious  and  cruel, 
those  who  had  any  private  enemies  took  care 
to  accuse  them  of  crimes  against  the  state, 
and  with  Gallus  to  be  accused  was  to  be  con 
demned.  At  last  the  emperor  being  inform 
ed  from  all  quarters  of  the  evil  conduct  of 
his  brother-in-law,  and  being  at  the  same 
time  told  that  he  had  aspired  at  the  sover 
eignty,  resolved  upon  his  ruin.  For  this 
purpose  he  wrote  letters  to  Gallus  and  Con- 
stantina,  inviting  both  of  them  to  repair  to 
Italy.  Though  they  had  each  sufficient  rea 
son  to  dread  the  worst,  yet  they  durst  not 
venture  to  disobey  the  emperor's  express 
command.  Constantina,  who  was  well  ac 
quainted  with  her  brother's  temper,  and 
hoped  to  pacify  him  by  her  artful  insinua 
tions,  set  out  first,  leaving  Gallus  at  An- 
tioch ;  but  she  had  scarcely  entered  the  pro 
vince  of  Bithynia  when  she  was  seized  with 
a  fever,  which  put  an  end  to  her  life.  Gal 
lus  now  despairing  of  being  able  to  appease 
his  sovereign,  thought  of  revolting  openly ; 
but  most  of  his  friends  having  deserted  him 
on  account  of  his  inconstant  and  cruel  tem 
per,  he  was  at  last  obliged  to  submit  to  the 
pleasure  of  Constantius.  He  advanced, 
therefore,  according  to  his  orders;  but  at 
Petavium  he  was  arrested,  stripped  of  all  the 
ensigns  of  his  dignity,  and  thence  carried  to 
Fianona,  now  Fianone,  in  Dalmatia,  where 
lie  was  examined  by  two  of  his  most  invete 
rate  enemies.  He  confessed  most  of  the 
crimes  laid  to  his  charge  ;  but  urged  as  an 
excuse  the  evil  counsels  of  his  wife  Constan 
tina.  The  emperor,  provoked  at  this  plea, 
which  reflected  en  his  sister,  and  instigated 
by  the  enemies  of  Gallus,  signed  a  warrant 
for  his  execution,  wh'ch  was  accordingly 
2arried  into  effect. 

During  th:.3  time  the  emperor  had  been 
engaged  in  h  "war  with  the  Germans;  he 
had  marched  against  them  in  person  ;  and, 


though  he  gained  no  important  advantage; 
the  barbarians  thought  proper  to  make  peace 
with  him.  Tliis,  however,  was  out  short 
lived.  No  sooner  had  the  Eoman  army 
withdrawn  than  they  began  to  make  new 
inroads  into  the  empire.  Constantius  dis 
patched  Arbetio  with  the  flower  of  the  army 
against  them  ;  but  the  latter  fel1  into  an 
ambuscade,  and  was  put  to  flight,  with  the 
loss  of  a  great  number  of  men.  This,  how 
ever,  was  soon  retrieved  by  the  valor  of 
Arinthaeus,  and  of  two  other  officers,  who, 
falling  upon  the  Germans  without  waiting 
for  the  orders  of  their  general,  put  the  bar 
barians  to  flight,  and  obliged  them  to  with 
draw  from  the  Roman  territories. 

The  tranquillity  of  the  empire  which  en 
sued  on  this  repulse  of  the  Germans,  was 
soon  interrupted  by  a  pretended  conspiracy, 
which,  in  the  end,  produced  a  real  one 
Sylvanus,  a  leading  man  among  the  Franks 
commanded  in  Gaul,  and  had  there  perform 
ed  great  exploits  against  the  barbarians.  Hi- 
had  been  raised  to  this  post  by  Arbetio,  but 
only  with  the  design  of  removing  him  from 
the  emperor's  presence  in  order  to  accom 
plish  his  ruin,  which  he  succeeded  in  effect 
ing.  One  Dynames,  keeper  of  the  empe 
ror's  mules,  on  leaving  Gaul,  begged  of  Syl 
vanus  letters  of  recommendation  to  his 
friends  at  court,  which  being  granted,  the 
traitor  erased  from  them  all  but  the  sub 
scription.  He  then  inserted  directions  to 
the  friends  of  Sylvanus  for  carrying  on  a 
conspiracy  ;  and  delivering  these  forged  let 
ters  to  the  prefect  Lampidius,  they  were  by 
him  shown  to  the  emperor.  Thus  Sylvanus 
was  forced  to  revolt,  and  to  cause  himself 
to  be  proclaimed  emperor  by  the  troops 
under  his  command.  In  the  meantime, 
however,  Dynames  having  thought  proper 
to  forge  another  letter,  the  fraud  was  discov 
ered,  and  an  inquiry  set  on  foot,  which 
brought  the  whole  matter  to  light.  Syl 
vanus  was  now  declared  innocent,  and  let 
ters  were  sent  to  him  by  the  emperor,  con 
firming  him  in  his  post ;  but  these  had 
scarcely  been  dispatched  when  certain  newi 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOBLD. 


585 


arrived  at  court  of  Sylvanus  having  revolted 
and  caused  himself  tc  be  proclaimed  empe 
ror.  Constantius,  thunderstruck  at  this 
news,  dispatched  against  him  Ursicinus,  an 
officer  of  great  integrity,  as  well  as  valor 
\w«  experience  in  war  ;  who,  forgetting  his 
former  character,  pretended  to  be  Sylvanus's 
friend,  and  thus  found  means  to  cut  him  off 
by  treachery. 

The  barbarians,  who  had  hitherto  been 
kept  quiet  by  the  brave  Sylvanus,  no  sooner 
heard  of  his  death  than  they  broke  into 
Gaul  with  greater  fury  than  ever.  They 
took  and  pillaged  about  forty  cities,  and 
amongst  the  rest  Cologne,  which  they  level 
ed  with  the  ground.  At  the  same  time  the 
Quadi  and  Sarmatians  entering  Pannonia, 
destroyed  everything  by  fire  and  sword. 
The  Persians  also,  taking  advantage  of  the 
absence  of  Ursicinus,  overran,  without  oppo 
sition,  Armenia  and  Mesopotamia,  Prosper 
and  Mausonianus,  who  had  succeeded  that 
brave  commander  in  the  government  of  the 
East,  being  more  intent  upon  pillaging  than 
defending  the  provinces  committed  to  their 
care.  Constantius  not  thinking  it  advisable 
to  leave  Italy  himself,  resolved  at  last  to 
raise  his  cousin  Julian,  the  brother  of  Gallus, 
to  the  dignity  of  Caesar.  Julian,  it  seems, 
was  a  man  of  extraordinary  talent  and  abil 
ity  ;  for  although  before  this  time  he  had 
been  entirely  buried  in  obscurity,  and  con 
versed  only  with  books,  no  sooner  was  he 
put  at  the  head  of  an  army  than  be  behaved 
with  the  same  bravery,  conduct  and  expe 
rience,  as  if  he  had  been  all  his  life  bred  up 
to  the  practice  of  war.  He  was  appointed 
governor  of  Gaul ;  but  before  he  set  out, 
Constantius  gave  him  in  marriage  his  sister 
Helena,  and  made  him  many  valuable  pres 
ents.  At  the  same  time,  however,  the  jeal 
ous  emperor  greatly  limited  his  authority; 
gave  him  written  instructions  how  to  behave ; 
ordered  the  generals  who  served  under  him 
to  watch  all  his  actions  no  less  than  those  of 
the  enemy ;  and  strictlv  enjoined  Julian 
himself  not  to  give  any  largesses  to  the 
Boldiery. 

74 


Julian  set  out  from  Milan  on  the  first  of 
December  355,  the  emperor  himself  accom 
panying  him  as  far  as  Pavia,  whence  he  pur 
sued  his  journey  to  the  Alps,  attended  only 
by  three  hundred  and  sixty  soldiers.  On 
his  arrival  at  Turin  he  was  first  informed  of 
the  loss  of  Cologne,  which  had  been  kept 
concealed  from  the  emperor.  He  arrived 
at  Vienna  before  the  end  of  the  year,  and 
was  received  by  the  people  of  that  city  and 
the  neighborhood  with  extraordinary  joy. 

In  356,  the  barbarians  having  besieged 
Autun,  Julian  marched  with  what  forces 
he  could  raise  to  the  relief  of  the  place. 
When  he  arrived  there  he  found  the  siege 
had  been  raised  ;  on  which  he  went  in  pur 
suit  of  the  barbarians  to  Auxerre,  crossing 
with  no  small  danger  thick  woods  and  for 
ests,  from  Auxerre  to  Troves.  On  his  march 
he  was  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  bar 
barians,  who  moved  about  the  country  in 
great  bodies ;  but  he  put  them  to  flight  with 
a  handful  of  men,  cut  great  numbers  of 
them  in  pieces,  and  took  some  prisoners. 
From  Troyes  he  hastened  to  Eheims,  where 
the  main  body  of  the  army,  commanded  by 
Marcellus,  waited  his  arrival.  Leaving 
Rheims,  he  pursued  his  route  towards  De- 
cempagi,  now  Dieuze,  on  the  Seille,  in  Lor- 
rain,  with  the  design  of  opposing  the  Ger 
mans,  who  were  busy  in  ravaging  that 
province.  But  the  enemy  having  unexpect 
edly  attacked  his  rear,  would  have  cut  off 
two  legions,  had  not  the  rest  of  the  army, 
alarmed  at  the  sudden  noise,  turned  back  to 
their  assistance.  A  few  days  afterwards  he 
defeated  the  Germans,  though  with  great 
loss  to  his  own  army  ;  the  victory,  however, 
opened  him  the  way  to  Cologne.  This  city 
he  found  abandoned  by  the  barbarians. 
They  had  neglected  to  fortify  it ;  but  Juli 
an  commanded  the  ancient  fortifications  to 
be  repaired  with  all  possible  expedition,  and 
the  houses  to  be  rebuilt ;  after  whish  he 
retired  to  Sens,  and  there  took  up  his  winter 
quarters.  This  year  also  Constantius  enter 
ed  Germany  on  the  side  of  Rhaetia.  laid 
waste  the  country  far  and  wide,  and  obliged 


586 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD. 


the  barbarians  to  sue  for  peace,  winch  was 
readily  granted.  The  same  year  he  enacted 
two  laws ;  one  of  which  declared  it  capital 
to  sacrifice  or  pay  any  kind  of  worship  to 
idols ;  and  the  other  granted  the  effects  of 
condemned  persons  to  their  children  and  re 
lations  within  the .  third  degree,  except  in 
cases  of  magic  and  treason  ;  but  this  last  one 
he  revoked  two  years  after. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  357  the  bar 
barians  besieged  Julian  for  a  whole  month 
in  Sens  ;  Harcellus,  the  oommander-in-chief, 
never  once  offering  to  assist  him.  Julian, 
however,  defended  himself  so  valiantly  with 
the  few  forces  he  had,  that  the  barbarians  at 
last  retired.  After  this  Constantius  declared 
Julian  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  forces 
in  Gaul,  and  appointed  under  him  one  Sev- 
erus,  an  officer  of  great  experience,  and  of  a 
more  accommodating  disposition  than  Mar 
cellus.  On  his  arrival  in  Gaul,  Julian  re 
ceived  him  with  great  joy,  raised  new  troops, 
and  supplied  them  with  arms  which  he  had 
luckily  found  in  an  old  arsenal.  The  em 
peror,  resolving  at  all  events  to  put  a  stop 
to  the  terrible  devastations  committed  by 
the  barbarous  nations,  chiefly  by  the  Ale- 
mans,  wrote  to  Julian  to  march  directly 
against  them  ;  and  at  the  same  time  he  sent 
13arbatio,  who  had  been  appointed  general 
instead  of  Sylvanus,  with  a  body  of  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  thousand  men,  from  Italy,  in 
order  to  inclose  the  enemy  between  two 
armies.  The  Leti,  however,  a  German  na 
tion,  passing  between  the  armies,  advanced 
as  far  as  Lyons,  hoping  to  surprise  that 
wealthy  city ;  but  meeting  with  a  warmer 
reception  than  they  had  expected,  they  con 
tented  themselves  with  ravaging  the  country 
all  round.  On  the  first  notice  of  this  expe 
dition,  Julian  detached  strong  parties  to 
guard  the  passages  through  which  he  knew 
the  barbarians  must  return  ;  and  thus  they 
were  all  cut  off,  excepting  those  who  march 
ed  near  the  camp  of  Barbatio,  who  was  so 
far  from  intercepting  their  retreat,  that  he 
complained  by  a  letter  to  Constantius  of 
some  officers  for  attempting  it.  These 


officers,  among  whom  was  Valentinian,  after 
wards  emperor  of  the  West,  were,  by  tho 
order  of  Constantius,  cashiered  for  their  dis 
obedience.  The  other  barbarians  either 
fortified  themselves  in  the  countries  which 
they  had  seized,  stopping  up  all  the  avenues 
with  huge  trees,  or  took  shelter  in  the  islands 
formed  by  the  Khine.  Julian  resolved  first 
to  attack  the  latter,  and  with  tins  view  lie 
demanded  some  boats  of  Barbatio  ;  but  the 
latter,  instead  of  complying  with  his  just 
request,  immediately  burnt  all  his  boats,  as 
he  did  on  another  occasion  the  provisions 
which  had  been  sent  to  both  armies,  after 
he  had  plentifully  supplied  his  own.  Julian, 
not  in  the  least  disheartened  by  this  unac 
countable  conduct,  persuaded  some  of  the 
most  resolute  of  his  men  to  wade  over  to 
one  of  the  islands,  where  they  killed  all  the 
Germans  who  had  taken  shelter  in  it.  They 
then  seized  the  boats  belonging  to  the  bar 
barians,  and  pursued  the  slaughter  in  sev 
eral  other  islands,  till  the  enemy  abandoned 
them  all,  and  retired  to  their  respective 
countries  with  their  wives  and  what  booty 
they  could  carry.  On  their  departure  Bar 
batio  attempted  to  construct  a  bridge  of 
boats  over  the  Rhine  ;  but  the  enemy,  ap 
prized  of  his  intention,  threw  a  great  num 
ber  of  huge  trees-  into  the  river,  which  being 
carried  by  the  stream  against  the  boats,  sunk 
several  of  them,  and  parted  the  rest.  The 
Roman  general  then  thought  proper  to  re 
tire ;  but  the  barbarians  falling  unexpect 
edly  upon  him  in  his  retreat,  cut  great  num 
bers  of  his  men  in  pieces,  took  most  of  his 
baggage,  laid  waste  the  neighboring  coun 
try,  and  returned  in  triumph  loaded  with 
booty.  Elated  with  this  success,  they  a* 
sembled  in  great  numbers  unc'er  the  com 
mand  c;f  Chnodomarius,  a  prit'e  of  great 
renown  among  them,  and  six  other  kings. 
They  encamped  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Strasburg.  Here  they  were  encountered  by 
Julian,  who  put  them  to  flight,  with  the  loss 
of  six  or  eight  thousand  men  killed  on  tho 
field,  and  a  greater  number  drowned  in  the 
river ;  whilst  Julian  himself  lost  only  two 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


587 


hundred  and  forty-three  private  men  and 
four  tribunes.  In  this  action  Chnodornarins 
was  taken  prisoner  and  sent  to  Rome,  where 
he  soon  afterwards  died. 

After  the  battle  Julian  advanced  with  his 
army  to  IVTayence  or  Mentz,  where  he  form 
ed  a  bridge  over  the  Rhine,  and  entered 
Germany,  having  with  difficulty  prevailed 
upon  his  army  to  follow  him.  Here  lie 
ravaged  the  country  till  the  time  of  the  au 
tumnal  equinox,  when  being  prevented  by 
snow  from  advancing  farther,  he  began  to 
repair  the  fort  of  Trajan,  by  some  supposed 
to  be  the  castle  of  Cromburg,  about  three  or 
four  leagues  from  Frankfort.  The  barbar 
ians  were  now  so  much  alarmed  that  they 
sent  deputies  to  treat  of  peace ;  but  this 
Julian  refused  to  grant  them  upon  any 
terms.  He  consented,  however,  to  a  truce 
for  seven  months,  upon  their  promising  to 
store  with  provisions  the  fort  he  was  build 
ing  in  their  country.  This  year  Constantius 
made  some  remarkable  laws.  By  one  he 
punished  with  confiscation  such  as  renounced 
the  Christian  for  the  Jewish  religion ;  and 
by  another,  addressed  to  Felix,  bishop  of 
Rome,  he  exempted  all  trading  ecclesiastics, 
with  their  wives,  children  arid  domestics, 
from  every  imposition  ordinary  and  extra 
ordinary  ;  supposing  that  the  gains  made 
by  them  were  applied  to  the  relief  of  the 
poor. 

In  358,  as  soon  as  the  season  for  action 
arrived,  Julian  took  the  field  against  the 
Franks,  with  a  design  to  conquer  them  be 
fore  the  truce -he  had  concluded  with  the 
Alemans  had  expired.  The  Franks  were  at 
that  time  divided  into  several  tribes,  the 
most  powerful  of  which  were  the  Salii  and 
Chamavi.  The  first  of  these  sent  deputies, 
entreating  that  he  would  suffer  them  to 
remain  as  friends  to  the  empire  in  the  coun 
try  they  possessed.  But  Julian,  disregard 
ing  this  deputation,  entered  their  country, 
and  obliged  them  to  submit ;  after  which  he 
allotted  them  lands  in  Gaul,  incorporating 
great  numbers  of  them  into  his  cavalry.  He 
next  marched  against  the  Chamavi,  whom 


he  defeated  and  obliged  to  retire  beyonc 
the  Rhine  ;  and  he  afterwards  rebuilt  three 
forts  on  the  river  Meuse,  which  had  beec 
destroyed  by  the  barbarians  ;  but  provisions 
becoming  scarce  in  a  country  so  often  ravag 
ed,  he  ordered  six  or  eight  hundred  vessels 
to  be  built  in  Britain  for  the  purpose  of  con 
veying  corn  from  thence  into  Gaul.  Julian 
continued  in  the  country  of  the  Chamavi 
till  the  expiration  of  his  truce  with  the  Ale- 
mans,  and  then  constructing  a  bridge  of 
boats  over  the  Rhine,  he  entered  their  coun 
try,  putting  all  to  fire  and  sword.  At  last 
two  of  their  kings  came  in  person  to  him  to 
sue  for  peace,  which  Julian  granted,  upon 
their  promising  to  set  at  liberty  the  captives 
they  had  taken,  to  supply  a  certain  quantity 
of  corn  when  required,  and  to  furnish  wood, 
iron  and  carriages  for  repairing  the  cities 
they  had  ruined.  The  prisoners  whom  he  at 
this  time  released  amounted  to  upwards  of 
twenty  thousand. 

Soon  after  the  vernal  equinox  of  this 
year,  358,  Constantius  marched  in  person 
against  the  Quadi  and  Sarmatians,  whose 
country  lay  beyond  the  Danube.  Having 
crossed  that  river  on  a  bridge  of  boats,  he 
laid  waste  the  territories  of  the  Sarma 
tians,  who  thereupon  came  in  great  num 
bers,  together  with  the  Quadi,  pretending 
to  treat  for  peace.  Their  true  design  was  to 
surprise  the  Romans  ;  but  the  latter  suspect 
ing  it,  fell  upon  them  sword  in  hand,  and 
cut  them  in  pieces.  This  obliged  the  rest 
to  sue  for  peace  in  good  earnest,  which  was 
granted  on  the  delivery  of  hostages.  The 
emperor  then  marched  against  the  Limi- 
gantes,  that  is,  the  slaves  who,  in  334,  had 
driven  the  Sarmatians  out  of  their  c  nmtry, 
and  seized  it  for  themselves.  The  y  used 
the  same  artifice  as  the  Sarmatia  .s  and 
Quadi  had  done,  coming  in  great  numbers 
under  pretence  of  submitting,  but  prepared 
to  fall  upon  him  unexpectedly  if  opportunity 
offered.  The  emperor,  observing  their  surly 
looks,  and  distrusting  them,  caused  his  troops 
to  surround  them  insensibly  while  he  was 
speaking.  The  Limigantes  then,  displeased 


588 


HISTOKY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


•with  the  conditions  which  he  offered  them, 
laid  their  hands  on  their  swords  ;  whereupon 
they  were  attacked  by  the  Roman  soldiers. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  make  their  escape, 
they  rushed  witli  great  fury  towards  the  tri 
bunal,  but  were  repulsed  by  the  guards  form 
ing  themselves  into  a  wedge,  and  every  one 
of  them  cut  in  pieces.  After  this,  the  em 
peror  ravaged  their  country  to  such  a  de 
gree,  that  they  were  in  the  end  obliged  to 
submit  to  the  only  condition  he  thought 
proper  to  allow  them,  which  was  to  quit 
their  country  and  retire  to  a  more  distant 
region.  The  country  was  them  restored  to 
the  Sarmatians,  who  were  its  original  pos 
sessors. 

This  year  is  also  remarkable  for  an  em 
bassy  from  Sapor,  king  of  Persia.  The  am 
bassador,  named  Parses,  brought  a  letter,  in 
which  the  Persian  monarch  styled  himself 
King  of  Kings,  brother  of  the  Sun  and 
Moon,  and  appropriated  other  epithets  of 
the  same  hyperbolical  kind.  He  acquainted 
the  emperor,  that  he  might  lawfully  insist 
on  having  all  the  countries  beyond  the  river 
Strymon  in  Macedonia  delivered  up  to  him ; 
but  lest  his  demands  should  seem  unreason 
able,  he  would  be  contented  with  Armenia 
and  Mesopotamia,  which  had  been  most  un 
justly  taken  from  his  grandfather  Narses. 
lie  added,  that  unless  justice  were  done  him, 
he  had  resolved  to  assert  his  right  by  force 
of  arms.  This  letter  was  presented  to  Con- 
Btantius  wrapped  up  in  a  piece  of  white  silk ; 
but  the  emperor,  without  entering  into  any 
negotiation  with  the  ambassador,  wrote  a 
letter  to  Sapor,  in  which  he  told  the  Per 
sian  monarch,  that  as  he  had  maintained  the 
Roman  dominions  in  their  full  extent  when 
he  was  possessed  only  of  the  East,  he  could 
not  suffer  them  to  be  curtailed  now  when  he 
was  master  of  the  whole  empire.  In  a  few 
days,  however,  he  sent  another  letter,  with 
-icli  presents ;  being  desirous  at  least  to 
postpone  the  war  until  he  had  secured  the 
northern  provinces  against  the  incursions  of 
the  barbarians,  that  he  might  then  employ 
all  the  forces  of  the  empire  against  so  formid 


able  an  enemy.    Tliis  embassy  proved  unsuc 
cessful,  as  did  also  another  which  was  sent 
soon    afterwards.       The    last    ambassadors 
were   imprisoned   as  spies,   but  afterwards 
I  dismissed  uninjured.     By  a  law  of  Constan- 
|  tius   dated  in   358,   all  magicians,   augurs 
astrologers  and  pretenders  to  the  art  of  divi 
j  nation,  were  declared  enemies  to  mankind ; 
and  such  of  them  as  were  found  in  the  court 
either  of  the  emperor  or  of  Julian,  he  com 
manded  to  be  put  to  the  torture,  at  the  same 
time  specifying  what  torments  they  were  to 
undergo. 

In  359,  Julian  continued  his  endeavors  foi 
relieving  the  province  of  Gaul,  which  had 
suffered  so  much  from  the  incursions  of  the 
barbarians.  lie  erected  magazines  in  differ- 

O 

ent  places,  visited  the  cities  which  had  suf 
fered  most,  and  gave  orders  for  repairing 
their  walls  and  fortifications.  He  then 
crossed  the  Rhine,  and  pursued  the  war  in 
Germany  with  so  great  success  that  the  bar 
barians  submitted  to  such  terms  as  he  pleas 
ed  to  impose.  In  the  meantime,  the  empe 
ror,  have  received  intelligence  that  the 
Limigantes  had  quitted  the  country  to  which 
he  had  driven  them,  hastended  to  the  banks 
of  the  Danube,  in  order  to  prevent  their 
entering  Pannonia.  On  his  arrival  he  sent 
deputies,  desiring  to  know  what  had  induced 
them  to  abandon  the  country  which  had  been 
allotted  them.  The  Limigantes  answered 
with  the  greatest  apparent  submission  ima 
ginable,  that  they  were  willing  to  live  as 
true  subjects  of  the  empire  in  any  other 
place  ;  but  that  the  country  he  had  allotted 
them  was  quite  uninhabitable,  as  they  could 
demonstrate  if  they  were  but  allowed  to 
cross  the  river  and  lay  their  complaints  be 
fore  him.  This  request  was  granted ;  but 
whilst  he  ascended  his  tribunal,  the  barbar 
ians  unexpectedly  fell  upon  his  guards  sword 
in  hand,  killed  several  of  them,  and  the  em 
peror  with  difficulty  saved  himself  by  flight. 
The  rest  of  the  troops,  however,  soon  took 
the  alarm,  and  surrounding  the  Limigantes, 
cut  them  off  to  a  man.  This  year  Constan- 
tius  instituted  a  court  of  inquisition  against 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


58(J 


all  those  who  had  consulted  heathen  oracles. 
Paulus  Catena,  a  noted  and  cruel  informer, 
was  dispatched  into  the  East  to  prosecute 
them ;  and  Modestus,  then  count  of  the 
East,  and  equally  remarkable  for  his  cruelty, 
was  appointed  judge.  His  tribunal  was 
erected  at  Scythopolis,  in  Palestine,  whither 
persons  of  both  sexes,  and  of  every  rank 
and  condition,  were  daily  dragged  in  crowds 
from  all  parts,  and  either  confined  in  dun 
geons,  torn  in  pieces  in  a  most  cruel  and 
barbarous  manner  by  racks,  or  publicly 
executed. 

In  359,  Sapor,  king  of  Persia,  began  hos- 
tilites,  being  encouraged  thereto  by  the  ab 
sence  of  Ursicinus,  whom  the  emperor  had 
recalled,  having  appointed  in  his  stead  one 
Sabinianus,  a  person  very  unfit  for  such  an 
office.  During  this  campaign,  however,  he 
made  very  little  progress,  having  only  taken 
two  Roman  forts,  and  destroyed  the  city  of 
Amida,  the  siege  of  which  is  said  to  have 
cost  him  thirty  thousand  men.  On  the  first 
news  of  the  Persian  invasion,  Constantius 
thought  proper  to  send  Ursicinus  into  the 
East ;  but  his  enemies  prevented  him  from 
receiving  the  supplies  necessary  for  carrying 
on  the  war,  so  that  he  found  it  impossible 
to  take  any  effectual  means  for  stopping  the 
progress  of  the  Persians.  On  his  return,  he 
was  unexpectedly  charged  with  the  loss  of 
Amida,  and  all  the  disasters  which  had  hap 
pened  during  the  campaign.  Two  judges 
were  appointed  to  inquire  into  his  conduct ; 
but  they,  being  creatures  of  his  enemies,  left 
the  matter  doubtful.  On  this  Ursicinus  was 
BO  much  exasperated,  that  he  appealed  to  the 
emperor,  and  in  the  heat  of  passion  let  fall 
Borne  unguarded  expressions,  which,  being 
immediately  carried  to  the  emperor,  irritated 
him  so  much  that  the  general  was  deprived 
of  all  his  employments. 

Constantius  resolved  to  march  next  year 
in  person  against  the  Persians ;  but  in  the 
mean  time  dreading  to  encounter  so  formida 
ble  an  enemy,  he  applied  himself  wholly  to 
the  assembling  of  a  mighty  army,  by  which 
he  might  be  able  fully  to  cope  with  them. 


For  this  purpose  he  wrote  to  Julian  to  send 
him  part  of  his  forces,  without  considering 
that  by  so  doing  he  left  the  province  of  Gaul 
exposed  to  the  ravages  of  the  barbarians. 
Julian  resolved  immediately  to  comply  with 
the  emperor's  orders,  but  at  the  same  time  to 
abdicate  the  dignity  of  Caesar,  that  he  might 
not  be  blamed  for  the  loss  of  the  province. 
Accordingly  he  suffered  the  best  soldiers  to  be 
drafted  from  his  army.  They  were,  how 
ever,  very  unwilling  to  leave  him,  and  at  last 
proclaimed  him  emperor.  Whether  this  was 
done  absolutely  against  Julian's  consent  or 
not  is  uncertain;  but  he  wrote  to  the  em 
peror,  and  persuaded  the  whole  army  also  to 
send  a  letter  along  with  his,  in  which  they 
acquainted  Constantius  with  what  had  hap 
pened,  and  entreated  him  to  acknowledge 
Julian  as  his  partner  in  the  empire.  But  this 
was  positively  refused  by  Constantius,  who 
began  to  prepare  for  war.  Julian  then,  de 
signing  to  be  beforehand  with  the  emperor, 
caused  his  troops  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance 
to  himself,  and  with  surprising  expedition 
made  himself  master  of  the  whole  country 
of  Illyricum,  and  of  the  important  pass  sepa 
rating  that  country  from  Thrace.  Constan 
tius  was  thunderstruck  with  this  news ;  but 
hearing  that  the  Persians  had  retired,  he 
marched  with  all  his  force  against  his  com 
petitor.  On  his  arrival  at  Tarsus,  in  Cilicia, 
he  was  seized  with  a  feverish  distemper,  oc 
casioned  chiefly  by  the  uneasiness  and  per 
plexity  of  his  mind.  He  pursued  his  march, 
however,  to  Mosucrene,  a  place  on  the  bor 
ders  of  Cilicia,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Taurus, 
where  he  was  obliged  to  stop  by  the  violence 
of  his  disorder,  which  increased  every  day, 
and  at  last  carried  him  off  on  the  13th  of 
November,  361,  in  the  forty-fifth  year  of  his 
age. 

By  the  death  of  Constantius,  Julian  now 
became  master  of  the  whole  Roman  empire 
without  a  rival.  He  had  been  educated  in 
the  Christian  religion,  but  had  secretly  apos 
tatized  from  it  long  before ;  and  as  soon  as 
he  saw  himself  master  of  Illyricum,  he  open 
ly  avowed  his  apostacy,  and  caused  the  tern- 


o90 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


pies  of  the  gods  to  be  opened.  When  the 
messengers  arrived  at  Xaissus,  in  Illyricum, 
where  he  then  was,  to  acquaint  him  with 
his  being  sole  master  of  the  empire,  they 
found  him  -consulting  the  entrails  of  victims 
concerning  the  event  of  his  journey.  As  the 
omens  were  uncertain,  he  was  at  that  time 
very  much  embarrassed  and  perpiexed ;  but 
the  arrival  of  the  messengers  put  an  end  to 
nil  his  fears,  and  he  immediately  set  out  for 
Constantinople,  At  Heraclea  he  was  met  by 
almost  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  metropolis, 
into  which  he  made  his  public  entry  on  the 
llth  of  December,  361,  attended  by  the 
whole  Senate  in  a  body,  by  all  the  magis 
trate?,  and  by  the  nobility  magnificently 
dressed,  every  one  testifying  the  utmost  joy 
at  seeing  such  a  promising  young  prince 
raised  to  the  empire  without  bloodshed.  lie 
was  again  declared  emperor  by  the  Senate 
of  Constantinople  ;  and  as  soon  as  that  cere 
mony  was  over,  he  caused  the  obsequies  of 
Cons'.antius  to  be  celebrated  with  great 
pomp. 

The  first  care  of  Julian  was  to  inquire  into 
the  conduct  of  the  late  emperor's  ministers, 
several  of  whom  being  found  guilty  of  enor 
mous  crimes,  were  condemned  and  executed ; 
particularly  the  noted  informer  Paulus  Cate 
na,  and  another  one  named  Apodamus,  who 
were  sentenced  to  be  burnt  alive.  Along 
with  these,  however,  was  put  to  death  Ursu 
la,  a  man  of  unexceptionable  character,  to 
whom  Julian  himself  had  been  highly  in 
debted.  He  had  been  supplied  with  money 
by  Ursula,  unknown  to  the  emperor,  at  the 
time  when  he  was  sent  into  Gaul  with  the 
title  of  Ca2sar,  but  without  the  means  neces 
sary  for  the  support  of  that  dignity.  For 
what  reason  he  was  now  put  to  death,  histo 
rians  do  not  acquaint  us.  Julian  himself 
assures  us  that  Ursula  was  executed  without 
his  knowledge. 

The  emperor  next  set  about  reforming  the 
court.  As  the  vast  number  of  officers  had  in 
his  time  become  an  intolerable  burden,  he 
discharged  all  those  whom  he  thought  use 
less  :  among  the  rest,  he  reduced  the  officers 


called  ayenfes  in  relw*,  from  ten  thousand  to 
seventeen  :  and  discharged  thousands  of 

*  o 

cooks,  barbers,  and  others,  whose  large  sala 
ries  had  drained  the  exchequer.  The  curwsi, 
whose  office  it  was  to  inform  the  emperor  of 
what  had  passed  in  the  different  provinces, 
were  all  discharged,  and  that  employment 
entirely  suppressed.  Thus  he  was  enabled 
to  disburthen  the  people  of  the  heavy  taxes 
with  which  they  were  loaded ;  and  this  ho 
did  by  abating  a  fifth  part  of  all  taxes  and 
imposts  throughout  the  kingdom. 

As  to  religious  matters,  Julian,  as  before 
observed,  was  a  Pagan,  and  immediately  on 
his  accession  to  the  throne  restored  the  hea 
then  religion.  lie  invited  to  court  the  phi 
losophers,  magicians,  and  such  like  persons, 
from  all  parts  ;  nevertheless,  he  did  not  insti 
tute  any  persecution  against  the  Christians. 
On  the  contrary,  he  recalled  from  banish 
ment  all  the  orthodox  bishops  who  had  been 
sent  into  exile  during  the  former  reign  ;  but 
with  a  design,  as  is  observed  both  by  the 
Christian  and  Pagan  writers,  to  raise  distur 
bances  and  sow  dissensions  in  the  church. 

As  the  Persians  were  now  preparing  to 
carry  on  the  war  with  vigor,  Julian  found 
himself  under  the  necessity  of  marching  in 
person  against  them.  But  before  he  set  out, 
he  enriched  the  city  of  Constantinople  with 
many  valuable  gifts :  he  formed  a  large  har 
bor  to  shelter  the  ships  from  the  south  wind; 
built  a  magnificent  porch  leading  to  it  ;  and 
founded  a  stately  library,  in  which  he  lodged 
all  his  books.  In  the  month  of  May,  302, 
he  set  out  for  Antioch,  and  on  the  first  of 
January  renewed  in  that  city  the  sacrifices 
to  Jupiter  for  the  safety  of  the  empire,  which 
had  so  long  been  omitted.  During  his  stay 
in  this  city,  he  continued  his  preparations  for 
the  Persian  war ;  erecting  magazines,  mak 
ing  new  levies,  and  above  all  consulting  the 
oracles,  aruspices,  magicians,  and  the  like. 
The  oracles  of  Delphi,  Delos,  and  Dodona, 
assured  him  of  victory.  The  aruspices,  in 
deed,  and  most  of  his  courtiers  and  officers, 
did  all  that  lay  in  their  power  to  divert  him 
from  his  intended  expedition;  but  the  de- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


ceitful  answers  of  the  oracles  and  magicians, 
and  the  desire  of  adding  the  Persian  monarch 
to  the  many  kings  whom  he  had  already  seen 
humbled  at  his  feet,  prevailed  over  all  other 
considerations.  Many  nations  sent  deputies 
to  him  offering  their  assistance ;  but  these 
offers  he  rejected,  telHng  them  that  the  Ro 
mans  were  to  assist  their  allies,  but  stood  in 
no  need  of  any  assistance  from  them.  He 
likewise  rejected,  in  a  very  disobliging  man 
ner,  the  offers  of  the  Saracens ;  and  when 
they  complained  of  his  stopping  the  pension 
paid  them  by  other  emperors,  he  told  them 
that  a  warlike  prince  had  steel,  but  no  gold ; 
a  reply  which  irritated  them  so  much  that 
they  joined  the  Persians,  and  continued  faith 
ful  to  them  to  the  last.  However,  he  wrote 
Arsaces,  king  of  Armenia,  enjoining  him  to 
keep  his  troops  in  readiness  to  execute  the 
commands  which  he  should  soon  transmit  to 
him. 

Having  made  the  necessary  preparations 
for  so  important  an  enterprise,  Julian  sent 
orders  to  his  troops  to  cross  the  Euphrates, 
designing  to  enter  the  enemy's  country  be 
fore  they  had  the  least  notice  of  his  march  ; 
and  for  this  purpose  he  had  placed  guards 
on  all  the  roads.  From  Antioch  he  proceed 
ed  to  Litarba,  a  place  about  fifteen  leagues 
distant,  which  he  reached  the  same  day;  and 
thence  he  marched  to  Bersea,  where  he  halted 
a  day,  and  exhorted  the  council  to  restore 
the  worship  of  the  gods ;  but  this  exhorta 
tion,  it  seems,  was  complied  with  by  few. 
From  Bersea  he  proceeded  to  Batnse,  and 
was  better  pleased  with  the  inhabitants  of 
the  latter,  because  they  had,  before  his  ar 
rival,  restored  the  worship  of  the  gods.  There 
he  offered  sacrifices,  and  having  immolated  a 
great  number  of  victims,  pursued  the  next 
day  his  journey  to  Hierapolis,  the  capital  of 
the  province  of  Euphratesiana,  which  he 
reached  on  the  9th  of  March,  363.  Here  he 
lodged  in  the  house  of  one  for  whom  he  had 
a  particular  esteem,  chiefly  because  neither 
Constantius  nor  Gallus,  who  had  both  lodged 
in  his  l.ouse,  had  been  able  to  make  him  re 
nounce  the  worship  of  his  idols.  As  he  en 


tered  this  city,  fifty  of  his  soldiers  were  killed 
by  the  fall  of  a  porch.  He  left  Hierapolia 
on  the  13th  of  March,  and  having  passed  the 
Euphrates  on  a  bridge  of  boats,  arrived  at 
Batnse,  a  small  city  of  Osrhoene,  about  ten 
leagues  from  Hierapolis.  From  Batnse  he 
proceeded  to  Carrhse,  where,  in  the  famous 
temple  of  the  moon,  it  is  said  he  sacrificed  a 
wroman  to  that  planet. 

While  Julian  continued  in  this  city,  he  re 
ceived  advice  that  a  party  of  the  enemy's 
horse  had  broken  into  the  Roman  territo 
ries.  On  this  he  resolved  to  leave  an  army 
in  Mesopotamia,  to  guard  the  frontiers  of  the 
empire  on  that  side,  whilst  he  advanced  on 
the  other  into  the  heart  of  the  Persian  do 
minions.  This  army  consisted,  according  to 
some,  of  twenty  thousand,  but  according  to 
others  of  thirty  thousand  chosen  troops.  It 
was  commanded  by  Procopius,  and  Sebas 
tian,  a  famous  Manichean  who  had  been  gov 
ernor  of  Egypt,  and  had  there  persecuted, 
with  the  utmost  cruelty,  the  orthodox  Chris 
tians.  These  two  were  to  join,  if  possible, 
Arsaces,  king  of  Armenia,  to  lay  waste  the 
fruitful  plains  of  Media,  and  to  meet  the  em 
peror  in  Assyria.  To  Arsaces  Julian  him 
self  wrote,  but  in  the  most  disobliging  man 
ner  imaginable,  threatening  to  treat  him  as 
a  rebel  if  he  did  not  execute,  with  the  ut 
most  punctuality,  the  orders  given  him,  and 
in  the  conclusion  telling  him,  that  the  God 
he  adored  would  not  be  able  to  screen  him 
from  punishment,  in  the  event  of  disobe 
dience. 

There  were  two  roads  leading  from  Car 
rhse  to  Persia ;  the  one  to  the  left  by  Jusibis, 
and  the  other  to  the  right  through  the  prov 
ince  of  Assyria,  along  the  banks  of  the  Eu 
phrates.  Julian  chose  the  latter,  but  caused 
magazines  to  be  erected  on  both  roads ;  and, 
after  having  reviewed  his  army,  set  out  on 
the  25th  of  March.  lie  passed  the  Abora, 
which  separated  the  Roman  and  Persian  do 
minions  near  its  conflux  with  the  Euphiates ; 
after  wThich  he  broke  down  the  bridge,  that 
his  troops  might  not  be  tempted  to  desert. 
As  he  proceeded  on  his  march,  a  soldier  and 


592 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


two  horses  were  struck  dead  by  lightning ; 
and  a  lion  of  extraordinary  size  presenting 
himself  to  the  army,  was  in  a  moment  dis 
patched  by  the  soldiers  with  a  shower  of 
darts.  These  omens  occasioned  great  dis 
putes  between  the  philosophers  and  arus- 
pices.  The  latter  looking  upon  them  as  in 
auspicious,  advised  the  emperor  to  return ; 
but  the  former  refuted  their  arguments  with 
others  more  agreeable  to  Julian's  temper. 

Having  passed  the  Abora,  Julian  entered 
Assyria,  which  he  found  very  populous,  and 
abounding  in  all  the  necessaries  of  life ;  but 
he  laid  it  waste  far  and  near,  destroying  the 
magazines  and  provisions  which  he  could  not 
carry  along  with  liim ;  and  thus  he  put  it  out 
of  his  power  to  return  the  same  way  he  ad 
vanced,  a  step  which  was  judged  most  im 
politic.  As  he  met  with  no  army  in  the  field 
to  oppose  him,  he  advanced  to  the  walls  of 
Ctesiphon,  the  metropolis  of  the  Persian  em 
pire,  liaving  reduced  all  the  strongholds  that 
lay  in  his  way.  Here,  having  caused  the 
canal  to  be  cleared  which  had  formerly  been 
dug  by  Trajan  between  these  two  rivers,  he 
conveyed  his  fleet  from  the  former  to  the 
latter.  On  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  he  was 
opposed  by  the  enemy.  But  Julian  passed 
that  river  in  spite  of  their  utmost  efforts,  and 
drove  them  into  the  city  with  the  loss  of  a 
great  number  of  their  men. 

Julian  had  now  advanced  so  far  into  the 
enemy's  country  that  he  found  it  necessary 
to  think  of  a  retreat,  as  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  winter  in  Persia.  For  this  reason  he 
made  no  attempt  on  Ctesiphon,  but  began  to 
march  back  along  the  banks  of  the  Tigris, 
soon  after  he  had  passed  that  river.  In  the 
mean  time  the  king  of  Persia  had  assembled 
a  formidable  army,  with  the  intention  of  fall 
ing  upon  the  Romans  in  their  march;  but 
being  desirous  of  putting  an  end  to  so  de 
structive  a  war,  he  sent  advantageous  propo 
sals  of  peace  to  Julian.  These,  however,  the 
Horn  an  emperor  most  imprudently  rejected ; 
and  soon  afterwards,  deceived  by  treacher 
ous  guides,  he  quitted  the  river,  and  entered 
into  an  unknown  country  totally  laid  waste 


by  the  enemy,  and  where  he  was  continually 
harassed  by  strong  parties,  who  in  a  manner 
surrounded  his  army,  and  attacked  him  some 
times  in  front  and  sometimes  in  rear.  But 
the  treacherous  guides  already  mentioned 
persuaded  him  to  take  a  step  still  more  ruin 
ous  and  fatal,  namely,  to  burn  his  fleet,  lest 
it  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
As  soon  as  the  fleet  had  been  set  on  fire,  the 
whole  army  cried  out  that  the  emperor  was 
betrayed,  and  that  the  guides  were  traitors 
employed  by  the  enemy.  Julian  ordered 
them  immediately  to  be  put  on  the  rack, 
upon  which  they  confessed  the  treason  ;  but 
it  was  too  late.  The  fleet  was  already  in 
flames  which  could  by  no  means  be  extin 
guished;  and  no  part  was  saved  except 
twelve  vessels,  which  were  designed  to  be 
made  use  of  in  the  building  of  bridges,  and 
which  for  this  purpose  were  conveyed  over 
land  in  wagons. 

The  emperor  thus  finding  himself  in  a 
strange  country,  and  his  army  greatly  dis 
pirited,  called  a  council  of  his  chief  officers, 
in  which  it  was  resolved  to  proceed  to  Cor- 
duene,  which  lay  south  of  Armenia,  and  be 
longed  to  the  Romans.  But  they  had  not 
proceeded  far  in  this  direction  when  they 
were  met  by  the  king  of  Persia,  at  the  head 
of  a  numerous  army,  attended  by  his  two 
sons,  and  all  the  principal  nobility  of  the 
kingdom.  Several  sharp  encounters  happen 
ed,  in  which,  though  the  Persians  were  al 
ways  defeated,  yet  the  Romans  reaped  no 
advantages  from  their  victories,  but  were  re 
duced  to  the  last  extremity  for  want  of  pro 
visions.  In  one  of  these  skirmi&hes,  when 
the  Romans  were  suddenly  attacked,  the  em 
peror,  eager  to  repulse  the  enemy,  hastened 
to  the  field  of  battle  without  his  armor,  when 
he  received  a  mortal  wound  by  a  dart,  which, 
through  his  arm  and  side,  pierced  his  very 
liver.  Of  this  wound  he  died  the  same 
night,  the  26th  of  June,  363,  in  the  thirty- 
second  year  of  his  age,  after  having  reigned 
scarcely  twenty  months  from  the  time  he  be 
came  sole  master  of  the  Roman  empire. 

As  Julian  had  declined  naming  any  sue- 


HISTOBY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


593 


cessor,  the  choice  of  a  no  ;v  emperor  devolved 
on  the  army,  who  unanimously  chose  Jovian, 
a  very  able  commander,  whose  father  had 
lately  resigned  the  post  of  comes  domestico- 
rum,  in  order  to  lead  a  retired  life.  The 
valor  and  experience  of  Jovian,  however, 
were  not  sufficient  to  extricate  the  Roman 
army  from  the  difficulties  in  which  it  had 
been  plunged  by  the  imprudence  of  his  pre 
decessor.  Famine  raged  in  the  camp  to  such 
a  degree,  that  not  a  single  man  would  have 
been  left  alive,  had  not  the  Persians  unex 
pectedly  sent  proposals  of  peace,  which  were 
now  received  with  the  utmost  joy.  A  peace 
was  concluded  for  thirty  years,  the  terms  of 
which  were  that  Jovian  should  restore  to  the 
Persians  the  fine  provinces  which  had  been 
taken  from  them  in  the  reign  of  Diocletian, 
with  several  castles,  and  the  cities  of  Nisibis 
and  Singara.  After  the  conclusion  of  the 
treaty,  Jovian  pursued  his  march  without 
molestation.  When  he  arrived  at  Antioch 
ite  revoked  all  the  laws  which  had  been  made 
in  the  former  reign  against  Christianity,  and 
in  favor  of  Paganism.  lie  also  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  orthodox  Christians  against  the 
Arians ;  and  he  recalled  all  those  who  had 
been  formerly  banished,  particularly  Atha- 
nasius,  to  whom  he  wrote  a  very  obliging 
letter  with  his  own  hand.  It  is  generally 
believed  also  that  Athanasius,  at  the  desire 
of  Jovian,  now  composed  the  creed  which 
still  bears  his  name,  and  is  subscribed  by  all 
the  bishops  in  Europe.  But  this  emperor 
did  not  live  to  make  any  great  alterations, 
nor  even  to  visit  his  capital  as  emperor ;  for 
in  his  way  to  Constantinople  he  was  found 
dead  in  his  bed,  on  the  16th  or  lYth  of  Feb 
ruary,  364,  after  having  lived  thirty-three 
years,  and  reigned  seven  months  and  fourteen 
days. 

After  the  death  of  Jovian,  Yalentinian 
was  chosen  emperor.  Immediately  on  his 
accession  the  soldiers  mutinied,  and  with 
great  clamor  required  him  to  choose  a  part 
ner  in  the  sovereignty.  He  did  not  instant 
ly  comply  with  this  demand ;  but  in  a  few 
days  he  chose  his  brother  Yalens  as  his  part- 
75 


ner ;  and  the  empire  being  threatened  on  all 
sides  with  an  invasion  of  the  barbarous  na 
tions,  he  thought  proper  to  divide  it.  This 
famous  partition  was  executed  at  JVIediana, 
in  Dacia.  Valens  received  as  his  share  the 
whole  of  Asia,  Egypt,  and  Thrace;  and 
Yalentinian  retained  all  the  West,  including: 

'  O 

Illyricum,  Italy,  Gaul,  Spain,  Britain,  and 
Africa. 

After  this  partition  Yalens  returned  to 
Constantinople,  where  the  beginning  of  his 
reign  was  disturbed  by  the  revolt  of  Proco- 
pius,  a  relation  of  Julian.  On  the  death  of 
that  emperor  he  had  fled  into  Taurica  Cher- 
sonesus,  from  dread  of  Jovian ;  but  not  trust 
ing  the  barbarians  who  inhabited  that  coun 
try,  he  returned  in  disguise  into  the  Roman 
territories,  where,  having  gained  over  an 
eunuch  of  great  wealth,  called  Eugenius, 
lately  disgraced  by  Yalens,  and  some  officers 
who  commanded  the  troops  sent  against  the 
Goths,  he  got  himself  proclaimed  emperor. 
At  first  he  was  joined  only  by  the  lowest  of 
the  people,  but  at  length  he  was  acknowl 
edged  by  the  whole  city  of  Constantinople. 
On  the  news  of  this  revolt,  Yalens  would 
have  abdicated  the  sovereignty,  had  he  not 
been  prevented  by  the  importunities  of  his 
friends.  He  therefore  dispatched  some 
troops  against  the  usurper,  but  these  were 
gained  over,  and  Procopius  continuing  for 
some  time  to  gain  ground,  it  is  probable  he 
would  finally  have  succeeded,  had  he  not  be 
come  so  much  elated  with  his  good  fortune 
that  he  grew  tyrannical  and  insupportable  to 
his  own  party.  In  consequence  of  this  altera 
tion  in  his  disposition,  he  was  first  abandoned 
by  some  of  his  principal  officers,  and  soon 
afterwards  defeated  in  battle,  taken  prisoner, 
and  put  to  death. 

This  revolt  produced  a  war  betwixt  Yalena 
and  the  Goths.  The  latter,  having  been  so 
licited  by  Procopius,  had  sent  three  thou 
sand  men  to  his  assistance.  On  hearing  the 
news  of  the  usurper's  death,  they  counter 
marched  ;  but  Yalens  detached  against  them, 
a  body  of  troops,  who  took  them  all  prison, 
ers,  notwithstanding  the  vigorous  resistance 


594 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


they  made.  Athanaric,  king  of  the  Goths, 
expostulated  with  Valens  against  this  pro 
ceeding  ;  but  that  emperor  proving  obstinate, 
both  parties  prepared  for  war.  In  367  and 
369  Valens  gained  great  advantages  over 
his  enemies,  and  obliged  them  to  sue  for 
peace,  which  was  concluded  upon  terms  ad 
vantageous  to  the  Romans.  The  rest  of  his 
reign  contains  nothing  remarkable,  except 
the  cruelty  with  which  he  persecuted  the 
orthodox  clergy.  The  latter  sent  eighty  of 
their  number  to  him,  in  order  to  lay  their 
complaints  before  him,  but  instead  of  giving 
them  any  relief,  he  determined  to  put  them 
all  to  death.  The  person,  however,  wrho  was 
ordered  to  execute  this  sentence,  fearing  lest 
the  public  execution  of  so  many  ecclesiastics 
might  raise  disturbances,  ordered  them  all  to 
be  put  on  board  a  ship,  pretending  that  the 
emperor  had  ordered  them  only  to  be  sent 
into  banishment ;  but  when  the  vessel  was 
&t  some  distance  from  the  land,  the  marin 
ers  set  fire  to  it,  and  i  lade  their  own  escape 
in  a  boat.  The  ship  was  driven  by  a  strong 
wind  into  a  harbor,  where  it  was  consumed, 
with  al_  who  wrere  on  board.  A  persecution 
was  also  commenced  against  magicians,  or 
those  who  had  books  of  magic  in  their  cus 
tody.  This  occasioned  the  destruction  of 
many  innocent  persons,  for  books  of  this 
kind  were  often  conveyed  into  libraries  un 
known  to  the  owners  of  them,  an  act  which 
was  certainly  followed  by  death  and  confis 
cation  of  goods.  Persons  of  all  ranks  were 
consequently  seized  with  such  terror  that 
they  burnt  their  libraries,  lest  books  of  magic 
should  be  secretly  conveyed  amongst  those 
of  which  they  consisted.  In  378  the  Goths 
whom  Valens  had  admitted  into  Thrace,  ad 
vanced  from  that  province  to  Macedonia  and 
Thessaly,  where  they  committed  dreadful 
ravages.  They  afterwards  blockaded  the 
••city  of  Constantinople,  plundered  the  sub- 
iurbs,  and  at  last  totally  defeated  and  killed 
ithe  emperor  himself.  The  day  after  the  bat 
tle,  hearing  that  an  immense  treasure  was 
lodged  in  Adrianople,  the  barbarians  laid 
siege  to  that  place,  but  being  strane^s  to  '. 


the  art  of  besieging  towns,  they  were  re 
pulsed  with  great  slaughter,  upon  which  they- 
abandoned  the  enterprise  and  leturned  be 
fore  Constantinople.  But  here  great  num 
bers  of  them  were  cut  in  pieces  by  the  Sara 
cens,  whom  Maria,  the  queen  of  that  people, 
had  sent  to  the  assistance  of  the  Romans,  so 
that  they  were  obliged  to  abandon  this  de 
sign  likewise,  and  retire  from  the  neighbor 
hood  of  the  city. 

By  the  death  of  Yalens  the  empire  once 
more  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  single  person. 
This  wras  Gratian,  who  had  held  the  empire 
of  the  "West  after  the  death  of  Valentinian. 
He  repulsed  many  barbarous  nations  who 
threatened  inroads  on  various  sides,  but  find 
ing  himself  severply  pressed,  he  soon  resolved 
to  take  a  colleague,  in  order  to  relieve  him 
self  of  part  of  the  burden.  Accordingly,  on 
the  19th  of  January,  379,  he  declared  Theo- 
dosius  his  partner  in  the  empire,  and  .cm 
mitted  to  his  care  all  the  provinces  which  had 
been  governed  by  Yalens. 

Theodosius  is  greatly  extolled  by  the  his 
torians  of  those  ages  on  account  of  his  extra 
ordinary  valor  and  piety;  and  for  these 
qualifications  he  has  been  honored  with  tho 
surname  of  Great.  From  the  many  perse 
cuting  laws,  however,  made  in  his  time,  it 
would  seem  that  his  piety  was  at  least  very 
much  misdirected ;  and  that  if  he  was  na 
turally  of  a  humane  and  compassionate  dis 
position,  superstition  and  passion  had  often 
totally  obscured  it.  He  certainly  was  a  man 
of  great  conduct  and  experience  in  war ;  and 
indeed  the  present  state  of  the  empire  called 
for  an  exertion  of  all  his  abilities.  The  pro 
vinces  of  Dacia,  Thrace,  and  Illyricum,  were 
already  lost ;  the  Goths,  Taifali,  Alans,  and 
Huns,  were  masters  of  the  greater  part  of 
these  provinces,  and  had  ravaged  and  laid 
waste  the  remainder.  The  Iberians,  Ar 
menians,  and  Persians,  were  likewise  up  in 
arms,  and  ready  to  take  advantage  of  tho 
distracted  state  of  the  empire.  The  few  sol 
diers  who  had  survived  the  late  defeat  kept 
within  the  strongholds  of  Thrace,  without 
even  daring  to  look  abroad,  much  less  to  face 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


595 


the  victorious  enemy,  who  moved  about  the 
country  in  great  bodies.  But  notwithstand 
ing  this  critical  situation,  the  historians  of 
those  times  give  us  no  account  of  the  trans 
actions  of  the  year  379.  Many  great  battles 
indeed  are  said  to  have  been  fought,  and  as 
many  victories  obtained  by  Theodosius ;  but 
the  accounts  of  these  are  so  confused  and 
contradictory,  that  no  stress  can  be  laid  upon 
them. 

In  the  month  of  February,  380,  Theodosi 
us  was  seized  with  a  dangerous  malady,  so 
that  Gratian  found  himself  obliged  to  carry 
on  the  war  alone.  This  emperor,  apprehend 
ing  that  the  neighboring  barbarians  might 
break  into  some  of  the  provinces,  concluded 
with  the  Goths  a  peace,  which  was  confirmed 
by  Theodosius  on  his  recovery.  The  treaty 
was  very  advantageous  to  the  barbarians; 
but  they,  disregarding  all  their  engagements, 
no  sooner  heard  that  Gratian  had  left  Illyri- 
cum  than  they  passed  the  Danube,  and  break 
ing  into  Thrace  and  Pannonia,  advanced  as 
far  as  Macedonia,  destroying  all  with  fire  and 
sword.  Theodosius,  however,  having  collect 
ed  his  forces,  marched  against  them,  and,  ac 
cording  to  the  most  respectable  authorities, 
gained  a  complete  victory  ;  though  Zosimus 
relates  that  he  was  utterly  defeated. 

The  following  year  Athanaric,  the  most 
powerful  of  all  the  Gothic  princes,  being 
driven  out  by  a  faction  at  home,  apph'ed  to 
Theodosius,  by  whom  he  was  received  with 
great  tokens  of  friendship.  The  emperor 
himself  went  out  to  meet  him,  and  attended 
him  with  his  numerous  retinue  into  the  city. 
The  Gothic  prince  died  the  same  year,  and 
Theodosius  caused  him  to  be  buried  after  the 
Roman  manner,  with  such  pomp  and  solem 
nity  that  the  Goths  who  attended  him  in  his 
flight  returned  home  with  a  resolution  never 
to  molest  the  Romans  any  more.  Nay,  out 
of  gratitude  to  the  emperor,  they  took  upon 
them  to  guard  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  and 
prevent  the  empire  from  being  invaded  on 
that  side. 

In  383,  one  Maximus  revolted  against 
Gratian  in  Britain ;  and  having  at  length 


got  the  unhappy  emperor  into  his  power, 
caused  him  to  be  put  to  death,  upon  which 
the  usurper  assumed  the  empire  of  the  West 
himself.  Gratian  had  divided  his  dominions 
with  his  brother  Yalentinian,  whom  he  al 
lowed  to  reign  in  Italy  and  Western  Illyri- 
cum,  reserving  the  rest  to  himself.  Maxi 
mus,  therefore,  immediately  after  his  usurpa 
tion,  sent  deputies  to  Theodosius,  assuring 
him  that  he  had  no  designs  on  the  domin 
ions  of  Yalentinian.  As  Theodosius  at  that 
time  found  himself  in  danger  from  the  bar 
barians,  he  not  only  forbore  to  attack  Maxi 
mus  after  this  declaration,  but  even  acknow 
ledged  him  as  his  partner  in  the  empire.  It 
was  not  long,  however,  before  the  ambition 
of  the  usurper  prompted  him  to  violate  his 
promise.  In  387  he  suddenly  passed  the 
Alps ;  and  meeting  with  no  opposition, 
marched  to  Milan,  where  Yalentinian  usual 
ly  resided.  The  young  prince  fled  first  to 
Aquileia,  and  thence  to  Thessalonica,  in 
order  to  implore  the  protection  of  Theodosi 
us.  The  latter,  in  answer  to  Yalentinian's 
letter,  informed  him  that  he  was  not  at  all 
surprised  at  the  progress  Maximus  had  made, 
because  the  usurper  had  protected,  and 
Yalentinian  had  persecuted,  the  orthodox 
Christians.  At  last  he  prevailed  on  the 
young  prince  to  renounce  the  Arian  heresy, 
which  the  latter  had  hitherto  maintained ; 
after  which  Theodosius  promised  to  assist 
him  with  all  the  forces  of  the  East.  At  first, 
however,  he  sent  messengers  to  Maximus, 
earnestly  exhorting  him  to  restore  the  pro 
vinces  which  he  had  taken  from  Yalentinian, 
and  content  himself  with  Gaul,  Spain,  and 
Britain.  But  the  usurper  would  hearken  to 
no  terms.  This  very  year  he  besieged  and 
took  Aquileia,  Quaderna,  Bononia,  Mutina, 
Rhegium,  Placentia,  and  many  other  cities 
in  Italy ;  and  the  following  year  he  was  ac 
knowledged  in  Rome,  and  in  all  the  provin 
ces  of  Africa.  Theodosius,  therefore,  finding 
a  war  inevitable,  spent  the  remaining  months 
of  this  and  the  beginning;  of  the  following 

o  o  o 

year  in  making  the  necessary  preparations 
His  army  consisted  chiefly  of  Goths,  Huns 


596 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WOULD. 


Alans,  and  other  barbarians,  whom  he  was 
^Ind  to  take  into  his  service  in  order  to  pre 
vent  their  raising  disturbances  on  the  frontiers. 
He  defeated  Maximus  in  two  battles,  took 
him  prisoner,  and  put  him  to  death.  The 
usurper  had  left  his  son  Victor,  whom  he 
created  Augustus,  in  Gaul,  to  overawe  the 
inhabitants  in  his  absence.  Against  him  the 
emperor  dispatched  Arbogastes,  who  took 
him  prisoner  after  having  dispersed  the 
troops  that  attended  him,  and  put  him  to 
death.  The  victory  was  afterwards  used  by 
Theodosius  with  great  clemency  and  moder 
ation. 

In  389  Theodosius  made  a  journey  to 
Rome,  and,  according  to  Prudentius,  at  this 
time  converted  the  senate  and  people  from 
idolatry  to  Christianity.  The  next  year 
was  remarkable  for  the  destruction  of  the 
celebrated  temple  of  Serapis  in  Alexandria, 
which,  according  to  the  description  of  Am- 
mianus  Marcellinus,  surpassed  all  others  in 
the  world,  that  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus  alone 
exeepted.  The  reason  of  its  being  now  de 
stroyed  was  this.  Theophilus,  bishop"  of 
Alexandria,  having  begged  and  obtained  of 
the  emperor  an  old  temple,  formerly  conse 
crated  to  Bacchus,  but  then  ruined  and  for 
saken,  with  the  design  of  converting  it  into 
a  church,  the  workmen  found  among  the 
rubbish  several  obscene  figures,  which  the 
bishop,  in  order  to  ridicule  the  superstition 
of  the  heathens,  caused  to  be  exposed  to  pub 
lic  view.  This  provoked  the  Pagans  to  such 
a  degree  that  they  flew  to  arms  ;  and  falling 
unexpectedly  upon  the  Christians,  cut  great 
numbers  of  them  in  pieces.  The  latter,  how 
ever,  soon  took  arms  in  their  own  defence  ; 
ind  being  supported  by  the  few  soldiers  who 
were  quartered  in  the  city,  began  to  repel 
force  by  force.  Thus  a  civil  war  was  kin 
dled,  and  no  day  passed  without  some  encoun 
ter.  The  Pagans  used  to  retire  to  the  temple 
of  Serapis,  and  thence  sallying  out  unexpect 
edly,  seized  on  such  Christians  as  they  met, 
and  dragging  them  into  tho  temple,  either 
forced  them  by  the  most  exquisite  torments 
to  sacrifice  to  their  idol,  or,  if  they  refused, 


racked  them  to  death.  As  soon  as  they  ex 
pected  to  be  attacked  by  the  emperor's 
troops,  they  chose  a  philosopher  named 
Olympus  as  their  leader,  with  the  design  of 
defending  themselves  to  the  last  extremity. 
The  emperor,  however,  would  not  suffer  any 
punishment  to  be  inflicted  upon  them  for 
the  lives  of  those  whom  they  had  put  to 
death,  but  readily  forgave  them ;  however, 
he  ordered  all  the  temples  of  Alexandria  to 
be  immediately  pulled  down,  and  commanded 
the  bishop  to  see  his  orders  put  in  execution. 
The  Pagans  no  sooner  heard  that  the  emper 
or  was  acquainted  with  their  proceedings 
than  they  abandoned  the  temple,  which  was 
in  a  short  time  destroyed  by  Theophilus ; 
nothing  being  left  except  the  foundations, 
which  could  not  be  removed,  on  account  of 
the  extraordinary  weight  and  size  of  the 
stones.  Not  satisfied  with  the  destruction 
of  the  Alexandrian  temples,  the  zealous 
bishop  encouraged  the  people  to  pull  down 
all  the  other  temples,  oratories,  chapels,  aid 
places  set  apart  for  the  worship  of  the  hea 
then  gods  throughout  Egypt,  and  ordered 
the  statues  of  the  gods  themselves  to  be 
either  burnt  or  melted  down.  OY  the  in 
numerable  statues  which  at  that  time  were 
to  be  found  in  Egypt,  he  is  said  to  have 
spared  but  one,  namely,  that  of  an  ape,  in 
order  to  expose  the  Pagan  religion  to  ridi 
cule.  On  his  return  to  Constantinople, 
Theodosius  ordered  such  temples  as  were 
yet  standing  to  be  thrown  down,  and  the 
Arians  to  be  everywhere  driven  out  of  the 
cities. 

In  392  Yalentinian,  emperor  of  the  "West, 
was  treacherously  murdered  by  Arbogastes 
his  general,  who,  though  he  might  afterwards 
have  easily  seized  on  the  sovereignty  him 
self,  chose  to  confer  it  upon  one  Eugenius, 
and  to  reign  in  his  name.  This  new  usurp 
er,  though  a  Christian,  was  greatly  favored 
by  the  Pagans,  who  were  well  apprised  that 
he  only  bore  the  title  of  emperor,  while  the 
whole  power  lodged  in  Arbogastes,  who  pre 
tended  to  be  greatly  attached  to  their  religion. 
The  aruspices  appeared  anew,  and  informed 


J 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


597 


him  that  he  was  destined  to  the  empire  of 
the  whole  world,  and  that  he  would  soon 
gain  a  complete  victory  over  Theodosius, 
who  was  as  much  hated  as  Eugenius  was  be 
loved  by  the  gods.  But  though  Eugenius 
Beemed  to  favor  the  Pagans,  yet  in  the  very 
beginning  of  his  reign  he  wrote  to  St.  Ambrose. 
The  holy  man  did  not  answer  his  letter  till 
he  was  pressed  by  some  friends  to  recommend 
them  to  the  new  prince ;  and  then  he  wrote 
to  the  usurper  with  all  the  respect  due  to  an 
emperor.  Soon  after  his  accession  to  the 
empire,  Eugenius  sent  deputies  to  Theodo- 
Bius,  who  is  said  to  have  received  them  in  a 
very  obliging  manner.  He  did  not,  however, 
intend  to  enter  into  any  alliance  with  this 
usurper,  but  immediately  began  his  military 
preparations.  In  394  he  set  out  from  Con 
stantinople,  and  reached  Adrianople  on  the 
loth  of  June  that  year.  He  bent  his  march 
throvgh  Dacia,  and  the  other  provinces  be 
tween  Thrace  and  the  Julian  Alps,  with  the 
design  of  forcing  the  passes  of  these  moun 
tains,  and  breaking  into  Italy  before  the 
army  of  Eugenius  was  in  a  condition  to 
oppose  him.  On  his  arrival  at  the  Alps  he 
found  these  passes  guarded  by  Flavianus, 
prefect  of  Italy,  at  the  head  of  a  consider 
able  body  of  Roman  troops.  These,  how 
ever,  were  utterly  defeated  by  Theodosius, 
who  thereupon  crossed  the  Alps  and  advanc 
ed  into  Italy.  He  was  soon  met  by  Eugenius, 
and  a  bloody  battle  ensued,  without  any 
decisive  advantage  on  either  side ;  but  the 
next  day  the  emperor  led  his  troops  in  person 
against  the  enemy,  utterly  defeated  them, 
and  took  their  camp.  Eugenius  was  taken 
prisoner  by  his  own  men,  and  brought  to 
Theodosius,  who  reproached  him  with  the 
murder  of  Yalentinian,  with  the  calamities 
which  he  had  brought  on  the  empire  by  his 
unjust  usurpation,  and  with  putting  his  con 
fidence  in  Hercules,  and  not  in  the  true  God ; 
for  on  his  chief  (standard  he  had  displayed 
the  image  of  that  fabulous  hero.  Eugenius 
begged  earnestly  for  his  life  ;  but  whilst  he 
lay  prostrate  at  the  emperor's  feet,  his  own 
soldiers  oat  off  his  head,  and  carrying  it 


about  on  the  point  of  a  spear,  showed  it  to 
those  in  the  camp  who  had  not  yet  submitted 
to  Theodosius.  At  this  they  were  all  thunder 
struck  ;  but  being  informed  that  Theodosius 
was  ready  to  receive  them  into  favor,  they 
threw  down  their  arms  and  submitted.  Aftei 
tin's  Arbogastes,  despairing  of  pardon,  fled  to 
the  mountains ;  but  being  informed  that  dili 
gent  search  was  made  for  him,  he  laid  violent 
hands  on  himself.  His  children,  and  those 
of  Eugenius,  took  sanctuary  in  churches, 
the  emperor,  however,  not  only  pardoned, 
but  took  the  opportunity  of  converting  them 
to  Christianity,  restored  to  them  their  pater 
nal  estates,  and  raised  them  to  considerable 
employments  in  the  state.  Soon  after  this, 
Theodosius  appointed  his  son  Honorius  em 
peror  of  the  West,  assigning  him  as  his  share 
Italy,  Gaul,  Spain,  Africa,  and  "West  Illyri- 
cum.  But  the  next  year,  as  he  prepared  for 
his  return  to  Constantinople,  he  was  seized 
with  a  dropsy,  owing  to  the  great  fatigues  he 
had  undergone  during  the  war.  As  soon  us 
he  perceived  himself  to  be  in  danger,  he 
made  his  will,  by  which  he  bequeathed  the 
empire  of  the  East  to  Arcadius,  and  confirm 
ed  Honorius  in  the  possession  of  the  West. 
He  likewise  confirmed  the  pardon  which  he 
had  granted  to  all  those  who  had  borne  arms 
against  him,  remitted  a  tribute  which  had 
proved  very  burdensome  to  the  people,  and 
charged  his  two  sons  to  see  that  these  points 
of  his  will  were  executed.  He  died  at  Mi 
lan  on  the  17th  of  January  395,  in  the  six 
teenth  year  of  his  reign,  and  fiftieth  of  his 
age. 

Erom  the  time  of  Theodosius  to  the  time 
when  the  Roman  empire  in  the  West  was 
totally  destroyed  by  the  Goths,  we  find  but 
very  little  remarkable  in  the  history  of  Con 
stantinople.  At  this  time  the  eastern  empire 
was  usurped  by  Basiliscus,  who  had  driven 
out  Zeno,  the  lawful  emperor,  being  assisted 
in  his  conspiracy  by  the  empress  Yerina,  his 
sister.  Zeno  fled  into  Isauria,  whither  he 
was  pursued  by  Illus  and  Trecondes,  two  of 
the  usurper's  generals,  who  having  easily 
defeated  the  fe~"-  troops  he  had  with  him 


698 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


forced  the  unhappy  prince  to  shut  himself 
up  in  a  castle,  which  they  immediately  in 
vested.  But  in  a  short  time  Basiliscus  hav 
ing  disobliged  the  people  by  his  cruelty, 
avarice,  and  other  bad  qualities,  for  which 
he  was  no  less  remarkable  than  his  predeces- 
Eor  had  been,  his  generals  joined  with  Zeno, 
whom  they  restored  to  the  throne.  After  his 
restoration,  Zeno  having  got  Basiliscus  into  his 
power,  confined  him  in  a  castle  of  Cappado- 
cia,  together  with  his  wife  Zenonides,  where 
they  both  perished  with  hunger  and  cold. 
This  happened  in  the  year  467,  after  Basilis- 
jus  had  reigned  about  twenty  months.  Dur 
ing  the  time  of  this  usurpation  a  dreadful 
fire  happened  at  Constantinople,  which  con 
sumed  great  part  of  the  city,  with  the  libra 
ry  containing  120,000  volumes,  among  which 
were  the  works  of  Homer,  written,  as  is  said, 
on  the  great  gut  of  a  dragon  a  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  long. 

The  misfortunes  which  Zeno  had  under 
gone  did  not  work  any  reformation  upon 
him.  He  still  continued  the  same  vicious 
courses  which  had  given  occasion  to  the  usur 
pation  of  Basiliscus;  and  other  conspiracies 
were  formed  against  him,  but  he  had  the 
good  fortune  to  escape  them.  He  engaged 
in  a  war  with  the  Ostrogoths,  in  which  he 
proved  unsuccessful,  and  was  obliged  to  yield 
to  them  the  provinces  of  Lower  Dacia  and 
Moesia.  In  a  short  time,  however,  Theodo- 
ric  their  king  made  an  irruption  into  Thrace, 
and  advanced  within  fifteen  miles  of  Con 
stantinople,  with  the  design  of  besieging 
that  capital;  but  the  following  year,  485, 
they  retired  in  order  to  attack  Odoacer,  king 
of  Italy,  of  which  country  Theodoric  was 
proclaimed  king  in  493.  The  emperor  Zeno 
died  in  the  year  491,  in  the  sixty-fifth  year 
of  his  age,  and  seventeenth  of  his  reign. 

The  Roman  empire  had  now  for  a  long 
time  been  on  the  decline ;  and  the  valor  and 
military  discipline  which  had  for  so  many 
ages  rendered  the  Romans  superior  to  other 
nations  had  now  greatly  degenerated.  The 
tumults  and  disorders  wmch  had  happened 
in  the  empire  from  time  to  time  by  the  many 


usurpations,  had  also  greatly  contributed  tc 
weaken  it.  But  what  proved  of  the  greatest 
detriment  was  the  allowing  vast  swarms  of 
barbarians  to  settle  in  the  different  provin 
ces,  and  to  serve  in  the  Roman  empire  in 
separate  and  independent  bodies.  This  had 
proved  the  immediate  cause  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  western  empire ;  but  as  it  affected 
the  eastern  parts  less,  the  Constantinopol- 
itan  empire  continued  for  upwards  of  nine 
hundred  years  after  that  of  the  West  had 
been  totally  dissolved.  The  weak  and  im 
prudent  administration  of  Zeno,  and  of 
Anastasius,  who  succeeded  him,  had  reduced 
the  eastern  empire  still  more ;  and  it  might 
possibly  have  expired  in  a  short  time  after 
the  western  one,  had  not  the  wise  and  vigor 
ous  conduct  of  Justin  and  his  partner  Jus 
tinian  revived  in  some  measure  the  ancient 
martial  spirit  which  had  originally  raised  the 
Roman  empire  to  its  highest  pitch  of  grand 
eur. 

Justin  ascended  the  throne  in  518.  In  521 
he  engaged  in  a  war  with  the  Persians,  who 
had  all  alone:  been  formidable  enemies  to  the 

o 

Roman  name.  Against  them  he  employed 
the  famous  Belisarius,  of  whom,  however,  we 
hear  nothing  remarkable  till  after  the  acces 
sion  of  Justinian.  This  prince  was  the  ne 
phew  of  Justin,  and  was  by  him  taken  as 
his  partner  in  the  empire  in  527 ;  and  the 
same  year  Justin  died,  in  the  seventy-seventh 
year  of  his  age  and  ninth  of  his  reign.  Jus 
tinian  being  now  sole  master  of  the  empire, 
directed  his  whole  force  against  the  Persians. 
The  latter  proved  successful  in  the  first  en 
gagement,  but  were  soon  afterwards  utterly 
defeated  by  Belisarius  on  the  frontiers  of 
Persia,  and  likewise  by  another  general, 
named  Dorotheus,  in  Armenia.  The  war 
continued  with  various  success  during  the 
first  five  years  of  Justinian's  reign.  In  the 
sixth  year  a  peace  was  concluded  upon  the 
conditions  that  the  Roman  emperor  should 
pay  to  Cosrhoes,  the  king  of  Persia,  a  thou 
sand  pounds  weight  of  gold  ;  that  both  prin 
ces  should  restore  the  places  they  had  taken 
during  the  wars;  that  the  commander  of  the 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WOELD. 


599 


Roman  forces  should  no  longer  reside  at" 
Daras,  on  the  Persian  frontiers,  but  at  a 
place  called  Constantina,  in  Mesopotamia,  as 
he  had  formerly  done ;  and  that  the  Iberians 
who  had  sided  with  the  Romans  should  be 
at  liberty  either  to  return  to  their  own  coun- 
rry  or  to  icmain  at  Constantinople.  This 
peace,  concluded  in  532,  was  styled  "  eter 
nal  ; "  but  in  the  event  it  proved  of  very 
short  duration. 

About  this  time  happened  at  Constantino 
ple  the  greatest  tumult  mentioned  in  history. 
It  began  among  the  different  factions  in  the 
circus,  but  ended  in  an  open  rebellion.  The 
multitude,  highly  dissatisfied  with  the  con 
duct  of  John,  the  prefectus prcetorio,  and  of 
Tribonianus,  then  questor,  forced  Hypatius, 
nephew  of  the  emperor  Anastasius,  to  accept 
the  empire,  and  proclaimed  him  with  great 
solemnity  in  the  forum.  As  the  above-men 
tioned  ministers  were  greatly  abhorred  by 
the  populace  on  account  of  their  avarice, 
Justinian  immediately  discharged  them,  hop 
ing  by  that  means  to  appease  the  tumult ; 
but  this  was  so  far  from  answering  the  pur 
pose,  that  the  multitude  only  grew  the  more 
outrageous ;  and  most  of  the  senators  joining 
them,  the  emperor  became  so  much  alarmed 
that  he  had  thoughts  of  abandoning  the  city 
and  making  his  escape  by  sea.  In  this  dilem 
ma  the  Empress  Theodora  encouraged  and 
persuaded  him  rather  to  part  with  his  life 
than  with  his  kingdom ;  and  he  at  last  resolv 
ed  to  defend  himself  to  the  utmost,  with  the 
few  senators  who  had  not  yet  abandoned 
him.  In  the  mean  time,  the  rebels  having 
attempted  in  vain  to  force  the  gates  of  the 
palace,  carried  Hypatius  in  triumph  to  the 
circus,  where,  whilst  he  was  beholding  the 
sports  from  the  imperial  throne,  amidst  the 
shouts  and  acclamations  of  the  people,  Be- 
lisarius,  who  had  been  recalled  from  Persia, 
entered  the  city  with  a  considerable  body  of 
troops.  Being  then  apprised  of  the  usurpa 
tion  of  Hypatius,  he  marched  straight  to  the 
circus,  fell  sword  in  hand  upon  the  disarmed 
multitude,  and  with  the  assistance  of  a  band 
of  Ileruli,  headed  by  Mundus,  governor  of 


Illyricum,  cut  about  thirty  thousand  of  them 
in  pieces.  Hypatius  the  usurper,  and  Pom- 
peius,  another  of  the  nephews  of  Anastasius, 
were  taken  prisoners  and  carried  to  the  em 
peror,  by  whose  orders  they  were  both  be 
headed,  and  their  bodies  cast  into  the  sea. 
Their  estates  were  confiscated,  and  likewise 
the  estates  of  such  senators  as  had  joined 
with  them ;  but  the  emperor  caused  great 
part  of  their  lands  and  effects  to  be  after 
wards  restored  to  their  children,  together 
with  their  honors  and  dignities. 

Justinian  having  now  no  other  enemy  to 
contend  with,  turned  his  arms  against  the 
Yandals  in  Africa,  and  the  Goths  in  Italy, 
both  of  which  provinces  he  recovered  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  barbarians.  But  before  his 
general  Belisarius  had  time  to  establish  fully 
the  Roman  power  in  Italy,  he  was  recalled 
in  order  to  carry  on  the  war  against  Cosrhoes, 
king  of  Persia,  who,  in  defiance  of  the 
treaty  concluded  in  532,  had  entered  the 
Roman  dominions  at  the  head  of  a  powerful 
army.  The  same  year,  however,  a  peace 
was  concluded  betwen  the  two  nations,  upon 
the  conditions  that  the  Romans  should,  within 
two  months,  pay  to  the  Persian  king  five 
thousand  pounds  weight  of  gold,  and  an 
annual  pension  of  five  hundred ;  that  the 
Persians  should  reliquish  all  claim  to  the  for 
tress  of  Daras,  and  maintain  a  body  of  troops 
to  guard  the  Caspian  gates,  and  prevent  the 
barbarians  from  breaking  into  the  empire; 
and  that  upon  payment  of  the  above-mention 
ed  sum,  Cosrhoes  should  immediately  with 
draw  his  troops  from  the  Roman  dominions. 
The  treaty  being  signed,  and  the  stipulated 
sum  paid,  Cosrhoes  began  to  march  back 
again ;  but  on  the  way  he  plundered  several 
cities,  as  if  the  war  had  still  continued.  Jus 
tinian  therefore  resolved  to  pursue  the  war 
with  the  utmost  vigor,  and  for  this  purpose 
dispatched  Belisarius  into  the  East.  But 
soon  afterwards  he  was  obliged  to  ivicall  him 
in  order  to  oppose  the  Goths,  who  after  his 
departure  had  gained  great  advantages  in 
Italy.  The  Persian  war  was  then  carried  on 
with  indifferent  success  till  the  year  558, 


'600 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


when  a  peace  was  concluded  upon  the  empe 
ror  again  paying  an  immense  sum  to  the 
enemy.  The  same  year  the  Huns,  having 
passed  the  Danube  in  the  depth  of  winter, 
marched  in  two  bodies  directly  for  Constan 
tinople,  and  laying  -waste  the  countries 
through  which  they  passed,  came,  without 
meeting  the  least  opposition,  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  city.  But  Belisarius  having 
marched  out  against  them  with  a  handful  of 
men.  put  them  to  flight.  The  emperor,  how 
ever,  in  order  to  prevent  them  from  invading 
the  empire  anew,  agreed  to  pay  them  an 
annual  tribute,  upon  their  promising  to  defend 
the  empire  against  all  other  barbarians,  and 
to  serve  in  the  Roman  armies  when  required. 
This  was  the  last  exploit  performed  by  Beli- 
Barius,  who  on  his  return  to  Constantinople 
was  disgraced,  stripped  of  all  his  employ 
ments,  and  confined  to  his  house,  on  pretence 
of  a  conspiracy  against  the  emperor.  In  the 
year  565  a  real  conspiracy  was  formed  against 
Justinian,  which  he  happily  escaped,  and  the 
conspirators  were  executed  ;  but  the  emperor 
did  not  long  survive  it,  being  carried  off  by 
a  natural  death  in  506,  in  the  thirty-ninth 
year  of  his  reign. 

During  the  reign  of  Justinian,  the  majesty 
of  the  Roman  empire  seemed  in  some  meas 
ure  to  revive.  He  recovered  the  provinces 
of  Italy  and  Africa  from  the  hands  of  the 
barbarians,  by  whom  they  had  been  held  for 
a  number  of  years ;  but  soon  after  his  death 
they  were  lost  to  the  empire,  which  now  tend 
ed  fast  to  dissolution.  In  569  Italy  was 
conquered  by  the  Lombards,  who  held  it  for 
the  space  of  two  hundred  years.  Some 
amends,  however,  were  made  for  the  loss  by 
the  acquisition  of  Persarmenia,  the  inhabi 
tants  of  which,  being  persecuted  by  the  Per 
sians  on  account  of  the  Christian  religion, 
which  they  professed,  revolted  to  the  Romans. 
This  produced  a  war  between  the  two  nations, 
who  continued  to  weaken  each  other,  till  at 
last  the  Persian  monarchy  was  utterly  over 
thrown,  and  that  of  the  Romans  greatly  re 
duced,  by  the  Saracens.  These  new  enemies 
attacked  the  Romans  in  the  year  632,  and 


pursued  their  conquests  with  incredible  ra 
pidity.  In  the  spa  3e  of  four  years  they  re 
duced  the  provinces  of  Egypt,  Syria,  and 
Palestine.  In  648  they  were  also  masters  oi 
Mesopotamia,  Phoenicia,  Africa,  Cyprus, 
Aradus,  and  Rhodes ;  and  having  defeated 
the  Roman  fleet  commanded  by  the  Emperor 
Constans  in  person,  they  concluded  a  peace 
on  condition  of  retaining  the  vast  extent  of 
territory  which  they  had  seized,  and  paying 
for  it  a  thousand  nummi  a  year. 

An  expedition  against  the  Lombards  waa 
about  this  time  undertaken,  but  with  very 
little  success ;  a  body  of  twenty  thousand 
Romans  having  been  almost  entirely  cut  off 
by  one  of  the  Lombard  generals.  In  (571 
the  Saracens  ravaged  several  provinces,  made 
a  descent  on  Sicily,  took  and  plundered  the 
city  of  Syracuse,  arid  overran  the  whole 
island,  destroying  every  thing  with  fire  and 
sword.  In  like  manner  they  laid  waste  Cili- 
cia,  and  having  passed  the  winter  at  Smyrna, 
entered  Thrace  in  the  year  672,  and  laid 
siege  to  Constantinople  itself.  Here,  how 
ever,  they  were  repulsed  with  great  loss; 
but  next  spring  they  renewed  their  attempt, 
in  which  they  met  with  the  same  ill  success, 
many  of  their  ships  being  consumed  by  the 
sea-fire,  as  it  was  called,  because  it  burned 
under  water ;  and  in  their  return  home  their 
fleet  was  wrecked  off  the  Scyllaaan  promon 
tory.  At  last  a  peace  was  concluded  for  thir 
ty  years,  on  condition  that  the  Saracens  should 
retain  all  the  provinces  which  they  had  seiz 
ed,  and  that  they  should  pay  the  emperor 
and  his  successors  three  thousand  pounds 
weight  of  gold,  fifty  slaves,  and  as  many 
jchoice  horses. 

This  peace  had  scarcely  been  concluded 
when  the  empire  was  invaded  by  a  new  ene 
my,  who  for  a  long  time  proved  very  trouble 
some.  These  were  the  Bulgarians,  who 
breaking  into  Thrace,  defeated  the  Roman 
army  sent  against  them,  and  ravaged  the 
country  far  and  wide.  The  emperor  consent 
ed  to  pay  them  an  annual  pension  rather 
than  continue  a  doubtful  war,  and  allowed 
them  to  settle  in  Lower  Moesia,  which  from 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


601 


them  was  afterwards  called  Bulgaria.  In 
687,  they  were  attacked  by  Justinian  II.  who 
entered  their  country  without  provocation, 
and  in  disregard  of  the  treaties  formerly 
concluded  with  them.  But,  having  fallen 
suddenly  upon  him,  they  drove  him  out  of 
their  country,  and  obliged  him  to  restore  the 
towns  and  captives  he  had  taken.  In  697 
this  emperor  was  deposed,  and  in  his  exile- 
fled  to  Trebelis,  king  of  the  Bulgarians,  by 
whom  he  was  kindly  entertained,  and  by 
whose  means  he  was  restored  to  his  throne ; 
but  soon  forgetting  this  favor,  he  invaded  the 
country  of  the  Bulgarians,  with  a  design  of 
wresting  from  them  those  provinces  which 
he  had  yielded  to  them.  In  this  expedition, 
however,  he  was  attended  by  no  better  suc 
cess  than  his  ingratitude  deserved,  his  army 
being  utterly  defeated,  and  he  himself  oblig 
ed  to  make  his  escape  in  a  light  vessel  to 
Constantinople.  The  Bulgarians  continued 
their  inroads  and  ravages  at  different  times, 
generally  defeating  the  Romans  who  ven- 
tiued  to  ;ppose  them,  till  the  year  809,  the 
seventh  of  the  reign  of  Nieephorus,  when 
chey  surprised  the  city  of  Sardica,  in  Moesia, 
and  put  the  whole  garrison,  consisting  of  six 
thousand  men,  to  the  sword.  The  emperor 
marched  against  them  with  a  considerable 
army,  but  the  enemy  retired  at  his  approach, 
and  he,  instead  of  pursuing  them,  returned 
to  Constantinople.  Two  years  afterwards  he 
entered  Bulgaria  at  the  head  of  a  powerful 
army,  destroying  everything  with  fire  and 
sword.  The  king  offered  to  conclude  a  peace 
with  him  upon  honorable  terms ;  but  Nice- 
phorus,  rejecting  his  proposals,  continued  to 
waste  the  country,  destroying  the  cities,  and 
putting  all  the  inhabitants,  without  distinc 
tion  of  age  or  sex,  to  the  sword.  The  king 
was  so  much  affected  with  these  cruelties 
which  were  exercised  on  his  subjects,  that  he 
sent  a  second  embassy  to  ISTicephorus,  offer 
ing  to  conclude  a  peace  with  him  upon  any 
terms,  provided  he  would  quit  his  country. 
But  ISTicephorus  having  dismissed  the  ambas- 
eadors  with  scorn,  the  Bulgarian  monarch 
unexpectedly  attacked  the  Roman  camp, 
76 


forced  it,  and  cut  oft  almost  the  whole  army, 
with  the  emperor  himself,  and  a  great  num 
ber  of  patricians.  His  successor  Michael 
likewise  engaged  in  a  war  writh  the  Bulgari 
ans;  but  being  utterly  defeated,  he  was.  so 
grieved  that  he  resigned  the  empire.  After 
this  the  Bulgarians  continued  to  be  formida 
ble  enemies  of  the  empire  till  the  year  979, 
when  they  were  attacked  by  Basil  ius  II. 
The  Bulgarians  were  at  that  time  governed 
by  a  king  named  Samuel,  who  ravaged  the 
Roman  territories,  as  was  the  common  prac 
tice  of  his  nation ;  upon  which  Basilius  sent 
against  him  one  Nicephorus  Uranus,  at  the 
head  of  a  powerful  army.  Uranus  leaving 
his  baggage  at  Larissa,  reached  the  Sperchiu^ 
by  forced  marches,  and  encamped  with  his 
wrhole  army  opposite  the  enemy,  who 
lay  on  the  other  bank.  As  the  river  was 
greatly  swelled  with  heavy  rains  which  had 
lately  fallen,  Samuel,  not  imagining  the  Ro 
mans  would  attempt  to  pass  it,  suffered  his 
troops  to  roam  in  large  parties  about  the 
country  in  quest  of  booty.  But  Uranus 
having  at  length  found  out  a  place  where  the 
river  was  fordable,  passed  it  in  tb^  dead  oi 
the  night  without  being  perceived.  He  then 
fell  upon  the  Bulgarians  wrho  remained  in 
the  camp,  and  lay  for  the  most  part  asleep  ; 
cut  a  great  number  of  them  in  pieces  ;  took 
many  prisoners,  with  all  their  baggage,  and 
made  himself  master  of  their  camp.  Sam 
uel  and  his  son  were  dangerously  wounded, 
and  would  have  been  taken  had  not  they  all 
that  day  concealed  themselves  among  the- 
dead.  The  next  night  they  stole  away  to  the 
mountains  of  JEtolia,  and  thence  made  their 
ercape  into  Bulgaria.  The  following  year 
the  emperor  entered  Bulgaria  at  the  head  of 
a  numerous  and  well  disciplined  army,  de 
feated  Samuel  in  a  pitched  battle,  and  took 
several  strong  cities.  The  emperor  himself, 
however,  at  last  narrowly  escaped  being  cut 
off  with  his  whole  army,  being  unexpectedly 
attacked  by  the  Bulgarians  in  a  narrow  pass. 
From  this  danger  he  was  relieved  by  the  ar 
rival  of  JSTicephorus  Xiphias,  governor  of 
Philippopolis,  with  a  considerable  number 


602 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


of  troops,  who,  falling  upon  the  enemy's  rear, 
put  them  to  flight.  Basilius  pursued  them 
closely,  and  having  taken  an  incredible  num 
ber  of  prisoners,  caused  their  eyes  to  be  pull 
ed  out,  leaving  to  every  hundred  a  guide  with 
one  eye,  that  he  might  conduct  them  to  Sam 
uel.  This  shocking  spectacle  so  affected  the 
unhappy  king,  that  he  fell  into  a  deep  swoon, 
and  died  two  days  afterwards.  The  Roman 
emperor  pursued  his  conquests,  and  in  the 
space  of  two  years  made  himself  master  of 
most  of  the  enemy's  strongholds.  He  also 
defeated  the  successor  of  Samuel  in  several 
engagements ;  and  having  at  last  killed  him 
in  battle,  the  Bulgarians  submitted  them 
selves  without  reserve.  The  vast  treasures 
of  their  princes  were  by  Basilius  distributed 
among  his  soldiers  by  way  of  donative.  Soon 
afterwards  the  widow  of  the  late  king,  with 
her  six  daughters  and  three  of  her  sons,  sur 
rendered  themselves  to  the  Roman  emperor, 
by  whom  they  were  received  with  the  ut 
most  civility  and  respect.  This  obliging  be 
havior  encouraged  the  three  other  sons  of 
the  late  king,  and  most  of  the  princes  of  the 
blood,  who  had  taken  shelter  in  the  moun 
tains,  to  submit,  and  throw  themselves  on 
the  emperor's  clemency. 

Ibatzes,  however,  a  person  nearly  allied  to 
the  royal  family,  who  had  distinguished  him 
self  during  the  whole  course  of  the  war,  re 
fused  to  submit,  and  fled  to  a  steep  and  crag 
gy  mountain,  with  the  design  of  defending 
himself  there  to  the  last  extremity.  Basili 
us  endeavored  to  induce  him  to  submit  by 
fair  means;  but  he  equally  despised  both 
threats  and  promises.  At  last  Eustathitis 
Daphnomelus,  whom  Basilius  had  lately  ap 
pointed  governor  of  Achridus,  the  chief  city 
of  Bulgaria,  undertook  to  seize  him.  "With 
out  communicating  his  design  to  any,  he  re 
paired,  with  two  persons  in  whom  he  could 
3onfide,  to  the  mountain  on  which  Ibatzes 
had  fortified  himself,  hoping  to  pass  undis 
covered  among  the  many  strangers  who 
flocked  thither  to  celebrate  the  approaching 
feast  of  the  Virg'n  Mary,  for  whom  Ibatzes 
had  a  particular  ^pneration.  In  this,  how 


ever,  he  found  himself  mistaken ;  for  he  was 
discovered  by  the  guards,  and  carried  before 
the  prince.  To  the  latter  he  pretended  to 
have  something  of  importance  to  communi 
cate  ;  but  as  soon  as  Ibatzes  had  retired  with 
him  into  a  remote  place,  Daphnomelus  threw 
himself  suddenly  upon  him,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  the  two  men  whom  he  had 
brought  with  him,  pulled  out  both  his  eyes, 
and  got  safely  to  an  abandoned  castle  on  the 
*op  of  the  hill.  Here  they  were  immediate 
ly  surrounded  by  the  troops  of  Ibatzes,  but 
l)aphnomelus  exhorting  them  now  to  sub 
mit  to  the  emperor,  by  whom  he  assured 
them  they  would  be  well  received,  they 
congratulated  Daphnomelus  on  his  success, 
and  suffered  him  to  conduct  the  unhappy 
Ibatzes  a  prisoner  to  Basilius.  The  empe 
ror  was  no  less  surprised  than  pleased  at  the 
success  of  this  bold  attempt,  and  rewarded 
Daphnomelus  with  the  government  of  Dyr- 
hachium,  and  all  the  rich  movables  of  his 
prisoner.  After  this,  having  accomplished 
the  entire  reduction  of  Bulgaria,  he  returned 
with  an  incredible  number  of  captives  to 
Constantinople,  where  he  was  received  by 
the  senate  and  people  with  all  possible  de 
monstrations  of  joy. 

During  this  time  the  Saracens  had  at  in 
tervals  invaded  the  Roman  dominions,  and 
even  attempted  to  make  themselves  masters 
of  Constantinople.  Their  internal  divisions, 
however,  rendered  them  now  much  less  for 
midable  enemies  than  they  had  formerly 
been  ;  so  that  some  provinces  were  even  re 
covered  for  a  time  out  of  their  hands,  though 
the  weak  and  distracted  state  of  the  empire 
rendered  it  impossible  to  preserve  such  con 
quests.  In  1041,  the  empire  was  invaded 
by  an  enemy,  not  very  powerful  at  that  time, 
indeed,  but  who  by  degrees  gathered  strength 
sufficient  to  overthrow  both  the  Roman  and 
Saracen  empires.  These  were  the  Turks, 
who,  having  quitted  their  ancient  habitations 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Mount  Caucasus,  and 
passed  the  Caspian  Straits,  settled  in  Arme 
nia  Major  about  the  year  814.  There  they 
continued,  an  unknown  an  I  despised  people, 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


G03 


till  the  intestine  wars  of  the  Saracens  gave 
them  an  opportunity  of  aggrandizing  them 
selves.  About  the  year  1030,  Mohammed, 
the  son  of  Sambrael,  sultan  of  Persia,  not 
finding  himself  a  match  for  Pisaris,  sultan 
of  Babylon,  with  whom  he  was  at  war,  had 
recourse  to  the  Turks,  who  sent  him  three 
thousand  men,  under  the  command  of  Tan- 
grolipix,  a  leading  man  among  them.  By 
their  assistance,  Mohammed  defeated  his  ad 
versary  ;  but  when  the  Turks  desired  leave 
to  return  home,  he  refused  to  part  with  them. 
Upon  this  they  withdrew  without  his  con- 
Bent  to  a  neighboring  desert ;  and  there  being 
joined  by  several  discontented  Persians,  be 
gan  to  make  frequent  inroads  into  the  sultan's 
territories.  Mohammed  immediately  dis 
patched  against  them  an  army  of  twenty 
thousand  men,  who  being  surprised  in  the 
night,  were  utterly  defeated  by  Tangrolipix. 
The  fame  of  this  victory  drew  multitudes 
from  all  parts  to  his  standard :  so  that  in  a 
short  time  Tangrolipix  saw  himself  at  the 
head  of  fifty  thousand  men.  Upon  this,  Mo 
hammed  marched  against  them  in  person, 
but  was  thrown  from  his  horse  in  the  begin 
ning  of  the  engagement,  and  killed  by  the 
fall ;  upon  which  his  men  threw  down  their 
arms,  and  submitted  to  Tangrolipix. 

After  this  victory,  the  Turkish  general 
made  war  upon  the  sultan  of  Babylon,  whom 
he  at  length  slew,  and  annexed  his  dominions 
to  his  own.  He  then  sent  his  nephew,  named 
Cutlu-Moses,  against  the  Arabians ;  but  he 
was  defeated  by  them,  and  forced  to  fly  to 
wards  Media.  But  he  was  denied  a  passage 
through  this  province  by  Stephen,  the  Ro 
man  governor,  upon  which  Cutlu-Moses  was 
obliged  to  force  his  way,  by  encountering  the 
Roman  army.  These  he  put  to  flight,  took 
the  governor  himself  prisoner,  and  without 
any  further  opposition  reached  the  confines 
of  Persia,  where  he  sold  Stephen  as  a  slave. 
Returning  thence  to  Tangrolipix,  he  excused, 
in  the  best  manner  he  could,  his  defeat  by 
the  Arabians ;  but  at  the  same  time  acquaint 
ed  him  with  his  victory  over  the  Romans  in 
Media,  encouraging  him  to  invade  that  fer 


tile  country,  which  he  said  might  be  easily 
conquered,  as  it  was  inhabited  by  none  but 
women,  meaning  thereby  the  Romans.  At 
that  time  Tangrolipix  did  not  hearken  to  his 
advice,  but  marched  against  the  Arabians  at 
the  head  of  a  numerous  army.  He  was, 
however,  attended  with  no  better  success 
than  his  nephew  had  been,  and  therefore  be 
gan  to  reflect  on  what  the  latter  had  told  him. 
Soon  afterwards  he  sent  Asan,  his  brother's 
son,  with  an  army  of  twenty  thousand  men, 
to  reduce  Media ;  and,  pursuant  to  his  orders, 
the  young  prince  entered  that  country,  and 
committed  everywhere  dreadful  ravages ;  but 
being  in  the  end  drawn  into  an  ambuscado 
by  the  Roman  generals,  he  was  cut  off  with 
his  whole  army.  Tangrolipix,  nowise  dis 
couraged  by  this  misfortune,  sent  a  new  army 
into  Media,  nearly  one  hundred  thousand 
strong,  which,  after  having  ravaged  the 
country,  without  opposition,  laid  siege  to 
Artza,  a  place  of  great  trade,  and  reckoned 
the  most  wealthy  in  those  parts.  But  not 
being  able  to  reduce  it  by  any  other  means, 
they  set  it  on  fire,  and  thus  in  a  short  time 
it  was  utterly  destroyed ;  the  buildings  being 
reduced  to  ashes,  while  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  of  the  inhabitants  perished  either 
by  the  flames  or  the  sword.  After  this  Abra 
ham  Plalim,  brother  of  Tangrolipix,  hearing 
that  the  Romans,  reinforced  with  a  body  of 
troops  under  the  command  of  Liparites,  gov 
ernor  of  Iberia,  had  taken  the  field,  marched 
against  them  and  offered  them  battle,  which 
they  accepted.  The  two  armies  engaged 
with  incredible  fury,  and  the  victory  contin 
ued  long  doubtful,  but  at  length  inclined  to 
the  Romans,  who  nevertheless  did  not  think 
proper  to  pursue  the  fugitives,  as  their  gen 
eral  Liparites  had  been  taken  prisoner.  The 
emperor,  greatly  conceined  for  the  captivity 
of  Liparites,  dispatched  ambassadors  with 
rich  presents,  and  a  large  sum  of  money  to 
redeem  him,  and  at  the  same  time  to  con 
clude  an  alliance  with  Tangrolipix.  The 
sultan  received  the  presents,  but  generously 
returned  them,  together  with  the  money,  to 
Liparites,  whom  he  set  at  liberty  without 


604 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


ransom,  only  req  uiring  him  at  his  departure 
to  promise  never  more  to  bear  arms  against 
the  Turk*.  Not  long  afterwards,  Tangro- 
lipix  sen'  a  person  of  great  authority  among 
the  Turks,  in  the  capacity  of  ambassador,  to 
Constantinople;  but  he  having  arrogantly 
exhorted  the  emperor  to  submit  to  his  master, 
and  acknowledge  himself  his  tributary,  was 
ignominiously  driven  out  of  the  city. 

Tangrolipix,  highly  affronted  at  the  recep 
tion  which  his  ambassador  had  met  with,  en 
tered  Iberia  while  the  emperor  Constantino 
Monomachus  was  engaged  in  a  war  with  the 
Patzinacae,  a  Scythian  nation.  Having  rav 
aged  that  country,  he  returned  thence  to 
Media,  and  laid  siege  to  Mantzichierta,  a 
place  defended  by  a  numerous  garrison,  and 
fortified  by  a  triple  wall  and  deep  ditches. 
However,  as  it  was  situated  in  an  open  and 
level  country,  he  hoped  to  be  master  of  it  in 
a  short  time.  But  finding  the  besieged  de 
termined  to  defend  themselves  to  the  last 
extremity,  he  resolved  to  raise  the  siege, 
after  he  had  continued  it  for  thirty  days. 
One  of  his  officers,  however,  named  Alcan, 
prevailed  on  him  to  persevere  one  day  long 
er,  and  to  commit  the  management  of  the  at 
tacks  to  him.  This  being  granted,  Alcan 
disposed  his  men  with  such  skill,  and  so  en 
couraged  them  by  his  example,  that,  notwith 
standing  the  vigorous  opposition  they  met 
with,  the  place  would  have  probably  been  tak 
en,  had  not  Alcan  been  slain  as  he  was  mount 
ing  the  wall.  The  besieged,  knowing  him  by 
the  richness  of  his  armour,  drewr  him  by  the 
hair  into  the  city,  and  cutting  off  his  head, 
threw  it  over  the  wall  amongst  the  enemy  ; 
a  circumstance  which  so  disheartened  them 
that  they  gave  over  the  assault  and  retired. 
The  next  spring  Tangrolipix  returned,  and 
ravaged  Iberia  with  the  utmost  cruelty,  spar 
ing  neither  age  nor  sex.  But  on  the  approach 
of  the  Roman  army  he  retired  to  Tauris, 
leaving  tliirty  thousand  men  behind  him, 
with  orders  to  infest  the  frontiers  of  the  em 
pire.  This  they  iid  with  great  success,  the 
borders  being  through  the  avarice  of  Mono- 
nm?hus  left  ungiarded.  Till  the  time  of 


this  emperor,  the  provinces  bordering  on  ths 
countries  of  the  barbarians  had  maintained, 
at  their  own  charge,  forces  to  defend  them, 
and  were  on  that  account  exempted  from 
paying  tribute ;  but  as  Monomachus  had  ex 
acted  from  them  the  same  sums  which  were 
paid  by  others,  they  were  no  longer  in  a  con 
dition  to  defend  themselves. 

In  1062  died  the  emperor  Constantino 
Dncas,  having  left  the  empire  to  his  three 
sons,  Michael,  Andronicus,  and  Constantino  ; 
but  as  they  were  all  very  young,  he  appoint 
ed  the  empress  Eudocia  regent  during  their 
minority,  after  having  required  of  her  an 
oath  never  to  marry,  which  oath  was  with 
great  solemnity  lodged  in  the  hands  of  the 
patriarch.  He  likewise  obliged  the  senators 
solemnly  to  swear  that  they  would  acknowl 
ed<re  none  for  their  sovereign  but  his  three 

O  o 

sons.  No  sooner  was  he  dead,  however, 
than  the  Turks,  hearing  that  the  empire  was 
governed  by  a  woman,  broke  into  Mesopota 
mia,  Cilicia,  and  Cappadocia,  destroying  all 
with  fire  and  sword.  The  empress  was  no 
wise  in  a  condition  to  oppose  them,  the 
greater  part  of  the  army  having  been  dis 
banded  in  her  husband's  lifetime,  and  the 
troops  that  were  still  on  foot  being  undisci 
plined,  and  altogether  unfit  for  service.  The 
concern  which  this  gave  the  empress  was 
aggravated  by  the  seditious  speeches  of  a  dis 
contented  party  at  home,  who  repeated  on 
all  occasions,  that  the  present  state  of  affairs 
required  a  man  of  courage  and  address  at 
the  helm,  instead  of  a  weak  and  helpless 
woman ;  and  as  they  imagined  that  the  em 
press  would  never  think  of  marrying,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  oath  which  she  had  taken, 
they  hoped  by  these  speeches  to  induce  the 

I  people  to  revolt  and  choose  a  new  emperor 
This  Eudocia  was  aware  of,  and  therefore  de 
termined  to  prevent  the  evils  which  threat 
ened  herself  and  her  family,  by  marrying 
some  person  of  merit,  capable  of  defeating 
her  enemies  both  at  home  and  abroad.  At 
this  time  one  Ilomanus  Diogenes,  a  person 
of  a  beautiful  form,  extraordinary  parts,  and 

',  illustrious  birth,  being  accused  of  asjiring  tc 


HISTOEY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


005 


the  empire,  tried,  and  convicted,  was  brought 
forth  to  receive  sentence  of  death ;  but  the 
empress,  touched  with  compassion  at  his  ap 
pearance,  gently  upbraided  him  with  his 
ambition,  set  him  at  liberty,  and  soon  after 
wards  appointed  him  commander-in-chief  of 
all  her  forces.  In  this  station  he  acquitted 
himself  so  well,  that  the  empress  resolved  to 
marry  him,  if  she  could  but  recover  the 
writing  which  contained  her  oath,  out  of  the 
Hands  of  the  patriarch.  In  order  to  this, 
she  applied  to  a  favorite  eunuch,  who  having 
repaired  to  the  patriarch,  told  him  that  the 
empress  was  so  taken  with  his  nephew  named 
Bardass,  that  she  was  determined  to  marry 
and  raise  him  to  the  empire,  provided  the 
patriarch  absolved  her  from  the  oath  which 
she  had  taken,  and  convinced  the  Senate  of 
the  lawfulness  of  her  marriage.  The  patri 
arch  dazzled  with  the  prospect  of  his  nephew's 
promotion,  readily  undertook  to  perform 
both.  lie  first  obtained  the  consent  of  the 
Senate,  by  representing  to  them  the  danger 
ous  state  of  the  empire,  and  exclaiming 
against  the  rash  oath  which  the  jealousy  of 
the  late  emperor  had  extorted  from  the  em 
press.  He  then  publicly  discharged  her  from 
it,  restored  the  writing  to  her,  and  exhorted 
her  to  marry  some  deserving  person,  -svho 
being  intrusted  with  absolute  authority, 
might  be  capable  of  defending  the  empire. 
The  empress,  thus  discharged  from  her  oath, 
married  a  few  days  afterwards  liomanus 
Diogenes,  who  was  thereupon  proclaimed 
emperor,  to  the  grievous  disappointment  of 
the  patriarch. 

As  the  new  emperor  was  a  man  of  great 
activity  and  experience  in  war,  he  no  sooner 
saw  himself  vested  with  the  sovereign  power, 
than  he  took  upon  him  the  command  of  the 
army,  and  passed  over  into  Asia  with  the 
few  forces  he  could  assemble,  recruiting  and 
training  them  on  his  march  to  military  dis 
cipline,  which  had  been  utterly  neglected  in 
the  preceding  reigns.  On  his  arrival  in  that 
continent,  he  was  informed  that  the  Turks 
had  surprised  and  plundered  the  city  of 
Neocaesarea,  and  were  retiring  with  their 


booty.  On  this  news  he  hastened  after  them 
at  the  head  of  a  chosen  body  of  light-armed 
troops,  and  came  up  with  them  on  the  third 
day.  As  the  Turks  were  marching  in  dis 
order,  without  the  least  apprehension  of  an 
enemy,  Romaims  cut  great  numbers  of  them 
in  pieces,  and  easily  recovered  the  booty  ; 
he  then  pursued  his  march  to  Aleppo,  which 
he  retook,  together  with  Hierapolis,  where 
he  built  a  strong  castle. 

As  he  was  returning  to  join  the  forces  he 
had  left  behind,  he  was  met  by  a  numerous 
body  of  Turks,  who  attempted  to  cut  off  his 
retreat.  At  first  he  pretended  to  decline  an 
engagement  through  fear ;  but  afterwards  at 
tacked  them  with  such  vigor,  when  they 
least  expected  it,  that  he  put  them  to  flight 
at  the  first  onset,  and  might  have  gained  a 
complete  victory,  had  he  thought  proper  to 
pursue  them.  After  this,  several  towns  sub 
mitted  to  him  ;  but  the  season  being  now  far 
spent,  the  emperor  returned  to  Constantino 
ple.  The  following  year  he  passed  over  into 
Asia  early  in  the  spring ;  and  being  inform 
ed  that  the  Turks  had  sacked  the  rich  city 
of  Iconium,  besides  gaining  other  considera 
ble  advantages,  he  marched  in  person  against 
them ;  but  the  Turks  not  thinking  it  advisa 
ble  to  wait  his  arrival,  retired  in  great 
haste.  The  Armenians,  however,  encour 
aged  by  the  approach  of  the  emperor's  army, 
fell  upon  the  enemy  in  the  plains  of  Tarsus, 
put  them  to  flight,  and  stripped  them  of 
their  baggage  and  of  the  booty  which  they 
had  taken.  The  spring  following,  the  em 
peror  once  more  entered  Asia  at  the  head 
of  a  considerable  army  which  he  had  raised, 
and  with  incredible  pains  disciplined,  during 
the  winter.  When  the  two  armies  approach 
ed  each  other,  Axan,  the  Turkish  sultan,  and 
son  of  the  famous  Tangrolipix,  sent  propo 
sals  to  Roman  us  for  a  lasting  and  honorable 
peace.  These  were  imprudently  rejected, 
and  a  desperate  engagement  ensued,  when, 
in  spite  of  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  emperor, 
his  army  was  routed,  ai.d  he  himself  wound 
ed  and  taken  prisoner.  When  this  news  was 
i  brought  to  Axan,  he  could  scarcely  believe 


606 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


ft;  but  being  convinced  by  the  appearance 
of  the  royal  captive  in  his  presence,  he  ten 
derly  embraced  him,  and  addressed  him  in 
an  affectionate  manner :  "  Grieve  not,"  said 
he,  "  most  noble  emperor,  at  your  misfortune ; 
for  such  is  the  chance  of  war,  sometimes 
overwhelming  one,  and  sometimes  another. 
You  shall  have  no  occasion  to  complain  of 
your  captivity ;  for  I  will  not  use  you  as  my 
prisoner,  but  as  an  emperor."  The  Turk 
was  as  good  as  his  word ;  he  lodged  the  em 
peror  in  a  royal  pavilion,  assigned  him  at 
tendants,  with  an  equipage  suitable  to  his 
quality,  and  discharged  such  prisoners  as  he 
desired.  After  he  had  for  some  days  enter 
tained  his  royal  captive  with  extraordinary 
magnificence,  a  perpetual  peace  was  con 
cluded  betwixt  them,  and  the  emperor  dis 
missed  with  the  greatest  marks  of  honor  im 
aginable.  He  then  set  out  with  the  Turkish 
ambassador  for  Constantinople,  where  the 
peace  was  to  be  ratified ;  but  by  the  way  he 
was  informed  that  Eudocia  had  been  driven 
from  the  throne  by  John,  the  brother  of 
Constantino  Ducas,  and  Psellus,  a  leading 
man  in  the  Senate,  who  had  confined  her  to 
a  monastery,  and  proclaimed  her  eldest  son, 
Michael  Ducas,  emperor.  On  this  intelli 
gence,  Romanus  retired  to  a  strong  castle 
near  Theodosiopolis,  where  he  hoped  in  a 
short  time  to  be  joined  by  great  numbers  of 
his  friends  and  adherents.  But  in  the  mean 
time  John,  who  had  taken  upon  him  to  act  as 
guardian  to  the  young  prince,  dispatched  An- 
dronicus  with  a  considerable  army  against 
him.  Andronicus  having  easily  defeated  the 
small  army  which  Romanus  had  with  him, 
obliged  him  to  fly  to  Adana,  a  city  in  Cilicia, 
where  he  was  closely  besieged,  and  at  last 
obliged  to  surrender.  Andronicus  carried 
his  prisoner  into  Phrygia,  where  he  fell  dan 
gerously  ill,  being,  as  wras  suspected,  secretly 
poisoned.  But  the  poison  being  too  slow  in 
its  operation,  John  ordered  his  eyes  to  be  put 
out,  which  was  performed  with  such  cruelty 
that  he  died  soon  afterwards,  in  the  year 
1C 67,  hs  ing  reigned  three  years  and  eight 
n.onths. 


Axan  was  no  sooner  informed  of  the  tra^i 

r^ 

cal  end  of  his  friend  and  ally,  than  he  resolv 
ed  to  invade  the  empire  anew,  and  that  not 
with  a  design  to  plunder  as  formerly,  but  to 
conquer,  and  to  keep  what  he  had  once  con 
quered.  The  emperor  dispatched  against 
him  Isaac  Comnenus  with  a  considerable 
army  ;  but  he  was  utterly  defeated  and  taken 
prisoner  by  Axan.  Another  army  wag 
quickly  sent  off' under  the  command  of  John 
Ducas,  the  emperor's  uncle,  who  at  first 
gained  some  advantages,  and  would  probably 
have  put  a  stop  to  their  conquest,  had  not 
one  Ruselius,  or  Urselius,  revolted  with  the 
troops  he  had  under  his  command,  caused 
himself  to  be  proclaimed  emperor,  and  re 
duced  several  cities  in  Phrygia  and  Cappa- 
docia.  John  marched  against  him  with  all 
his  forces,  suffering  the  Turks  in  the  mean 
time  to  pursue  their  conquests ;  but  coining 
to  an  engagement  with  the  rebels,  his  army 
was  entirely  defeated,  and  himself  taken 
prisoner.  Notwithstanding  this  victory, 
Ruselius  was  so  much  alarmed  at  the  pro 
gress  of  the  Turks,  that  he  not  only  released 
his  prisoner,  but  joined  him  against  the  com 
mon  enemy,  by  whom  they  were  both  defeated 
and  taken  prisoners.  Axan,  however,  was 
for  some  time  prevented  from  pursuing  his 
conquest,  by  Cutlu-Moses,  nephew  to  the 
late  Tangrolipix.  The  latter  had  revolted 
against  his  uncle ;  but  being  defeated  by 
him  in  a  pitched  battle,  had  taken  refuge  in 
Arabia,  whence  he  now  returned  at  the  head 
of  a  considerable  army,  in  order  to  dispute 
the  sovereignty  with  Axan.  But  whilst  the 
two  armies  were  preparing  to  engage,  the 
caliph  of  Babylon,  who  was  still  looked  upon 
as  the  successor  of  the  Prophet,  interposed 
his  authority.  He  represented  the  dangers 
of  their  intestine  dissensions ;  and  by  his 
mediation  an  agreement  was  at  last  con 
cluded,  on  condition  that  Axan  should  enjoy 
undisturbed  the  monarchy  lately  left  him  by 
his  father,  and  Cutlu-Moses  should  possess 
such  provinces  of  the  Roman  empire  as  he 
or  his  sons  should  in  process  of  time  conquer. 
After  this  agreement  both  the  Turkish 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


607 


princes  turned  their  forces  against  the  empire, 
and  before  the  year  1077  made  themselves 
masters  of  all  Media,  Lycaonia,  Cappadocia, 
and  Bithyriia,  fixing  the  capital  city  of  their 
empire  at  Nice,  in  the  latter  province.  Dur 
ing  this  time  the  emperors  of  Constantinople, 
as  veil  as  their  subjects,  seemed  to  be  in  a 
manner  infatuated.  No  notice  was  taken  of 
the  great  progress  made  by  these  barbarians. 
The  generals  were  ambitious  only  of  seizing 
the  tottering  empire,  which  seemed  ready  to 
become  a  prey  to  the  Turks ;  and  after  it 
had  been  obtained,  they  spent  their  time  in 
oppressing  their  subjects,  rather  than  in 
making  any  attempts  to  repulse  the  enemy. 

At  last  Alexius  Comnenus,  having  wrested 
the  empire  from  Nicephorus  Botoniates  in 
1 077,  began  to  prepare  for  opposing  so  formi 
dable  an  enemy.  But  before  he  set  out,  as 
his  soldiers  had  committed  great  outrages  on 
his  accession  to  the  empire,  he  resolved  to 
make  confession  of  his  sins,  and  do  open 
penance  for  those  which  he  had  suffered  his 
army  to  commit.  Accordingly  he  appeared 
in  the  attire  of  a  penitent  before  the  patri 
arch  and  several  other  ecclesiastics  ;  acknowl 
edged  himself  guilty  of  the  many  disorders 
which  had  been  committed  by  his  soldiers  ; 
and  begged  of  the  patriarch  to  impose  upon 
him  a  penance  suitable  to  the  greatness  of 
his  crimes.  The  penance  enjoined  him  and 
his  adherents  by  the  patriarch  was  to  fast, 
lie  upon  the  ground,  and  practise  several 
other  austerities  for  the  space  of  forty  days. 
This  command  was  religiously  obeyed,  and 
the  emperor  then  began  to  prepare  for  war 
with  so  much  vigor,  that  Solyman,  the  Turk 
ish  sultan,  son  and  successor  to  Cutlu-Moses, 
dispatched  ambassadors  to  Alexius  with 
proposals  of  peace.  These  were  at  first  re 
jected  ;  but  the  emperor  was  at  last  glad  to 
accept  them,  on  receiving  certain  advices 
that  Eobert  Guiscard,  duke  of  Puglia  and 
Calabria,  was  making  great  preparations 
against  him  in  the  West. 

To  this  expedition  Robert  was  incited  by 
Michael  Ducas.  That  prince  had  been  de 
posed  by  Nicephome  Botoniates,  and  towards 


the  end  of  the  usurper's  reign  fled  into  the 
west,  where  he  was  received  by  Robert,  who 
was  prevailed  upon  to  favor  his  cause.  For 
this  purpose  Robert  made  great  preparations ; 
and  these  were  continued  even  after  the  de 
position  of  Botoniates.  He  sailed  with  all 
his  forces  from  Brundusium,  and  landing  at 
Buthrotum,  in  Epirus,  made  himself  master 
of  that  place  ;  whilst  his  son  Bohemond  with 
part  of  the  army  reduced  Aulon,  a  celebrated 
port  and  city  in  the  country  now  called  Al 
bania.  From  this  they  advanced  to  Dyrr- 
hachium,  which  they  invested  both  by  sea 
and  land ;  but  met  with  a  most  vigorous  op 
position  from  George  Palseologus,  whom  the 
emperor  had  entrusted  with  the  defence  of 
that  important  place.  In  spite  of  the  utmost 
efforts  of  the  enemy,  this  commander  held 
out  till  the  arrival  of  the  Venetian  fleet,  by 
which  Robert's  navy,  commanded  by  Bohe 
mond,  was  utterly  defeated,  and  the  admiral 
himself  narrowly  escaped  being  taken  pris 
oner.  After  the  victory  the  Venetians  land 
ed  without  loss  of  time,  and  being  joined  by 
Palaeologus's  men,  fell  upon  Robert's  troops 
with  such  fury  that  they  destroyed  their 
•works,  burnt  their  engines,  and  forced  them 
to  retreat  to  their  camp  in  great  disorder. 
As  the  Venetians  were  now  masters  of  the 
sea,  the  besieged  were  supplied  with  plenty 
of  provisions,  whilst  the  famine  began  to 
rage  in  the  camp  of  the  enemy ;  and  this 
calamity  was  soon  followed  by  a  plague, 
which  is  said  to  have  destroyed  ten  thousand 
men  in  the  space  of  three  months.  Not 
withstanding  all  these  disasters,  however, 
Robert  did  not  abandon  the  siege.  Having 
found  means  to  supply  his  famished  troops 
with  provisions,  he  continued  it  with  such 
vigor  that  the  courage  of  the  besieged  began 
at  last  to  fail  them,  and  Palaeologus  sent  re 
peated  messages  to  the  emperor,  acquainting 
him  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  surrender 
unless  very  speedily  relieved.  On  this  Alex 
ius  marched  in  person  to  the  relief  of  the 
city,  but  was  defeated  with  great  loss  by  Ro 
bert.  The  whole  right  wing  cf  Alexius's 
army,  finding  themselves  hard  pressed  bv 


608 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


the  enemy,  fled  to  a  church  dedicated  to 
St.  Michael,  imagining  that  the\  would  there 
find  themselves  in  a  place  of  safety  ;  but  the 
victorious  army  pursuing  them,  set  fire  to 
the  church,  which  was  burnt  to  ashes  with 
all  who  were  in  it.  The  emperor  himself 
with  great  difficulty  made  his  escape,  leaving 
the  enemy  master  of  his  camp  and  all  his 
baggage.  Soon  after  this  defeat  the  city 
surrendered ;  and  Alexius  being  destitute  of 
resources  for  carrying  on  the  war,  seized  on  the 
wealth  of  churches  and  monasteries,  which 
gave  serious  offence  to  the  clergy,  and  had 
nearly  occasioned  great  disturbances  in  the 
imperial  city.  At  the  same  time,  Alexius 
having  entered  into  an  alliance  with  Henry, 
emperor  of  Germany,  persuaded  him  to  in 
vade  the  dominions  of  Robert  in  Italy.  At 
first  Henry  met  with  great  success,  but  he 
was  soon  overcome  and  driven  out  of  that 
country  by  Robert.  Bohemond,  in  the  mean 
time,  reduced  several  places  in  Illyricnm  ; 
and  having  defeated  Alexius  in  two  pitched 
battles,  entered  Thessaly,  and  sat  down  be 
fore  Larissa.  But  this  place  being  defended 
by  an  officer  of  great  courage  and  experience 
in  war,  held  out  till  the  emperor  came  to  its 
relief.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  found  means 
to  draw  a  strong  party  of  Bohemond's  men 
into  an  ambuscade,  and  cut  them  off  almost 
entirely.  In  the  battle  which  was  fought  a 
few  days  afterwards,  however,  Bohemond 
had  the  advantage;  but  his  troops  having 
mutinied  and  refused  to  carry  on  the  war, 
he  was  obliged  to  return  into  Italy.  Alexius 
taking  advantage  of  his  absence,  recovered 
ssveral  cities ;  and  being  informed  that  Ro 
bert  was  making  great  preparations  against 
him,  he  had  recourse  once  more  to  the  Vene 
tians.  By  them  he  was  assisted  with  a  pow 
erful  fleet,  which  defeated  that  of  Robert  in 
two  engagements  ;  but  being  soon  after  sur 
prised  by  him,  they  were  defeated  with  the 
loss  of  almost  their  whole  navy.  Robert  is 
said  to  have  used  his  victory  with  great  I  ar- 
barity,  putting  many  of  his  prisoners  to 
death  with  unheard-of  torments.  The  Vene 
tians  equipped  a  second  fleet,  which  having 


joined  that  of  the  emperor,  feJ  unexpected 
ly  upon  Robert's  navy,  while  riding  at  an 
chor,  without  the  least  apprehension,  in 
Buthrotum,  sunk  most  of  his  ships,  and  took 
a  great  number  of  prisoners,  his  wife  and 
younger  son  having  narrowly  escaped  falling 
into  their  hands.  Robert  made  great  pre 
parations  to  revenge  this  defeat,  but  was 
prevented  by  death  from  executing  his  de 
signs  ;  and  after  his  decease  his  son  Roger 
did  not  think  proper  to  pursue  so  dangerous 
and  expensive  a  war.  He  therefore  recalled 
his  troops;  and  the  places  which  had  been 
conquered  by  Robert  and  Bohemond  sub 
mitted  anew  to  the  emperor. 

This  war  had  scarcely  ended,  when  the 
Scythians,  passing  the  Danube,  laid  waste 
great  part  of  Thrace,  and  committed  every 
where  the  greatest  barbarities.  The  einpe- 
ror  dispatched  against  them  an  army  under 
the  command  of  Pacurianus  and  Branas. 
The  latter  insisted  upon  engaging  the  enemy, 
contrary  to  the  opinion  of  his  colleagues,  and 
his  rashness  caused  the  loss  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  army,  which  was  cut  off  by  the 
Scythians,  together  with  the  two  generals. 
Talicius,  an  officer  who  had  signalized  him 
self  on  many  occasions,  was  appointed  to 
command  the  army  in  their  stead ;  and  he 
fell  iipon  the  enemy  as  they  lay  encamped 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Philipoppolis,  cut  great 
numbers  of  them  in  pieces,  and  obliged  the 
remainder  to  retire  in  great  confusion.  The 
following  spring,  however,  they  returned  in 
such  numbers  that  the  emperor  resolved  to 
march  against  them  in  person.  Accordingly 
he  set  out  for  Adrianople,  and  thence  pro 
ceeded  to  a  place  called  Lardea.  Here,  con 
trary  to  the  advice  of  his  best  officers,  he 
ventured  a  battle,  in  which  he  was  utterly 
defeated  with  great  loss,  and  himself  escaped 
with  the  utmost  difficulty.  The  next  year 
he  was  attended  with  no  better  success,  his 
army  being  entirely  defeated,  with  the  loss 
of  his  camp  equipage  and  baggage.  In  the 
year  following,  1084,  the  emperor  retrieved 
his  credit,  and  inflicted  on  the  Scythiana 
such  an  overthrow  tliat  verv  few  escaped  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


609 


general  slaughter.  Notwithstanding  this  dis 
aster,  however,  they  again  invided  the  empire 
in  1093.  To  this  they  were  encouraged  by 
an  impostor  called  Leo,  who  pretended  to  be 
the  eldest  son  of  Romanus  Diogenes.  The 
young  prince  had  been  slain  in  a  battle  with 
the  Turks ;  but  as  the  Scythians  only  want 
ed  a  pretext  for  renewing  the  war,  they  re 
ceived  the  impostor  with  joy.  Leo,  how 
ever,  was  murdered  by  stratagem ;  and  the 
Scythians  being  afterwards  overthrown  in 
two  great  battles,  were  obliged  to  submit  on 
the  emperor's  own  terms. 

Since  the  year  1083,  the  war  had  been 
carried  on  against  the  Turks  with  various 
success;  but  now  an  association  against 
these  infidels  was  formed  in  the  West,  and 
threatened  the  utter  ruin  of  the  Turkish  na 
tion.  This  was  occasioned  by  the  supersti 
tion  of  the  Christians,  who  thought  it  a 
meritorious  action  to  venture  their  lives  for 
the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land,  at  that  time 
possessed  by  the  Turks  and  Saracens.  Had 
the  western  princes  been  properly  assisted  by 
the  emperors  of  the  East  in  this  undertaking, 
the  Turks  undoubtedly  would  have  been 
unable  to  resist  them  ;  but  so  far  from  this, 
the  Latins  were  looked  upon  by  them  as  not 
less  enemies  than  the  Turks;  and  indeed 
whatever  places  they  took  from  the  infidels, 
they  never  thought  of  restoring  to  the  empe 
rors  of  Constantinople,  to  whom  they  orig 
inally  belonged,  but  erected  a  number  of 
small  independent  principalities,  wiiich  nei 
ther  having  sufficient  strength  to  defend 
themselves,  nor  being  properly  supported  by 
one  another,  soon  became  a  prey  to  the 
Turks.  In  the  year  1203  happened  a  dread 
ful  fire  at  Constantinople,  occasioned  by 
some  Latin  soldiers.  These  men  having 
plundered  a  mosque  which  the  Turks  resid 
ing  in  Constantinople  had  been  suffered  to 
build  there,  they  were  attacked  by  the  infi 
dels  ;  and  the  latter  being  much  superior  in 
number,  the  Latins  found  themselves  obliged 
to  set  fire  to  some  houses,  in  order  to  cover 
their  retreat.  The  flames  spread  in  an  in 
stant  from  street  to  street,  and  in  a  short 
77 


time  reduced  great  part  of  the  city  to  ashes, 
with  the  capacious  storehouses  which  had 
been  built  at  a  vast  expense  on  the  quay 
The  emperor  Isaac  Angelus,  who  had  been 
restored  to  his  throne  by  the  Latins,  died 
soon  after  their  departure  from  Constantino 
ple,  leaving  his  son  Alexius  sole  master  of 
the  empire.  The  young  prince,  in  order  to 
discharge  the  large  sums  he  had  promised 
the  French  and  Venetians  for  their  assist 
ance,  was  obliged  to  impose  heavy  taxes  on  his 
subjects;  a  circumstance  which,  with  the 
great  esteem  and  friendship  winch  he  showed 
towards  his  deliverers,  raised  a  general  dis 
content  among  the  people  of  Constantinople, 
who  were  sworn  enemies  of  the  Latins. 
This  encouraged  John  Ducas,  surnamed 
Murtzuphlus,  from  his  joined  and  thick  eye 
brows,  to  attempt  the  sovereignty.  Unhappi 
ly  he  found  means  to  put  his  treacherous  de 
signs  in  execution,  and  strangled  the  young 
prince  with  his  own  hands.  After  this  he 
presented  himself  to  the  people ;  told  them 
what  he  had  done,  pretending  that  it  was  in 
order  to  secure  their  liberties  ;  and  earnestly 
entreated  them  to  choose  an  emperor  who 
had  courage  enough  to  defend  them  against 
the  Latins,  who  were  ready  to  oppress  and 
enslave  them.  Upon  this  he  was  instantly 
saluted  emperor  by  the  inconstant  multitude ; 
but  this  usurpation  proved  the  ruin  of  the 
city.  The  Latins  immediately  resolved  to 
revenge  the  death  of  the  young  prince ;  and, 
as  they  had  been  so  often  betrayed  and  re 
tarded  in  their  expeditions  to  the  Holy  Land  by 
the  emperors  of  Constantinople,  they  also  de 
termined  to  make  themselves  masters  of  that 
city,  and  seize  the  empire  for  themselves.  In 
consequence  of  this  resolution  they  mustered 
their  forces  in  Asia,  and  having  crossed  the 
straits,  laid  siege  to  Constantinople  both  by 
sea  and  land.  The  tyrant,  who  was  a  man 
of  great  courage  and  experience  in  war, 
made  a  vigorous  defence.  The  Latins,  how 
ever,  after  having  battered  the  walls  for  sev 
eral  days  together  with  an  incredible  num 
ber  of  engines,  gave  a  general  assault  on  the 
8th  of  April,  1204.  The  attack  lasted  from 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


break  of  day  till  three  in  the  afternoon, 
when  they  were  forced  to  retire,  after  having 
lost  some  ol  their  engines  and  a  great  num 
ber  of  men.  Tlie  assault  was  nevertheless 
renewed  four  days  subsequently  to  this; 
when,  after  a  warm  contest,  the  French 
planted  their  standard  on  one  of  the  towers  ; 
which  the  Venetians  having  observed,  quick 
ly  made  themselves  masters  of  four  other 
towers,  where  they  likewise  displayed  their 
ensigns.  In  the  mean  time  three  of  the  gates 
being  broken  down  by  the  battering  rams, 
and  those  who  had  scaled  the  walls  having 
killed  the  guards,  and  opened  the  gates  be 
tween  the  towers  they  had  taken,  the  whole 
army  entered,  and  drew  up  in  battle  array 
between  the  walls.  The  Greeks  fled  in  the 
greatest  confusion  ;  and  several  parties  were 
dispatched  by  the  Latins  to  scour  the  streets, 
and  put  all  they  met  to  the  sword,  without 
distinction  of  age  or  condition.  Night  alone 
put  a  stop  to  the  carnage,  when  the  princes 
sounding  the  retreat,  placed  their  men  in 
different  quarters  of  the  city,  with  orders  to 
be  upon  their  guard,  not  doubting  that  they 
would  be  attacked  early  next  morning.  They 
were  surprised,  however,  by  the  entire  sub 
mission  of  the  Greeks,  to  whom  they  promis 
ed  their  lives,  but  at  the  same  time  ordered 
them  to  retire  to  their  houses ;  upon  which 
they  gave  up  the  city  to  be  plundered  by  the 
soldiers  for  that  day.  They  strictly  enjoined 
their  men  to  abstain  from  slaughter,  to  pre 
serve  the  honor  of  the  women,  and  to  bring 
the  whole  booty  into  one  place,  that  a  just 
distribution  might  be  made,  according  to  the 
rank  and  merit  of  each  individual.  The 
Greeks  had  undoubtedly  concealed  their 
most  valuable  effects  during  the  night ;  many 
persons  of  the  highest  rank  had  escaped, 
carrying  along  with  them  immense  treasures ; 
ind  the  soldiers,  as  is  usual  in  all  such  cases, 
had  probably  reserved  things  of  great  value 
for  themselves,  notwithstanding  all  prohibi 
tions  to  the  contrary ;  yet  the  booty,  exclu- 
bivcly  of  statues,  pictures,  and  jewels,  amount 
ed  to  a  Bum  almost  incredible.  As  for 
Murtzuphlus,  he  made  his  escape  in  the 


night;  having  embarked  in  a  small  vessel 
with  Euphrosyne,  the  wife  of  Alexius  Angel- 
us,  a  late  usurper,  and  her  daughter  Eudoxia, 
for  whose  sake  he  had  abandoned  his  lawful 
wife. 

Constantinople  continued  subject  to  the 
Latins  until  the  year  1261,  when  they  \vere 
expelled  by  one  Alexius  Strategopulus.  He 
was  a  person  of  an  illustrious  family,  and,  on 
account  of  his  eminent  services,  distinguioh- 
ed  by  the  title  of  Coesar.  He  had  been  sent 
against  Alexius  Angelus,  despot  of  Epirus, 
who  now  attempted  to  recover  some  places 
in  Thessaly  and  Greece  from  Michael  Paljco- 
logus,  one  of  the  Greek  emperors,  who,  since 
the  capture  of  Constantinople,  had  kept  their 
court  at  Nice ;  and  also  to  try  whether  on 
his  march  he  could  surprise  the  imperial  city 
itself.  Alexius,  having  passed  the  straits, 
encamped  at  Rhegium,  where  he  was  inform 
ed  by  the  natives  that  a  strong  body  of  the 
Latins  had  been  sent  to  the  siege  of  Dar-h- 
nusa,  that  the  garrison  was  in  great  want  of 
provisions,  and  that  it  would  be  no  difficult 
matter  to  surprise  the  city.  On  receiving 
this  intelligence,  the  Greek  general  resolved 
at  all  events  to  attempt  it ;  and  in  this  he 
was  encouraged  by  some  of  the  inhabitants, 
who,  coming  privately  to  his  camp,  offered 
to  act  as  guides  to  his  troops.  lie  approach 
ed  the  walls  in  the  dead  of  the  night,  which 
some  of  his  men  scaled  without  being  observ 
ed,  and,  killing  the  sentries,  whom  they 
found  asleep,  opened  one  of  the  gates  to  the 
rest  of  the  army,  when  the  Greeks  rushing 
in,  put  all  they  met  to  the  sword,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  in  order  to  create  greater  terror, 
set  fire  to  the  city  in  four  different  places. 
The  Latins,  concluding  that  the  enemy's 
forces  were  far  more  numerous  than  they 
really  were,  did  not  so  much  as  attempt 
either  to  drive  them  out  or  to  extinguish  the 
flames. 

In  this  general  confusion,  the  emperor 
Baldwin,  quitting  the  ensigns  of  majesty, 
fled  with  Justinian,  the  Latin  patriarch,  and 
some  of  his  intimate  friends  to  the  sea-side; 
and  there,  embarking  in  a  small  vessel,  he 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


611 


Ba::ed  first  to  Eubcea,  and  afterwards  to 
Venice,  leaving  the  Greeks  in  full  possession 
of  Constantinople.  When  tidings  of  this 
surprising  and  altogether  unexpected  success 
of  Alexius  were  first  brought  to  Palaeologus, 
he  could  scarcely  give  credit  to  the  intelli 
gence  ;  but  having  soon  afterwards  received 
letters  from  Alexius  himself,  containing  a 
particular  account  of  this  memorable  event, 
he  ordered  thanksgivings  to  be  made  in  all 
the  churches,  appeared  in  public  in  his  im 
perial  robes,  attended  bj  the  nobility  in 
their  best  apparel,  and  ordered  couriers  to 
be  dispatched  with  the  agreeable  tidings  in 
to  all  parts  of  the  empire. 
Palseoloffus  having  settled  his  affairs  at 

o  o 

Nice,  soon  afterwards  set  out  for  Constanti 
nople,  with  the  empress,  his  son  Andronicus, 
the  senate,  and  nobility,  in  order  to  take  pos 
session  of  the  imperial  city,  and  to  fix  his 
residence  in  that  place  which  had  originally 
been  designed  for  the  seat  of  the  eastern  em 
pire.  Having  passed  the  straits,  he  advanced 
to  the  Golden  Gate,  and  continued  some  days 
without  the  walls,  whilst  the  citizens  were 
busied  in  making  the  necessary  preparations 
to  receive  him  with  a  magnificence  suitable 
to  the  occasion.  On  the  day  appointed,  the 
golden  gate,  which  had  been  long  shut  up, 
was  opened,  and  the  emperor  having  entered 
it  amidst  the  repeated  acclamations  of  the 
multitude,  marched  on  foot  to  the  great  pal 
ace.  He  was  preceded  by  the  Bishop  of 
Cyzicus,  who  carried  an  image  of  the  Yirgin 
Mary,  supposed  to  have  been  made  by  St. 
Luke,  and  followed  by  all  the  great  officers, 
nobility,  and  principal  citizens,  pompously 
dressed.  Public  thanks  were  again  returned 
in  the  church  of  St.  Sophia,  at  which  the 
emperor  assisted  in  person,  with  the  clergy, 
the  senate,  and  nobility.  These  exercises 
were  succeeded  by  all  sorts  of  rejoicings; 
after  which  the  emperor  carefully  surveyed 
the  imperial  city.  This  survey  greatly  al- 
iayed  his  joy.  He  saw  the  stately  palaces 
Hid  other  magnificent  buildings  of  the  Ro 
man  emperors  lying  in  ruins ;  the  many  ca 
pacious  edifices  which  had  been  erected  by 


his  predecessors,  at  an  immense  charge,  were 
destroyed  by  fire  and  other  unavoidable  ac 
cidents  of  war ;  and  several  streets  abandon 
ed  by  the  inhabitants,  and  choked  up  with 
rubbish.  These  objects  gave  the  empeioi 
no  small  concern,  and  kindled  in  his  mind  a 
desire  of  restoring  the  city  to  its  former  lus 
tre.  In  the  mean  time,  looking  upon  Alexi 
us  as  the  restorer  of  his  country,  he  caused 
him  to  be  clad  in  magnificent  robes ;  placed 
with  his  own  hand  a  crown  upon  his  head ; 
ordered  him  to  be  conducted  throughout  the 
city  in  a  sort  of  triumph ;  decreed  that  for 
a  whole  year  the  name  of  Alexius  should  be 
joined  in  the  public  prayers  with  his  own  ; 
and,  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  so  great 
and  glorious  an  action,  he  commanded  hia 
statue  to  be  erected  on  a  stately  pillar  of 
marble,  in  front  of  the  church  of  the  apostles. 
His  next  care  was  to  re-people  the  city,  many 
Greek  families  having  withdrawn  from  it 
while  it  was  occupied  by  the  Latins.  The 
former  were  recalled  home ;  while  the  latter, 
from  the  great  trade  they  carried  on,  were 
allowed  many  valuable  privileges,  wrhich  in 
duced  many  of  them  not  to  remove.  The 
Greeks  were  permitted  to  live  in  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  quarters  of  the  city,  to  be 
governed  by  their  own  laws  and  magistrates, 
and  to  trade  without  paying  customs  or  taxes 
of  any  kind.  Great  privileges  were  likewise 
granted  to  the  natives  of  Yenice  and  Pisa, 
which  encouraged  them  to  lay  aside  all 
thoughts  of  removing;  and  the  commerce 
they  carried  on  proved  afterwards  highly  ad 
vantageous  to  the  state. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  these  reg 
ulations  were  altered.  The  emperor  being 
soon  afterwards  informed  that  Baldwin,  lately 
expelled  from  Constantinople,  had  married 
his  daughter  to  Charles,  king  of  Sicily,  and 
given  him,  by  way  of  dowry,  the  imperial 
city  itself,  he  ordered  the  Genoese,  who  had 
become  very  numerous,  to  remove  first  to 
Heraclia,  and  afterwards  to  Galata,  where 
they  were  permitted  to  remain.  As  for  the 
Pisans  and  Venetians,  who  were  not  so  nu 
merous  and  wealthy,  they  were  allowed  to 


612 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


continue  in  the  city.  Palaeologus,  though  he 
had  caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  em 
peror,  and  was  possessed  of  absolute  sover 
eignty,  was  as  yet  only  guardian  to  the  young 
emperor  John  Lascaris,  then  about  twelve 
years  of  age.  But  having  now  settled  the 
Btatc,  and  having  gained  the  affections  of 
both  natives  and  foreigners,  he  begun  to 
think  of  securing  himself  and  his  posterity  in 
the  full  enjoyment  of  the  empire;  and  for 
this  purpose  he  cruelly  ordered  the  eyes  of 
the  young  prince  to  be  put  out,  pretending 
that  none  but  himself  had  any  right  to  the 
city  or  empire  of  Constantinople,  which  he 
alone  had  recovered  from  the  hands  of  the 
Latin  conquerors. 

This  piece  of  treachery  and  inhumanity 
involved  him  in  great  troubles.  The  patri 
arch  immediately  excommunicated  him ;  and 
he  would  in  all  probability  have  been  driven 
from  the  throne  by  a  combination  of  the 
western  princes,  had  he  not  engaged  Pope 
Urban  IY.  to  espouse  his  cause,  by  promis 
ing  to  submit  himself  and  his  dominions  to 
the  Latin  church.  By  this  means  he  suc 
ceeded  in  diverting  the  present  storm ;  but 
the  proceeding  itself  caused  the  greatest  dis 
turbances,  not  only  in  Constantinople,  but 
throughout  the  whole  empire :  nor  was  Palae 
ologus  able  to  reconcile  his  subjects  to  this 
union. 

In  1283  Michael  died,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Andronicus,  whose  first  step  was 
to  restore  the  ancient  Greek  ceremonies, 
thinking  that  he  could  not  begin  his  reign 
with  a  more  popular  act.  But  he  thereby 
involved  himself  in  greater  difficulties  than 
ever;  for  although  Michael  had  not  been 
able  fully  to  reconcile  his  Greek  subjects  to 
the  Latin  ceremonies,  yet  he  had  in  some  de 
gree  accomplished  his  object.  The  Latins 
having  obtained  a  considerable  footing  in  the 
city,  defended  their  ceremonies  with  great 
obstinacy ;  arid  the  empire  was  again  thrown 
into  a  ferment  by  this  imprudent  step. 

During  this  time  the  Turks  had  continued 
their  encroachments  on  the  empire,  of  which, 
bad  it  not  been  for  the  crusades  published 


against  them  by  the  pope,  they  would  al 
ready  have,  in  all  probability,  made  them 
selves  masters.  They  were  now,  however 
very  successfully  opposed  by  Constantino, 
the  emperor's  brother ;  but  his  valor  rendered 
him  suspected  by  the  emperor,  and  he  waa 
therefore  thrown  into  prison,  along  with  sev 
eral  persons  of  great  distinction.  On  the 
removal  of  this  brave  commander,  the  Turks, 
under  the  famous  Othoman,  made  themselves 
masters  of  several  places  in  Phrygia,  Caria, 
and  Bithynia,  and,  among  these,  of  the  city 
of  ]S~ice.  To  put  a  stop  to  their  conquests, 
the  emperor  dispatched  against  them  Phi- 
lanthropenus  and  Libadarius,  two  officers  of 
great  experience  in  war.  The  former  gained 
some  advantages  over  the  enemy,  but  being 
elated  with  his  success,  caused  himself  to  be 
proclaimed  emperor.  This  rebellion,  how 
ever,  was  soon  suppressed,  Philanthropenus 
having  been  betrayed  by  his  own  men ;  but 
the  Turks  taking  advantage  of  these  intes- 

CJ  O 

tine  commotions,  extended  their  dominions 
in  Asia,  conquered  most  of  the  islands  in  the 
Mediterranean,  and,  being  masters  at  sea, 
infested  the  coasts  of  the  empire,  to  the  utter 
ruin  of  trade  and  commerce. 

From  this  time  the  Roman  empire  de 
clined  fast  towards  total  dissolution.  After 
the  revolt  of  Philanthropenus,  the  emperor 
could  no  longer  trust  his  subjects,  and  there 
fore  hired  the  Massagetes  to  assist  him ;  but 
the  latter,  conducting  themselves  in  a  care 
less  manner,  were  first  defeated  by  their  ene 
mies,  and  afterwards  turned  their  arms 
against  those  whom  they  came  to  assist.  He 
next  applied  to  the  Catalans,  who  behaved 
in  the  same  way ;  and  having  ravaged  the 
few  places  left  the  emperor  in  Asia,  returned 
into  Europe,  and  called  the  Turks  to  their 
assistance. 

This  happened  in  the  year  1292,  and  was 
the  first  appearance  of  the  Turks  in  Europe. 
The  enterprise,  however,  proved  unsuccess 
ful.  Having  loaded  themselves  with  booty, 
they  offered  to  depart  quietly  if  they  were 
allowed  a  safe  passage,  and  ships  to  trans 
port  them  to  Asia.  To  this  the  emperor 


HISTOEY    OF    THE    WOULD. 


613 


willing  fa  get  rid  of  such  troublesome  guests, 
readily  consented,  and  ordered  the  vessels  to 
be  got  ready  with  all  possible  expedition. 
But  the  Greek  officers  observing  the  im 
mense  booty  with  which  they  were  loaded, 
resolved  to  fall  up<  n  them  in  the  night,  and 
to  cut  them  off  at  one  blow.  This  scheme, 
however,  not  having  been  managed  with  due 
Becrecy,  the  Turks  received  notice  of  it,  and 
were  therefore  prepared  for  their  defence. 
They  first  surprised  a  strong  castle  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  then  found  means  to  in- 

O  7 

form  their  countrymen  in  Asia  of  their  dan 
gerous  situation.  The  latter,  enticed  by  the 
hope  of  booty,  were  not  long  in  coming  to 
their  assistance ;  and  having  crossed  the 
Hellespont  in  great  numbers,  ravaged  the 
adjacent  country,  making  excursions  as  far 
as  the  gates  of  Constantinople.  At  last  the 
emperor  determined  to  root  them  out,  and 
accordingly  marched  against  them  with  his 
whole  forces,  the  country  people  flocking  to 
him  from  all  quarters.  The  Turks  at  first 
gave  themselves  over  for  lost ;  but  finding 
,li3  Greeks  negligent  of  discipline,  they  at 
tacked  their  army  unexpectedly,  utterly  de 
feated  it,  and  made  themselves  masters  of 
the  camp.  After  this  unexpected  victory, 
they  continued  for  two  years  to  ravage 
Thrace  in  the  most  terrible  manner.  At  last, 
however,  they  were  defeated ;  and  being 
afterwards  shut  up  in  the  Chersonesus,  they 
were  all  either  cut  in  pieces  or  taken  prison 
ers.  Soon  afterwards,  new  commotions  oc 
curred  in  the  unhappy  empire,  of  which  the 
Turks  did  not  fail  to  take  advantage.  In 
1327  they  made  themselves  masters  of  most 
of  the  cities  on  the  Mseander,  and  among 
the  rest  of  the  strong  and  important  city  of 
Prusa,  in  Bithynia. 

The  next  year,  however,  Othoman,  who 
may  justly  be  styled  the  founder  of  the 
Turkish  monarchy,  being  now  dead,  the  em 
peror  seized  the  opportunity  to  recover  Nice, 
and  some  other  important  places,  from  the 
infidels.  Bu+  these  were  lost  the  year  follow 
ing,  together  with  Abydus  and  Nicomedia ; 
and  in  J  300  a  peace  was  concluded,  upon 


condition  that  the  Turks  should  retain  all 
their  conquests.  But  this  peace  they  oo- 
served  no  longer  than  suited  their  own  pur 
poses  ;  for  new  commotions  having  arisen  ir. 
the  empire,  they  pursued  their  conquests, 
|  and  by  the  year  1357  had  reduced  all  Asia. 
They  next  passed  the  Hellespont  under  tho 
conduct  of  Solyman,  the  son,  or,  as  others 
allege,  the  brother  of  Orchane,  the  successor 
of  Othoman,  and  seized  on  a  strong  castle  on 
the  European  side.  The  Turkish  sultan  died 
soon  afterwards,  and  was  succeeded  by  Amu- 
rath,  who  extended  the  conquests  of  his  pre 
decessors,  and  in  a  short  time  reduced  al. 
Thrace,  making  Adrianople  the  seat  of  his 
empire.  Amurath  was  slain  by  treachery  a 
little  time  afterwards,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  Bajazet,  who  greatly  enlarged  his  do 
minions  by  new  conquests.  In  a  short  time 
he  reduced  the  countries  of  Thessaly,  Mace 
donia,  Phocis,  Peloponnesus,  Mysia,  and  Bul 
garia,  driving  out  the  despots  or  petty  princes 
who  ruled  there.  Elated  with  his  frequent 
victories,  he  began  to  look  upon  the  Greek 
emperor,  to  whom  nothing  was  now  left  bu4. 
the  city  of  Constantinople  and  the  neighbor 
ing  country,  as  his  vassal.  Accordingly  he 
sent  him  an  arrogant  and  haughty  message, 
commanding  him  to  pay  a  yearly  tribute, 
and  send  his  son  Manuel  to  attend  him  in  his 
military  expeditions.  This  demand  the  em 
peror  was  obliged  to  comply  with,  but  soon 
afterwards  died,  in  the  year  1392. 

Manuel  no  sooner  heard  of  his  father's 
death  than  he  hastened  to  Constantinople, 
without  taking  leave  of  the  sultan,  or  ac 
quainting  him  with  the  reason  of  his  sudden 
departure.  Bajazet  was  so  highly  offended 
at  this,  that  he  passed  with  great  expedition 
out  of  Bithynia  into  Thrace,  ravaged  the 
country  adjoining  to  Constantinople,  and  at 
last  invested  the  city  itself,  both  by  sea  and 
land.  In  this  extremity  Manuel  had  recourse 
to  the  western  princes,  who  sent  him  an  army 
of  a  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  men,  un 
der  the  command  of  Sigismund,  king  of 
Hungary,  and  John,  Count  of  Nevers.  But 
though  the  western  troops  proved  at  f.rst 


GU 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


euccessful,  they  were  in  the  eud  defeated 
with  great  slaughter  by  Bajazet,  who  then 
returned  to  the  siege  with  greater  vigor  than 
ever.  As  he  found,  however,  that  the  citi 
zens  were  determined  to  hold  out  to  the  last, 
he  applied  to  John,  the  son  of  Manuel's  el 
der  brother,  who  had  a  better  title  to  the 
crown  than  Manuel  himself,  with  whom  he 
entered  into  a  private  agreement,  by  virtue 
of  which  Bajazet  engaged  to  place  John  upon 
the  throne  of  Constantinople,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  John  consented  to  deliver  up  the 
city  to  the  Turks,  and  remove  the  imperial 
city  to  Peloponnesus,  which  the  sultan  prom 
ised  to  relinquish  to  him  and  his  posterity. 
At  the  same  time  he  sent  deputies  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Constantinople,  offering  to 
withdraw  his  army,  and  cease  from  further 
hostilities,  provided  they  expelled  Manuel, 
and  placed  John  upon  the  throne.  This  pro 
posal  rent  the  city  into  two  factions ;  but 
Manuel  prevented  the  mischiefs  which  were 
ready  to  ensue,  by  a  voluntary  resignation, 
upon  condition  that  he  should  be  allowed  to 
retire  with  his  wife  and  children  to  any  place 
he  might  think  proper  to  fix  upon. 

John  readily  complied  with  this  condition, 
and  Manuel  having  received  him  into  the 
city,  and  conducted  him  to  the  palace,  set 
sail  for  Venice,  and  thence  proceeded  to  the 
courts  of  all  the  western  princes,  to  solicit 
assistance  against  the  Turks,  whose  power 
had  grown  formidable  to  all  Europe.  He 
was  everywhere  received  with  the  greatest 

v  O 

demonstrations  of  esteem,  and  promised  large 
supplies;  for  all  Christendom  had  now  be 
come  alarmed  at  the  progress  of  the  infidels. 
In  the  mean  time  Bajazet  did  not  fail  to 
put  John  in  mind  of  his  promise ;  but  the 
citizens  refusing  to  comply  with  so  scanda 
lous  a  treaty,  the  siege  was  renewed,  and  the 
city  assaulted  with  more  fury  than  ever. 
When  it  was  reduced  almost  to  the  last  ex 
tremity,  news  were  brought  to  the  sultan 
that  Timour,  or  Tamerlane,  the  victorious 
Tatar,  having  overrun  all  the  East  with  in 
credible  celerity,  had  turned  his  arms  against 
the  Turks,  and  was  preparing  to  break  into 


Syria.  Bajazet,  alarmed  :.t  the  danger  which 
threatened  him,  raised  the  siege  in  great 
haste,  and  advanced  against  Tamerlane  with 
a  numerous  and  well-appointed  army ;  but 
the  Tatar  totally  defeated  and  took  him  pris 
oner,  after  having  cut  most  of  his  men  in 
pieces ;  and  thus  Constantinople  was  for  the 
present  saved  from  destruction. 

But  this  relief  proved  of  short  duration. 
In  142-i  the  city  was  again  besieged  by  Amu- 
rath  II. ;  and  although  the  inhabitants  de 
fended  themselves  with  great  bravery,  they 
must  in  the  end  have  submitted,  had  not  the 
emperor  prevailed  upon  the  Prince  of  Cara- 
mania  to  countenance  an  impostor  and  pre 
tender  to  the  Turkish  throne.  This  obliged 
Amurath  to  raise  the  siege,  and  to  march 
with  all  his  forces  against  the  usurper,  whom 
he  soon  overthrew.  Having  then  no  other 
enemies  to  contend  with,  he  entered  Mace 
donia  at  the  head  of  a  powerful  army,  and 
having  ravaged  the  country  far  and  near,  he 
took  and  plundered  Thessalonica,  as  he  did 
also  most  of  the  cities  of  ^Etolia,  Phocis,  and 
Boeotia.  From  Greece  he  marched  into  Ser- 
via,  which  country  he  soon  reduced.  lie 
next  broke  into  the  dominions  of  the  king  of 
Hungary,  and  besieged  the  strong  city  of 
Belgrade ;  but  here  he  met  with  a  vigorous 
repulse,  no  fewer  than  fifteen  thousand  Turks 
having  been  slain  by  the  Christians  in  one 
sally,  a  circumstance  which  obliged  the  sul 
tan  to  abandon  the  enterprise  and  retire. 

In  his  retreat  he  was  attacked  by  the  cele 
brated  John  Hunniades,  who  slew  great  num 
bers  of  his  men,  and  obliged  the  rest  to  fly 
with  the  utmost  precipitation.  Not  long  af 
terwards,  Hunniades  gained  a  still  more  com 
plete  victory  over  the  enemy  in  the  plains 
of  Transylvania,  with  the  loss  of  only  three 
thousand  of  his  own  men,  whereas  twenty 
thousand  of  the  Turks  were  slain  on  the  field 
of  battle,  and  almost  an  equal  number  in  the 
pursuit.  Amurath,  who  was  then  at  Adri- 
anople,  sent  into  Transylvania  an  army  far 
more  numerous  than  the  former ;  but  they 
were  attended  with  nc  better  success,  being 
cut  off  almost  to  a  man  by  the  brave  Hunga- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


615 


rian,  Ilunniades  gained  several  other  victo 
ries  no  less  remarkable,  but  was  at  last  en 
tirely  defeated  in  1448  ;  and  with  this  defeat 
ended  all  hopes  of  preserving  the  Roman 
empire.  The  unhappy  emperor  was  now 
obliged  to  pay  an  annual  tribute  of  three 
hundred  thousand  aspers  to  the  sultan,  and 
to  yield  up  some  strongholds  which  he  still 
held  on  the  Euxine  Sea.  However,  as  he 
doubted  not  that  Amurath  would  soon  at 
tempt  to  become  master  of  the  city  itself,  he 
renewed  the  union  between  the  Greek  and 
Latin  churches ;  hoping  that  this  would  in 
duce  the  western  princes  to  assist  him  in  the 
defence  of  the  city  against  the  Turks.  This 
union  produced  great  disturbances,  which 
the  emperor  did  not  long  survive,  for  he  died 
in  1448,  leaving  the  empire,  now  confined 
within  the  walls  of  Constantinople,  to  his 
brother  Constantine. 

Amurath  the  Turkish  sultan  died  in  1450, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Mohammed. 
In  the  beginning  of  his  reign  the  latter  en 
tered  into  an  alliance  with  Constantine,  and 
pretended  a  great  desire  to  live  in  friendship 
with  him  and  the  other  Christian  princes ; 
but  no  sooner  had  he  put  an  end  to  a  war  in 
which  he  was  engaged  with  Ibrahim,  king 
of  Caramania,  than  he  built  a  strong  fort  on 
the  European  side  of  the  Bosphorus,  opposite 
to  another  in  Asia,  in  both  of  which  he 
planted  strong  garrisons.  These  castles  com 
manded  the  straits ;  and  the  former  being 
only  five  miles  from  the  city,  kept  it  in  a 
manner  blockaded.  This  soon  produced  a 
misunderstanding  between  him  and  the  em 
peror,  which  ended  in  his  laying  siege  to  the 
city. 

The  siege  commenced  on  the  6th  of  April, 
1453,  Mohammed's  numerous  forces  cover 
ing  the  plains  before  it  on  the  land  side,  and  a 
fleet  of  three  hundred  sail  blockading  it  by 
sea.  The  emperor,  however,  had  taken  care 
to  secure  the  haven,  in  which  were  three  large 
ships,  twenty  small  ones,  and  a  great  number 
of  galleys,  by  means  of  a  chain  drawn  across 
the  entrance.  Mohammed  began  the  siege 
Dy  planting  batteries  as  near  the  city  as  he 


oould,  and  raising  in  several  places  mounds 
as  high  as  the  walls  themselves,  whence  the 
besieged  were  incessantly  galled  with  show 
ers  of  arrows.  He  had  in  his  camp  a  piece 
of  ordnance  of  prodigious  size,  which  if  said 
to  have  carried  a  ball  of  a  hundred  pounds 
weight  made  of  hard  black  stone  brought 
from  the  Euxine  Sea.  With  this  vast  piece 
the  enemv  made  several  breaches  in  the 
walls ;  which,  however,  were  repaired  with 
incredible  expedition  by  the  besieged.  But 
Mohammed,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  siege 
with  greater  vigor,  caused  new  levies  to  be 
made  throughout  his  extensive  dominions,  by 
which  his  army  was  soon  increased  to  near 
four  hundred  thousand  men  ;  while  the  gar 
rison  consisted  only  of  nine  thousand  regular 
troops,  viz.,  six  thousand  Greeks  and  three 
thousand  Genoese  and  Venetians.  As  the 
enemy  continued  to  batter  the  walls  day  and 
night  without  intermission,  a  great  part  of 
them  was  at  last  beaten  down ;  but  whilst 
the  Turks  were  busy  in  filling  up  the  ditch, 
in  order  to  deliver  the  assault,  a  new  wall 
was  constructed.  This  threw  the  tyrant  int  > 
a  prodigious  rage,  which  was  greatly  height 
ened  when  he  saw  his  whole  fleet  worsted 
by  five  ships,  four  of  which  were  laden  with 
corn  from  Peloponnesus,  and  the  other  with 
ah1  manner  of  provisions  from  the  isle  of 
Chios.  These  opened  themselves  a  way 
through  the  whole  Turkish  fleet,  and  to  the 
inexpressible  joy  of  the  Christians,  at  last 
got  safe  into  the  harbor. 

The  Turks  attempted  several  times  to 
force  the  harbor ;  but  all  their  efforts  prov 
ed  ineffectual ;  upon  which  Mohammed 
formed  the  design  of  conveying  into  it 
eighty  galleys  overland  for  the  space  of 
eighty  miles.  This  he  accomplished  by 
means  of  certain  engines,  the  contrivance 
of  a  renegado ;  and  having  eithei  taken  ci 
sunk  all  the  ships  in  the  harbor,  he  caused 
a  bridge  to  be  built  over  it  with  surprising 
expedition,  by  which  means  the  eity  was 
laid  open  to  an  assault  from  that  as  well  as 
from  the  other  sides.  A  general  attack  wag 
now  made ;  and  Constantine,  aware  that  he 


616 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD 


could  not  long  hold  out  against  a  mighty 
fleet  and  a  numerous  army,  sent  deputies 
to  Mohammed,  offering  to  acknowledge  him 
self  his  vassal,  by  paying  him  yearly  such 
tribute  as  he  should  think  proper  to  impose, 
provided  he  raised  the  siege  and  withdrew. 
The  tyrant  answered  that  he  was  deter 
mined,  at  all  events,  to  become  master  of 
the  city  ;  but  if  the  emperor  delivered  it  up 
forthwith,  he  would  yield  up  to  him  Pelo 
ponnesus,  and  give  other  provinces  to  his 
brothers,  which  they  might  enjoy  peaceably 
as  friends  and  allies ;  but  if  he  held  out  to 
the  last  extremity,  and  suffered  it  to  be  taken 
by  assault,  he  would  put  him  and  the  whole 
nobility  to  the  sword,  abandon  the  city  to 
be  plundered  by  his  soldiers,  and  carry  the 
inhabitants  into  captivity. 

This  condition  was  rashly  rejected  by  the 
emperor,  who  thereby  involved  himself  and 
all  his  subjects  in  a  terrible  calamity.  The 
siege  was  renewed  with  more  vigor  than 
ever,  and  continued  till  the  25th  of  May ; 
when  a  report  having  been  spread  in  the 
Turkish  camp  that  a  mighty  army  was  ad 
vancing  in  full  march  to  the  relief  of  the 
city,  under  the  conduct  of  the  celebrated 
John  Hunniades,  the  common  soldiers,  seized 
with  a  panic,  began  to  mutiny,  and  pressed 
Mohammed  in  a  tumultuous  manner  to  break 
up  the  siege ;  nay,  they  openly  menaced 
him  with  death  if  he  did  not  immediately 
abandon  the  enterprise  and  retire  from  be 
fore  the  city,  which  they  despaired  of  being 
able  to  reduce  before  the  arrival  of  the  sup 
posed  succors.  Mohammed  was  upon  the 
point  of  complying  with  their  demand,  when 
he  was  advised  by  Zagan,  a  Turkish  officer 
of  great  intrepidity,  and  an  irreconcilable 
enemy  to  the  Christian  name,  to  deliver 
without  loss  of  time  a  general  assault ;  to 
which,  he  said,  the  soldiery,  however  muti 
nous,  would  not  be  averse,  provided  the 
sultan  solemnly  promised  to  abandon  the 
city  to  be  plundered  by  them.  As  this  ad 
vice  was  best  suited  to  the  humor  of  Mo 
hammed,  he  readily  embraced  it ;  and  caus 
ed  a  proclamation  to  be  published  throughout 


the  camp,  intimating  that  he  gave  up  to  hia 
soldiers  all  the  wealth  of  that  opulent  city, 
and  required  for  himself  only  the  empty 
houses. 

The  desire  of  plunder  soon  overcame  the 
panic  which  had  seized  the  Turkish  army, 
and  they  unanimously  desired  to  be  led  on 
to  the  attack.  Constantino  was  now  sum 
moned  for  the  last  time  to  deliver  up  the 
city,  with  a  promise  of  life  and  liberty  ;  but 
to  this  he  answered,  that  he  had  unalterably 
determined  either  to  defend  the  city  or  to 
perish  with  it.  The  attack  began  at  three 
in  the  morning  on  Tuesday  the  29th  of  May. 
The  troops  first  employed  were  those  which 
the  sultan  valued  the  least,  and  he  designed 
them  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  tire  out 
the  Christians,  who  made  a  prodigious  hav 
oc  of  that  disorderly  multitude.  After  the 
carnage  had  lasted  several  hours,  the  Jani 
zaries  and  other  fresh  troops  advanced  in 
good  order,  and  renewed  the  attack  with 
incredible  vigor.  The  Christians,  summon 
ing  all  their  courage  and  resolution,  twice 
repulsed  the  enemy  ;  but  becoming  at  last 
quite  exhausted,  they  were  no  longer  able 
to  stand  their  ground,  and  the  enemy  broke 
into  the  city  in  several  places.  In  the 
meantime,  Justiniani,  the  commander  of  the 
Genoese  and  a  select  body  of  Greeks,  hav 
ing  received  two  wounds,  one  in  the  thigh 
and  the  other  in  the  hand,  became  so  dis 
heartened  that  he  caused  himself  to  be  con 
veyed  to  Galata,  where  he  soon  afterwards 
died  of  grief.  His  men,  dismayed  at  the 
sudden  flight  of  their  general,  immediately 
quitted  their  posts  and  fled  in  the  utmost 
confusion.  However,  the  emperor,  attended 
by  a  few  of  the  most  resolute  among  the 
nobility,  still  kept  his  post,  striving  with  un 
paralleled  resolution  to  oppose  the  multitude 
of  barbarians  that  now  broke  in  from  every 
quarter.  But  being  in  the  end  overpowered 
with  numbers,  and  seeing  all  his  friends  lie 
dead  on  the  ground,  "  What ! "  cried  he 
aloud,  "  is  there  no  Christian  left  alive  to 
strike  off  my  head  ?"  He  had  scarcely  ut 
tered  these  words,  when  one  of  the  enemy, 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WORLD 


617 


not  knowing  him,  gave  him  a  deep  cut 
across  the  face  with  his  sabre ;  and  at  the  same 
time,  another  coming  behind  him,  with  a 
blow  on  the  back  part  of  his  head  laid  him 
dead  on  the  spot  which  he  had  so  bravely 
defended.  After  the  death  of  the  emperor, 
vie  few  Christians  who  were  left  alive  be 
took  themselves  to  flight ;  and  the  Turks 
meeting  with  no  further  opposition,  entered 
the  city,  which  they  filled  with  slaughter 
and  blood.  They  gave  no  quarter,  but  put 
all  they  met  to  the  sword,  without  distinc 
tion.  Many  thousands  took  refuge  in  the 
church  of  St.  Sophia ;  but  they  were  all 
massacred  in  this  asylum  by  the  enraged 
barbarians,  who,  prompted  by  their  natural 
cruelty,  the  desire  of  revenge,  and  the  love 
of  booty,  spared  neither  place  nor  person. 
Most  of  the  nobility  were,  by  the  sultan's 
orders,  cut  off,  and  the  rest  p>ui«erved  for 


purposes  more  grievous  than  death  itself. 
Many  of  the  inhabitants,  among  whom  were 
several  men  of  great  learning,  found  means 
to  effect  their  escape  while  the  Turks  were 
busied  in  plundering  the  city,  and  embark 
ing  on  board  some  ships  which  were  then  in 
the  harbor,  they  arrived  safe  in  Italy ;  where, 
with  the  study  of  the  Greek  tongue,  they 
revived  the  liberal  sciences,  which  had  long 
been  neglected  in  the  West.  After  the 
expiration  of  three  days,  Mohammed  ecn> 
manded  his  soldiers  to  forbear  all  further 
hostilities,  on  pain  of  death ;  and  then  put 
an  end  to  as  cruel  a  pillage  and  massacre  as 
any  mentioned  in  history.  The  next  day  ho 
made  his  public  and  triumphal  entry  into 
Constantinople,  and  chose  it  as  the  seat  of 
the  Turkish  empire,  which  it  has  continued 
to  be  ever  since. 


618 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOKLD. 


TURKEY. 


IIE  existing  Turkish  empire  dates  only 
I  from  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
when  it  was  founded  by  Osman  or  Othman, 
a  Turk  of  a  noble  family,  who  had  been 
driven  westward  from  Khorasan  by  the  inva 
sion  of  Zengis  Khan.  Osman  first  invaded 
the  Greek  territory  of  Kicomedia  on  the 
27th  of  July,  1299 ;  but  the  true  era  of  the 
empire  may  be  dated  from  the  conquest  of 
the  city  of  Prusa,  the  capital  of  Bithynia, 
which  surrendered  to  his  son  Orchan  in  1326. 
This  Orchan  was  an  enterprising,  ambitious, 
and  at  first  mild,  but  afterwards  stern  or 
cruel  prince,  who  greatly  extended  the  limits 
of  the  empire,  took  possession  of  Gallipoli, 
and  penetrated  into  Thrace.  Murad  I.,  whom 
we  call  Amurath  I.,  his  son,  subdued  with 
out  resistance  the  whole  of  Thrace  from  the 
Hellespont  to  Mount  Haemus,  and  made 
Adrianople  the  seat  of  a  vice-royalty.  lie 
established  in  1362  the  famous  military  bands 
called  yengi  clierl,  new  soldiers  (corrupted 
into  janissaries),  once  the  shield  and  bulwark 
of  the  empire,  but  ii^later  times  the  cause 
of  numberless  revolts  and  revolutions.  These 
troops  were  composed  originally  of  young 
Christian  captives  that  had  been  taken  in 
war  and  educated  in  the  Mohammedan  reli 
gion,  and  their  numbers  were  afterwards  in 
creased  by  forced  levies  of  youths  from 
amongst  the  subjugated  Christians.  They 
were  trained  to  warlike  exercises,  and  inured 
to  obedience  by  severe  discipline  ;  and  as 
every  sentiment  which  enthusiasm  can  inspire, 
and  every  mark  of  honor  which  the  favor 


of  the  prince  could  cor.fer,  were  (mp loved 
to  animate  them  with  martial  ardor,  and 
excite  in  them  a  sense  of  their  own  impor 
tance,  these  janissaries  soon  became  the  chief 
strength  and  pride  of  the  Ottoman  armies. 

On  the  assassination  of  Amurath  in  1389, 
by  a  wounded  soldier  of  the  vanquished  ene 
my  on  the  field  of  Cassova,  he  was  succeed 
ed  by  his  son  Bajazet,  more  correctly  Byazid, 
surnamed  Ilderim,  or  the  Thunderbolt,  whoe 
reign  forms  one  of  the  most  splendid  epochs 
in  the  Turkish  annals.  He  subdued  and 
stripped  of  their  hereditary  possessions  the 
Seljukian  emirs  of  Asia  Minor,  whose  revolts 
and  disturbances  had  embarrassed  the  pro 
gress  of  his  predecessors,  and  protracted  the 
downfall  of  the  Greek  empire.  His  con 
quests  in  Europe  were  equally  rapid  and  im 
portant,  and  whatever  adhered  to  the  Greek 
empire  in  Thrace,  Macedonia,  and  Thessaly, 
acknowledged  his  sway.  He  turned  his  arms 
against  Sigismond  king  of  Hungary,  and  in 
1396  defeated,  in  the  battle  of  Nicopolis,  a 
confederate  army  of  100,000  Christians,  the 
greater  part  of  whom  were  slain  or  driven 
into  the  Danube.  The  conqueror,  irritated 
by  the  previous  slaughter  of  many  thousand 
Turkish  prisoners  by  the  Christian  army, 
commanded  his  prisoners  to  be  massacred  in 
cold  blood,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  of 
the  chief  nobles,  who  were  set  at  liberty  on 
the  payment  of  a  ransom  of  200,000  ducats. 
But  Bajazet  had  now  reached  the  height  of 
his  greatness.  His  conquests  in  Armenia 
and  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  had 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


619 


brought  him  into  collision  with  the  famous 
Mogul  conqueror  Tamerlane;  and  in  1402 
the  plains  around  the  city  of  Angora  were 
the  scene  of  the  memorable  battle  which 
ended  in  the  captivity  of  Bajazet,  and  the 
temporary  humiliation  of  the  Turks.  The 
death  of  Tamerlane,  and  the  contentions 
which  arose  among  his  sons,  relieved  the 
Turkish  provinces  from  the  Mogul  yoke. 
Solyman  the  son  of  Bajazet  obtained  the 
European  dominions  of  his  father ;  Mousa 
reigned  over  the  remnant  of  his  dominions 

O 

fn  Asia ;  while  Mohammed,  the  youngest  of 
Mie  sons,  held  Cappadocia.  Eleven  years 
elapsed  in  the  mutual  endeavors  of  the  sons 
of  Bajazet  to  supplant  each  other,  before 
Mohammed  effected  his  final  triumph,  and 
assumed  the  title  of  sultan.  At  his  death  in 
1421  he  bequeathed  an  undivided  empire  to 
his  successor,  Amurath  II.  The  reign  of 
this  sultan  contributed  greatly  to  increase 
the  splendor  of  the  Turkish  empire.  He 
made  himself  master  of  Adrianople,  by 
which  Romania  and  Anatolia  wrere  again 
united  under  one  sceptre;  and  reduced  to 
subjection  Servia,  Macedonia,  Thessaly,  Al 
bania,  and  the  whole  of  Greece  to  the  north 
of  the  isthmus.  He  also  besieged  Constan 
tinople,  but  was  diverted  from  his  enterprise 
by  the  dexterity  of  the  Greek  emperor,  who 
stirred  up  against  him  a  competitor  for  the 
throne,  assuming  the  name  and  character  of 
Mustafa,  the  eldest  son  of  Bajazet.  But  the 
impostor  was  at  length  defeated  and  put  to 
death.  The  conquests  of  Amurath  received 
a  considerable  check  from  the  skill  and  valor 
of  Hunniades,  the  celebrated  waiwode  of 
Transylvania,  and  of  the  Albanian  chief 
George  Castriot,  called  also  Iskenderbeg  or 
Scanderbeg ;  but  the  fatal  battle  of  Varna, 
in  which  Ladislaus  king  of  Hungary  and 
10,000  Christians  were  slain,  destroyed  the 
hopes  that  were  enterfained  of  checking 
the  progress  of  the  Turkish  arms.  Amurath 
twice  abdicated  the  throne,  and  twice  was 
compelled  by  the  exigencies  of  the  empire 
to  resume  the  sovereignty.  He  was  succeed 
ed  in  1 451  by  Mohammed  II.,  the  conqueror 


of  Constantinople.  On  the  Cth  of  April 
1453,  the  Ottoman  standard  was  planted  be 
fore  the  gate  of  St.  Romanus ;  and  after  a 
siege  of  fifty-three  days,  "  that  Constantino 
ple  which  had  defied  the  powrer  of  Chosroes, 
the  Chagan,  and  the  khalifs,  was  irretriev 
ably  subdued  by  the  arms  of  Mohammed  the 
Second.  Her  empire  only  had  been  subvert 
ed  by  the  Latins ;  her  religion  was  trampled 
in  the  dust  by  the  Moslem  conquerors."  Con 
stantinople  was  taken  by  the  Turks  on  the 
29th  of  May,  1453,  two  thousand  and  five 
years  after  the  foundation  of  Rome,  and  eleven 
hundred  and  twenty-three  after  Constantino 
had  removed  the  seat  of  the  empire  from 
Rome  to  Byzantium. 

Three  years  after  the  taking  of  Constanti 
nople,  Mohammed  laid  siege  to  Belgrade, 
from  which,  after  an  obstinate  resistance,  he 
was  at  length  repulsed  with  the  loss  of  his 
large  ordnance  and  40,000  of  his  best  troops. 
Abandoning  his  attempt  upon  Hungary,  the 
sultan  undertook  an  expedition  into  Greece, 
and  about  the  year  1460  succeeded  in  subdu 
ing  the  whole  of  the  Morea.  In  1466  the 
famous  Scanderberg,  who  for  twenty-three 
years  had  resisted  all  the  power  of  the  Otto 
man  empire,  was  finally  compelled  to  take 
refuge  in  Lyssa,  in  the  Venetian  states,  where 
he  died.  Mohammed  had  now  extended  his 
sway  over  the  whole  of  Asia  on  this  side  of 
Mount  Taurus,  and  over  all  the  provinces  in 
Europe  which  had  formerly  belonged  to  the 
eastern  division  of  the  Roman  empire.  "Not 
satisfied  with  these  conquests,  he  had  des 
patched  his  most  able^general,  Acmet  Pasha, 
to  invade  Italy  ;  and  the  capture  of  the 
strong  city  of  Otranto  had  laid  open  that 
country  to  him,  and  spread  universal  conster 
nation,  when  the  danger  was  averted  by  the 
death  of  the  sultan  in  the  fifty-fust  year  of 
his  age,  A.D.  1481.  Mohammed  was  succeed 
ed  by  his  son  Bajazet  II.,  whose  claims  to 
the  vacant  throne  were,  however,  disputed 
by  his  brother  Djem  or  Zisimes.  But  the 
claims  of  Bajazet  were  supported  by  the  jan 
issaries  ;  and  his  competitor,  after  various 
unsuccessful  struggles,  was  compelled  to  seek 


620 


HISTOBY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


shelter  in  Italy,  where  lie  was  assassinated  at 
the  instigation  of  Bajazet.  The  infamy  of 
the  deed  is  ascribed  to  Pope  Alexander  VI., 
who  is  said  to  have  received  200,000  ducats 
for  his  reward.  Bajazet,  after  a  reign  of 
thirty  years,  intimated  his  intention  to  resign 
the  crown  to  his  son  Achmet ;  but  his  young 
est  son  Selim,  having  secured  the  assistance 
of  the  janissaries,  compelled  his  father  to 
abdicate,  who,  being  exhausted  by  sickness, 
died  before  he  reached  Dometica,  his  intend 
ed  place  of  retirement.  Selirn  was  a  success 
ful  prince,  and  during  his  short  reign  of  eight 
years  conquered  Egypt,  Aleppo,  Antioch, 
Tripoli,  Damascus,  and  Gaza,  and  defeated 
the  Persians.  On  the  death  of  Selim,  Soly- 
man  the  Magnificent,  surnamed  by  the  Turks 
Canuni  the  Lawgiver,  ascended  the  Ottoman 
throne.  Having  quelled  some  insurrections  in 
Asia,  he  commenced  hostilities  against  the  Eu 
ropean  princes,  and  entering  Hungary,  made 
himself  master  of  Belgrade,  then  reckoned 
the  chief  barrier  of  that  kingdom  against 
the  Turkish  power.  He  next  turned  his  vic 
torious  arms  against  the  island  of  Rhodes, 
then  the  seat  of  the  knights  of  St.  John  of 
Jerusalem.  After  incredible  efforts  of  valor 
and  military  skill,  the  knights  obtained  an 
honorable  capitulation,  and  retired  to  the 
small  island  of  Malta.  Solyman  next  ad 
vanced  into  Hungary,  and  at  the  battle  of 
Mohacz  (A.D.  1526)  defeated  and  slew  the 
Hungarian  monarch,  with  20,000  of  his  men, 
and  took  possession  of  the  capital  and  the 
chief  fortresses.  Three  years  later  he  form 
ed  the  siege  of  Vienna,  but  was  compelled 
to  retreat  with  the  loss  of  80,000  of  his  sol 
diers.  Iii  1541  he  again  invaded  Hungary, 
and  taking  advantage  of  a  civil  contest  be 
tween  two  rival  claimants  of  the  vacant 
throne,  he  annexed  the  disputed  kingdom  to 
the  Ottoman  empire.  He  entered  into  a 
destructive  war  against  Persia,  and  eventual- 
y  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  considerable  in 
crease  of  territory  between  the  Araxes  and 
the  Tigris.  During  the  reign  of  this  prince, 
the  political  and  military  administration  of 
the  Ottomaa.  empire  reached  its  highest  state 


of  perfection ;  and  the  arts  and  sciences,  li 
terature  and  commerce,  flourished  under  hia 
enlightened  and  munificent  policy.  His  do 
minions  extended  from  Algiers  to  the  river 
Euphrates,  and  from  the  farther  end  of  the 
Black  Sea  to  the  extremity  of  Greece  and 
Epirus.  The  latter  years  of  his  reign  were 
embittered  by  domestic  dissensions  and  en  el- 
ties.  During  the  siege  of  Sigeth,  a  city  of 
Hungary,  before  which  the  Turks  lost  30,000 
men,  Solyman  expired,  in  the  seventy-fourth 
year  of  his  age  and  forty-sixth  of  his  reign. 

His  son  and  successor,  Selim  II.,  besieged 
and  took  Cyprus ;  but  in  the  famous  sea-fight 
at  Lepanto,  in  1571,  the  Turkish  fleet  was 
utterly  destroyed  by  Don  John  of  Austria. 
Selim  afterwards  invested  and  took  Tunis  by 
storm,  putting  the  garrison  to  the  sword. 
On  his  death,  Amu  rath  III.  ascended  to  the 
Ottoman  throne,  and  extended  his  dominions 
on  both  sides  by  the  addition  of  Tigris  in 
Persia,  and  of  Raab,  one  of  the  strongest 
fortresses  in  Lower  Hungary.  His  son,  Mo 
hammed  III.,  has  no  claim  to  notice,  except 
on  account  of  his  barbarity.  He  began  his 
reign  by  strangling  nineteen  of  his  brothers, 
and  ordering  twelve  of  his  father's  wives 
whom  he  suspected  to  be  pregnant  to  be 
drowned.  The  war  with  Hungary  was  car 
ried  on  throughout  the  whole  of  his  reign, 
which  lasted  about  nine  years.  During  the 
inglorious  sway  of  his  son,  Ahmet  I.,  the 
affairs  of  Turkey  underwent  a  material  change 
for  the  worse.  Peace  was  concluded  with 
Hungary  ;  but  the  sultan  was  involved  in  a 
disastrous  war  with  Persia,  in  which  the 
Turkish  troops  were  entirely  defeated.  On 
his  death,  his  brother  Mustapha  ascended 
the  throne ;  but  his  actions  having  clearly 
proved  his  incapacity  and  imbecility,  the 
janissaries  and  the  divan  compelled  him  to 
resign  the  government  after  a  reigri  of  five 
months,  and  threw  him  into  prison.  His  ne 
phew,  Osman,  the  son  of  Ahmet,  a  boy  of 
twelve  years  of  age,  was  then  proclaimed 
emperor.  This  prince  having  formed  tho 
design  of  curbing  the  power  of  the  janissa 
ries,  these  turbulent  soldiers  rose  in  insurrec- 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


621 


tion,  deposed  and  murdered  the  sultan,  and 
recalled  his  uncle  Mustapha  from  his  prison 
to  the  imperial  throne.  These  atrocious  pro 
ceedings,  however,  excited  general  indigna 
tion  throughout  the  Asiatic  provinces ;  and 
Abasa,  the  powerful  pasha  of  Erzeroum,  took 
up  arms  to  avenge  the  murder  of  Osman. 
After  the  lapse  of  a  few  months,  the  janissa 
ries  themselves  abandoned  the  cause  of  Mus 
tapha,  who  was  again  deposed,  and  was  soon 
afterwards  strangled.  Under  Amurath  or 
Murad  IV.,  surnamed  Gasi  the  Intrepid, 
affairs  assumed  a  new  appearance,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Ottoman  empire  was  in  some 
measure  restored.  He  put  to  death  great 
numbers  of  the  janissaries,  and  by  his  ener 
getic  and  ferocious  measures  reduced  these 
mutinous  and  formidable  troops  to  a  state 
of  subordination.  He  took  Bagdad  from  the 
Persians,  and  massacred  the  greater  part  of 
the  inhabitants,  after  an  obstinate  resistance, 
which  cost  him  the  flower  of  his  army.  A 
debauch  of  wine  put  an  end  to  his  life,  in 
the  thirty-first  year  of  his  age  and  the  seven 
teenth  of  his  reign.  His  brother  Ibrahim, 
who  succeeded  him,  was  a  weak  and  imbecile 
prince,  deformed  in  body  and  destitute  of 
courage.  The  administration  of  the  govern 
ment  was  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  vizier 
Mustapha  and  the  sultana  Yalideh,  the  widow 
of  Ahmet  I. ;  while  Ibrahim  gave  himself 
up  entirely  to  the  prosecution  of  his  pleas 
ures,  till  at  length  his  vices  rendered  him  so 
odious  that  he  was  deposed  and  strangled. 
During  his  reign,  a  bloody  war  broke  out 
jetween  the  Turks  and  the  Venetians,  which, 
after  being  carried  on  with  great  fury  for  the 
space  of  twenty-four  years,  ended  in  the  ex 
tinction  of  the  Venetian  power  in  the  Egean 
Sea.  The  alleged  ground  of  quarrel  was  the 
reception  into  a  Venetian  port  of  six  Maltese 
galleys  which  had  captured  an  Ottoman  ship 
of  war.  The  divan  used  various  pretences 
to  allay  the  suspicions  of  the  Venetians,  and 
throw  them  off  their  guard,  till,  in  May 
1643,  the  Turkish  fleet  set  sail  for  the  im 
portant  island  of  Candia,  and  disembarked 
an  army  of  70,000  men  on  the  island.  As 


the  Venetians  had  provided  no  means  for  its 
defence,  the  whole  island,  with  the  exception 
of  the  capital,  was,  after  a  sanguinary  resis 
tance,  reduced  in  less  than  two  years.  Mo 
hammed  IV.,  the  son  of  Ibrahim,  was  scarce 
ly  seven  years  of  age  at  the  deposition  of 
his  father.  His  minority  was  one  continued 
scene  of  intestine  discord  and  revolt.  Dur 
ing  this  reign,  war  again  broke  out  between 
the  Austrians  and  Turks,  and  after  having 
been  carried  on  for  some  time  with  varied 
success,  was  concluded  by  a  treaty  for  twenty 
years.  On  the  termination  of  this  war,  the 
power  of  the  Ottoman  empire  was  directed 
against  the  city  of  Candia.  The  siege  was 
actively  carried  on  during  the  space  of  twen 
ty-nine  months,  when  the  garrison  was  at 
length  forced  to  capitulate ;  and  thus  ended 
one  of  the  most  memorable  sieges  of  modern 
history,  in  which  the  Venetians  lost  above 
30,000  men,  and  the  Turks  more  than 
120,000.  About  this  period,  the  Zaporagian 
Cossacks  threw  off  the  Polish  yoke,  and 
placed  themselves  under  the  protection  of 
Turkey.  A  war  in  consequence  broke  out 
between  the  Turks  and  the  Poles.;  but  the 
result  was  advantageous  to  the  Porte,  who 
obtained  the  sovereignty  of  the  important 
districts  of  the  Ukraine  and  Podolia.  Shortly 
after,  however,  the  Hetman  of  the  Cossacks 
having  been  treated  with  contempt  by  the 
sultan,  these  proud  and  fickle  barbarians  ab 
jured  the  Turkish  service,  and  transferred 
their  allegiance  to  the  Russian  czar. 

In  1683  the  distracted  state  of  Hungary 
induced  the  divan  to  break  the  treaty  with 
Austria;  and  the  Turkish  army,  under  the 
grand  vizir  Cara  Mustapha,  penetrated  to 
Vienna,  and  formed  the  siege  of  that  city  on 
the  14th  of  July.  The  siege  was  protracted 
till  the  12th  of  September,  when  the  allied 
army,  under  the  famous  John  Sobieski,  at 
tacked  the  besiegers,  routed  them  with  pro 
digious  slaughter,  and  obtained  possession  ol 
their  camp,  together  with  their  artillery 
baggage,  and  magazines.  A  succession  of 
battles  followed,  in  all  of  which  the  Turks 
were  overthrown.  The  number  of  their 


622 


HISTOKY  OF   THE  WORLD. 


enemies  speedily  augmented,  and  in  the  short 
space  of  four  years  all  the  vast  conquests  of 
the  Turkish  sultans,  westward  of  the  Dan 
ube,  were  wrested  from  them,  with  the  solita 
ry  exception  of  the  fortified  city  of  Agram. 
These  extraordinary  reverses  caused  the  army 
to  revolt  against  their  commanders,  and  ex 
cited  a  general  insurrection,  which  cost  the 
sultan  his  throne.  His  brother,  Solyman  II., 
who  succeeded  him  in  1687,  was  distinguish 
ed  for  his  austerity,  sobriety,  and  devotion. 
He  was  happy  in  his  domestic  government, 
but  unsuccessful  in  his  wars.  He  was  succeed 
ed  in  1G90  by  Ahmet  II.,  the  youngest  son 
of  Sultan  Ibrahim.  He,  too,  was  a  weak 
and  credulous  prince ;  and  though  the  affairs 
of  the  empire  were  conducted  with  great 
prudence  and  vigor  by  the  grand  vizir  Kiu- 
pnili,  the  Ottoman  empire  declined,  and  the 
Turks  during  this  reign  were  driven  out  of 
Hungary  and  Transylvania.  The  accession 
of  his  nephew  Mustapha  II.  to  the  Ottoman 
throne  gave  a  new  turn  to  the  affairs  of  the 
Porte.  Possessed  of  greater  vigor  and  ab 
ility  than  his  predecessor,  he  resolved  to 
command  his  troops  in  person.  He  accord 
ingly  took  the  field,  passed  the  Danube  at 
the  head  of  50,000  men,  carried  Lippa  by 
assault,  and,  falling  suddenly  on  a  body  of 
Imperialists  under  Yeterani,  one  of  the  brav 
est  and  best  officers  of  the  emperor,  he  de 
feated  them,  and  closed  the  campaign  with 
success.  But  two  years  afterwards  he  was 
defeated  by  Prince  Eugene,  in  the  bloody 
battle  of  Zenta,  a  small  village  on  the  west 
ern  bank  of  the  Theiss,  in  the  kingdom  of 
Hungary.  About  20,000  Turks  were  left 
dead  on  the  field,  and  10,000  were  drowned 
in  their  attempt  to  escape  ;  and  the  magnifi 
cent  pavilion  of  the  sultan,  and  all  his  stores, 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Prince  Eugene.  These 
terrible  disasters  compelled  Mustapha  to 
Bolicit  a  peace,  and  a  treaty  was  shortly  after 
signed  at  Carlowitz,  which  guaranteed  Hun 
gary,  Transylvania,  and  Sclavonia  to  the 
Austrians ;  Azoph  to  the  Russians ;  Podolia, 
the  Ukrane,  and  Ivaminiecz  to  the  Poles; 
and  the  Morea,  with  a  strong  frontier  in 


Dalmatia,  to  the  Venetians.  Shortly  after 
these  misfortunes,  an  insurrection  was  excit 
ed  among  the  soldiers  by  a  sense  of  the  na 
tional  disgrace,  and  Mustapha  was  dethron 
ed. 

His  brother  and  successor,  Ahmet  III., 
gave  an  asylum  to  Charles  XII.  king  of 
Sweden,  at  Bender,  a  Turkish  town  in  Mol 
davia,  after  his  defeat  at  the  battle  of  Pul- 
towa.  A  war  broke  out  between  the  Rus 
sians  and  \\\e  Turks,  in  which  the  Czar  Peter, 
having  in_prudently  suffered  himself  to  be 
cooped  up  in  an  angle  formed  by  the  River 
Pruth,  was  reduced  to  the  greatest  extremi 
ties,  and  compelled  to  make  peace  on  terms 
dictated  by  the  Turkish  general.  Being  un 
successful  in  his  war  against  Tahmas  Koulik- 
han  and  the  Persians,  Ahmet  was  deposed, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Mahmoud  I. 

From  the  deposition  of  Ahmet  III.  in 
1730,  to  the  accession  of  Mustapha  III.  in 
1757,  nothing  of  importance  occurs  in  the 
history  of  the  Turkish  empire.  During  the 
reign  of  this  latter  sultan,  was  begun  and 
carried  on  that  destructive  war  with  Russia 
which  broke  out  in  17C9,  and  lasted  till  1774, 
when  the  successes  of  the  Russians  compel 
led  the  sultan,  Abdul  Hamid,  to  terminate 
the  unequal  contest  by  the  dishonorable 
treaty  of  Kainargi.  By  this  treaty  Russia 
obtained  possession  of  the  tract  between  the 
Bog  and  the  Dniester,  known  by  the  name 
of  New  Servia,  the  forts  of  Xenikaleh  and 
Kertch  in  the  Crimea,  and  the  fortress  of 
Kilburn,  at  the  embouchure  of  the  Dnieper, 
opposite  to  the  town  of  Ockzakow.  The 
Krim  Tartars  were  declared  independent, 
and  Russian  merchant-vessels  were  admitted 
to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Bosphorus. 
About  this  time  a  formidable  rebellion  broke 
out  in  Egypt,  which  was  suppressed  chiefly  by 
the  wise  conduct  and  intrepid  behaviour  of 
Hassan,  the  capitan  pasha,  who,  at  the  age 
of  seventy,  fought  with  all  the  ardour  of 
youth  and  all  the  skill  of  the  most  consum 
mate  general.  That  veteran,  howe~er,  was 
recalled  before  he  was  able  to  carry  all  his 
patriotic  designs  into  execution,  that  he  might 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


623 


aid  the  divan  with  his  counsel  in  the  critical 
situation  into  which  the  empire  was  brought 
by  the  arrogant  claims  of  the  court  of  Rus 
sia.  The  result  of  the  declarations  was  a 
precipitate  declaration  of  war  against  that 
power,  contrary  to  the  better  judgment  of 
the  old  pasha.  The  war  commenced  in  the 
autumn  of  1787,  and  the  hordes  of  Tartars 
which  were  first  brought  into  the  field  were 
everywhere  deflated  by  the  superior  discip 
line  of  the  Russian  troops,  commanded  by 
Prince  Potemkin.  Some  enterprises  which 
were  undertaken  by  the  Turks  against  the 
island  of  Taman  and  the  Crimea,  were  at 
tended  with  as  little  success  as  the  attempts 
of  the  Tartars,  while  the  Emperor  Joseph 
declared  to  the  Porte  that  he  would  assist 
his  ally  the  Empress  of  Russia  with  an  army 
of  80,000  men.  Four  Austrian  armies  were 
accordingly  assembled,  one  at  Carlstadt  in 
Croatia,  under  the  command  of  General  de 
Vins  :  another  at  Peterwaradin  in  Hungary, 

o        *J  * 

commanded  by  General  Langlois;  a  third 
on  the  borders  of  Lithuania,  under  General 
Febris ;  and  the  fourth  in  the  Buckowine, 
under  the  orders  of  the  Prince  of  Saxe- 
Coburg.  Other  two  generals,  ten  lieutenant- 
generals,  and  thirty  major-generals,  were  all 
ordered  to  prepare  for  active  service  in  the 
frontier  armies. 

The  war  between  the  Turks  and  the  Aus- 
trians  was  carried  on  with  varied  success. 
At  first  the  advantage  was  evidently  on  the 
side  of  the  former,  and  the  Austrians  were 
repulsed  with  disgrace  in  their  attempt  to 
obtain  possession  of  Belgrade.  The  Prince 
of  Saxe-Coburg  displayed  indeed  prodigies 
of  valor;  but,  being  opposed  to  a  superior 
force,  he  was  long  obliged  to  act  only  on  the 
defensive.  He  was  at  length  joined  by  a 
body  of  Russians  under  General  Soltikof, 
and  preparations  wrere  made  for  commencing 
in  form  the  siege  of  Choczim,  which  was 
surrendered  to  the  allied  armies  on  Michael 
mas  day,  1780,  after  a  defence  which  would 
have  done  honor  to  the  ablest  general  in  Eu 
rope.  Still,  however,  success  seemed  to  lean 
to  the  side  of  the  Turks.  The  grand  vizir 


made  a  sudden  incursion  into  the  Bnnnat, 
and  spread  consternation  and  dismay  to  the 
very  gates  of  Vienna.  The  Austrian  affairs 
seemed  approaching  to  a  very  alarming  crisis. 
Not  only  the  splendid  views  of  conquest, 
which  were  beheld  in  the  imagined  partition 
of  a  tottering  empire,  had  totally  disappear 
ed,  but  had  left  in  their  place  the  sad  and 
gloomy  reverse  of  a  discontented  and  impo 
verished  people,  an  exhausted  treasury,  and 
an  army  thinned  by  pestilence  and  desertion. 
In  this  situation  of  affairs,  Marshal  Laudon 
was  with  some  difficulty  drawn  from  his  re 
tirement  to  take  the  command  of  the  army  in 
Croatia ;  and  under  his  auspices  fortune  be 
gan  to  smile  on  the  Austrian  arms.  He 
quickly  reduced  Dubicza  and  Nevi,  though 
they  were  both  defended  with  the  most  ob 
stinate  bravery.  He  then  sat  down  before 
the  Turkish  Gradisca ;  but  the  autumn  rains 
ensuing  with  such  violence  that  the  Save 
overflowed  its  banks,  he  was  compelled  to 
raise  the  siege.  During  this  period  the  wai 
in  the  Bannat  raged  with  the  utmost  violence. 
Much  desperate  valor  was  displayed  on  the 
one  side,  and  many  brave  actions  were  per 
formed  on  the  other ;  while  a  great  part  of 
that  fine  but  unfortunate  country  suffered 
all  the  desolation  and  ruin  that  fire  and 
sword,  under  the  dominion  of  vengeance  and 
animosity,  could  inflict. 

In  the  midst  of  these  military  operations, 
Selim  III.,  the  only  son  of  the  Sultan  Mus- 
tapha,  mounted  the  imperial  throne.  The 
new  emperor  did  not  want  either  courage  or 
prudence,  and  he  continued  the  war  with 
Russia  and  Austria  with  great  spirit  and  re 
solution.  Marshal  Laudon  renewed  his  at 
tempts  upon  Gradisca  as  soon  as  the  season 
would  permit,  and,  after  a  brave  defence,  it 
fell  into  his  hands.  This,  with  some  other 
successes,  roused  the  emperor  from  his  state 
of  inactivity,  and  made  him  seriously  deter 
mine  on  the  attack  which  he  had  Ions;  ir  cd- 

O 

itated  on  Belgrade.  The  enterprise  was  en 
trusted  to  Laudon,  who,  with  his  usual  good 
fortune,  made  himself  master  of  the  place 
in  less  than  a  month.  The  rest  of  the  cam 


624 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WOULD. 


paign  was  little  e.se  than  a  series  of  the  most 
important  successes.  "While  one  detachment 
of  Laudon's  forces  took  possession  of  Czernitz 
in  TVallachia,  another  made  itself  master  of 
Cladova  in  Servia.  Bucharest,  the  capital 
of  the  former  of  these  provinces,  fell  without 
opposition  into  the  hands  of  Prince  Coburg, 
while  Akerman,  on  the  Black  Sea,  was  re 
duced  by  the  Russians,  and  Bender  surrend 
ered  to  Prince  Potemkin,  not  without  suspi 
cion  of  sinister  practices. 

Soon  after  this  the  Emperor  Joseph  died, 
and  his  successor,  Leopold,  showed  a  desire 
for  peace.  After  the  reduction  of  Orsova, 
therefore,  which  happened  on  the  16th  of 
April,  1790,  the  war  was  carried  on  with 
languor  on  the  part  of  Austria ;  and  in  the 
month  of  June  a  conference  was  agreed  on 
at  Reichenbach,  at  which  the  ministers  of 
Prussia,  Austria,  Britain,  and  the  united 
provinces  assisted,  and  at  which  also  an  en 
voy  from  Poland  was  occasionally  present. 
After  a  negotiation,  which  continued  till  the 
17th  of  August,  it  was  agreed  that  a  peace 
should  be  concluded  between  the  Austrians 
and  the  Ottomans ;  and  that  the  basis  of  this 
treaty  should  be  a  general  surrender  of  all 
the  conquests  made  by  the  former,  retaining 
only  Choczim  as  a  security  till  the  Porte 
should  accede  to  the  terms  of  the  agreement, 
when  it  also  was  to  be  restored. 

In  the  meantime  the  Empress  cf  Russia 
persevered  in  hostilities,  and  carried  on  the 
war  with  great  vigor  and  success.  In  the 
campaign  of  1790,  the  Russian  general  Suwa- 
roff  carried  the  strong  fortress  of  Ismail  by 
an  assault,  which  for  violence  and  bloodshed 
has  no  parallel  in  modern  times.  The  Otto 
man  empire  seemed  on  the  verge  of  destruc 
tion,  when  the  empress  at  length,  induced 
by  the  darkening  aspect  of  European  affairs, 
concluded  with  the  Porte  a  definite  treaty 
of  peace  at  Yassy  on  the  9th  of  January, 
1792.  The  stipulations  of  the  treaty  of  Kai- 
uar^i  were  renewed.  The  River  Dniester 
was  recognised  as  the  boundary  of  the  two 
empires.  Oczakow  was  ceded  to  Russia,  with 
the  territory  between  the  Bog  and  the  Dnies 


ter;  and  the  cession  of  the  Criuea,  of  tha 
Isle  of  Tarnan,  and  part  of  the  K  iban,  was 
again  formally  confirmed. 

It  was  evidently  the  desire  and  endeavour 
of  the  Ottoman  government  to  keep  aloof 
from  the  terrible  wars  and  changes  which 
accompanied  the  French  Revolution ;  but  the 
invasion  of  Egypt  by  the  French  compelled 
the  sultan  to  abandon  the  system  of  neutrali 
ty  which  he  was  anxious  to  maintain.  On 
the  recommencement  of  hostilities  with 
France,  attempts  were  made  to  induce  the 
Porte  to  take  part  in  the  war  against  that 
country.  "  Russia  and  England  united  their 
strength  against  France  in  the  divan,  and 
the  sultan  was  the  sad  spectator  of  a  contest 
of  which  he  was  himself  the  unwilling  um 
pire,  the  ostensible  object,  and  the  proposed 
prey.  The  victory  of  either  party  alike 
menaced  him  with  ruin  ;  he  had  to  choose 
between  the  armies  of  France  and  the  fleets 
of  England.  Never  was  sovereign  so  situat 
ed  between  two  negotiators,  one  armed  with 
the  power  of  the  land,  the  other  with  that 
of  the  sea ;  both  to  all  appearance  able  to 
destroy,  but  neither  capable  of  protecting 
him  against  his  antagonist.  The  precipitate 
flight  of  the  British  ambassador  had  scarcely 
relieved  liim  from  the  embarrassment  of 
making  a  selection  between  the  menacing 
parties,  when  his  capital  was  alarmed  for  the 
first  time  by  the  presence  of  a  hostile  force, 
and  the  last  of  calamities  seemed  reserved 
for  the  reign  of  Selim.  The  good  fortune 
which  interposed  to  save  the  seat  of  empire 
was  not  extended  to  the  sovereign,  and  the 
evils  which  were  inevitable  from  the  triumph 
of  either  party  gathered  fast  around  him 
from  the  day  that  saw  the  city  of  the  faith 
ful  delivered  from  the  insults  of  a  Christian 

flag." 

The  year  1807  witnessed  one  of  those  san 
guinary  insurrections  which  have  so  often 
convulsed  the  Ottoman  empire.  The  cause 
of  this  revolt,  which  cost  Selim  his  throne, 
was  an  attempt  to  introduce  the  improved 
system  of  European  tactics  into  the  military 
and  naval  establishments.  The  sultan  had 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


625 


evinced,  at  an  early  period  of  his  reign,  a 
determination  to  attempt  some  changes  in 
the  organization  of  the  military  force,  and 
for  this  purpose  new  regulations  were  issued 
in  1796.  The  chief  arrangement  was  the 
levy  of  12,000  men,  who  were  to  be  discip 
lined  according  to  the  principles  of  European 
tactics,  and  armed  in  every  respect  like  British 
or  French  soldiers.  The  new  troops  were  to 
wear  a  uniform,  and  were  to  be  taught  the 
manual  exercise ;  and,  in  order  to  detach 
them  as  much  as  possible  from  the  janissaries, 
it  was  resolved  they  should  belong  nominally 
to  the  corps  of  bostangis.  For  these  bostan- 
gi  fusiliers,  as  they  were  called,  were  erect 
ed  handsome  barracks  three  miles  to  the 
north-east  of  Pera,  capable  of  containing 
15,000  soldiers.  For  the  same  purpose,  bar 
racks  were  also  constructed  at  Scutari,  with 
exercising  ground  and  all  other  conveniences. 

o  o 

The  inspector  of  the  new  troops  was  one  of 
the  principal  men  of  the  empire.  A  reform 
was  introduced  into  all  the  military  depart 
ments.  The  topgis,  or  cannoniers,  were  im 
proved  in  every  respect.  Their  old  barracks 
were  demolished,  and  new  ones  were  built 
on  a  regular  and  better  plan.  The  ardbdgis, 
or  troops  of  the  wagon  train,  were  also  re 
formed.  The  gunpowder  manufactories, 
which  had  been  in  a  most  inefficient  state, 
were  placed  on  an  entirely  new  footing.  The 
bombardiers,  anciently  furnished  from  the 
ziameths  and  timars,  or  military  fiefs,  under 
went  a  total  change  by  the  new  regulations. 
The  miners,  a  corps  much  neglected,  were  in 
creased,  and  attached  by  the  new  constitu 
tion  to  the  bombardiers.  The  marine  was 
put  under  the  superintendence  of  a  ministry 
formed  on  the  plan  of  European  admiralties; 
and  the  command  of  vessels,  which  had 
usually  been  set  up  to  sale,  was  given  only 
to  those  who  were  qualified  for  the  office. 
Dry  docks,  caulking  basins,  a  harbor  for 
fifty  new  gun-boats,  and  all  the  necessaiy 
appurtenances  of  a  great  arsenal,  were  built 
at  the  edge  of  the  water  at  Ters-Hanch,  and 
designs  for  similar  contrivances  were  to  be 
applied  to  the  other  principal  harbors  of 
79 


the  empire.  In  addition  to  these  institutions 
for  the  formation  of  the  new  troops,  and  the 
improvement  of  the  Ottoman  navies,  a  gene 
ral  regulation  provided  that  the  janissaries 
should  be  regularly  exercised  in  the  use  of 
the  musket,  with  their  saJcas  and  other  assist 
ants.  Magazines  for  victualing  the  armies 
were  constructed  on  the  Danube,  and  at 
other  points  near  the  seat  of  war.  In  order 
to  provide  for  the  increased  disbursements 
of  the  public  exchequer,  a  new  revenue  was 
created ;  and  for  this  end  a  treasury  was 
formed,  under  the  control  of  a  great  state  offi 
cer,  chosen  from  among  the  chief  men  of  the 
empire.  Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  new 
regulations  issued  by  Selim  ;  and  skillful  and 
enlightened  though  they  were,  they  excited 
great  dissatisfaction  in  most  classes  of  the 
community.  The  janissaries,  in  particular, 
foresaw  in  the  formation  of  the  new  troops 
the  extinction  of  their  own  influence,  and 
therefore  determined  upon  revolt.  Their 
discontent  was  privately  fomented  by  Mousa 
Pasha,  the  kaimacam,  a  cruel  and  ambitions 
character,  who  entertained  the  most  deadly 
hatred  against  the  superior  officers  of  the 
divan,  and  had  long  resolved  to  excite  a  re 
volution  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  them. 
The  first  symptoms  of  insurrection  manifest 
ed  itself  among  the  troops  belonging  to  the 
garrisons  of  the  Dardanelles.  A  certain 
number  of  adventurers,  under  the  name  of 
yamaks,  or  assistants  to  the  batteries,  had 
shortly  before  been  added  to  the  nizam-jedid, 
for  the  service  of  the  batteries  of  the  Bos- 
phorus.  They  carried  the  same  arms  as  the 
nizam-jedid,  and  were  trained  to  the  same 
discipline.  It  was  at  length  resolved  to  in 
corporate  them  with  the  other  troops ;  and 
accordingly,  on  the  25th  of  May,  1807,  an 
order  was  issued  for  clothing  them  in  the 
new  uniform.  The  yamaks  immediately  rose 
in  open  mutiny,  and  put  to  death  the  teis- 
eifendi,  who  had. brought  the  commands  of 
the  sultan.  Ilali  Aga,  the  commandant  of 
the  batteries  on  the  Asiatic  shore,  was  mur 
dered  on  the  same  day,  and  his  corpse  was 
also  thrown  into  the  Bosphorus.  On  the 


C2G 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WOULD. 


next  morning,  the  yamaks,  to  the  number  of 
three  thousand,  having  assembled  in  the 
plains  of  Buyukdere,  elected  a  chief,  and 
marched  directly  to  the  capital.  At  this 
juncture,  the  kaimacam  intimated  to  the  sev 
eral  ortas  of  janissaries  that  the  time  was 
come  for  overturning  the  new  institutions; 
and.  accordingly,  on  the  27th  they  rose,  and, 
as  the  signal  of  insurrection,  carried  their 
camp-kettles  to  the  well-known  place  called 
Etmcidan,  an  open  square  near  the  aqueduct 
of  Yalens,  which  has  been  from  time  imme 
morial  the  camp  of  the  insurgents.  "  The 
sultan,"  says  Sir  John  Ilobhouse,  "was  now 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  his  danger;  he 
assembled  his  ministers  at  the  seraglio,  and 
,he  28th  of  the  month  was  passed  in  negotia 
tion  with  the  insurgents  in  the  Etmeidan. 
During  the  day,  the  fate  of  Selini  was  on 
the  balance  ;  he  transmitted  to  the  Etmeidan 
an  offer  to  abolish  the  new  institutions,  to 
which  the  janissaries  returned  no  other  an 
swer  than  a  demand  for  the  immediate  execu 
tion  of  all  the  ministers  who  had  advised 
and  presided  over  the  nizam-jedid.  Then  it 
was  that  the  kaimacam  insidiously  assured 
him  that  the  sacrifice  was  necessary,  and 
would  appease  the  rebels.  All  was  not  yet 
lost.  If,  at  that  moment,  the  gates  of  the 
seraglio  had  been  shut,  a  cannon  had  been 
fired,  and  the  head  of  Mousa  Pasha  himself 
had  been  struck  off  and  thrown  over  the 
walls,  Seliin  would  have  triumphed  and  re 
tained  the  throne  of  his  ancestors.  But  the 
instant  peril  and  the  presence  of  his  enemies 
bewildered  the  faculties  and  so  absorbed  the 
resolution  of  the  sultan,  that  he  seems  to 
have  despaired  of  resistance,  and  to  have 
placed  all  hopes  of  safety  in  submission 
alone.  It  was  not  suggested  to  his  mind, 
that  with  the  new  troops  of  Scutari  and 
Tchiftlik,  and  other  soldiers  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  capital,  he  might  -speedily  assemble 
30,000  men,  not  less  devoted  to  himself  than 
inimical  to  the  janissaries  ;  and  that  until 
their  arrival  he  could  maintain  the  seraglio 
against  the  rebels,  by  arraying  the  forces  of 
his  numerous  body-guard.  Yet  the  testimo 


ny  of  all  (he  reports  prevalent  at  this  day  in 
Constantinople  concurs  in  the  persuasion  that 
such  an  opposition,  with  the  instant  death  of 
the  kaimacam,  would  have  dismayed  the  in 
surgents  and  crushed  the  rebellion.  But  the 
traitor  prevailed,  and  with  a  cruel  ingenuity 
contrived  to  include  in  the  proscription  the 
names  of  two  old  and  innocent  men,  the 
kehayah-bey  and  the  reis-effendi,  who  were 
called  to  a  conference  with  Mousa,  and,  on 
leaving  the  room,  unsuspicious  of  their  dan 
ger,  were  carried  away  to  the  second  gate 
and  strangled.  The  number  of  heads  pre 
sented  to  the  janissaries  early  on  the  morning 
of  the  29th  was  seven  ;  but  the  ruffians,  ris 
ing  in  their  insolence,  were  not  satisfied  with 
the  bloody  offering,  and,  on  recognizing  the 
aged  victims  of  the  resentment  of  Mousa, 
declared  that  they  had  required  another  sa 
crifice.  "  The  heads  were  not  those  of  the 
enemies  whose  punishment  they  had  demand 
ed."  The  sultan  hearing  this  last  intelli 
gence,  sent  for  the  mufti,  and  on  learning 
that  he  withheld  his  advice,  found  that  he 
had  ceased  to  reign. 

"  The  janissaries,  headed  by  the  traitor 
Mousa,  had  already  found  their  way  into  the 
seraglio,  when  the  sultan  retired  to  the  mosque 
of  the  palace,  and  wrapping  himself  in 
the  robe  of  Mohammed,  took  his  seat  in  the 
corner  of  the  sanctuary.  Here  he  was  found 
by  the  mufti,  who  entreated  him  to  submit 
to  the  wishes  of  the  people,  and  to  resign  the 
crown.  Another  report  says  that,  previously 
to  this  moment,  he  had  told  his  attendants 
that  he  would  reign  no  more,  and  ordered 
them  to  bring  his  successor  before  him.  The 
circumstances  of  this  actual  deposition  were 
not  exactly  known ;  but  on  the  evening  of 
the  same  day  (the  29th)  it  was  understood  in 
all  the  quarters  of  the  capital  that  the  most 
injured,  if  not  the  best,  of  the  Ottomans  had 
stepped  from  a  throne  to  a  prison,  and  that 
the  reigning  monarch  was  his  cousin,  Musta- 
pha  the  Fourth,  eldest  son  of  Sultan  Abdul- 
hamid."  This  prince  was  thirty  years  old 
when  he  'vas  placed  on  the  throne.  Of  a 
feeble  character  and  limited  attainments,  he 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


627 


became  a  mere  instrument  in  the  hands  of 
others,  and  was  the  servant  rather  than  the 
master  of  the  armed  multitude  to  whom  he 
was  indebted  for  his  elevation.  The  supreme 
power  was  in  the  hands  of  the  janissaries, 
the  new  institutions  were  abolished,  the  new 
troops  dispersed,  and  their  principal  officers 
executed.  Their  triumph,  however,  w as  but 
of  short  duration,  and  the  punishment  which 
they  so  justly  deserved  was  speedily  inflicted. 
Mustapha  Bairactar,  the  pasha  of  Ruselmk, 
owed  his  elevation  to  the  personal  regard  of 
the  dethroned  sultan,  and  determined  to 
avenge  his  fall.  So  early  as  October,  1807, 
he  formally  intimated  to  the  sultan  that  he 
should  advance  to  the  capital  to  reform  the 
abuses  of  the  state,  and  to  assist  him  in  the 
administration  of  public  affairs.  According 
ly,  having  collected  an  army  of  forty  thou 
sand  men,  he  marched  to  Constantinople,  and 
encamped  on  the  plains  of  Daout  Pasha, 
four  miles  from  the  city.  There  his  camp 
soon  became  the  centre  of  the  business  and 
affairs  of  the  Porte,  whose  chief  officers  di 
rected  their  visits  of  ceremony  to  the  tent  of 
the  triumphant  general.  But  the  pasha, 
conscious  that  his  authority  in  such  a  state 
of  affairs  was  unstable,  resolved  upon  the 
restoration  of  the  Sultan  Selim.  The  28th 
of  July,  1808,  was  fixed  upon  for  the  enter 
prise  ;  and  as  Mustapha  had  appointed  that 
day  for  a  hunting  expedition,  Bairactar  de 
termined  to  enter  the  palace  during  his  ab 
sence,  and,  by  preventing  his  return,  exclude 
him  from  the  throne.  Unfortunately  the 
secret  transpired ;  and  when,  at  the  appoint 
ed  time,  Bairactar  marched  to  the  seraglio, 
he  found  the  gates  closed,  and  the  body-guard 
under  arms.  Orders  were  given  for  an  im 
mediate  assault ;  and  after  a  brief  contest, 
the  insurgents  forced  their  way  into  the  ser 
aglio.  But  the  interval  proved  fatal  to  Selim. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  contest,  the 
emissaries  of  Mustapha  were  despatched  to 
his  apartments,  and  after  a  powerful  resist 
ance,  that  ill-fated  prince  was  thrown  down 
and  strangled.  After  the  murder  of  Selim, 
the  strictest  search  was  made  for  Mahmoud, 


the  youngest  son  of  Abdulhamid,  and  the 
only  remaining  prince  of  the  blood-royal. 
But  a  faithful  slave  had  concealed  him  in  the 
furnace  of  a  bath,  and  before  the  place  of  hia 
concealment  could  be  discovered,  the  ins>ir- 
gents  had  forced  their  way  into  the  inteiior 
of  the  palace.  Advancing  to  the  third  gate, 
they  called  aloud  for  the  instant  appearance 
of  Selim,  when  the  eunuchs  of  Mustapha, 
casting  the  body  of  the  murdered  monarch 
before  them,  exclaimed,  "  Behold  the  sultan 
whom  you  seek  !  "  Bairactar,  overpowered 
by  his  feelings,  threw  himself  on  the  disfigur 
ed  corpse  and  wept  aloud ;  till  Seid  Ali,  tho 
capitan  pasha,  exhorting  him  to  seize  the 
moment  for  revenge,  he  instantly  aroused 
himself,  and  commanded  that  the  Sultan 
Mahmoud  should  be  proclaimed,  and  Musta 
pha  arrested.  The  command  was  immediate 
ly  obeyed ;  Mustapha  was  consigned  to  the 
prison  of  the  seraglio,  and  Mahmoud  waa 
released  from  his  painful  concealment,  and 
placed  on  the  Ottoman  throne.  On  the  as 
cension  of  Mahmoud,  Bairactar  was  of  courst, 
made  grand  vizir ;  and  he  avenged  with  un 
sparing  severity  the  death  of  his  benefactor. 
The  traitor  Mousa  Pasha  lost  his  head,  and 
all  the  officers  of  the  yamaks  and  the  most 
seditious  of  the  janissaries  were  strangled 
and  cast  into  the  Bosphorus ;  and  the  females 
of  the  harem  who  had  rejoiced  at  the  death 
of  Selim  were  sewed  up  in  sacks  and  preci 
pitated  into  the  sea  near  the  shores  of 
Prince's  Island. 

The  vizir  openly  avowed  his  intention  of 
reforming  the  system  of  the  janissaries,  and 
retrenching  their  privileges  ;  and  it  was  re 
solved  to  revive  the  order  of  the  Seimens, 
who  might  supply  their  place,  and  be  regu 
lated  according  to  the  discipline  of  thenizam- 
j-edid.  The  name  of  this  corps  was  more 
odious  to  the  janissaries  than  even  that  of 
Selim,  as  belonging  to  an  institution  more 
ancient  than  their  own ;  and  they  were  only 
the  more  resolved  to  ruin  the  author  of  the 
innovation.  Bairactar,  however,  becoming 
elated  by  prosperity,  began  to  despise  their 
enmity;  and,  blinded  to  the  danger  bv 


628 


HISTOKY   OF  THE  WORLD. 


which  lie  was  surrounded,  came  to  the  fatal 
resolution  of  dismissing  the  greater  part  of 
the  provincial  troops,  and  thus  remained 
almost  unprotected  in  the  midst  of  an  in 
furiated  soldiery  thirsting  for  his  destruc 
tion. 

On  the  night  of  the  14th  of  November,  sev 
eral  thousands  of  janissaries,  issuing  from 
their  quarters,  surrounded  the  palace  of 
Bairactar,  and  set  fire  to  the  building.  The 
vizir  and  his  friends  escaped  from  the  con 
flagration  into  a  strong  stone  tower,  used  as 
a  powder  magazine,  which  the  janissaries  at 
tacked  in  vain.  But  in  the  middle  of  the 
night  the  whole  city  was  shaken  by  a  tremen 
dous  explosion ;  and  it  was  found  that  the 
magazine,  with  the  grand  vizir,  had  been 
blown  into  the  air,  whether  by  accident  or 
design  is  to  this  day  unknown.  During  the 
two  following  davs  the  contest  raged  with 

O  «/  O 

unabated  fury,  till  the  forces  of  the  arsenal 
and  of  Tophana  united  themselves  to  the 
janissaries;  and  the  death  of  Bairactar  be 
coming  known,  the  Seimens  withdrew  from 
the  combat.  In  the  meantime,  the  officers 
of  Mahmoud  had  strangled  the  imprisoned 
Mustapha ;  and  the  sultan  having  no  longer 
anything  to  fear  from  the  partiality  of  the 
janissaries  for  his  predecessor,  commanded 
the  cannonading  to  cease,  and  at  the  same 
time  announced  to  the  janissaries  that  the 
Seimens  were  abolished  for  ever.  The 
friends  of  the  late  vizir  saved  themselves  by 
embarking  on  board  a  vessel  at  the  Seraglio 
Point ;  but  the  victorious  janissaries  com 
pleted  their  vengeance  by  the  destruction  of 
the  magnificent  barracks  of  Sultan  Selim  at 
Scutari  and  Ramiz  Tchifflik,  at  the  latter  of 
which  five  hundred  Seimens  defended  them 
selves  with  desperate  valor  against  a  multi 
tude  of  assailants,  until  their  quarters  were 
fired,  and  they  all  perished  in  the  flames. 
Thus  terminated  the  most  tremendous  revo 
lution  that  Constantinople  had  experienced 
since  it  fell  under  the  power  of  the  Turks, 
and  which,  after  dethroning  two  monarchs 
and  spilling  the  best  blood  of  the  empire, 
unded  in  the  destruction  of  the  meditated 


reforms,  and  the  entire  re-establishment  of 
the  ancient  institutions. 

During  these  events,  the  war  with  Russia 
had  languished ;  but  on  the  accession  of 
Mahmoud,  the  armies  on  both  sides  were 
augmented,  and  the  contest  was  carried  on 
with  great  ferocity.  The  campaign  of  1811 
was  short,  but  disastrous  to  the  Porte,  the 
main  body  of  the  Ottoman  army  having  sur 
rendered  as  prisoners  of  war.  The  result 
might  have  been  fatal  to  the  Turkish  em 
pire  ;  but  in  1812  the  prospect  of  the  arduous 
struggle  with  France  induced  Russia  to  make 

OO 

peace  with  the  Porte,  on  the  latter  ceding 
Bessarabia  and  part  of  Moldavia.  At  the 
peace  of  Tilsit,  Napoleon  left  the  Turkish 
empire  single-handed  to  fight  or  fall,  though 
it  had  been  induced  to  take  up  arms  solely 
by  French  promises  and  intrigue.  The  neg 
lect  was  deeply  felt  by  the  Ottomans,  and  it 
received  its  just  punishment  when  the  unex 
pected  pacification  of  1812  released  the  Rus 
sian  army  just  in  time  to  interrupt  the  dis 
tressed  French  troops  in  their  attempt  to  pass 
the  Beresina.1  The  sultan  being  now  h  jppily 
freed  from  foreign  enemies,  resolutely  enter 
ed  on  the  difficult  task  of  reducing  to  obedi 
ence  the  great  officers  of  his  empire,  who 
during  the  distracted  state  of  the  country 
had  virtually  exercised  independent  power; 
and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  the  famous 
Ali  Pasha  and  the  other  powerful  and  rebel 
lious  satraps  were  all  deprived  of  their  gov 
ernments,  and  most  of  them  executed.  In 
1821  began  the  celebrated  insurrection  which, 
after  a  bloody  war  of  eight  years,  terminated 
in  the  complete  emancipation  of  the  Greeks 
from  the  Turkish  yoke.  (See  GREECE.) 
Meanwhile,  the  janissaries  were  dissatisfied 
with  certain  members  of  the  divan,  particu 
larly  Halet  Effendi,  keeper  of  the  signet, 
then  high  in  power,  but  who  had  begun  to 
give  umbrage  also  to  the  sultan,  and  he  was 
put  to  death  in  November,  1822,  and  four  of 
the  other  ministers  exiled.  The  disorderly 
excesses  of  the  janissaries,  and  their  inefficien 
cy  in  the  field  during  the  war  in  Greece, 
rendered  more  urgent  the  necessity  of  intro- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


629 


ducing  a  new  system  of  discipline,  which 
had  long  been  apparent  to  every  thinking 
man,  and  the  government  was  anxious  to  do 
BO  ;  but  every  attempt  had  hitherto  proved 
fatal  to  the  innovator.  The  sultan  resolved 
to  make  the  effort,  long  meditated  and  pre 
paring,  and  if  the  janissaries  resisted,  to  ex 
tirpate  them  altogether.  In  conformity  with 
these  designs,  150  men  were  selected  from 
each  orta  of  the  janissaries,  who  were  in 
structed  in  European  tactics  by  Egyptian 
officers.  As  it  was  declared  that  this  was 
merely  a  revival  of  an  exercise  used  by 
Solyman,  matters  proceeded  quietly  for  some 
ame,  till,  in  June,  1826,  when  the  troops 
were  brought  together  for  exercise,  they  dis 
covered  for  the  first  time  that  they  were 
practicing  the  very  evolutions  which  they 
had  all  determined  to  resist.  A  furious  in 
surrection  immediately  took  place,  the  palace 
of  the  Porte  was  pillaged  and  stripped,  and 
the  insurgents,  to  the  number  of  10,000  to 
15,000  men,  assembled  in  the  well-known 
Etmeidan.  The  sultan  perceived  that  the 
crisis  which  he  had  both  expected  and  feared 
had  now  arrived,  and  he  determined  at  once 
to  put  an  end  to  a  domination  which  had 
been  found  so  intolerable.  He  directed  the 
sacred  standard  of  the  prophet  to  be  raised, 
and  the  zealous  Mussulmans  rushed  from  all 
quarters  to  range  themselves  under  it.  He 
issued  orders  to  the  pasha  aga,  and  to  the 
topgi  bashi  or  commander  of  artillery,  to 
hold  themselves  in  readiness  with  their 
troops.  Before,  however,  proceeding  to  ex 
tremities,  four  officers  of  rank  were  despatch 
ed  to  the  Etmeidan,  with  offers  of  pardon  if 
the  insurgents  would  immediately  disperse  ; 
but  the  offers  were  scornfully  rejected,  and 
the  officers  were  wantonly  put  to  death.  The 
aga  pasha  had  by  this  time  collected  about 
64,000  troops,  besides  vast  numbers  of  the 
population  ;  and  surrounding  the  Etmeidan, 
where  the  janissaries  were  assembled  in  a 
dense  crowd,  totally  unsuspicious  of  the 
sultan's  intention,  he  opened  upon  them  a 
general  discharge  of  grape-shot,  which  kill 
ed  vast  numbers.  The  survivors  retired  to 


the  barracks,  which  were  close  by,  and  there 
shut  themselves  up.  But  orders  were  imme 
diately  given  to  set  fire  to  the  buildings.  The 
artillery  thundered  upon  the  walls  ;  and  after 
a  desperate  resistance,  with  little  loss  to  theii 
assailants,  the  janissaries  were  utterly  exter 
minated.  For  two  days  afterwards,  the 
gates  of  the  city  continued  closed,  and  strict 
search  was  made  for  such  of  the  janissaries 
as  might  have  escaped  the  slaughter  in  the 
Etmeidan,  of  whom  many  when  found  were 
immediately  executed.  By  the  official  re 
cords  preserved,  but  which  may  not  reveal 
the  full  number  of  the  victims,  only  about 
2,000  of  the  most  guilty,  after  being  identi 
fied,  were  thus  put  to  death  in  the  capital, 
besides  thousands  who  perished  in  the  con 
flict  and  by  the  flames  in  their  barracks,  and 
many  were  sent  into  exile  in  the  provinces. 
Thus,  after  four  centuries  and  a  half,  this 
formidable  and  capricious  corps,  once  the 
great  bulwark  of  the  empire,  but  eventually 
the  pest  and  disturber  of  the  community, 
and  an  insuperable  barrier  to  all  improve 
ment,  was  totally  destroyed,  and  the  im 
perial  throne  freed  from  its  intolerable  yoke. 

In  1828  war  again  broke  out  between 
Turkey  and  Russia.  The  first  campaign 
was  unfavorable  to  Turkey,  but  not  com 
pletely  decisive ;  it  ended  with  the  loss  of 
Yarna.  In  1829,  however,  the  Russian  gen 
eral  Diebitsch  succeeded  in  passing  the  for 
midable  barrier  of  the  Balkans ;  and  the 
war  being  closed  in  September  by  the  peace 
of  Adrianople,  Turkey  consented  to  several 
articles  both  humiliating  and  injurious. 

Shortly  after  occurred  that  rupture  be 
tween  the  sultan  and  Mehemmed  Ali,  the 
pasha  of  Egypt,  which  shook  the  Ottoman 
empire  to  its  foundations.  In  every  conflict 
the  Turkish  troops  were  completely  over 
thrown.  The  battle  of  Horns  decided  the  fato 
of  Syria,  and  the  victory  at  Koriieh  placed 
the  sceptre  almost  within  the  grasp  of  the 
ambitious  pasha.  In  this  extremity  the  sul 
tan  was  reduced  to  the  humiliating  necessity 
of  applying  for  aid  to  Russia ;  and,  through 
the  intervention  of  the  representatives  of 


530 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WOELD. 


France  and  England  chiefly,  peace  was  con- 
c-luded,  and  the  whole  of  Syria,  with  its  de 
pendent  territories,  rewarded  the  successful 
rebellion  of  Mehemmed  Ali. 

In  1839,  the  sultan  and  his  powerful  sub 
jects  again  came  into  collision ;  and  the 
Turkish  army,  under  the  seraslder  ITafiz 
Pasha,  crossed  the  Euphrates,  but  was  com 
pletely  routed  by  Ibrahim  Pasha  at  !Nezib, 
near  Aleppo,  and  the  camp,  artillery,  and 
baggage,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians. 
This  disaster  was  followed  by  the  loss  of  the 
Turkish  fleet,  which  Ahmet  Eevzi,  the  cap- 
itan  pasha,  carried  to  Alexandria,  and  deliv 
ered  up  to  Mehemmed  Ali.  The  sultan, 
who  had  long  been  diseased,  survived  this 
engagement  only  three  days,  and  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Abdul  Medjid,  a  youth  of  nine 
teen  years  of  age.  The  young  sultan  was 
taken  under  the  protection  of  the  five  great 
European  powers ;  and  on  the  loth  of  July, 
1840,  a  treaty  was  concluded  by  Britain, 
Austria,  Russia,  and  Prussia,  for  the  settle 
ment  of  the  eastern  question,  France  having 
refused  to  become  a  party  to  it.  By  the 
terms  of  this  agreement,  Mehemmed  was 
offered  the  hereditary  government  of  Egypt 
and  of  the  pachalic  of  Acre.  Having,  how 
ever,  refused  to  comply  with  the  terms,  he 
was  excommunicated,  and  his  forfeiture  pro 
claimed  by  the  sultan  and  the  ulema ;  and 
the  fleets  of  the  allied  powers  proceeded  to 
reduce  the  fortified  places  on  the  coast  of 
Syria.  They  soon  obtained  possession  of 
Beyrout,  Saide,  and  St.  Jean  d'Acre ;  the 
last  of  which  was  evacuated  by  the  Egyptian 
troops  after  a  bombardment  of  only  three 
hours'  duration,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1840, 
though  it  had  cost  Ibrahim  a  siege  of  seven 
months  to  reduce  it  in  1832,  and  though  he 
had  subsequently  made  it  one  of  the  strong 
est  fortresses  in  the  world. 

Soon  after,'  Ibrahim's  troops,  unable  to 
make  further  resistance,  evacuated  Syria. 
But,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  allied 
powers,  Mehemmed  Ali  was  confirmed  in 
possession  of  the  government  of  Egypt, 
which  was  also  made  hereditary  in  the  line 


of  his  descendants,  on  payment  of  an  annual 
tribute  to  the  Porte  of  1,333,000  dollars.  In 
other  respects,  and  being  entirely  excluded 
from  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Arabia,  he  was 
placed  on  the  footing  of  a  vassal  pacha,  sub 
ject  to  the  laws  of  the  empire. 

By  the  treaty,  dated  the  13th  July,  1841, 
France  joined  with  the  other  powers  in  con 
firming  the  rule  for  shutting  the  passage  of 
the  Dardanelles  to  foreign  ships  of  war,  and 
in  guaranteeing  the  integrity  of  the  Otto 
man  territory.  Its  division  under  two  rival 
rulers  had  long  been  felt  as  a  great  source 
of  weakness ;  and  the  policy  of  the  British 
ambassador  from  1833  had  been  to  effect 
the  restoration  of  its  unity  under  the  full 
sovereignty  of  the  hereditary  sultan.  Arabia 
was  next  brought  under  the  direct  rule  of 
the  Porte,  which  drew  from  it  a  tribute  of 
several  millions  of  hard  dollars  conveyed  to 
the  capital.  Kurdistan  was  also  subject  to 
a  state  of  order  and  obedience ;  and  com 
missioners,  jointly  with  those  of  the  great 
powers,  were  employed  to  adjust  the  long 
unsettled  boundaries  between  Turkey  and 
Persia.  Troubles  in  Bosnia,  arising  from 
aversion  to  the  new  system  of  taxes  and  mil 
itary  conscription,  were  suppressed,  and 
Turkey  enjoyed  a  repose  of  some  years,  un 
disturbed  by  internal  commotion  or  foreign 
pressure.  Some  contentions  in  the  Lebanon, 
never  yet  healed  tip,  between  the  Druses 
and  the  Maronite  Christians,  and  predatory 
turbulence  of  the  Arab  tribes  of  the  Syrian 
and  Mesopotamian  desert,  were  the  only  ex 
ception.  The  general  shock  throughout 
Europe  caused  by  the  French  Revolution  of 
1848  did  not  affect  Turkey,  where  the  Mus 
sulmans  have  little  of  the  revolutionary  ele 
ments.  The  tributary  Principalities  of 
"Wallachia  and  Moldavia  alone  became  agi 
tated,  and  the  liberals  there,  composed  of 
the  younger  and  more  ardent  of  the  educated 
classes,  weary  of  their  country  being  over 
ruled  by  Russia,  established  provisional 
governments  of  their  own,  which  were  of  a 
very  democratic  stamp.  They  were  still  de 
sirous  to  preserve  amity  with  the  Porte,  01 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


631 


willing  to  remain  under  its  suzerainty,  and 
one  grand  vizir  of  the  day  was  even  favor 
able  to  their  independence.  Such  was  not 
then  the  policy  of  Russia,  and  the  Divan 
was  induced  (why,  is  still  unaccounted  for) 
to  solicit  her  joint  military  occupation  of 
those  countries,  by  which  the  previous  order 
of  things  was  restored.  Meanwhile  Hunga 
ry  had  engaged  in  war  with  the  House  of 
Austria,  to  regain  her  full  constitutional 
rights.  The  Porte  was  favorable  to  the 
Hungarian  cause,  and  seemed  disposed  to 
support  it  by  arms  had  she  received  encour 
agement,  with  which  view  probably  she  was 
collecting  the  disbanded  regulars  from  her 
nearest  Asiatic  province.  But  England 
would  countenance  no  step  tending  to  bring 
on  general  war,  and  Turkey  remained  pas 
sive.  She  was  involuntarily  placed  in  jeopar 
dy  when  the  surviving  Hungarian  leaders, 
after  failing  in  their  struggle,  took  refuge  on 
her  soil,  and  whom  she  refused  to  deliver  up 
in  compliance  with  the  remonstrances  of 
Austria,  and  the  threats  of  Russia,  that  the 
alternative  would  be  actual  war.  Kossuth 
and  his  associates  were  treated  with  hospi 
tality,  and  finally  lodged  for  some  time  at 
Kutachia,  in  the  enjoyment  of  liberal  pen 
sions.  The  mission  of  a  British  fleet  to  the 
Dardanelles  effectually  protected  Turkey  from 
hostile  invasion  on  the  occasion,  and  changed 
the  attitude  of  Russia.  It  cost  much  perse 
vering  trouble  and  efforts  to  remove  the 
Russian  troops,  as  at  length  effected,  from 
the  Danubian  Principalities.  The  Emperor 
Nicholas  was  not  the  less  intent  on  carrying 
out  the  long-cherished  project  of  his  house  to 
extend  their  dominions  to  the  Bosphorus,  and 
occupy  the  throne  of  the  Constantines ;  and 
secret  overtures,  coldly  received,  had  several 
years  before  been  made  to  the  British  Cab 
inet  to  share  the  spoils  of  "  the  sick  man, 
whom  they  would  soon  have  on  their  hands." 
Again,  those  overtures  were  renewed  to  the 
British  minister  at  St.  Petersburg,  in  course 
of  the  disputes  relating  to  the  rights  of  Rus 
sia  and  France  to  certain  churches  in  the 
ITolv  Land.  This  led  to  the  claim  on  the 


part  of  Russia  to  &  protectorate  over  the 
subjects  of  the  Porte  who  were  members  of 
the  Greek  or  Oriental  Church;  and  Prince 
Menzikof  was  depi^ed  to  Constantinople  to 
make  the  most  imperious  demands  of  that 
nature,  as  the  ultimatum  of  the  czar.  Those 
pretensions,  founded  on  an  overstrained  con 
struction  of  the  treaty  of  Kainargi,  and 
which  would  virtually  have  handed  over  to 
the  supremacy  of  Russia  several  millions  of 
Ottoman  subjects,  were  resisted.  Russian 
troops  marched  in  consequence  into  tha 
Danubian  Principalities,  which  England  and 
France  waived  treating  as  a  casus  helii ;  and 
negotiations  were  opened  at  Vienna  to  effect 
an  accommodation.  The  terms  there  agreed 
upon  as  a  basis  were  rejected  by  the  Porte, 
as  bearing  a  construction  to  favor  the  views 
of  Russia,  as  afterwards  admitted.  And  in 
October,  1853,  the  Porte  declared  war  against 
that  power. 

The  Russian  forces  crossed  the  Danube, 
and  took  possession  of  some  minor  forts  at 
its  lower  extremity,  also  of  the  Dobridgea. 
A  contest  took  place  higher  up  the  river  at 
Oltenitza,  chiefly  by  a  cannonade,  in  which 
Omer  Pasha,  the  Turkish  general-in-chief, 
gained  the  victory.  Widin  was  secured  and 
rendered  impregnable,  protected  by  the  for 
tified  position  of  Ivalafat,  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  Danube.  The  British  and  French 
fleets,  long  anchored  outside  the  Dardanelles, 
at  length  passed  up  and  took  their  stations 
in  the  Bosphorus.  They  only  entered  the 
Black  Sea,  when  a  Turkish  squadron  sent 
there  and  anchored  at  Sinope  was  attacked 
and  destroyed,  with  the  crews,  by  a  large 
superior  fleet  from  Sevastopol.  The  disaster 
and  massacre  attendant  roused  public  feeling 
in  England,  which  called  for  war  against  the 
asreressors.  It  was  declared  in  the  month  of 

cO 

March,  1854,  by  Great  Britain  and  France, 
whose  joint  armies,  collected  at  Gallipoli  ar  d 
around  Constantinople,  proceeded  by  sea  to 
Yarna.  Whilst  encamped  in  that  quarter, 
fever  made  fearful  ravages  in  the  British 
ranks  on  the  swampy  borders  of  the  Lake  of 
Derna.  Cholera  had  already  accompanied 


532 


HISTOBY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


the  French  army  from  home,  and  was  super- 
added  to  the  local  fever.  From  their  joint 
ravages  a  French  division,  sent  on  an  expedi 
tion  into  the  unwholesome  Dobridgea,  was 
almost  annihilated  without  meeting  an  ene 
my.  Omer  Pasha  having  established  his 
head-quarters  at  Schumla,  there  remained 
stationary  with  his  army,  as  did  the  allies  in 
their  positions  near  the  sea,  whilst  the  Rus 
sians  directed  all  their  might  against  Silis- 


Alone  the  Turkish  garrison  of  that  fortress, 
animated  by  the  example  and  counsels  of 
two  British  officers  who,  as  volunteers,  shar 
ed  their  perils,  made  a  most  gallant  and  de 
termined  defence,  one  of  the  most  distin 
guished  on  record.  After  sustaining  immense 
losses  in  men,  and  having  had  all  their  gen 
erals  engaged  in  the  siege  either  wounded  or 
killed,  the  Russians  retired.  They  had  never 
been  able  to  take  the  Arab  Tabia,  so  called, 
an  outwork  which  formed  the  key  of  the 
defence,  guarded  by  a  handful  of  men,  chiefly 
Egyptian  troops.  The  Russian  campaign  on 
the  Danube  had  totally  failed.  Their  army 
next  retired  from  the  Principalities,  which, 
in  virtue  of  a  treaty  with  the  allied  powers 
then  lately  made  by  Austria,  was  occupied 
by  her  troops,  and  the  war  was  transported 
to  another  theatre. 

It  had  been  finally  resolved  in  the  allied 
counsels  of  France  and  England  to  attack 
Sevastopol,  the  great  stronghold  and  arsenal 
of  Russia  in  the  Black  Sea.  Their  joint  ar 
mies,  in  September,  1854,  were  conveyed  to 
the  western  shore  of  the  Crimea,  in  a  vast 
array  of  transports,  escorted  by  their  splen 
did  fleets,  exliibiting  the  most  grand  spectacle 
ever  beheld  on  the  ocean.  Their  wonted  val 
or  shone  in  the  battle  on  the  Alma,  when 
they  carried  its  heights  in  the  face  of  a  tre 
mendous  shower  of  grape  from  the  Russian 
batteries.  On  the  march  inland  which  fol 
lowed,  their  artillery,  saved  from  the  engage 
ment,  lay  unknown  a  little  to  the  right,  ex 
posed  to  the  grasp  of  the  allies  On  their 
appearance  before  Sevastopol  ii  the  south, 
they  might  have  marched  into  it  as  now  ad 


mitted,  so  dispirited  were  the  Russians  by 
their  previous  defeat,  and  unprepared  for 
defence.  An  immediate  assault  had  been 
proposed  by  Lord  Raglan,  the  British  com 
mander,  but  declined  by  St.  Arnaud,  the 
French.  The  moral  energies  were  now  ex 
hausted  which  had  sustained  the  enfeebled 
and  dying  frame  of  that  gallant  spirit  up  to 
the  fight  on  the  Alma. 

The  army  of  Omer  Pasha  had  been  later 
transported  to  the  Crimea,  but  no  active  nor 
glorious  part  was  assigned  to  it  in  the  opera 
tions  before  Sevastopol.  Previous  to  its  cap- 
ture  on  the  8th  September,  1855,  the  Turk 
ish  force,  after  much  hesitation  in  coming 
to  the  decision,  was  sent  to  make  a  diversion 
in  Mingrelia,  for  the  relief  of  Kars,  then 
hemmed  in  by  the  Russians,  and  reduced  to 
extremity.  But  Omer  Pasha  landed  at  Sou- 
koum  Kale,  which  lost  him  three  weeks' 
march,  instead  of  at  Redout  Kale,  only  a 
few  days'  distance  from  Kutais,  on  which  he 
was  to  move.  After  defeating  the  Russians, 
with  the  loss  of  500  men,  who  opposed  his 
passage  of  the  Ingour,  lie  stopped  short,  aa 
the  wet  season  had  set  in,  and  never  proceed 
ed  to  Kutais  (the  capital  of  Mingrelia),  which 
lay  close  at  hand,  open  to  his  occupation. 
He  had,  however,  alarmed  Mouravieff,  who, 
to  arrest  his  progress  in  that  quarter,  weak 
ened  his  own  army  before  Kars,  but  unneces 
sarily  ;  and  that  important  place  was  left 
unaided  to  its  fate. 

The  war  in  Asia  had  commenced  by  the 
capture,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1855,  of 
the  Fort  of  Shef  kelit,  on  the  Gouriel,  by  a 
Turkish  division  from  Batoun  ;  and  under 
the  direction  of  Yordan,  a  gallant  Polish 
officer,  it  resisted  a  subsequent  attack  by  the 
Russian  fleet,  which  afterwards  destroyed 
the  Turkish  fleet  at  Sinope.  The  force  at 
Batoun  river  exceeding  6000  to  7000  effect 
ive  men,  and  wasted  by  sickness  to  a  skeleton 
at  the  end  of  the  war,  did  nothing  further 
memorable,  save  advancing  on  Uzunjheli, 

*  O  O  ' 

under  Selim  Pasha.     When  following  tha 

Russians,  who  had  evacuated  the  town,  a 

,  little  further,  he  was  attacked  in  turn,  routed, 


HISTOrf*  OF  THE  WORLD. 


633 


and  liis  troop«  narrowly  escaped  entire  de 
struction.  They  formed  the  extreme  left  of 
the  army  of  Erzeroum,  originally  composed 
of  nearly  40,000  of  the  best  Turkish  troops, 
and  stationed  at  Kars.  In  the  end  of  1853 
it  sent  two  detachments  of  7000  men  each 
both  against  Gumri  and  Akiska,  which  were 
repulsed.  The  rest  of  the  time,  though  then 
weak,  was  wasted  in  skirmishes  with  the 
Eussians  until  September,  1854,  when  Gen 
eral  Guyon,  distinguished  for  his  energy  in 
the  Hungarian  war,  having  been  sent  to  re 
organize  the  Kars  army,  recommended  a  well 
combined  offensive  movement;  at  the  mo 
ment  of  execution  he  was,  however,  con 
temptuously  set  aside  by  the  Turkish  general- 
in-chief  (Tarif  Mustafa  Pasha),  who  lost  the 
battle  of  Ingedere,  which  he  ought  to  have 
won,  and  retired  in  utter  disorder  from  the 
field.  The  Eussians,  who  had  suffered  the 
most,  might  have  got  into  Kars  before  him. 
They  had  meanwhile  occupied  Byared,  from 
before  which,  on  their  advance,  a  Turkish 
division  of  7000  men  dispersed.  In  October, 
the  British  military  commissioner,  General 
Williams,  arrived  at  Kars,  and  then  return 
ed  to  Erzeroum  for  the  winter,  to  make  ar 
rangements  there  for  the  future.  The  season 
was  spent  at  Kars  in  strengthening  the  de 
fences  ;  and  in  May  following  (1S55)  General 
Mouravieff  debouched  from  Gumri  with 
45,000  men,  scouring  with  his  cavalry  the 
country  whence  any  supplies  could  reach 
Kars.  It  must  finally  have  surrendered  from 
famine.  But  Mouravieff,  afraid  of  Orner 
Pasha's  coming  on  from  Mingrelia,  and  after 
having  sent  off  6000  men  to  oppose  him,  order 
ed  an  assault  in  September,  though  without 
cannon.  His  troops  penetrated  into  the 
intrenchments,  but  were  nobly  repulsed,  with 
terrible  slaughter,  leaving  6000  dead  on  the 
spot.  They  again  resumed  the  siege,  en 
camped  before  the  place,  which  was  forced 
to  surrender  in  November.  This  was  the 
last  feat  performed  during  the  war,  and  was 
some  counterpoise  in  favor  rf  the  arms  of 
Eussia  to  the  greater  triumph  of  the  allies  at 
Sevastopol. 


The  Circassians  had  been  invited  by  an 
agent  of  the  British  government  to  take  part 
in  the  hostilities  against  Eussia,  as  favorable 
to  their  national  independence,  but  this  was 
counteracted  by  the  representatives  of  the 
Porte,  and  Schamyl's  deputy,  the  Naib,  was 
preaching  Socialism  to  the  Caucasian  mount 
aineers  ;  so  no  combination  could  be  formed 
with  them,  and  the  Eussians  themselves,  after 
first  blowing  up  their  forts  along  the  coast, 
retired  from  it.  Anapa  was  re-occupied  by 
them  on  the  return  of  peace,  in  which  ter 
minated  the  armistice  which  followed  the  tak 
ing  of  Sevastopol.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
war,  Sardinia  had  sent  an  army  to  co-operate 
with  those  of  the  allies  in  the  Crimean  cam 
paign,  and  which  signalised  itself  in  the  action 
at  the  bridge  of  the  Tchernaya. 

By  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  signed  on  the  30th 
March,  1856,  between  the  belligerents,  and 
with  the  participation  of  Austria  and  Prus 
sia,  Eussia  was  interdicted  from  possessing 
any  fortified  port  or  naval  arsenal  on  the 
Black  Sea.  j^icolaief,  as  an  inland  station, 
was  not  included  in  the  restriction.  But  her 
fleet  had  already  been  sunk  at  Sevastopol,  to 
block  up  the  port  against  the  entrance  of  the 
allies,  the  magnificent  docks  there  were  de 
stroyed  before  their  departure;  and  it  was 
now  stipulated  by  the  treaty,  that  the  ships- 
of-war  which  Eussia  and  the  Porte  might 
have  in  the  Black  Sea  should  be  limited  to  a 
small  flotilla  of  specified  force,  for  police  and 
revenue  purposes.  All  right  of  foreign  in 
tervention  in  the  internal  concerns  of  Turkey 
was  expressly  debarred.  Previous  territo 
rial  limits  between  Eussia  and  Turkey  were 
re-established,  save  that  the  former  ceded  to 
the  Porte  such  portion  of  the  Bessarabia  as 
gave  access  to  the  Danube.  Other  stipula 
tions  provided  for  the  freedom  of  its  naviga 
tion,  and  the  future  form  of  government  of 
the  two  Principalities  of  Wallachia  and  Mol 
davia,  the  immunities  of  which,  as  also  of 
Servia,  were  placed  under  the  protection  of 
the  five  powers.  Turkey  now  took  a  place 
also  as  a  member  of  the  Furor>ean  confeder 
ation  of  states. 


HISTORY   OF   THE  WORLD. 


There  ensued,  in  consequence  of  some 
equivocal  geographical  designation,  a  serious 
question  as  to  the  right  of  Russia  to  retain 
Belgrade,  a  place  which  left  communications 
open  to  her  with  the  waters  of  the  Danube. 
But  this  point,  as  also  the  occupation  of  the 
Isle  of  Serpents,  opposite  the  mouth  of  that 
river  in  the  Black  Sea,  was  settled  in  con 
formity  with  the  firm  and  sustained  repre 
sentations  of  the  British  government.  It 
also  opposed  the  union  of  the  two  Danubian 
Principalities  into  one  state  as  voted  by  the 
population,  supported  by  France  and  Russia ; 
and  the  double  election  of  the  same  prince 
for  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  led  to  a  compro 
mise,  the  Porte  confirming  the  election  on 
the  express  condition,  that  in  future  a  differ 
ent  prince  should  be  chosen  for  each. 

The  main  object  of  the  war  may  be  said 
to  have  been  attained.  The  formidable  bul 
wark  of  Sevastopol,  which  gave  to  Russia 
the  command  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  formed 
a  standing  menace  to  Turkey,  was  disman 
tled,  with  the  obligation  imposed  that  it 
should  not  be  restored.  The  dangerous  pre 
dominance  of  Russia  in  relation  to  Turkey 
was  effectually  checked,  and  its  security 
greatly  strengthened,  since  it  is  not  easy  to 
overrun  the  country  by  an  invasion  overland, 
and  Russia  will  have  no  equipped  navy  at 
hand,  whilst  the  Porte  has  her  fleet  at  com 
mand  in  the  Bosphorus  for  immediate  dis 
patch  into  the  Black  Sea  on  any  threatened 
peril,  and  to  repel  any  expedition  which 
might  attempt  a  coup  de  main  on  Constanti 
nople,  or  a  landing  elsewhere  on  her  coast. 

It  is  only  the  small  population  of  Mon 
tenegro  that  has  since  given  trouble  to  the 
Porte  on  its  frontiers.  Claiming  complete 
independence,  and  discontented  Math  their 
confined  territory,  those  wild  mountaineers, 
after  sanguinary  conflicts  with  their  Mussul 
man  neighbors,  were  on  the  point  of  being 
overwhelmed  by  Omer  Pasha  some  years 
before  but  for  the  intervention  of  Austria. 
A  fresh  outbreak  of  those  boundary  conten 
tions  led  to  the  appointment,  in  1859,  of 
commissioners  from  each  of  the  Great  Pow 


ers  to  adjust  the  limits.  But  their  labors, 
interrupted  by  the  war  in  Italy,  have  not  yet 
been  brought  to  a  close.  "When  being  re 
newed,  a  Turkish  force  of  3,000  men,  im 
prudently  led  by  the  superior  in  command 
into  an  exposed  position,  was  totally  destroy 
ed  by  the  Montenegrins,  and  during  the 
alleged  subsistence  of  a  truce. 

In  June,  1858,  occurred  at  Jedda,  to  shock 
the  civilized  world,  the  massacre  of  the 
British  and  French  consuls,  and  a  number 
of  other  Christians,  by  a  fanatic  population. 
This  was  on  account  of  the  re-hoisting  of  the 
British  flag  on  a  ship  from  India  of  disputed 
ownership,  from  which  it  had  been  hauled 
down  by  the  authorities  on  shore.  The 
Porte  undertook  to  afford  full  satisfaction 
for  the  atrocity;  but  before  advice  of  this 
being  accepted  reached  the  Red  Sea  from 
home,  it  was  too  late  to  countermand  pre 
vious  orders  for  the  bombardment  of  the 
town,  and  carried  into  effect  by  a  British 
ship  of  war.  The  chastisement  thus  inflict 
ed  on  the  port  of  transit  for  pilgrims  to  the 
holy  cities  caused  much  sensation  among  the 
Mussulmans  for  a  time,  particularly  in  Syria, 
but  which  subsided  without  any  ill  conse 
quences.  Two  of  the  greatest  criminals  con 
cerned  in  the  massacre  were,  after  the  bom 
bardment,  executed  on  the  spot,  but  unhap 
pily  also  eleven  persons  who  were  innocent, 
having  been  denounced  by  influential  par 
ties  really  guilty,  were  sacrificed  in  their 
stead. 

In  January,  1850,  Turkey  lost,  by  tho 
death  of  Rescind  Pasha,  the  most  distin 
guished  of  her  statesmen  of  modern  times, 
and  the  most  accomplished  she  had  yet  pro 
duced.  He  was  the  author  of  the  liberal 
edict  of  Ghulhane  in  1839,  and  guided  the 
counsels  of  the  Porte  in  most  of  the  leading 

O 

events  of  his  day,  but  was  not  in  power  when 
war  was  declared  against  Russia  in  1S53. 
His  successor  in  the  post  of  grand  vizir  was 
Aali  Pasha,  also  an  acute  diplomatist,  who 
represented  Turkey  at  the  Congress  of  Paris 
when  peace  was  concluded.  He  has  been 
displaced  since  the  discoverv  of  a  conspiracy 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


against  the  government,  when  on  the  point 
of  breaking  out,  on  the  17th  of  September, 
1S59.  Its  object  was  to  seize  the  sultan  on 
the  street  on  V.s  way  to  the  mosque,  and 
depose  or  pu.  him  to  death,  placing  his 
brother  on  the  throne,  in  case  he  should  re 
fuse  to  accede  to  the  scheme  to  be  presented 
to  him  for  measures  of  retrenchment,  and 
the  re-establishment  of  the  ancient  religious 
system  in  full  vigor;  the  obnoxious  minis 
ters,  with  the  actual  serasker  Riza  Pasha  as 
the  chief,  were  to  be  got  rid  of,  and  doubt 
less  by  sacrificing  their  lives,  with  all  others 
in  office  about  the  palace  who  were  consid 
ered  of  the  same  party.  The  originator  of 
the  plot  was  a  sheikh  from  Suleymanie,  in  the 
Kurdistan,  and  his  chief  accomplices,  two 
Ferik  pashas  in  the  army — the  one  Hussein, 
a  Circassian,  the  other  Djafer,  an  Albanian — 
\vho,  on  his  way  up  the  Bosphorus  to  the 
place  of  trial,  jumped  overboard  and  was 
drowned.  His  moral  reputation  was  such  as 
throws  some  discredit  on  the  professed  pa 
triotism  of  those  connected  with  such  an 
associate.  Only  thirty-nine  persons  were 
brought  to  trial  as  implicated,  of  whom  the 
two  surviving  leaders,  after  capital  sentence 
passed  against  them,  were,  in  commutation 
of  punishment,  condemned  to  perpetual  im 
prisonment  in  a  fortress ;  others  were  sen 
tenced  to  confinement  for  a  limited  term, 
and  some  to  exile ;  a  number  were  set  at 
liberty.  No  leading  members  of  the  ulerna, 
nor  other  personages  of  much  note,  appear 
to  have  taken  part  in  the  plot,  but  the  full 
ramifications  of  it  are  involved  in  uncertain 
ty.  Part  of  the  army  had  been  gained,  and 
two  regiments  fixed  upon  to  act  as  guard  for 
the  safety  of  the  Christians  at  the  capital. 
The  timely  detection  of  the  conspiracy  in 
its  last  stage  for  execution  saved  the  empire 
from  a  perilous  reactionary  shock,  and  is 
calculated  to  be  a  serious  warning  for  doing 
away  with  the  same  causes  of  grievance. 

In  1860  the  attention  of  the  European 
powers  was  called  to  the  Turkish  adminis 
tration  in  the  East,  by  the  massacres  of 
Maronite  Christians  by  the  Druses.  The 


dissensions  to  which  the  animosities  of  these 
two  religious  parties  had  given  rise,  had 
agitated  the  Lebanon  for  many  years  before, 
and  it  was  charged  upon  the  Turkish  Govern 
ment  that  it  had  stimulated  them  for  its 
own  objects.  Early  in  May  of  this  yeai,  a 
monk  was  found  murdered  in  a  convent  half 
way  between  Beyrout  and  Deir-el-Kammar 
and  suspicion  fell  upon  the  Druses,  and  one 
of  them  was  afterwards  killed  by  the  Maro- 
nites  in  retaliation.  This  led  to  reprisals, 
and  several  assassinations  took  place  on  both 
sides,  until  the  28th  of  May,  when  a  general 
attack  was  made  by  the  Druses  upon  the 
Maronite  villages  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Beyrout  and  Lebanon,  which  they  burnt 
to  the  ground.  Next  day  Hasbeya.  a  large 
town  under  Mount  Ilermon,  was  attacked 
by  the  Druses.  The  Christians  of  the  place 
were  told  by  Othman  Bek,  the  Turkish 
commander,  that  they  must  lay  down  their 
arms,  and  he  would  protect  them  from  their 
enemies.  They  complied,  and  delivered  up 
their  arms,  which  were  sent  off  under  a 
scanty  escort  towards  Damascus,  and  on 
the  way  they  were  intercepted  and  seized 
by  the  Druses.  It  seems  that  the  conduct 
of  Othman  Bek  wras  nothing  but  the  deepest 
treachery,  for  having  disarmed  the  Christians, 
he  prepared  to  abandon  the  place,  when  on 
the  5th  of  June,  the  Druses  rushed  in,  and 
an  indiscriminate  massacre  ensued.  The 
Turkish  soldiers  offered  no  defence,  and  in 
some  instances  themselves  assisted  in  the 
work  of  murder,  under  the  most  revolting 
circumstances.  Similar  attacks  were  made 
on  the  Christians  at  Rasheya  and  Sidon,  and 
Deir-el-Kammar,  and  other  places ;  nor  did 
the  Turkish  authorities  make  any  attempt 
to  protect  the  unfortunate  sufferers.  Zableh, 
which  is  described  as  having  been  "  the 
most  rising  town  in  all  Lebanon,  the  chief 
station  of  the  French  Lazarists,  and  con 
taining  public  buildings,  a  very  handsome 
cathedral  and  schools,  and  very  good  houses," 
was  next  threatened.  The  European  Con 
suls  at  Beyrout  then  went  in  a  body  to  Kur- 
schicl  Pasha,  the  Turkish  Governor,  and 


636 


HISTORY  OF   THE  WOULD. 


urgently  entreated  him  to  send  troops  to 
protect  the  town,  which  he  promised  to  do. 
On  the  19th  the  troops  appeared,  and  the 
Druses  with  them.  The  Christians  made 
an  attempt  to  climb  the  hills  and  fall  upon 
the  Druses  in  the  \alley,  but  they  were  too 
slow,  and  the  movement  failed.  Before 
they  reached  the  summit  of  the  mountain 
they  saw  that  the  Druses  had  already  begun 
to  burn  the  town,  and  resistance  being  use 
less,  for  the  Turks  also  had  turned  against 
them,  they  fled.  The  women  and  children 
which  they  left  behind  were  slaughtered.  The 
Druses  then  hurried  to  Deir-el-Kammar, 
where  the  people  hearing  of  their  approach, 
applied  to  the  governor  for  aid,  and  received 
answer  that  they  had  nothing  to  fear,  if  they 
were  willing  to  give  up  their  arms  and 
trusted  to  him  for  protection.  A  great  part 
of  the  population  he  ordered  to  the  Serai. 
On  the  21st  of  June  the  Druses  collected 
around  the  town,  and  one  of  their  leaders 
had  an  interview  with  the  governor.  The 
result  of  this  parley  was  that  the  gates  were 
thrown  open,  and  the  defenceless  people 
surrendered  to  an  indiscriminate  massacre. 
It  is  estimated  that  upwards  of  a  thousand 
fell  in  the  day's  slaughter.  The  town  was 
fired  and  the  heavy  column  of  smoke  floating 
over  Beyrout,  warned  the  inhabitants  of  that 
place  of  the  calamity.  Beyrout,  however, 
escaped,  but  Damascus  suffered  from  a  mob 
of  Moslem  fanatics,  who  were  allowed  to 
murder,  burn,  and  pillage,  at  their  pleasure, 
and,  as  elsewhere,  aided  by  the  Turkish 
soldiers.  The  Consulates  of  France,  Russia, 
Austria,  Holland,  Belgium,  and  Greece 
were  destroyed,  and  their  inmates  took 
refuge  in  the  house  of  Abd-el-Kader,  who 
behaved  most  nobly  on  this  occasion,  shelter 
ing  about  fifteen  hundred  Christians  from 

O 

the  fury  of  the  assailants.  The  news  of 
these  events  created  the  profoundest  impres 
sion  in  "Western  Europe,  and  the  Emperor 
of  France,  determined  to  send  troops  to 
Syria  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  Chris 
tians-  As  the  object  of  such  an  expedition 
was  liable  to  be  misrepresented  as  an  attempt 


to  secure  a  foothold  for  France  in  the  East, 
it  was  necessary  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the 
oilier  powers,  and  this  was  given  by  a  protocol 
signed  at  Paris,  on  August  3d.  In  the  mean 
time  Fuad  Pasha  was  sent  to  Syria,  with  a 
strong  force  by  the  Sultan,  and  by  his  sever 
ity  to  all  those  accused  of  being  implicated 
in  the  massacre,  he  endeavored  to  atone  for 
the  previous  indifference  and  apparent  con 
nivance  of  the  Porte.  The  coming  of  the 
French  troops  was  looked  upon  with  the  ut 
most  aversion  by  the  Mohammedans,  but 
proved  a  great  source  of  security  to  the 
Christians.  A  Commission  of  the  five  great 
powers  was  subsequently  appointed  to  in 
quire  into  the  administration  of  the  Leba 
non. 

The  Sultan  Abdul  Medjid  died  in  1864, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Abdul 
Aziz  Khan,  on  the  25th  of  June. 

The  Island  of  Crete,  or  Candia,  as  it  is 
now  called,  had  rebelled  many  times  against 
:he  Turkish  power.  The  most  important  in 
surrection  which  had  taken  place  for  many 
years,  began  in  1866,  and  was  not  finally  put 
down  till  the  beginning  of  1869.  In  April 
of  the  above  mentioned  year,  the  Cretan  peo 
ple  met  at  Ivoutzonnaria,  and  under  the  guid 
ance  of  the  Bishops  of  Sidonia  and  Kissamos, 
prepared  a  petition  to  the  Sultan,  asking  that 
the  privileges  which  had  been  guaranteed  to 
them  by  the  other  powers  might  be  granted. 
At  the  end  of  three  months  the  Turkish 
government  answered  that  they  could  not 
entertain  these  complaints,  and  that  any  fur 
ther  presentations  of  them  would  occasion 
prompt  and  severe  action  against  the  agita 
tors.  In  the  meantime  all  the  important 
points  of  the  island  had  been  garrisoned  by 
Turkish  troops.  As  soon  as  their  reply  was 
put  forward  in  the  form  of  a  proclamation, 
the  Cretan  General  Assembly  determined  to 
take  up  arms,  and  put  forward  a  manifesto 
to  the  European  powers,  justifying  them 
selves  on  the  ground  of  their  common  origin 
with  the  Hellenic  race,  and  the  violation  of 
the  rights  which  had  been  guaranteed  t: 
them  by  the  protocols  and  treaties  of  thj 


HISTOEY    OF    THE    WOULD. 


637 


loreign  powers.  This  was  the  signal  for  the 
immediate  declaration  of  martial  law  by  the 
Governor,  and  the  whole  island  was  soon  in 
a  state  of  war.  Religious  animosity  now 
had  full  play ;  the  Turkish  population  took 
advantage  of  the  disorder  to  gratify  their 
hatred  of  the  Christians  by  acts  of  barbarity ; 
in  some  places  even  the  foreign  consulates 
were  attacked.  In  September  the  assembly 
passed  a  declaration  of  independence,  and 
announced  their  intention  to  annex  them 
selves  to  Greece. 

The  encounters  between  the  insurgents 
and  the  soldiers  of  the  government  began 
immediately  after  this.  The  Turks  adopted 
a  course  of  indiscriminate  pillage  and  bar 
barity,  laying  waste  the  country,  burning 
the  villages  and  slaughtering  the  inhabitants. 
In  less  than  a  month  it  was  calculated  that 
more  than  a  thousand  of  the  Cretans  had 
been  massacred.  One  of  the  most  heroic 
episodes  of  the  war  was  the  defence  of  the 
monastery  of  Arkadi.  This  monastery  was 
built  in  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Ileraelius, 
and  was  among  the  wealthiest  in  the  East. 
It  had  survived  the  ravages  of  every  conquer 
or,  even  the  Turks  having  respected  this 
sanctuary.  In  this  rebellion  it  had  been  used 
as  a  store-house  for  supplies  and  ammunition. 
At  the  time  of  the  attack  of  Mustapha  Pa 
sha,  there  were  in  the  building  about  seven 
hundred  persons  of  whom  rather  more  than 
a  third  were  combatants.  The  Turkish  force 
amounted  to  about  four  thousand.  A  sur 
render  was  refused,  and  for  two  days  an  in 
cessant  fire  from  a  full  siege-train  of  heavy 
guns  and  mortars  rained  upon  the  monastery. 
By  the  third  day  a  breach  was  effected  and 
the  assault  began.  The  attack  lasted  all  day ; 
three  mines  were  sprung  upon  the  advancing 
column,  one  of  which  proved  more  hurtful 
to  the  garrison  than  to  the  enemy.  The 
Turks  claimed  to  have  killed  six  hundred  of 
the  Cretans,  and  they  report  that  the  prisoners 
which  they  captured  were  entrusted  to  the 
Greek  Bishop.  The  Greeks,  whose  reputation 
foi  veracity  is  by  no  means  unimpeachable. 


represent  the  insurgents  as  driven  back  from 
one  court  and  tower  to  another,  contesting 
every  inch  of  ground ;  and  that  finally,  when 
all  hope  was  gone,  gathering  themselves  to 
gether  in  the  large  hall,  they  applied  the 
match  to  the  powder  with  which  the  cellar 
beneath  was  filled,  heroically  preferring 
death  to  submission. 

The  Turkish  government  afterwards  yield 
ed  so  far  as  to  allow  as  many  of  the  islanders 
as  desired  to  leave,  to  retire  to  Greece.  The 
sympathy  of  the  Greek  Government  toward 
the  Cretans  was  openly  manifested  at  every 
opportunity,  and  the  false  hopes  thus  raised 
of  a  final  annexation  to  the  Hellenic  mon 
archy  sustained  the  revolutionists  in  their 
resistance,  and  impelled  them  to  reject  the 
favorable  terms  and  promised  reforms  held 
out  by  the  Turks.  The  war  was  thus  prolong 
ed  until  the  beginning  of  the  year  18C9, 
when  it  was  virtually  stopped  by  the  action 
of  the  European  powers.  The  whole  course 
of  the  struggle  in  the  East,  and  the  move 
ments  of  Greece  and  Turkey  had  been  watch 
ed  with  great  interest  by  the  governments 
of  England  and  France,  and  in  conjunction 
with  the  other  European  courts  they  had 
addressed  several  notes  to  the  Porte  asking  for 
an  adjustment  of  the  Cretan  difficulties  by  a 
commission.  All  these  remonstrances  having 
failed,  and  the  prospect  of  a  war  between 
Turkey  and  Greece,  with  the  possibility  of 
the  interference  of  Russia,  and  the  disturb 
ance  of  the  peace  of  Europe,  becoming  im 
minent,  a  conference  of  the  five  great  pow 
ers  was  called  in  February,  1869.  The 
result  was  a  protocol  to  the  Greek  Govern 
ment  requiring  .a  cessation  of  all  intervention 
in  the  affairs  of  Crete.  The  Greeks  at  first 
declined  to  agree  to  the  action  of  the  Con 
ference,  but  as  they  were  alone  against  the 
whole  of  Europe,  they  had  no  alternative 
but  to  submit.  The  chief  support  of  the 
revolutionary  movement  in  Crete  being  thus 
withdrawn,  it  rapidly  declined,  and  soon  after 
the  Turkish  government  declared  the  ineur 
rection  at  an  end. 


638 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


IONIAN    ISLES. 


UNDER  tl  3  Roman  empire  the  Ionian 
Islands  were  sunk  into  parts  of  the  pro 
vince  of  Achaia.  We  find  no  historical  events 
of  importance  relative  to  the  islands  under 
the  earlier  emperors,  except  that  Titus  is  said 
to  have  landed  at  Corcyra  on  his  way  from 
the  conquest  of  Judea,  and  Hadrian  to  have 
gifted  Cephallenia  to  the  Athenians.  In  the 
decline  of  the  empire,  the  Huns  under  Alar- 
ic  (A.D.  398),  and  Attila  (A.D.  441),  with  the 
Vandals  under  Genseric,  ravaged  the  Ionian 
islands,  as  well  as  most  of  Greece.  Belisa- 
rius  and  Narses  recovered  those  provinces  for 
Justinian  ;  but  Sclavonic  invaders  of  various 
tribes  repeated  their  devastations  .  at  very 
brief  intervals. 

By  the  emperor  Ileraclins  I,  the  Ionian 
islands  were  attached  to  the  prefecture  of 
Lombardy ;  and  to  it,  or  to  Sicily,  they  con 
tinued  united  for  about  250  years,  till  Leo 
the  Philosopher  (about  A.D.  890)  formed  them 
all,  or  most  of  their  number,  into  a  distinct 
province,  under  the  title  of  the  Tcma  of 
Cephallenia ;  and,  in  this  condition,  they 
were  to  be  accounted  as  belonging  to  the 
Eastern  empire,  after  Italy  had  been  divided 
into  various  states.  Towards  the  close  of  the 
eleventh  century,  the  Norman  conquerors  of 
Naples,  warring  against  the  western  portion 
of  the  Byzantine  empire,  turned  towards  the 
islands  of  the  Ionian  group ;  and  in  A.D.  1081, 
Robert  Guiscard  captured  Corfu ;  and  not 
long  after,  Cephalonia.  On  the  revolt  of  the 
latter  island  in  1085,  he  was  proceeding  to 
bring  it  again  into  subjection,  when  he  died 


at  Cassopo  in  Corfu.  A  second  conquest  c  f 
Corfu  was  made  in  1146,  by  Roger  king  of 
Sicily,  nephew  of  Guiscard,  but  it  was  re 
covered  by  the  Emperor  Manuel  Comnenus, 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  Venetians,  in 
1132.  In  1192,  Richard  Coeur-de-Lion  land 
ed  at  Corfu,  on  his  ill-starred  voyage  from 
Palestine,  after  the  fourth  crusade.  On  their 
way  to  the  fifth  crusade,  the  combined  forces 
from  the  taking  of  Zara  (1203)  halted  to  re 
fresh  at  Corfu,  where  they  seem  to  have  been 
gladly  welcomed,  and  to  have  found  the 
country  very  fertile  and  abounding  in  forage. 
Here,  however,  the  news  of  Walter  of  Bri- 
enne's  marvelous  successes  in  Apulia  and  Na 
ples  caused  a  sort  of  mutiny,  and  many  of 
the  warriors  prepared  to  give  up  the  expedi 
tion  against  Constantinople,  intended  in  fa 
vor  of  the  young  Alexis,  who  had  joined  the 
Western  army  at  Zara.  With  some  difficulty, 
the  dissension  was  healed,  and  the  crusade 
proceeded.  Alexis  appears  to  have  been 
recognized  as  their  emperor  by  the  Corfiots. 
When  the  Greek  empire  was  exchanged  for 
the  Latin,  at  Constantinople,  the  Venetians 
obtained  various  possessions,  and  among  these 
Corfu.  A  famous  Genoese  corsair,  Leon 
Vetrano,  took  it  from  them,  but  on  his  defeat 
and  execution  the  senate  of  Venice  (in  1200) 
sent  thither  ten  noble  families,  granting  them 
fiefs  in  order  that  they  might,  colonize  it. 
The  republic  soon  afterwards  took  Cephalo 
nia  and  Zante,  the  former  of  which  was  held 
under  them  by  a  succession  of  five  counts  of 
the  family  of  Tocco,  who  appear  to  have  al 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


639 


so  held  Santa  Maura,  and  probably  Zante,  at 
the  same  time.  Through  the  rest  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  most  of  the  four 
teenth,  the  Ionian  Islands  were  a  prey,  by 
turns,  to  corsairs,  and  to  Greek  and  Neapol 
itan  claimants.  At  last,  while  the  civil  wars 
of  Naples  gave  a  good  opportunity,  the  Cor- 
fiots  voluntarily  placed  themselves  under 
Venice,  the  first  maritime  power  of  the  age 
(9th  June  13SG).  Acting  with  mercantile 
caution,  the  senate  did  not  think  its  title  su£ 
ficient  until  ratified  (16th  August.  1401)  by  La- 
dislaus  king  of  Naples,  on  payment  of  30,000 
ducats,  thus  extinguishing  the  right  which 
had  been  maintained  to  Corfu  through  the 
Duchy  of  Taranto.  In  14S5  Zante  was  ob 
tained  by  purchase  from  the  Turks  in  a  very 
depopulated  condition ;  and  in  1499  Cephal- 
onia  was  captured  from  the  same  masters. 
The  dreaded  Barbarossa,  on  the  part  of  Soli- 
man  II.,  ravaged  Corfu  in  1537,  and  the  great 
fleet  of  Selim  II.  did  nearly  the  same  in  1570, 
not  touching  the  citadel,  however.  In  1571 
Corfu  was  the  station  at  which  Don  John  of 
Austria  reviewed  the  grand  Christian  arma 
ment  of  which  he  was  generalissimo,  before 
Bailing  to  fight  and  win  the  battle  of  Lepanto 
—  one  of  the  most  glorious  but  unavailing 
victories  which  history  records.  Even  after 
Lepanto,  the  Turks  continued  for  a  year  to 
hold  Santa  Maura,  which  the  Venetians  had 
abandoned  in  1570.  Venice  paid  an  increas 
ed  tribute  for  the  island  of  Zante.  Corfu 
had  been  fortified  in  1559 ;  and  to  what  was 
then  built  the  republic  added,  by  degrees, 
the  extensive  works  which  afterwards  pro 
tected  it.  The  last  and  greatest  struggle  for 
its  possession  was  in  1716  by  the  forces  of 
Achmet  III.,  which  were  defeated  by  the 
Venetian  troops  under  the  gallant  Count 
Schulenburg,  who  had  before  earned  fame 
by  his  retreat  across  the  Oder,  in  face  of 
Charles  XII.  of  Sweden,  and  by  his  conduct 
at  the  battle  of  Malplaquet,  under  the  orders 
of  Prince  Eugene.  Under  the  sway  of  Ven 
ice,  her  government  was  represented  in  the 
Ionian  Islands  by  a  provveditore,  against 
wlnse  misrule  a  check  was  established,  in  j 


permission  to  the  city  of  Corfu  to  send  to 
Venice  a  deputy  styled  "Nuncio,"  through 
whom  complaints  might  be  addressed  to  the  * 
senate.  As  the  republic  decayed  at  home 
she  could  not  remain  healthy  abroad ;  and  in 
her  last  years  there  was,  no  doubt,  much  cor 
ruption  and  abuse  of  all  kinds  in  her  de 
pendencies.  In  her  better  days,  however, 
she  has  probably  been  unjustly  censured. 
Terrible  as  antagonistic  factions  were  to  each 
er  in  the  struggle  for  political  power,  the 
lower  classes  were  not  unheeded  by  the  state. 
The  statute-book  was  disfigured  by  the  re 
tention  of  threatened  demembration  and  oth 
er  marks  of  barbarous  times,  but  practically 
they  had  fallen  into  disuse ;  and  in  civil  mat 
ters,  although  the  courts  were  left  a  degree 
of  arbitrary  authority  which  must  have  been 
very  embarrassing  to  judges,  still,  the  ad 
ministration  of  justice  in  Venice  was  regard 
ed  as  pure,  and  the  commonalty  could  enjoy 
what  they  prized — "  Pane  in  Piazza,  e  guisti- 
zia  in  Palazzo."  The  decisions  of  the  fa 
mous  Council  of  Forty  were  highly  esteem 
ed. 

On  the  fall  of  the  Venetian  republic  in 
1797,  the  treaty  of  Campo  Eormio  which 
gave  Venice  to  Austria,  annexed  the  Ionian 
Islands  to  France;  and  in  1798  the  French 
government  ratified  the  arrangement,  and 
their  division  into  three  departments.  But 
a  Eusso-Turkish  force  came  to  drive  out  the 
French  in  the  close  of  that  year ;  and  in  the 
spring  of  1799  Corfu  capitulated.  The  Al 
lies  in  1800  erected  the  Septinsular  republic, 
which,  with  various  modifications,  was  but 
another  name  for  anarchy  and  confusion,  till 
a  secret  article  in  the  treaty  of  Tilsit,  in  1807, 
declared  the  Ionian  Islands  an  integral  part 
of  the  French  empire.  In  this  condition 
they  remained  till  the  British  forces,  under 
General  Oswald,  took  Zante,  Cephalonia,  and 
Cerigo  in  1809,  and  Santa  Maura  in  1810. 
Colonel  Church  reduced  Paxo  in  1814;  and 
after  the  abdication  of  Napoleon,  Corfu  was 
by  order  of  Louis  XVIII.,  ceded  to  Sir 
James  Campbell.  At  the  congress  of  Vien 
na,  no  settlement  had  been  made  of  Ionian 


610 


HISTOBY  OF  THE  WORLD. 


affairs,  which  were  definitely  arranged  by 
the  treaty  of  Paris  (signed  9th  November, 
1815);  the  contracting  powers  being  Great 
Britain,  Eussia,  Austria,  and  Prussia.  By 
this  it  was  agreed  to  revive  the  Ionian  re 
public  (which  had  ceased  to  exist  in  1807), 
and  place  it  under  the  exclusive  protection 
of  Great  Britain,  Austria  enjoying  the  right 
of  equal  commercial  advantage  with  the  pro 
tecting  country.  In  fulfillment  of  the  treaty, 
a  charter  was  passed  by  the  Legislative  As 
sembly,  called  for  that  purpose,  and  ratified 
by  the  Prince  Regent  in  1819,  which  formed 
the  Ionian  constitution  till  some  change  was 
introduced  of  late  years.  In  1819  an  asylum 
was  opened  in  them,  with  Ionian  citizenship 
to  the  unfortunate  refugees  from  Parga,  on  the 
cession  of  their  country  to  Turkey,  a  meas 
ure  which  we  ought  not  to  do  more  than  re 
gret  as  a  cruel  necessity  at  the  time  of  its  be 
ing  carried  out ;  but  which  might  have  been 
obviated  by  greater  vigilance  on  the  part  of 
British,  diplomacy  at  Vienna  or  Paris.  In 
IS  19  some  disturbances  connected  with  taxa 


tion  occurred  at  Santa  Maura;  and  in  1821 
a  more  serious  tumult  arose  there,  havino 

o 

some  relation  to  the  war  of  independence, 
then  being  waged  in  Greece.  The  French 
revolutionary  movement  of  1848  was  used  as 
an  example  in  Cephalonia,  and  an  insurrec 
tion,  with  the  less  immediate  aim  of  annexa 
tion  to  Greece,  and  the  more  immediate  oV 
ject  of  pillage,  begun  in  Cephalonia,  required 
to  be  suppressed  by  the  military.  Xo  acts 
of  timely  rigor  having  been  employed  to 
check  the  unruly,  a  more  extended  and  vio 
lent  outbreak  there  in  1849  needed  to  be  put 
down  by  martial  law,  and  several  executions 
of  wretches  who  had  been  guilty  of  brutal 
murders  and  other  crimes  of  fearful  atrocity, 
together  with  high  treason. 

In  consequence  of  the  repeated  expression 
of  the  wishes  of  the  people  to  be  united  with 
the  kingdom  of  Greece,  the  British  protec 
torate  was  removed  by  a  conference  of  the 
five  great  powers  at  London  in  1803.  The 
neutrality  of  the  islands  was  guarai  iteed;  and 
thev  are  now  annexed  to  Greece 


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